I am a 42 yo female who loves the sun and had many bad sunburns as a child and teenager. I had a few dry, scaly spots on my face so I went for a skin cancer check and a dermatologist appt. She prescribed .5% carac for 28 days, once a day only on affected areas. During the first week, dark reddish areas appeared which are now sloughing. This started in week two and now I am at week three. I have had no pain, discomfort or sensitivity. I can wash my face and wear makeup. I am hoping this is working after I read about others' horror stories.

I was put on a 14 day Carac program that ends tomorrow, thankfully!! I am a 48 year old female, blond, blue-eyed and have spent 30 years baking in the Florida sun. I am now, thanks to my Carac experience, an advocate for daily suncreen use. It's been so helpful to read these posts and know that what I've experienced is not unusual. I've had the sensitive burning eyes, fatigue and irritation. I have not needed any pain reliever. The first few days were uneventful. By day 5, 6 and 7 I looked like I had a bad sunburn. Day 8 and on (where I am right now), well... I look like I have a terrible sunburn combined with a terrible case of acne. Not pretty, but it sure beats undergoing scalpel treatment in the future! I was told by my derm that it targets only the precancerous cells and she was right. My forehead, usually covered by bangs or a visor, is almost clear while the rest of my face is covered with red/brown patches. I just keep telling myself that this is ONLY TEMPORARY!!! I have found 100% shea butter helped ease the tightness and didn't burn.

46 yr. old male. Have been on Carac 0,5% 7 days out of 14. Fortunately, no real negative side effects, except slight headache. No hair loss except the area around A.K. spot on my arm. Some days A.K. spot looks like new skin if forming. Other days, A.K. spot is scabby & peeling or even patchy just like it was PRIOR to starting Carac Cream, almost like the Rx Cream is not working at all. From all the posts from people who have used it more than 2 weeks, its obvious that you need to use AT LEAST 2 weeks or more.

I am using carac cream on my chest. I am a 45 year old female with a permanent redness on my chest which I have had for years. I used it twice a day for two weeks. It didnt start showing effect till about day 6 or 7. Lots of burning especially during showering. I found taking baths and not wetting the area best, except with a damp cloth. This would clean it and take the burning away temporarily but then when I removed the cloth it would burn worse. Nights were miserable, having trouble sleeping. Very painful. Now the scabs are coming off but oozing. I am now using a prescription ointment called Fluocinonide twice a day for two weeks. It is suppose to heal it and it helps with the pain although I cant wear any clothes on top of it since they stick to it. Been on the ointment for a week. Still hurts. Wonder how long it takes to heal. Can't go in the sun at all. Wondering how long before it completely heals. Have to do my arms this winter. Not looking forward to this at all. Has anyone else used this ointment?

I am an 84 year old male. This evening will be the 21st day of my use of carac. I am a mining engineer and have spent many hours outside. I also was an officer on a Navy ship in during WWII the south pacific and spent many hours on the flying bridge as watch officer. My doctor told me I had AK on my face, ears and arms.

This evening will be my 21st day of application. My face is dry and cracking. It feels more like sandpaper than skin. I have spots of bleeding all over my face. It's been rather uncomfortable--I have experienced redness, burning sensations, itch, and difficulty in sleeping. After about 8 days my face I experienced flaking of skin off my face, no peeling. My face looks terrible and has polka dot appearance with all the scabs from bleeding.
Tomorrow I see my doctor and I hope she will tell me I am finished with my treatment. The treatment hasn't been too pleasant, but if it cures my AK I will be satisfied.

John

Carac works well. I use it at night since skin does lots of repair work at night. It is also better to be out of the sun. It takes about 5 days before reaction appears. I can usually tolerate for about 2 weeks on face and longer on hands before I need to stop (inflammation and soreness). Skin then calms down in a few days and heals over a 2-3 week period. You will see the difference. Limit exposure to sun. ALWAYS use a good sunscreen.

I'm a 44 year old female who spent summers on the beach for my youth. Just applied my first dose of a two week treatment _ naturally, there are no negative effects yet. After procrastinating about doing this treatment for two years, I finally got scared into by my doctor. THere just never seemed to be a time when I could bear to hide away for a couple of weeks. She suggested I try doing sections of my face, so I'm starting with the area with the worst damage - my forehead. Has anyone tried dealing with the treatment in this way? I'm afraid if I do my entire face at once, I'll give up before finishing the two weeks; but if i do it in sections, I wonder if I'll ever get the other areas done if the forehead experience is as miserable as it sounds like it could be. I appreciate the encouragement from these posts to just get it done....I wish I weren't so darn vain and wimpy!

I am a 22 year old female with red hair and the lightest skin in the world. Though I have been insane about sunscreen my whole life (thanks to my over protective mother who never let me leave the house without it) I have cut down on my risk immeasurably.

Still, I know I have a larger risk because of my coloring to develop skin cancer later in life, so when my derm. prescribed Carac for flat warts on my face, I asked her if I could use it on my whole face and arms.

I am going on day 14 and the reaction is unbelievable. Thank goodness for forums like this or I would have thought my skin was falling off. I remember before the Carac when the Derm was using liquid nitrogen and I was so scared to leave the house for 48 hours with small red marks on my face.

Now I look like some sort of monster! Thankfully I have been able to cover up the redness with makeup, but the scaliness remains - have not received comments yet although I am a teacher.

I know this week will be the worse, last night I could not sleep, and I can't imagine the pain being any worse. But I am SO thankful to this medication for getting rid of the sun damage I have.

I am a 61 year old man. I spent 25 years in the military so i was in the sun a lot. I have very fair skin, blue eye and am bald so my head got burned a lot over the years. I have been on the Carac treatment for 8 days. The first 3-4 days I wanted to go crazy due to the iching and burning. my condition is getting better. I am not sure how long I will be in treatment as the original plan was two weeks. The follow up with my Dr will be telling. The postings here have been God sent. Thank you to all that have posted their history for advice and encouagement.

My second post here. Wanted to provide an update. After 2 weeks of treatment I saw my derm who told me I could stop since the carac had worked well on many AKs. The two weeks of treatment weren't that bad. I had some itchiness and reddness on my forehead and temples. My nose and upper lip area took a bit longer to show up red. I have been off carac for about 3 days. My face is peeling and still red and irritated but I use aquaphor at night and spf tinted foundation to cover up. The peely skin with make-up is not very attractive but the rough red skin seems worse...... Can't wait to look normal again.

I am a 46 year old female, fair, burned a lot as a child. Noticed 2 small scaliness patches on my forehead. Dr. tried to nitrogen off, but they came right back. On day 9 of what I hope is the 14-day regimen. Dr. explained this is like hydrogen peroxide in that what 'shows up' are the infected areas. I HAD NO IDEA how many infected areas were on my forehead and temples. I look awful, but aside from dryness and a bit of itching no other side effects...quite tolerable. Hope I am putting enough on

I have used carac for 26 days on my face (just a few more days to go) The first week was minimal redness, and of course a lot of redness, and I mean a lot followed. I had no problem with the product. Other than explaining to every person I met what was wrong with my face----I found it to be easy to us and without complications. Well, there was that ugly face to deal with. I'm anxious for the healing process to start.