Another summer of being ashamed to wear open toe sandals. If you have toenail fungus, you know exactly what I mean. I share the following so that others can get a better feel for the treatments that I have personally tried.
First, I tried Lamisil. Twice (2 complete courses of treatment), several years apart. Both times, the nail fungus cleared but the toenail fungus came back several months later, albeit slowly.
Second, I tried Sporanox. It did not work as well as Lamisil but it did help a lot. But again, toenail fungus came back.
A few years passed since my last oral medication. I read up as much as I could to see if there were any other options. Maybe in a few more years, but not now. So I turned to boards like this to digest as much info on alternative treatment options (Vicks, vinegar, oils of all kinds, etc.). Finally, I decided to go with Penlac (FDA approved nail lacquer). The scientific data on the treatment was less than impressive, but I figured it was better than trusting some homeopathic medicine with only anecdotal evidence. I thought going through like 3-6 months of earnest effort with a homeopathic alternative without any success would probably make me feel really bad for a long time.
So for about 4 months, I faithfully clipped off as much toenail as possible (in really bad areas, not hard to take off down to skin-like portions using a giant nail clipper), sanded (weekly) with sand paper to allow for good absorption, and applied Penlac every night. The result? Not too bad. Penlac is supposed to be applied for 12 months, so I'm only about 1/3 into the protocol, but already my big toe is almost normal looking. Gone are the ugly yellow and white cruddy areas. 8 toes look normal, the left toe looks 99% normal, and the right toe, only the left edge still has some issues. I realize Penlac does not have great data backing it up, but I think that is a mycological data interpretation -- yes, the fungus is probably still there in my toes, Penlac did not kill it all and fungus will come back when I stop. But my feeling is that this treatment is at least making the toes look good for the time being. I reversed the problem and maybe I can keep it looking normal until they figure out a better treatment, e.g. topical lamisil, topical lamisil + sporanox combo, totally new drug, etc.
Anyway, feel free to post questions. I'll do the best I can to field them.
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