aldara

[fostermd]

Good info here - valuescripts.net

[bobby]

I am currently treating the warts on my foreskin with Aldara. My doctor warned me about some side effects like itching and even burns - but I had no idea that a medication can affect me so much. I am experiencing flue like symptoms, muscle ache, sore throat, incredible fatigue - this thing could be used successfully as a biological weapon. Locally - the skin is very obviously inflamed and sore, redness and even after last night bleeding (after 9 packets of a a treatment of 24). I am now going to pause and will be treating with Neosporin. The worst thing about it is that Aldara does work on the warts, so i feel stuck using it. I noticed a difference after the 2nd use, initially my foreskin got very red and inflamed which kinda covered the warts so i could not really estimate if the were there or with the same number or size. But in between treatments I can now see that Aldara has reduced them to about 40-50% in number and may be and even more in size (some are absolutely tiny now). This medication is horrible but it does work.

[sarah]

i have been using aldara for two weeks now for genital warts, so far two of them are totally gone and the rest of them are significantly smaller.i only use a very, very small amount, that is all that is needed. the only side effect that i have encountered so far is a small sore that is annoying and hurts a little bit, but isn't really too painful. The side effects are probably different for everyone, it's definatly worth a try.

[Tracy]

I just used aldara for six days on my lower lip. Became a little sick on day 4, by day 6, I was horribly ill. Headache, fever, joint pain, ringing ears. My lips are three times their true size and riddled with white pustuel scars. Eating was almost imposible. Spent 4 days in bed.
Very upset I was not warned about this!

[Brett]

Am in 6th wk of Aldara cream on a BCC on back of my shoulder. After 2 weeks of 7 days per wk, doc said it was optimal. At 4 wks of 7 days per wk, he cut me back to 3 days per wk as it was working too well. Scabs have fallen off and is now just red with an outline of where the BCC was.
Side effects: day after I started I had a bout of diarrhea (maybe not related), have had a general feeling of being down/tired the whole time but not too bad. No burning or pain at all at the site. When switching from 7 days to 3 days, have felt worse, almost like withdrawal. Have had some hair loss this past two wks. At xmas my sister was comparing my full head of hair to her husband's which is thinning and I had zero hair loss. Now I am 50% of the way to him very quickly. No question it was the Aldara but I guess it is a roll of the dice, does not seem to happen to most.
With a choice between a 3 inch excision in that location and Aldara, I would go Aldara at a lesser dose - the hair might grow back.

[Mikey]

I used aldara to treat some warts I had in my anal region. The warts did go away, and I stopped using the cream after 5 months. Now, my skin, not even around that area, but on my body: specifically my armpit, chest and face are getting these little blister like legions that scar and look like burns. I stopped using the cream for about a week, and i'm starting to think this is my immune system reacting to me stopping usage. This is highly embarassing and i'm hoping that in a few days all this will stop happening. Anyone else have this happen?

[Mikey]

3 months rather, not 5.

[Dena]

I've been using Aldera for 2 weeks now and I feel very tired. I'm using it to treat a skin caner spot on my chest. My neck is also sore on the same side of the cancer. I've been reading that you are not supposed to use Aldera on broken or burned skin. But before applying Aldera to my skin cancer, my doctor burned the skin first! Why would this be a risk factor if Aldera causes pussing and bleeding anyway. Is the skin not an open wound then? I keep applying it every night on my open wound which is open and bleeding. Should I be concerned?

[sylvia]

Umm, I would be. Check out the forum at this link. http://www.topix.com/forum/drug/aldara/TH5FFQ...
This forum saved my life. I would read up on this stuff if you havent already. Good luck. I wish you the best.

[sylvia]

Dena, go to the most recent posts. You'll see there what others have gone thru. I found it very helpful seeing that I was not the only person suffering from this drug. Evidently there are some people that do well with aldara, others not so well. I was one that didnt do well. Some interesting posts are on the forum.

[Gretchen]

My son's torso was covered with the warts. I used aldara, and he had no adverse side effects, and they all went away. My daughter had a few on her knee, and after a few weeks they went away also.

I am currently using Aldara on skin cancers on face and shoulders, and feel terrible, although I do think it is working. Spots cropped up in other over-exposed areas and I apply to those spots as well.

I am not doubting any of the horror stories, it just seems that unless you are experiencing problems, you wouldn't go to the internet to check similar experiences, and those are the ones that get reported. I hope and pray that the Aldara is my true miracle medicine for all my bcc's.

cathy wrote:

my son has numerous warts on his hands. Primarily on his left hand (he is right handed). He is in the third grade and this started when he was in prek. The Dr's keep telling me not to worry that it is a vius etc..... He had several small warts burned off of his face and in his nose when he was in prek and he did great. He had no warts on his hands at that time. Since burning them off and getting these new ones his new dermatologist has prescribed Aldara. I have not heard too much success with chn and using this product. We are now in our fourth day and he is not having any side effects what so ever. Is there anyone with a success story. I am sure that in time they will go away on their own but other children can and are so mean. I hurt of rhim even when he says that he is okay. We can not hide it under clothing and it is out there everyday. I would love to hear from someone with success.

[Tiggier]

Robyn_D wrote:

I have done four days of Aldara -- very similar situation to yours, Ram. Dermo said doing a Mohs on my spot squamous cell carcinoma in situ (just below lower lip) would be disfiguring because the size is large. So I'm trying 5x week for 6 weeks.
Dermo told me to put it on my lip (even though literature said not to), and because my upper lip touches this area, my upper lip has developed what feels like a huge painful canker sore. Both upper and lower lips are swollen. Eating, laughing, talking and brushing my teeth are far less than fun. I also got flu-like symptoms, including headaches, body aches and tiredness. Tylenol seems to help those to the point where they are fairly tolerable. Today my lymph in jaw on the treated side hurt also.
Not sure how long I'll be able to tolerate, but my dermotologist said the flu-like symptoms might get better in a couple of weeks, so I'll try to stick it out at least until then, and then as long as I can. Six weeks doesn't seem long, except on Aldara time. Still, if it makes surgery without extensive reconstruction possible, I'll be incredibly grateful.

Just curious if the person who posted the above could reply and let me know the outcome. I have the EXACT same symptoms - just started using Aldara a week ago. I would love to know if your sores healed properly, flu symptoms went away, etc...

Thanks.

[Jeanette]

I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma weeks ago. My dermatologist prescribed Aldara. I used it for three weeks, five nights and then weekends off. After three weeks I started to feel like I was getting sick. No one at the doctors office even told me that this could happen! I called them and told them and they told me to ease off of it and then commence again for five more weeks three nights a week. I started back again on Monday, today being Wed. Am scared that this time I'll get so sick I might have to quit my job! Besides feeling like I'm getting the flu, sometimes I feel like vomiting and I'm driving my husband nuts because I'm so nervous. What to do, what to do...

[Susan B]

I thought that Aldara was going to be a miracle drug for AK on my left cheek and tiny spot on my chest. I've been on a every other day schedule for a little over 3 weeks. The size of treatment area has grown to now be much larger, itching, bleeding, scabby and oozing sores were somewhat expected based upon the pics my dermatologist showed to me. But what was totally unexpected was the headaches, back ache, muscle weakness, fatigue, and nausea. It has been really deabilitating. Did not connect this originally, just thought I must have the flu or something. I have decided to stop using Aldara to see if these adverse reactions subside. Not sure if this means I should feel better right away or not. I would appreciate knowing others outcome after stopping early.

[Sandy]

I'm going to be applying to area very close to eye and am afraid my eye will water at night and get the Aldara in my eye. My doctor didn't seem concerned about this. Scheduled to use three times a week. Has anyone used this during the day instead of at night? The skin lesion is about 1/4 inch from the corner of my eye. Please comment.

[Yvonne]

Sandy wrote:

I'm going to be applying to area very close to eye and am afraid my eye will water at night and get the Aldara in my eye. My doctor didn't seem concerned about this. Scheduled to use three times a week. Has anyone used this during the day instead of at night? The skin lesion is about 1/4 inch from the corner of my eye. Please comment.

I have malignant melanoma in situ, right at the corner of my left eye. I am trying Aldara first and hoping to avoid what would be a very disfiguring surgery because I would lose my lower eyelid. I've used it for about 32 days and will do a total of 90 treatments. The scabs and sores are bearable because I know it means the treatment is effective. The worst part has been that my eyes did water and burn about 10 minutes after the ointment was applied, and my eye is very red and irritated. I went to the ophthamologist and got some drops and it's getting better. My doctor suggested putting a very thin layer of vaseline just below my lower eyelid to form a barrier. I found some swabs in the makeup department at Walmart that have a pointed end and it is good for applying the vaseline and the ointment. Good luck!

[Jan]

My 84 year old mother had been using the Aldara cream on her scalp due to BCC. Her blood pressure has sky rocketed. As high as 230 for th top number. Did any of you using this cream experience this? Her internal medicine doctor increased her blood pressure medicine in the AM and PM. Neither doctor wants to say the Aladar caused her high blood pressure. She used it for 60 days, every day (I think?) she went back to her dr and asked him to let her take some time off. Her 30 days of being off it is over and I am afraid he is going to get her to start it all over again. The top of her scalp looks terrible-scabs all over the top. I don't think she was washing the cream off properly every night. Can anyone give me some advice. I am taking her to see her doctor this Monday.

[kate]

I've used Aldara for two weeks for bcc on my face and developed an itchy rask on my chest and arm--anyone have this reaction?

[mike]

Are you insane. Follow the directions. apply once every three days!. You're penis must be red!

rob white wrote:

I have been using aldara cream for 2 weeks ( 5 days a week ) and am experiencing considerable redness in facial areas where I had actinic keratoses. looking at pictures on the net of mild, moderate and severe reactions to aldara, I would appear to be in the upper mild category. I don't consider this redness to be an adverse reactions as I understand that it simply means that the medication is working. I have had no other reaction.

[anonymous]

I feel the need to comment here, because prior to starting treatment the comments here scared me half to death.

I was diagnosed with penile squamous cell carcinoma in situ a bit over a year ago. I have been using Aldara every other day for the past 5 weeks, as part of a 6 week course of treatment (suggested treatment course is generally 6 - 12 weeks) prescribed by my dermatologist.

It is not fun. It is not near fun. It itches, it burns, skin falls off, it gets very delicate and raw, and there is nothing that can be done about it. But it is not the medicine doing that, it is your own immune system doing what it should have been doing all along, fighting the legions (cancer, wart, whatever). Think of it as your body performing surgery on itself. If you're considering Aldara treatment, odds are you've already had physical surgery, and are aware of what that's like (I had 3 courses of surgery prior).

It is not an internal treatment. Any overall physical symptoms are either due to adverse reaction to the drug (which cannot be anticipated by your doctor), or to you not washing your hands well enough after applying it. I have the depression that a few commenters have cited, but guess what, I have penile cancer. That's rather depressing wouldn't you say?

Hang in there! It will get better! This drug can help, but only if you let it. The best medicine is the belief that you will overcome.