Fluorouracil fatigue
Ima experiening major fatigue after six weeks of treatment...its been 2 months and the fatigue has not stopped.is this normal???
I’m sorry to hear you’re still feeling so fatigued. While you wait for other community members to share their experience, I thought you may find this article of interest https://skincancer.net/life-with-skin-cancer/efudex-covid19. For your safety, we cannot offer medical advice as we are not medical professionals. If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to reach out to your doctor about your ongoing fatigue. Sending positive vibes and well wishes, Julie (team member) Hi, I have tried many times to use fluoroucil and feel too ill to continue. The blistering doesn’t bother me, it is the fatigue that I get just from covering just small lesions, not a large area. The dermatologist said that I have a systemic reaction unfortunately. I feel like I have flu whilst using it and it triggers my migraines. I can’t use it now. Was prescribed Aldara but was worse with that. It could be something to do with DPD deficiency. Cancer patients who are prescribed this drug for IV are supposed to have a test to see if they have this deficiency but they don’t do the test for topical use. Out of interest are you highly sensitive to medications because I am.
Hi,
I hate to hear of the reaction you experienced with both of those meds. Has there been something else you’ve found that doesn’t give you a reaction like that?
I had never heard of DPD deficiency—that’s interesting. Even though you had the topical medication, is this something you could or have been tested for, based on the reaction you had?
Thank you for joining the conversation here!
All the best,
Christina, SkinCancer.net Team
I’m in the UK and NHS dermatology care here is abysmal unless you go private. They don’t test for DPD deficiency for topical fluoroucil but if you had this for IV cancer chemo they should do this test before you start. However apparently this is rarely done until you have a life threatening reaction. From what I’ve read on this forum the care you get in the US is thorough, but I know you need to pay a lot of health insurance for this type of care. Makes me sad to think that there are less wealthy people unable to afford skin cancer care.
