difficult to tell but i can't really see any sign of improvement.. I went to another doctor yesterday because I was feeling dizzy and when I left work the previous day totally forgot how to get to my bus stop!! which freaked me out.

She said it usually takes a minimum of 6 months before you begin seing any improvement.. and buggered if I'm going to be taking terbinafine orally for that period of time after the horror stories I read on askpatient.com.

thanks heaps for the tip off!! much appreciated.. off to buy some vinigar now.

I have slight fungus on the corner of my big toe and i have decided to use tea tree oil to treat it. But I want to get a pedicure and paint my nails to cover up the fungus (since I will be going back to college and am embarrased by my fungus since it will be exposed in the bathrooms, etc...). Will having my nails covered in polish effect the tea tree oil treatment? Will it not fully absorb the oil? Thanks!

Nail polish very effectively seals in the moisture, which your fungus will love. Can you put a bandaid on your toenail? That's what I do. I know it's not a great solution, but the nail polish will accelerate the infection.

we have in france a new advertising for a cream named "lamisilate" which is supposed to treat fungus with only one shot ! Is it reasonnable to think that the sides effects are less dangerous with a cream or should that be the reason why its sold only for a one shot use and not for longer treatments knowing that its sold without any doctor control . j'm glad to find your post because j wanted to use this cream...

In doing a google search for Lamisil cream, it appears that it is not effective on nails. Its uses are for skin.

I believe that Spunkieblondie is correct about the polish. The bandaids aren't great, but they are better than nothing. I did see something on the internet yesterday about Avon instant pedicure dry nail enamel strips. I'm not sure how they work, but they may be removeable and okay for short periods of time. I cut my large toenails back so far, that until the nails grow some the nail enamel strips wouldn't really help me much. If you try them, post your opinion on them. Good luck!

For a huge night out, which in my world, is once a year at the company Christmas party--I polish my toenails and 5 hours later, I take it off. I not only have to use bandaids to keep the olive oil in place, but take it from me, my toenails of black and brown just ain't pretty! People would be absolutely horrified to see them--recoiling in disgust!

Hi Amy,

Thank you so much for your posting, your continued advice, and your moderation of this list!

I was wondering how bad your husband's fungus was. One of my big toenails is completely gone -- nail always tries to grow in, but is weakened by the fungus, and so I cut it back down again.

I started vinegar a few weeks ago (and also hydrogen peroxide), but I don't see progress. I am wondering if my case is perhaps too severe, so I was hoping you could comment on whether your husband's toenail was fully gone when he started treatment.

Sincerely,
Giada
ps. For anyone else whose nail was fully gone: please comment on what treatment worked for you!

Even if the vinegar was working, it may very well take a month or more to see results. What you're doing is adding vinegar to the part of the nail that hasn't even been made, it's not even visible, it's behind the cuticle.
Btw, how long have you had your fungus infection? I have a 35 yr old infection and sometimes it appears that I make progress and then other times, my progress is reversed. I have been treating mine for 1 yr. and 9 months. I am doing multiple therapies and spending a lot of time, each day. And I think quite frankly, that it is worse than I started! It's very frustrating.

Hey-don't despair. You said that you knew that the ozonated olive oil worked if you kept it up. You have honestly been a lot of encouragement to me. This is such an up and down type of nasty affliction. I'm doing a lot more of the really, really hot water and epsom salts. When my toes are semi-burning, I just picture the little evil sh**s suffering and I chuckle. It may not help, but it makes me feel better. BTW-have you noticed that dropping off the alcohol has made any difference?

I can't say that I noticed any difference without the alcohol, at least for my fungus anyway. I think it may help with the candida, which is fungus related. It helps with brain fog. I did lose some ground with the ^%$#$% fungus and it was just tonight that I think I hit on why. Of course, it's hard to know definitively... I think it had been a while that I washed my athletic shoes with bleach. In fact, just last Saturday, as soon as I put them on, I noticed that tingle. So who knows how many times I wore them previously and they could have been re-infecting me! So now I am going to try to wash them with bleach before they start tingling me. But I just discovered several things that I wanted to share with everybody. I do multiple therapies, but I just recently added hydrogen peroxide to the mix. The sequencing is what is so unusual. Twice a day, I typically do my white distilled vinegar along the 3 toe edges, followed by the decolorized iodine. But just the other day, I took a q-tip of hydrogen peroxide and swabbed around the 3 edges. IT TURNED BLACK! I use a clean q-tip for each toe. Then just last night I did something that I haven't done before, also. Previously, I have been using the 1% clotrimazole under my toenail, with my feet vertical, twice a day. But last night I covered the toenail surface with the clotrimazole. This morning I did the same--clotrimazole over the toenail surface. Then I followed with using the Clorox Bleach pen, which comes out as a bluish gel. I put the gel all over the toenail surface, on top of the clotrimazole and the gel turned BLACK! These two remedies of the two combined remedies are very interesting to me. Separately, they didn't have that reaction. The iodine alone didn't turn it black. But the peroxide did! The clotrimazole didn't turn the toenail black, but the bleach gel did. But the bleach gel alone doesn't turn the nail black by itself. So, clearly, it is the synergistic effect!
How is it going with the filing?

Thanks for your comment. I have had it for over four years. I have tried topical antifungal ointments, and I also tried Tea Tree oil for months.

Now I'm trying vinegar and hydrogen peroxide.

Was your toenail completely gone when you started treatment? Have you ever used something that worked?

I forgot to mention, I am also now taking a multivitamin, as well as biotin, to speed nail growth.

I take a multivitamin. Periodically, I take the biotin. I can't really say for sure that the biotin is doing anything, which is why I have stopped taking it every day.
I've always had my nail. It's discolored and very ugly. I have to have it covered with a bandaid.
I can tell that many things that I do, work. Individually, they all work--I can see that. But what is most striking is that in direct combination, they seem to work even better.
It's just so frustrating. 2 steps forward, 1 back. Just when you think you're making progress, the damn fungus grows toward the base. And it doesn't help that the nail grows so slowly.
With my infection being 35 years, doesn't help. It is obviously firmly entrenched. Who knows if I will be successful. I've worked on it for 1 year and 9 months and haven't been successful. It's like a part time job for me. My other toenail is about 5 years old. I guess at this point that I might only have a shot at getting rid of the newer toenail.
I was hopeful to get rid of it during the sandal days of summer. Once winter comes, I'll have to have my feet enclosed and that is counterproductive!

The filing is actually coming along pretty well. I bought a cheap-o rotary filing thingy from Walmart. It has attachments that help me to file the edges down. I think that the bands of red were from filing too long in the same place with a bulky filing board. The rotary is much better to pin point hard to get at areas. I recommend it.

The new stuff you have noticed is interesting. Is the turning black a good thing? If you don't get it is that a bad thing? I guess there are several forms of this %&$@! fungus, so I suppose that they could all react differently.

I have just been at this two months, and I am overall happy with results.

For the last two days, I've been filing. But I am not so sure I am doing a great job. What's that thing called? What department is it in? Surely it doesn't say fungus blaster! :) What's it for? Because some say to file and others say not to file, I did do a google search and used the keywords, toenail fungus debridement podiatry. I wanted to see if the feet specialist support filing. And sure enough, I found a study where they actually drilled holes (hopefully not all the way through!) and then used 1% clotrimazole. In 80% of the patients were successful! I think turning black is a good thing. To me it means that the fungus died. I did the clotrimazole and bleach gel pen this morning and they didn't turn black. Let me know how I can get that rotary thingy. How much is it?

The rotary thingy is by HoMedics and is around $20 and in the store it was in the section with the manicure stuff. They had one for about $10. I chose the more expensive because it could be recharged and had a AC adapter with it. I figured I could easily save the difference in batteries with the job I have ahead of me. This also has different attachments for fingers and toenails. I had the center of the nails pretty filed down with the bulky filing board that I was using. This one helps get in the sides and other little places. It has a neat little brush attachment to help clean out the debris. I think I will pass on drilling a hole through the nail--ouch. Still doing the soaks, ACV, OOO and clotra-whatever. I worry about putting the clotra cream & the OOO as they keep moisture in the area. One of the clotra companies makes it in a gel, but it is pretty expensive. Do you think it would make a difference? I guess before it's all over with I will try it. Oh-I am also adding baking soda to water twice a day to try to change my body PH. Also some deal with milk and apples. I'll let you know. Good luck!

We don't have a Wal-Mart near us. I did a google search for Homedics and it indicated that their manicure kit is sold at Target.
I would never drill holes in my toenail. The only way I would even consider it, is if a podiatrist did it!
As far as the clotrimazole gel, I've never heard of it. I would think it might stay on the nail better. How much is it and where do you buy it?
And what's the deal about milk and apples? Are you familiar with the book called The Fungal Link by Doug Kaufmann? It's interesting reading. There is an antifungal diet which is very limiting.
I sure hope I can get rid of the fungus on my one toenail, but I am more skeptical regarding the 35 year old fungal big toe. :(

Ill take a look at that book. I got The Biochemical Machine-Empowering Your Body. It's about achieving a balance by diet. It is also pretty restrictive. I did get a few ideas, but it recommends milk and apples for breakfast to cleanse your body. I can't tell any difference yet, but I probably won't be trying much else from the book. I'm convinced that the PH balance is very important and is going to be a long term factor in keeping this $%^##! fungus gone once we succeed in cleaning up what is present.

My latest addition to my fight against fungus--sunshine! Yesterday I sat in the sun with my tootsies in full sun for about 45 minutes. And as I write this, my toes are in full sunlight. Just today alone I did, two drops of distilled vinegar, iodine, hydrogen peroxide swabbing, ozonated olive oil, clotrimazole, Clorox bleach pen, & straight bleach! And now more time devoted to the fight--time in the sun! Actually, only my knees and below are in the sun. I've got to take advantage of this nice weather, not every day in Northern California has nice weather!