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Short answer Living with aminolevulinic acid treatment: what to watch for Common questions Related questions Sources**Most side effects of aminolevulinic acid are local skin reactions where it was applied plus a short period of extreme sensitivity to light.**
Aminolevulinic acid only becomes active when light hits it, so the reaction you feel is the treatment working on sun-damaged cells. With the topical forms used for actinic keratoses, expect stinging or burning during the light session, then redness, swelling, scaling, and crusting for several days to a few weeks. Your treated skin stays very light sensitive for roughly 40 hours, including bright indoor lamps and light through windows, so sunscreen alone is not enough and clothing plus shade matter more. The oral form given before brain tumor surgery has a different profile, including nausea, chills, low blood pressure, and liver enzyme changes. Call your clinician if blistering spreads, pain keeps rising after day three, or you see pus, spreading warmth, or fever.
Living with aminolevulinic acid treatment: what to watch for
Common questions
What are the side effects of Aminolevulinic acid?
Aminolevulinic acid is activated by light. Applied to the skin (Levulan Kerastick, Ameluz) for actinic keratoses, it commonly causes stinging, burning, redness, swelling, itching, scaling, and crusting at the treated area during and after the light session, usually settling over days to a few weeks. Your skin and eyes stay strongly light sensitive for about 40 hours, so stay out of sunlight and bright indoor light and cover the area. The oral form (Gleolan), used to help surgeons see glioma tissue, can cause nausea, vomiting, chills, low blood pressure, raised liver enzymes, and about 48 hours of photosensitivity.