Fluorouracil
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free skin care · Tue Dec 29, 2009 8:29 pm

Okay girls, I'm trying something new that I haven't seen discussed on the boards. Prescription fluorouracil, a treatment for precancerous skin lesions has the documented side effect of impressive anti aging.(The study was done by Dana L Sachs, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.)

The apparent mechanism is the drug injures the skin, triggering a beneficial repair response.

This will be an off label use of the drug for cosmetic purposes, but my hubby is a doc so I'm willing to be a guinea pig under his supervision.

The only major side effect seems to be a redness that can last for a few weeks but I can live with that.

I will certainly keep you posted as soon as I start using.

free skin care · Tue Dec 29, 2009 9:00 pm

Very interesting - glad you will let us know the results....How long do you need to use this?

free skin care · Tue Dec 29, 2009 9:04 pm

Hi Loribar - I had to use Fluorouracil on a pre-cancerous spot on my upper lip about 8 months ago. I only used it on my upper lip (between the lip and nose), not on the rest of my face and most of the area turned bright red, crusty and itched and burned like you wouldn't believe. According to my derm, this was the expected reaction.

You may have a better experience if you don't have pre-cancer or cancerous spots, but you may want to try it on a small area of your face before using it everywhere.

For me, it took about 10 days of twice daily use for the pain and itching to kick in and then it lasted for another two weeks, while I had to complete the treatment to zap the pre-cancer. The last two weeks were extremely painful and my upper lip area looked pretty raw...and no makeup is allowed (per my derm).

On a positive note - it really did help with the wrinkles on my upper lip!

I had originally thought I might use it elsewhere on my face to eliminate any other hidden pre-cancers and get the anti-wrinkle benefit, but after the one round, I didn't want to go back for more.

Will you follow the same treatment protocol (1-2 times per day) as for pre-cancer/cancer? Or can you back off if it gets red and still get good anti-wrinkle benefits?

There are some blogs of people who have chronicled their use of Fluorouracil, you may want to check them out. These do include some pictures. I thought I wouldn't look as bad, but in the area I was applying it, it did look pretty much the same. There's one blog at:
http://funwithefudex.com/

Let us know how it goes.

free skin care · Tue Dec 29, 2009 9:14 pm

I am literally diving into the unknown since there haven't been any published studies to assess cosmetic use.

I am going to see how my skin tolerates it but the longest use for basal cell carcinoma is twice daily for 10 to 12 weeks with a 5%solution; so I won't use it longer than that!

free skin care · Thu Dec 31, 2009 11:44 am

Wow Shastagirl...can't thank you enough for posting about your experience and for the link to the blog WITH PICTURES-WOW!

To think I might have actually slathered that stuff all over my face....YIKES! I will definitely do a patch test on forehead hidden by bangs!!

This really will be quite the experiment. As I've continued reading, I've had several questions come to mind. 1) Supposedly if you have no lesions your skin doesn't react, so will I get the beneficial damage/ repair response?? 2) Will I discover precancerous lesions that are not visible to the eye??(I am a golfer, so that would be no surprise)3) Am I a risk taker or a nut?? Rolling Eyes

free skin care · Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:03 pm

I put the Fluorouracil on both sides of the skin above my upper lip. One side had a known pre-cancerous spot (actinic keratosis) that had previously been frozen by the derm and I'd used Aldera which is another cream to get rid of pre-cancer (didn't work for me, supposedly some people lack an enzyme to process it). Neither of these got rid of the pre-cancer, but the Fluorouracil did.

The side with the pre-cancer turned red and scabby, but the other side (which I thought was all clear), also turned red and scabby, but very slightly less. So, my point is, that we may have pre-cancers that we don't know about. Only a small percentage of these become cancer.

Here's my 2 cents on your questions:
1) Supposedly if you have no lesions your skin doesn't react, so will I get the beneficial damage/ repair response??
My guess is that if you don't get the redness and scabbing, you won't have the repair response as much. This cream basically does a severe chemical peel on your skin.

2) Will I discover precancerous lesions that are not visible to the eye??(I am a golfer, so that would be no surprise)
Not sure your age, but if you are over 40, I'd say you'll probably find some spots you didn't know were there. But getting rid of them could be a very good thing!

3) Am I a risk taker or a nut??
Your plan of just starting on the forehead is cautious. If it starts turning really red and uncomfortable, you can always stop the cream.

free skin care · Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:09 pm

I had read about this stuff a few months back and was going to give it a try but after seeing some pictures of what it can do to the skin with scabbing etc. I was too chicken to try it.

free skin care · Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:19 pm

I'm willing to be the guinea pig and I'll definitely let you know what happens!! Shock

free skin care · Sat Jan 02, 2010 8:04 am

lisacollins00 wrote:

I had read about this stuff a few months back and was going to give it a try but after seeing some pictures of what it can do to the skin with scabbing etc. I was too chicken to try it.

Me, too!

Loribar, keep us posted on how you do with this! You are braver than I am.

free skin care · Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:25 pm

My Mum used the Efedex all over her face, but there were only some parts of her face that went really red. We assumed they were precancerous areas that weren't yet visible.
She has a friend that has used one called Aldara that comes in a 2.5, 5 and 10% solutions. She's used the 5% with good results apparently. The 2.5 doesn't do much and the 10% is super strong. Mum reakons her face looks great. And the whole face peeled.

free skin care · Mon Jan 04, 2010 10:38 am

Thanks Mishey for sharing her experience.

Did she peel with Efedex or Aldara or both? And do you know how long she was using it when her face peeled?

free skin care · Tue Jan 05, 2010 3:50 am

Loribar I spoke to Mum and she said with the Efedex she used it daily for a week, and the only parts that peeled were the presumed pre cancerous lesions. No peeling or flaking anywhere else.
With her friend using the Aldara she thinks she used it daily for a week, but not 100% sure. She only knows she followed the directions given with it. But at the end of the week she peeled on the lesions, and flaked for the rest of the face. So she immediately at the end of the week repeated the procedure, which you're not supposed to do. At the end of that week she peeled everywhere, was red for a couple of weeks after, then her skin looked great.

free skin care · Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:31 pm

Thanks so much Mishey...just trying to be as informed as possible before starting this.

I have been ordering and sampling a ton of new products/tools, etc. based on all the new research and development and recs from the forum.

I am saving this one for LAST as I'm a bit nervous and know there will be downtime (I still have nightmares of the hiding in my house for two weeks after having Active FX done!) Sad

free skin care · Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:51 pm

No problems at all.

Good luck with it Loribar. Please keep us informed when you decide to do it, I can't wait to hear how it goes for you.

Thu Jan 07, 2010 9:25 pm

I have used both and the directions I got said not to use it on more than 50 sq ml at a time. I have used it 3 different times on AK and have found that it can have flu like side effects. When they first happened I couldn't figure out what was going on until I reread the brochure and crossed referenced the info on the net. I struggle to get through a treatment course. I find it only reacts strongly with the precancerous cells. I read in MORE mag) about a dermatologist who uses it twice a year to check for hidden AK. She just spreads it over her body and then treats whatever shows a reaction. The good news is that after the lesions heal, which is quickly after treatment is stopped, the skin is pink and smooth. Having reported all this, if it weren't for the flu like symptoms & strong reaction to the AKs I would try it all over in a minute! Just watch for feeling tired and somewhat achy. Let us know and best of luck!

Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:42 pm

Well I just rechecked and both products were Imquimod. One was Aldara and the other a generic called Imiquad. Sorry for the mistake.

Fri Jan 08, 2010 9:59 pm

loribar wrote:

Okay girls, I'm trying something new that I haven't seen discussed on the boards. Prescription fluorouracil, a treatment for precancerous skin lesions has the documented side effect of impressive anti aging.(The study was done by Dana L Sachs, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.)

The apparent mechanism is the drug injures the skin, triggering a beneficial repair response.

This will be an off label use of the drug for cosmetic purposes, but my hubby is a doc so I'm willing to be a guinea pig under his supervision.

The only major side effect seems to be a redness that can last for a few weeks but I can live with that.

I will certainly keep you posted as soon as I start using.

Hi. Just wanted to share my experiences with Fluorouracil. I just finished my treatment on December 19th; I used it for two weeks twice a day. I put it on any scaly spots and red spots. It's true that it doesn't affect all areas. For example, my nose did not not show any effect. Where it really had an effect was on my chin. Even though I had no scaliness or redness in that area I applied it anyway because I had lots of tiny wrinkles in that area. Well I am guessing those wrinkles were sun damage because my entire chin turned bright red, peeled, blistered and stung like crazy! There were other areas that experienced this as well but my chin was the worse. It was difficult sleeping at night. The only relief was holding a cold washcloth against my chin. But the good news is that only lasted about five days. Also to warn you, it does itch!! But on to the good stuff, after all the redness and peeling were gone there was a definite improvement of the wrinkles!! They are not gone entirely but in the end the pain and itchiness was worth it as any improvement is great. Another plus is I have pitted acne scars and they have improved A LOT!! I use less foundation at work and on my days off I just use a tinted sunscreen. Sorry this is so long but just wanted to share! Oh, like you, I was going to try a small area but decided what the heck, why not get it over with? However, you might choose to do a small area at a time. I was fortunate as I was on vacation for my second week of treatment and did not have to worry about makeup as it would have been way too painful to apply and never would have hidden the peeling anyway. One last thing and this is the most important, all the solar keratoses is gone, which means no more pre-cancerous skin!

Wed Apr 20, 2016 11:57 pm

After 30 days of using Fluorouracil topical cream (internationaldrugmart(dot)com/fluorouracil.shtml) my face and forehead lit up with red raw skin, blisters that were painful and very sensitive to heat and cold. It was good that I could hide in the house during the 30 day treatment as I looked very scary. End results were baby smooth new skin. Hated the process, loved the results.

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