aldara

[Bill]

Last winter I started using Aldara on the entire left side of my forehead. I was applying every night for 5 nights a week, washing it off in the morning. I did this for 6 weeks. After about 3 days, areas that were "suspicious" started erupting into sores. It took about a week for areas of my forehead that appeared normal to start erupting with additional sores. The size of the sores ranged from BB to dime. During this first 6 weeks, some areas on the right side of my forehead (where I was NOT applying Aldara) started showing small signs of sores - very small - maybe 1mm in diameter or smaller. I started applying Aldara as described above and all of these small sores developed into the larger ones. As time went on, I was ultimately applying Aldara over my entire forehead and down both sides of my face. I looked like H3LL for 3 months. About 7 to 10 days after I stopped applying Aldara, the sores were about 90% healed leaving only reddish areas. It has been 4 months and I would say the sores are completely gone - not even any redness.

Did Aldara "cure" these areas? I wish I knew. About 2 weeks ago I noticed a small red spot on my forehead so I took one of the leftover packets and started applying nightly. That area is now a sore the size of a nickel. What I'm not sure of is whether or not this is a new spot or a reoccurring one.

[Judy Denver]

My dermo just talked me into Aldara, a new form, to be applied only once a week at night. After reading the horror stories on here, I'm not sure I want to do this. Has anyone tried this "new" form? I haven't bought it yet.

[Linda]

I haven't heard of this Judy. Am seeing my dermatologist on the 24th of this month and will ask him about it. My poor nose is still beet red and I now have bright red sores that are scabbing...he says that's a good thing..that it's working. My lips are numb again today..like shot full of novacain. And my biggest complaint is sheer exhaustion by mid afternoon..it is lie down or fall down time.

I am putting up with all this because last Jan. I had mohs procedure, two places about the size of a nickle on my nose and I had to have extensive reconstructive surgery to repair the holes...Had two surgeries, one in Jan and one in Feb. My nose healed beautifully and I was very pleased with the results until my new dermotologist found three new precancerous lesions on my "new nose"...he said Aldara is preferable to the knife.~sigh

[Mike McGuire]

I first used Aldara on a farley advanced Basal Cell growth. I applied the cream for about a week. It caused substantial reddness and scabbing. A hard mass formed in the area of the growth. According to the documentation you should let the area reast if that occurs. I stopped the treatment. The area healed up and the growth was completely gone. It's been 3 yrs now and the area is completely normal with no traces of the cancer or ant scaring

[Toni]

Thought I'd give another update on my husband's symptoms. It's been about 6 weeks since he stopped using the Aldara and he's still very ill. His energy level has not improved, he's still having back pain, he's begun having pain in other areas, he has lost weight, etc.

I'm praying the Aldara hasn't ruined his health for good. I should add that this is a 41 year old man who was RARELY ill before he used this cream.

[Brian]

I am 49 years old and have been seeing a derm for skin cancer since I was 27 -primarily for keritosis and Basal cells. I have been prescribed Aldara on three occasions during the past four years. I was using it under docs care experimentally, prior to it being cleared by the FDA. I have used it in three locations on my face: cheek, jaw and chin. My doc uses a combination of light cyrosurgery followed by Aldara applications 3x week. I usually aplly it before going to bed and wash it off immediately after waking up. I have used Aldara for up to six weeks with the normal side affects: itching, burning, ugly sores, some fatigue and flu like symptoms, but no eye or mouth discomfort. I take ibprofen (600mgs) usually 6-10 hours after applying the Aldara -thats usually when the bodyaches kick in. The Ibprofen helps a lot and sometimes I'll take a 600 mg dose 10-12 hours later the same day if needed. I have almost no scaring and the skin looks much better after it clears up.

[tmh]

this cream is horrible. I had a severe reaction to this with blisters and redness with severe pain i could hardely walk i also had a cather in.

[rach]

I hate this cream for what it did to me. Sereve pain with blisters, redness and swelling in the gentials area.

[bill]

I used this cream on my male gential for a wart and had sereve blisters, pain and redness i felt terrible and couldntgo to the toliet . My doctors told me i had herpes but on testing no. How awful to be told that I suffered though this and my partener wanted to leave me.

[Tammy Malone]

I have been using Aldara for the last 10 weeks and i have absolutely no symptoms, the warts are getting smaller.

How long is it until u see results and is it normal that i have no reaction to it??

[Robert]

I have been using the Aldara for about 3 weeks now, 2x weekly. I started to notice joint pain and then flu-like symptoms and tired after applying the cream to the top of my head for 'precancer'. I wonder if I should stop?

[Ryan]

I am 27 years old and I have been having warts (not the genital type) for almost 2 years. I've had them burnt and frozen on several occasions but there were no signs of recovery. I've had a couple of minor surgeries too but all was futile. I have also been going to 5 different dermatologists.
I have been using Aldara for 5 weeks. I was told to apply the medication 4 times weekly for 6 weeks. Unfortunately I can see no positive results. The warts are still growing?
Can anyone kindly tell me why do they keep on growing and when should I see any improvement? Are there any other forms of medication one can recommend?

[Robert]

DO NOT TAKE THIS DRUG! I repeat, DO NOT TAKE THIS DRUG. There is a slim, but disastrous chance that this drug can affect your immune system for ever. I did 3 full cycles, with 1 month in between each cycle for the treatment of warts. I experienced headaches, weakness etc that are "normal" for some users according to 3M. Over the past 3 yrs, I have had severe hair loss, acquired auto-immune hepatitis and vitiligo- an auto-immune skin disorder and had bouts of gout. Now muscles spams have begun-probably caused by mucous membrane damage to my brain. Doctors are at a loss. I am in my mid-twenties people! I was never ill before using that cream. If you feel you have been permanently damaged by this cream, please have a cytokine test panel done. It will show that TH1 cytokine levels are super high, permanently damaging healthy cells. There are natural health products that you can take (fish oil) and drugs to suppress those dangerous cytokines and hopefully delay the inevitable damage that will occur. Sorry about the sad story. I just feel I need to warn others.

[Merryn - Australia]

Updating you on my previous message re Aldara. I finally finished using Aldara after six weeks of five applications. It took nearly a month for all the scabbing to finally come off and left me with a very very red area where the scabbing occurred. I commenced using Aldara on 5th June and it is now 9th October and I still have a faint outline but it is very noticeable when I get hot. I was very depressed using Aldara and I think this is one of the side effects. Now I am back to normal. My friends told me that they could hear the depression in my speech. Having been a recluse for eight weeks I was anxious to go out and I did and I didn't worry about the very red face - this is nothing to what the scabs looked. I don't think I would use Aldara again but it might be like having a baby you forget the pain after a while but I think it will be a long time and a lot of coaxing before I would use it again. I believe I had a very bad reaction according to the staff at the chemist who said it was the worst case of using Aldara that they had seen. Good luck to all of you using Aldara and remember that you take one day at a time and that the six weeks will go by (slowly) but it does and your face does come back to normal. One benefit was the scar across my nose that was from two skin cancer removals has gone! All the best to you all using Aldara.

[alexandra]

Hi I was been diagnosed for bcc in april 2006 in the nose and the doctor in Peru recommended mohs surgery, so I flew to USA to get that surgery done,(here they don´t make it)...it was bigger than I thought and they have to put me a skin graft that they took of my neck..... I felt terrible...now i went again to a check up, and they make me a dermabrasion...but in one side I saw something red...doctor told me to follow up every 2 month..buy i felt afraid of losing a big part of my nose again so I start using aldara, without any biopsy...but now after 10 days of using it...my nose is terrible, very red, like it is going to bleed...
I have to go to a doctor here in lima...
I have to use a patch every day, and I feel very sad, have you heard someone that have had a skin graft like me? I am 32
sorry for my english...is very bad.

[alexandra]

Linda wrote:

I haven't heard of this Judy. Am seeing my dermatologist on the 24th of this month and will ask him about it. My poor nose is still beet red and I now have bright red sores that are scabbing...he says that's a good thing..that it's working. My lips are numb again today..like shot full of novacain. And my biggest complaint is sheer exhaustion by mid afternoon..it is lie down or fall down time.
I am putting up with all this because last Jan. I had mohs procedure, two places about the size of a nickle on my nose and I had to have extensive reconstructive surgery to repair the holes...Had two surgeries, one in Jan and one in Feb. My nose healed beautifully and I was very pleased with the results until my new dermotologist found three new precancerous lesions on my "new nose"...he said Aldara is preferable to the knife.~sigh

hi I have had mohs surgey in my nose and they have to put me a skin graft the took it from my neck... feel terrible , now i flight to usa to have another checkup and the doctor told me to have check ups every 2 months..because I see tiny red spot, so i get afraid, of have again bcc, so i star using aldara...after 10 days of using it...i is very red, and like it is going to bleed...i feel terrible ,..so I understand you very good, please let me know your treatment is going.

[Tanya]

I have used aldara for four nights. I use it on a tiny BCC above my lip. I started using it after having a rather large party weekend on a houseboat, so when I was sick with diarrea and nausea the day after I started, I thought it was from the weekend. My eyes have been aching tremendously in the past week, and I still have an upset stomach. After researching aldara on the internet I think I'll stop using it and opt for the small scar that surgery will give me - I value my health too much.

[Vicki]

Merryn - Australia wrote:

I have just finished a six week course of Aldara for BCCs on my nose and a tiny dry spot on right cheek of face. Wow! Saw the Dermo after 10 days he was pleased with my skin reaction to the Aldara - I have been horrified with it but have conscientiously continued the treatment of using the cream Monday to Friday and not using it on the weekends. I have had thick crusty scabs all over my nose, my right cheek and it also came out on my upper lip area and half of my left cheek - I only put the cream on my nose and the spot on right cheek. I have suffered severe swelling, terrible itching, burning, etc. I went to my general practitioner and he prescribed antibiotics to ease my condition which it did somewhat but not completely. During week 5 my scabs started to crack up and gradually fell off but I am in week 7 and I still have thick crusty scabs just on my nose. I have a bright red area where the scabs were covering my face. I have become a recluse during the last six weeks or so. Because of the swelling between my eyes I have not been able to use my reading glasses and even though I have purchased cheap readers with no pads I still can't keep them on for long. I finished using Aldara a week ago tomorrow but I am still swollen around the eyes and my upper lip and inside my mouth my upper lip area and around the nose area is very tight owing to swelling. I thought several times during the treatment that I would stop but last year my nose was operated on twice to remove BCCs so I thought I give Aldara to save me front the knife. I will let you know further down the track what the final result with the Aldara is.

I am just beginning a six week course of aldera ... I would love to know what the final outcome of your course of treatment was. I too have been "cut on" in the past and am approaching aldera as an alternate to going under the knife again. My BCCs are also located on my nose.

[David]

I was prescribed Aldara by my GP to get rid of some scaly dry skin on both sides of my forehead and a small area under my right eye. I don't know whether they were SK or BCC but the prescribed dosage from my doctor is daily application for six weeks (although I can only make one sachet last about five nights). After nearly four weeks use I have some seriously painful and unsightly thick scabs in all those areas that weep fairly regularly, especially at night. I have a slight swelling under my right eye that impairs my vision slightly.

In the first week I developed a sore neck with swollen lymph glands on the right side. In the second week I had to take two days off work due to flu-like symptoms. I have also had a couple of days of diarrhoea and sleepless nights.

My wife has become concerned that the scabbing doesn't look "normal" so I am going back to my GP tomorrow to make sure that what I'm experiencing is par for the course. I have read of some rather awful side-effects that have been experienced by some people around the world and I must admit I am now a little nervous. I am starting to think that if the disease won't kill me the cure may get me instead.

I will post the results of tomorrow's visit to my doctor over the weekend.

[Linda]

alexandra wrote:

<quoted text> hi I have had mohs surgey in my nose and they have to put me a skin graft the took it from my neck... feel terrible , now i flight to usa to have another checkup and the doctor told me to have check ups every 2 months..because I see tiny red spot, so i get afraid, of have again bcc, so i star using aldara...after 10 days of using it...i is very red, and like it is going to bleed...i feel terrible ,..so I understand you very good, please let me know your treatment is going.

I'm sorry to be so long in answering you...how quickly we forget!!! I am done with the Aldara cream and IF YOU CAN STAND all the various side effects, it's worth it. I never would have believed that my poor old nose could look this good...really, new and improved.*grin I had the mohs on two places..the top of my nose, right between my eyes, and my left nostril....left a hole about the size of a quarter on both places. so, I had no choice...needed reconstructive surgery and had an excellent surgeon.
He cut and pulled my forehead skin down to cover the hole on the top and then he cut my cheek and pulled it over the bottom of my nose. Trust me, I looked hideous for a while...Then I went to a new dermatologist and found three precancerous places on my NEW NOSE!! He's the one that put me on the aldara cream and said it's better than going under the knife again. sorry this is so long...Alexndra..I hope you are progressing with your treatment.