Nonyx Nail Gel: Part 2
This is a followup to my first post: Nonyx Nail Gel. It’s gotten so many comments that it’s hard to sort through them.
Please make followup comments here.
And don’t forget to read the original post and other related posts including Fungal Nail Infection Treatment and Zetaclear.
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There are many discussions about nail fungus going on on my blog. Search my blog for the word “fungus” for more.
Hello everyone. I found this website by searching for Nonyx Gel. I decided to try it out because of the before and after pictures on the bottle. I have been using the gel for about 30 days so far and there is a TREMENDOUS improvement in my toenails. I haven’t been following the directions religiously, but I have applies at least one treatment most every day since buying the product at Rite-Aid. The two big toenails are starting to grow clean now, and I can see a pink healthy color underneath the toenail! It will probably be another two months before they completely grow out, but there is already a huge difference. The smaller toenails that are infected are less-noticeable, but I can tell a difference. I guess I will have to wait and see what happens with them.
When I started the Nonyx treatment, it wasn’t only the toenails that looked yucky, but the skin around and between my toes. I have always had athletes foot and decided to attack my toe problem with a two-pronged attack. After applying the Nonyx Gel I would spray a liberal dose of Tinactin all over the foot. The white scaley skin around the toenails is now gone and the whole foot just feels better.
The first few treatments with Nonyx caused a small amount of pain It wasn’t enough to put me off and didn’t really cause me any discomfort, but it was noticeable. If there is any open skin around the toenail from trimming then you will definitely feel it. Also, for whatever reason, it’s only the big toes that register any pain unless there is open skinn on one of the smaller toes. Weird.
Anyway, thank you Lee for starting this blog!
Hi all, well I just got my second pedicure and my feet look great.I used the gel for at least9 months.My two big toenails were thick but now normal thickness.But I contineud to put under the nail and I had a space between nail and nail bed.I got a pedicure 1 month ago and again today and have not used gel for 1 month.My nails looked just as good today when nail polish was removed as 1 month ago.I am so happy to have red pretty toenails and not be embarresed by them.Good luck to all.
Hi All,
I am a podiatry student who has struggled with toenail and a thumbnail fungus for several years. I have tried several different topical solutions, because I want to avoid the oral meds. We are taught in school that only oral meds will work, but I haven’t entered the clinical years of training yet. But I know that many of the topicals will help control the fungus, but won’t get rid of it. So I pulled my thumbnail out and have been applying a topical antifungal to it since. I tried vinegar early on but it only irritated the area where the nail had been removed, so I have been using a topical antifungal instead. Now at 75% grown out, it has been clear, but is starting to get white, brittle, and jagged at the end. Since I want to avoid oral meds, I bought some Nony X today and will see if it helps. I think the current whitening and jagged edge of the thumbnail may be more structural-keratin related rather than fungal as there is a dip in the nail bed near the end of the nail, but I’m not sure about this. I’m encouraged by the posts, will let you know how it goes.
While I haven’t read all of the comments here yet, I wanted to comment on tea tree oil. It is powerful stuff. Not really understood or studied much yet. We used it for an alternative lice treatment in the form of tea tree oil shampoo and conditioner. Supposedly completely safe. Smelled good so we continued with it for several months after we no longer needed it for lice. Long story short….one of my son had his hair start falling out. We didn’t make the connection so continued to use the shampoo. Son was diagnosed with alopecia areata–unexplained hair loss. Within 6-8 months almost all of his hair had fallen out. Went to state children’s hospital to a doctor who was a bit of a sleuth and very interested in my son’s case. Doctor suspected tea tree oil triggered my son’s alopecia and so he did a medical literature/study search on tea tree oil (melaleuca). He found that tea tree oil is a known “contact sensitizer”–meaning that many people will become allergic to it with repeated use. He was amazed about how little is known about tea tree oil and that what is known about it shows that it is a very, very potent substance whose properties are little understood. Yet it is out there pretty much unregulated and touted as completely safe.
All that is to say that many people develop allergy to it with repeated use. And that you need to be careful with it. It is very, very powerful stuff. If you have an allergic reaction to it, maybe it is best to back off using it.
What happened with my son is that he probably developed an autoimmune response to his own hair–jump started by his allergy to tea tree oil–which he used daily.
Hi, I have 20+ years of experience with this affliction.
I have tried most of what is listed on this blog.
..Except Nonyx. I will try.
BUT one comment might be useful. I used
wet sandpaper with a popsicle stick to sand my
nails down. With the right sandpaper, probably 220
grit, it files them down very quickly and they
looked 50% to 60% better immediately.
If they are very thick like mine, you may want to do
it in 2-3 sessions.
Use water with the sandpaper the first time. After the first
round, sand them dry.
It made mine look much better. Since they are then thinner,
it should also enable the medication to work better.
Good luck!
Hi! Very good blog and lots of great comments. I too suffer and started using Nonyx 2 months ago. I follow the same technique as Allen mentioned: filing/sanding down the nail (except I use a simple emory board). It definitely enhances the affect of the Nonyx for me and also my nails do not poke up anymore. I see new clear growth – about 1/8th inch since starting 2 months ago.
By the way, see the Xenna website for a $4 rebate coupon – no time limit.
http://www.xenna.com/xenna_coupons.html
I too can’t stress enough that you need to stick to the regimen: twice a day, EVERY DAY.
Thank you so much everyone for your great comments and suggestions! I read every single one of them and I am very encouraged. I recently came across the nonyx gel at walmart and came across this website while I am searching. I have used the nonyx for about a month but not as religiously as I should. I am going to start trying to do better. 2 of the nails that I used it on actually have mostly come off and look better. The rest of the nails are starting to pull away from the skin and I have been putting the gel underneath. I bought a manicure tool and I am trying to be better at pulling out the keratin debris as this seems to help. I hope some of this stuff actually works….like Lee said it is a long process and it is july now and I hope to be able to wear sandals and flip flops by next summer! I actually for a long time was painting my nails in an attempt to hide them and didnt know that it was actually making it worse! But thanks again for everyones comments. I will try to stop back in periodically and let everyone know how it is going. :)
I am just about to embark on my own nail fungus war! Only had fungus about two years now — went to the foot doctor who cut away a lot of the nail that was affected — I will be using the lamisil pills along with the Nonyx. For those of you who quoted the high cost of the Lamisil pills, please note Walmart has the generic version for $4.00 for a 30 day supply. Also, my doc told me to take the pill for seven days only, then stop taking it for eight weeks, then take for seven days again. Repeat cycle for one year. I have confidence this is the best course of treatment — seems like it will be much easier on my liver.. will let you know how it goes. Toe nail fungus be gone!!
Jennifer, good luck with the nail fungus war! Certainly attacking it with internal and topical medicines at the same time is a good plan.
Generic Lamisil: Excellent! A Lamisil treatment I took several years ago cost over $1,000. Your treatment will cost less than $30. I see that generic Lamisil, terbinafine hydrochloride was approved by the FDA in July of 2007. I hope it works.
I hope you come back in a year and tell us that it’s completely cured!
so the nonxy gel wont harm the good part of the nail? I dont want the part that is halfway decent looking to separate.
So far nonyx hasn’t harmed the good part of my nails (the lower half, new growth part). It seems only to work on the discolored part – keratin debris.
Terra, Nonyx works the same as vinegar because it IS vinegar. It won’t cure the systemic fungus but it’ll help with appearance and will reduce the topical infection.
Thanks guys. I have been using it…although not as much as I would like. I work a lot so my feet are sometimes in my shoes for 16 hours a day. Sometimes more. So it is hard to use it twice a day. I almost always put it on in the morning when I get out of the shower before I start to get ready. I usually have about 40 minutes before I have to put socks and shoes on. Seems to be working halfway decent! I just didnt want to ruin the better looking nails so I wasnt using it on those ones. I wish I had started this journey a long time ago.
I have been using nonyx nail gel since April and have completely clear, new growth on all of my nails. ( I feel comfortable in open toe shoes without painting my nails) I’ve had nail fungus for well over ten years. I’ve tried the soaking them in vinegar and with little kids running around the house it is hard to keep up with. I had managed, over the years, to get rid of it off of a nail here and there. When I started using the nonyx gel I had fungus on 7of 10 toe nail. I have found that this stuff works so well, at least for me, because it is a gel that stays on your nail. If I am correct about this, the vinegar (and the noyx gel) changes the ph level where ever it is applied which then makes it very difficult for the fungus to grow. it is may understanding that you have to be very diligent for a long time in applying it in the morning and the evening so that you can be constantly inhibiting fungus growth. This has really worked for me. I do make sure I put at the base on the nail (to inhibit fungus growth) as well as the tip to help soften the keratin build-up which the fungus just feeds on. I never thought I would have such clear nails again without trying one of the oral medications which I am afraid of.
Hello and thank you a thousand times for a great blog, this is one of the few really useful resources on the subject…. I am battling my fungus head on at the moment using my second treatment with internal lamilsil, plus I trim the nails down, use tea tree oil and vinegar, along with other stuff…..
For those who like to follow my battle, feel free to visit my new blog at http://battlenailfungus.blogspot.com/ . I plan to update and follow how effective my treatments are and also link to pages with useful information, such as this blog. Feel free to comment and input.
Thanks again for this blog, those who are new here, don’t forget to read through the old one.
Hey “Fungus”. I hope you do well with your treatments. I hope I can check back in a year and see photos of clear nails!
Thanks for all the info. I was just wondering how many of you work for the Xenna Corporation????? Anyway, they are doing laser treatments here (SD) for nail fungus. It takes only one/half hour of laser and the fungus is gone… zapped… killed completely! Only problem is the cost… $650.00 for the one treatment and an aftercare check. You still have to spray your shoes twice a day so as not to get re-infected. The worst part is that no insurance plans will cover the cost as they claim it is “cosmetic”!!
Annie, this is very intriguing! I googled “laser fungus” and found this NY Times article. This is exciting stuff!
Here are some other interesting snippets from this article titled “False Start on a Laser Remedy for Fungus”.
“…popular antifungal pills, which carry a small risk of liver damage, are completely successful less than half of the time. And a prescription lacquer, painted on the toenails daily for 48 weeks, has a complete cure rate of less than 10 percent…”
“…Six months after the initial [laser] treatment, about 76 percent of the volunteers had clear nail growth…”
>I was just wondering how many of you work for the Xenna Corporation?????
I am very diligent about only allowing what looks like legitimate comments on my blog. I don’t recall exactly but I think I removed just 1 comment saying something dumb like “WOW NONYX WORKS WONDERS!11!!!” That said, yes, it can be very difficult to tell if someone is quietly spamming. And heck, you have to trust me not to be a spammer. Hopefully you do :-)
I wish I did work for Xenna, then I wouldn’t have to send in these poxy $4.00 rebate coupons to get a discount on the stuff! And I don’t relish the prospect of having to pain my toenails with the stuff **forever**.
The Laser treatment sounds promising. I’m looking forward to hearing more firsthand reports. $650 is pretty steep, though! Makes you wonder how that figure was determined. Will definitely do more research.
lee after tracking with all your posts over the last 3 years im beginning to wonder if there is any hope at all for a full 100% restoration from fungus under the toenail (on the nail bed). like you, i have had problems for years and have tried everything under the sun. I looked at lamisil but not worth it in my opinion . Any luck on the whole lazer thing? Is that all there is left as far as hope of one day having perfect toe nails ( lazer “if it works?”) i have kept things under control, but would love some day to have normal nails. thanks for the posts.
I’ve been using NonyX for 1 week.
Still early to say anything. But I will you posted…
After reading all the postings (part 1 & 2), I feel that this will be a long battle….
I have been using NonyX for 6 months consistently (twice a day) and my nails are almost grown out. I had six completely infected toenails. Now, just the very tips are a bit raised, but to look at them, they look normal. All of my toenails are attached and clear; nothing but pink under the nail beds. I simply filed the top of the infected nails to thin them out a little; I did this once a month. I soak them once a week (in a vinegar/peroxide/hot water bath)and scrape out the keratin from under the tips. I think the peroxide kills bacteria in the water and also keeps my toenails bleached. I apply the NonyX in the morning, then at night. I make sure to remove my shoes and socks as soon as I get home and allow my toenails to breathe. If you are patient, this remedy will work for most anyone-I promise! :) When your nails start to look normal, you will be more likely to become paranoid about the fungus returning and you will be very consistent with sticking to this routine. Basically, NonyX is vinegar, but it is much easier than soaking your feet in vinegar for 30 minutes, twice a day. NonyX is in gel form and takes quite a while to dry, if you put it on thick. This allows for good penetration of the product to the nail bed. I have honestly tried every possible topical cure imagineable and this is the only one that has worked for me. I highly recommend the product. I bought mine at WalMart for about $20. Try my routine and tell me what you think! :)
I have had toenail fungus for over 15 years and now it seems to be spreading to my fingernails which is causing me a great deal of embrasement. I started using nonyx on my toenails about 5 days ago 3 toes on my right foot are really bad they don’t look like nails they are all yellow black and sharp, my left toe is the same. Since I started using nonyx the debris/nail have almost completely fall off and my big toe has been bleeding my pinkie and the next toe has been left with a burning feeling all day long so I have been trying to keep my shoes off as much as possible. When I do put on my shoes it hurts. because of the burning feeling. I dont’ know what degree of fungus everybody that is getting success has so I’m wondering if what is happening to me is normal or am I doing my harm to my toes because like I said I dont’ have any nail left on these 3 toes will it still be able to work and can anybody relate with what I’m feeling. Also should I put nonyx on my fingernails. I am so depressed about my condition can anybody help my answer some of my questions and share your success or failures so I know what to expect. Thank you
Maria, it sounds like the Nonyx has softened and removed so much keratin and gunk under your nail that it has exposed the bare nail bed. I can imagine this doesn’t feel good! This has happened to me to a much lesser extent. So now when you put the nonyx on, you’re essentially pouring vinegar onto an open wound… ouch!
I haven’t beaten my fungus but I’ve kept it at bay for a few years now (it is only on my right big toe, down from 8 toes and 2 fingers) so I’m no absolute authority on this. That said, since you’ve gotten down to bare nailbed, you’ve got a better chance at being able to apply an anti-fungal agent directly to the fungus which is at the base of the nailbed. I’ve been applying a few drops of grapefruit seed extract to my toe. This seems to have the same effect that vinegar and nonyx does. It has kept my infection at bay but it hasn’t gotten to the nailbed of my big toe. I haven’t had any stinging from the grapefruit seed extract, though your nailbed is more exposed than mine. You might try using it.
Or you can try not using any products for a few weeks. Getting that big glob of gunk out from under your nail is a big step. I believe (but I don’t know for sure) that your nail will start to grow back much better than it was previously growing.
Concerning your fingers…. I know, yuck! As I mentioned, I’ve been treating my toes with drops of grapefruit seed extract covered with bandages. That isn’t very attractive for use on fingers :-(. I haven’t ever used Nonyx but it might be the best choice for your fingers if it really looks like a nail polish. I’d say that you try that for a while and see how it goes. Fingernails react to treatment much faster than toes.
If you notice any signs of infection, go to a doctor! Signs of infection could be: swelling, redness, discoloration, one or more white lines under the skin going up your leg, soreness outside of the area of the nail, etc…
Good luck and tell us how it goes!
Hey Lee I just noticed that you responded to my comment but I wasn’t paying attention and I deleted because it went straight to my junk filter. If you still have the response you sent me can you resend it, please. So I can see what advice you had for me, thank you so much.
Maria
Maria, you can read my full response in the comments of this blog post. The email you received was an automated reposting of my comment. Keep us updated on how things go!
I fought toenail fungus for 2 years, trying tea tree oil, Vicks, and Listerine soaks with limited success. One day while shopping I noticed an array of products on the shelf and decided to try the most expensive (equated it to the most effective) which was Nonyx. I used it faithfully for 2 months, following directions, and noticed no improvement. In frustration I decided to double my efforts and use Listerine (original gold) soaks, followed by application of Nonyx. I did this whenever I was seated at home: during meals, on the computer, watching TV. I also filed my nail so it was thinner, cleaned under the nail frequently, lifted it to force Nonyx underneath. The nail soon fell off, exposing delicate pink tissue below, ouch. I continued treatment and noticed a huge improvement in 2 weeks. After one month of this rigorous treatment my nail looked healthy and was starting to regrow. It is not fully regrown yet, and I am continuing to soak and/or treat the nail at least once a day. I am extremely pleased to have a normal nail again, it was well worth the time devoted to treatment and worth more than the nominal cost of Nonxy. When combined with Listerine soaks, this is a very effective product.
It is wrong to state categorically that topical treatments don’t work for nail fungus. They sometimes work very well.
I discovered Nonyx gel after suffering for a couple of years with a sick big toenail. It got to the point where the nail broke in the middle and part of it got ingrown and infected. The doctor I saw verified that it was fungal, but didn’t hold out much hope of anything working, and I didn’t even ask him for the oral meds. I went to the drugstore, found Nonyx, cringed a little at the $25 pricetag but bought it and used it for about a year. I applied it religiously for the first month or two and then got more and more casual. The most important time to apply is right after a shower. The whole course of treatment used up about 5% of the bottle, so onto a shelf it went.
The toenail has been _completely fungus-free_ since then (about 4 years). Just recently I left my nail polish on too long and the other big toenail looked a little funky so I’ve started applying Nonyx, just a preemptive strike.
The key issue in the duration of topical treatment is how quickly your nails grow. Mine grow pretty quickly but even so, it took a long time. Also, people asked about pain. I found that my toe would start to ache a little bit if I got Nonyx on the skin, so I avoided that for the most part, just treating under the raised nail every now and then.
>It is wrong to state categorically that topical
>treatments don’t work for nail fungus
Barbara, no one has said anything of the sort. Please reread my post and the many comments.
I’ve been using nonyx for a couple of weeks now, I don’t see any difference yet but I have had this for over 15 years so my nails are such a mess.
I see people say that new pink growth at the cuticle is a good sign but I have never had this and I have used so many products.
I will keep you posted, this board gives me hope-thanks!
There are some tests that imply a link between fungal infections and depression. This is probably correct, but I believe it is not the fungus affecting the mind, but a normal reaction to having horrendous looking nails.
I am depressed.
After 6 months of oral terbinafine and topical tea tree oil application plus some other stuff my doctor decided that it simply wouldn’t work, and took me off the terbinafine without having much advice to give me on how to proceed. I started clearing out all excess keratin using a motor drill(!) and now apply pure vinegar religiously at least 2 times a day, and I took away the part of the cuticle that covers the nail so that some vinegar may be able to seep into the nail matrix.
Nothing happens, it just gets worse and worse and worse. =( my thumbnail has deteriorated really quickly in just a week and is now loosened all the way back to the cuticle. It may fall off in a few weeks.
I hate this crap and it makes me depressed and bitter. I don’t do drugs or abuse my body, so why me? How can it get worse and worse when I keep treating it? I’m starting to think the vinegar just makes the fungus happy. I may try something stronger like diluted chlorine, I read someone had reasonable success with chlorine.
I will force my doctor to put me back on the lamisil but then again, it evidently did not work last time. I just want to do what I can to prevent it from getting even worse. I am also thinking of having it scraped again and tested to see what exact breed of fungus I have, Candida and fungus spores react differently to different medications for example, and it could be interesting to know. Perhabs I am better of eating clotrimazole or griseofulvin?
I am also thinking of pulling all the bastards out. But it would put me out of work for many weeks, I need my hands.
Sorry for this whining, I just needed to vent. I hope everybody else have success stories to report. :)
Has anyone tried laser treatments for nail fungus and have any experiences to report? I know that the FDA has not approved lasers for the treatment of nail fungus yet, but there are those offering the treatments anyway. Laser treatments for nail fungus has been in the news since early last year. Usually new uses for devices/drugs already in use successfully and safely for other purposes take many years to be approved (I’ve read that botox for cosmetic purposes was used for years before it was officially approved–and to my mind that is something far more dangerous to my than laser treatments for nails. And for that matter, to my mind oral antifungals are also much more dangerous than laser treatments. Lasers are being used successfully for cosmetic treatment of spider and varicose veins, for instance) Those offering laser treatment for nail fungus just can’t legally advertise that they are offering the treatment for nails. I’ve located places in Georgia doing laser treatments for nails and am thinking about driving there. While the nonyx gel helps–and has cleared up one of my nails and made a few others look better (after nearly 9 months of treatment), to my mind it is like digging a ditch with a teaspoon or fighting a war with a BB gun. It makes some difference–more than anything else I’ve ever tried–but it is a slow, not at all certain, and easily thwarted difference.
Hi Fungus, I’m encouraged by news of the laser treatments as well. I haven’t looked into it closely but I saw an article in the New York times claiming an 80% success rate. The success rate for Nonyx and other topicals is around 10%. I’ve seen prices ranging from $200 to $2000 for the procedure which is encouraging. Though I haven’t heard any personal experiences with it yet.
An acquaintance had an operation where her nails were pulled out several years ago in order to defeat the fungus. She told me that the doctor told her that her nails probably would not grow back though I haven’t kept up with that friend so I don’t know what happened, sorry. Ripping your nails out in order to defeat the fungus seems a lot like “throwing the baby out with the bath water”. I don’t consider it an option.
Be well and best of luck defeating it.
PS. Thank you for posting your experiences on your website http://battlenailfungus.blogspot.com/
I actually did have my toenails all removed once years ago in an attempt to rid myself of the fungus. The toenails all grew back. (In fact, the surgeon never mentioned to me the possibility that they wouldn’t grow back.) Unfortunately, even removing all ten of my toenails didn’t eliminate the fungus for me. The problem is that it is very hard to keep the nail beds clear of fungus as the toenails grow back. It takes very little for the fungus to get reestablished and the nail beds, without toenails, are very vulnerable to being reinfected as they are raw, tender, open wounds. If you wear open toed shoes as your nails grow back in, then you are open to reinfection from the ground–how I got my fungus in the first place was from injuring my big toenail from going barefoot and then picking up the fungus from the ground or elsewhere because my injured–scraped–big toenail was unprotected. If you wear shoes, then you once again create the perfect warm, moist breeding ground for fungus for your now especially vulnerable toes without toenails. The advantage of the laser treatments, as I understand it, is, if done properly, that all of the fungus IN the nails/nailbeds is killed and yet the fungus free nails remain in place. That means that as the fungus free toenail grows in the nailbed/nails are not vulnerable and open to reinfection as a toenail-less toe with the nail newly removed would be. I would assume that with laser treatment to prevent reinfection you would need to throw away all your old shoes and maybe even socks and treat the surrounding skin and the foot for fungus infection to assure that the fungus doesn’t get a toehold again.
Hi again, feeling better today. =)
I am also interested in the new laser treatments, if any were available were I live I would definetly go for it, it is pricey but then again, I am desperate for a new approach to my growing problems (my thumbnail has actually started to be painful where the fungus meets the matrix).
Sadly all such treatments seem to be contained to the US, the UK and a couple other countries at the moment and I live in Sweden. When given the opportunity I will try it.
I must say though that it is a new method and and as far as I know, unproven in independent studies, though the companies themselves claim to have good results (as do homeopaths). I read that about 80 percent of the nails were free of infection after 14 days. Sounds fishy, right? How would you ever know after only 14 days? Nomir claims their noveon laser shows 76 percent of patients “having clear nail growth” after 6 months, which sounds more reasonable.
Anyway, I doubt they would be able to sell these treatments for long if it did not work at all. So I believe they do “work” even though we still await scientifical evidence on how well they do work, statistically.
It is an exciting treatment considering that it is drug-free and suitable for all, plus it demands less of the patient than for example foot baths twice a day (who could ever keep that up for 6 months really? =) ).
I’ve tried MANY different treatments for my toenail fungus, starting 12/2005. Multiple remedies concurrently. Wish now that I had kept a journal. I tried the cold laser last year, which is different from the Pinpointe laser. It didn’t work. I was told by that practitioner to treat the toenail fungus on the INSIDE, as well as the OUTSIDE. So, I started taking probiotics 9/2009. I immediately noticed positive changes in my body, starting with my hair. I have greater muscular flexibility, as well. Brain fog started to clear, too.
Exactly two months ago, I started acupuncture treatments. I am taking Phellostatin by Health Concerns, which I take orally. I also use Tamu Oil by Health Concerns, topically. Both of these products are Chinese meds, manufactured here in the U.S. And I’ve been on a strict antifungal diet. No sugar, low carbs, low fat. Just recently learned that all carbs turn to sugar and all fat turns to sugar. And guess what the fungus dine on? SUGAR! I see improvement in all toenails, in varying degrees.
Previously, I did go off the wagon for several months at a time. And now I’m wondering if my success (at times) was related to those periods of alcohol abstinence.
About 35 years ago, I started taking antibiotics for my Rosacea. Of course no Dr ever told me to take probiotics. I took tetracycline for decades. The antibiotics kill all the bacteria in the body, including the good bacteria that control the yeast population. So, I’ve had a rampant yeast/fungus explosion in my body for YEARS. I have been told that my body has been out of whack, but never knew what was wrong. In addition to the fungus on my toenails, I’ve had “white clouds” on them, too. No doubt, the yeast. I don’t doubt that many people have a systemic Candida infection as I’ve had, to one degree or another. Curiously, my Rosacea has disappeared. I stopped the Face Doctor Soap that I was using to control the redness on my face.
I use the Steri-shoe shoe sterilizer every time I wear my shoes. I wash all socks in either chlorine or non-chlorine bleach, as well as hot water. I also use Fungoid Tincture twice a day. And once a day I use Clorox Bleach Gel Pen and leave that on for 10 minutes.
Spunky,
What kind of probiotics are you taking? Are they just the usual probiotics that one would take after taking anti-biotics? Like Culturelle (available in normal drug stores) or the more high-powered stuff that you can get in health food stores and that is refrigerated.
I didn’t know there were two kinds of laser treatments. Is the Pinpointe laser treatment the one that has been heralded in the media? Are there any potential side effects with Pinpointe laser? I know that laser treatments for spider veins use a heated laser and that the power adjustment for the laser strength is according to the darkness of the skin (less power for lighter skin). I also know that it is possible to cause burns with too high a setting. I wonder if there is a danger with Pinpointe laser of causing under the toenail burns if the practitioner is not well-trained?
I guess I’m trying to think through the downsides, if any, of the Pinpointe laser treatments. I’m very seriously thinking of doing them.
Any info appreciated.
BTW, thanks for the other suggestions too.
Thanks.
Desiree
In September 2009, I started taking Threelac. But, taking 1 per day, that cost $55 for 2 months. So, I switched to PB-8 that I purchased online at Vitacost.com. That was less than 1/2 the cost of Threelac. I did read that the Phellostatin that I’m currently taking is a probiotic, too.
The laser that is currently being heralded in the media is the Pinpointe laser. I don’t think there are any known side effects to the Pinpointe. I did the “cold” laser. I don’t believe that either is the destructive kind of laser. The cold laser stimulates adp in the mitochondria. These are used in Europe and have been for years. Google “etrans soft laser” and you’ll see more. I think there’s even a video. This is the one that I bought on ebay, this is not the kind of cold laser that is used by professionals. As a side note, the soft lasers are used on cold sores and even wrinkles.
I frequent another website for toenail fungus. Epinions is the name. Several people have done the Pinpointe. And it’s still too soon for them to say whether it’s worked with one session. A couple mentioned that they’ve had additional treatments at additional costs.
I did purchase my Steri-Shoe at a local podiatrist’s office. They told me that the Dr has done 400 or so. At a cost of $985 a pop! You do the math! They justify the high cost of treament due to the high cost of the machine. The staff indicated that the Dr’s had an approximate 70% success ratio.
But that doesn’t remedy the systemic fungus and yeast issue. I think more people than just me have that issue.
I have had this problem for about 10 years. I think it started when I was wearing hose and dress shoes every day to work. I had a terrible case of athletes foot that I did not treat properly (never had it before). Before I knew it, the itching stopped but it was too late. My nails began to thicken and turn yellow. However, my husband also had had discolored nails since I have known him and I suspect that I may have gotten this from him. Anyway, I’ve tried the natural remedies, the otc remedies, researched the internet, had Lamisil prescribed for me only to find that it was extremely expensive and my insurance at the time didn’t cover it so I never filled it (glad for that thought because I didn’t realize at the time that it would probably just come back anyway). Until now, I have just masked the problem with nail polish.
I purchased Nonyx, thinking that since it was more expensive that it must work right? I just started using it this week. I am so happy that I found this site. Not only has it been very informative and validating, but it feels like a support group for those of us who suffer from ugly toe. I love how people log back on and keep updating the group about their progress. The hardest part for me is sticking with the strick regimen the treatments require. I am going to use this site as motivation to stick with it. I am getting my husband on board, we are going to use Nonyx as recommended twice daily, clean our shower daily, clean our shoes regularly, keep separate nail tools, sterilize our tools etc. We are on board. Sorry this is so long. My next posts will not be. Thanks again!
In August 2009 I had laser treatment for fungus on my right toe nail. The nail had been infected for approximatley 10 years and was thick, yellow…black in some places, and cracked. They treat all 10 nails when you get the treatment, not just the one. In January, 2010, I went back and the podiatrist said that he saw little improvement. Luckily my podiatrist was not 100% sold on this treatment. He stated that when it was initially tested, it was done on fungus between two clear plastic dishes, then destroyed with the laser. My podiatrist explained that nails that have a lot more infection are not clear and will actually block most of the laser. So, becuase he knew the technology was still in its infancy, refunded my money. I did see some improvement, but not the improvement that was stated by the company that designed the treatment.
I started using the NonX about 2 months ago and have noticed some improvement. A LOT of dead and ugly nail has started to fall off; however, it still looks bad. It’s is getting sore at the skin where the nail starts for some reason. Doesn’t hurt a lot, but it is kind of nagging at times. The toe does look more white now, with all the black spots gone and very little yellow. I bought this ingrown nail file at Whole Foods and that seems to really get in there to pull out debris.
I’ll still use the product and see if it does work.
Rick, thanks for the informative stories. All the best luck with your continuing treatment!
I found your article fasinating. I been trying to clear up a toenail fungul I got playing tennis. I was told the only way to get rid of it was through oral medication. I couldn’t find nonyx in the pharmacy here in Canada, but found it online at http://www.toestosoles.com, Xenna corporation had it on their site. They are the manufacturers. Boy, the stuff really works. Yellow crap, excuse the french, started to fall off and slowly, I mean slowly, I started to see healthy nail growing from the cuticle. I’m only 1/4 way there but it is definitely working.
thanks for the tip
madsci
Great thread this. Much thanks for the input and sharing of information.
I’d like to share a few points I’ve found from my own personal experience.
1) My mother has infected toe nails for a long time. I’m not sure if I caught it from her. I do however
remember having a bad case of athletes when I was 14 or so and I didn’t tell anyone about it. I
was pretty ignorant on the issue. Eventually, this can spread to your nails if left untreated.
2) Mine started and eventually spread to all my toes. I cut back my nails quite far over the years, so
that today my nails are very short (does not look as bad as if I had large nails). One of my big
toes is a mess because a few years back I dropped a 20kg plate at the gym on it and it damaged the nail.
The fungus love that took over. The other big toe is clearly infected but has just gotten much worse over
the past ten years. So damage to the nail can accelerate the problem.
3) I once had the infection on my finger nail but it was unrelated in my view to my feet. I had been
stapling tags onto timber all day and developed a blister on the edge of my finger. I would not leave
it alone and it was close to the edge of my finger nail. Suddenly, in a space of a few days, a
dark streak spread across an otherwise perfect finger nail as the fungus took hold in the environment it
loved so much. Very quickly it took over the entire nail.
The feet I can almost live with but I can imagine the horror of having to deal with society with this
on your nails. I cured this nail complete using over Lamisil cream for Jockitch. The key was to get
under the nail. The nail lifted somewhere and I scraped out everything I could under it. It was
not pleasant. I really pushed in there short of getting bleeding. I then injected the cream under the
nail and that meant I had this stuff in the area 24/7. It grew out complete perfectly and has never
come back since. Unfortunately for toes, a separation of the nail does not occur in my case. I might
try to soak it in vineger to loosen it up and clear out the junk and then see if I can get some
lamisil in there.
The key as many people know, is that there are various treatments that would cure us completely but its their delivery
below the nail that hinters their success. Fungus has a very rapid growth rate and thus missing
too many application which gives the fungus time to multiple, rapidly allows the problem to return.
My neglect of my issue has been largely due to the fact that I had spent some times a few years back
reading up about this issue and realized that there was currently no magic bullet. My hope was for
the new nano delivery system drugs to solve it and I was following the trails of these drugs with
the aim of buying them once they were available (I’m a physicist in real life). Unfortunately,
one product I was following from the Nanobio Corp NB-002 failed to deliver the results. There are others
out there and the wait continues. The idea here is that the molecules doing the killing or growth
termination are small enough to pass through your skin pores and can get to the nail bed. This is where most treatment failed because they can’t get to ALL of the fungus and it only takes a little to repopulate anything killed.
Anyhow, here is a summary from wikipedia on the various trials etc. There is a LOT of cash to be made if someone does come up with an effective treatment, so I expect something to come along in the not to distance future.
Relative effectiveness of treatments
In July 2007 a meta-study reported on clinical trials for topical treatments of fungal nail infections. The study included 6 randomised controlled trials dating up to March 2005.[14] The main findings are:
* There is some evidence that ciclopiroxolamine and butenafine are both effective but both need to be applied daily for prolonged periods (at least 1 year).
* There is evidence that topical ciclopiroxolamine has poor cure rates and that amorolfine might be substantially more effective.
* Further research into the effectiveness of antifungal agents for nail infections is required.
A 2002 study compared the efficacy and safety of terbinafine in comparison with placebo, itraconazole and griseofulvin in treating fungal infections of the nails.[15] The main findings were that for reduced fungus terbinafine was found to be significantly better than itraconazole and griseofulvin, and terbinafine was better tolerated than itraconazole.
* A small study in 2004 showed that ciclopirox nail paint was more effective when combined with topical urea cream.[16]
* A study of 504 patients in 2007 found that aggressive debridement of the nail combined with oral terbinafine significantly reduced symptom frequency over terbinafine alone.[17]
* A 2007 randomised clinical trial with 249 patients show that a combination of amorolfine nail lacquer and oral terbinafine enhances clinical efficacy and is more cost-effective than terbinafine alone.[18]
[edit] Drug pipeline
Most drug development activities are focused on
* the discovery of new antifungals
* novel delivery methods to promote access of existing antifungal drugs into the infected nail plate
Active clinical trials investigating Onychomycosis:[19]
[edit] Phase III
* A medicinal nail lacquer, NM100060 from NexMed,[20] contains terbinafine as the active ingredient and a permeation enhancer which facilitates the delivery of the drug into the nail bed where the fungus resides. Commercial sale of the product is cancelled.[21][22]
* A comparison of delivery methods for Itraconzole.[23]
* Safety and tolerability of topical Terbinafine.[24]
* Laser-based treatments[25]
* Topical IDP-108[26]
* Nail ablation with urea paste[27]
[edit] Phase II
* A topical treatment, AN-2690, is being developed by Schering-Plough Corp and Anacor Pharmaceuticals. It is active against Trichophyton species.[28]
* Posaconazole, taken orally.[29]
* A topical treatment, NB-002, is being developed by NanoBio Corporation.[30] It has completed Phase II trials.[31]
Anyhow, the main keypoint here is that fungus grows fast, and thus you need to be very consistent in your application with whatever approach you are
using. Cutting back your nails and especially filing them down is important as the barrier thickness to the nail bed is reduced. If my nails were lifted
like on my finger, getting the treatment under there would be super effective.
Anyhow, good luck !
speaking from my own personal experience, I’ve had a problem with (and this is funny to me) just 1 of my fingernails. My left pinky is the ONLY nail I have on my hands with fungus visibly showing it’s ugly self. I’ve been using a generic OTC antifungal cream (I think it’s the “equate” brand). By putting some of this cream into a small syringe (I’m not sure what size it is exactly), and injecting it under the nail, my fungus problem has started to go away over time. I was also told by a doctor I know (who’s name escapes me at the moment) that fungus can be systemic based on your body’s PH level. As a former plumber I understood that part! Drinking lots of soda can make your body’s PH more acidic. Drink more water, and the PH will be more alkaline. In knowing this, I started drinking A LOT more water, and cutting back on soda, tea, coffee, etc. So far this has proven to help with the much anticipated murder of this pesky fungus. Also keeping the nail trimmed down to a normal length has helped. Anyway, good luck to you all in your endeavors with your respective fungus wars! LOCK AND LOAD!!!
-The Mike
MissouriMike, what doctor was this, was this a legitimate dermatologist? It is quite established that fungus does NOT enjoy acidic environments, hence the relative efficiency of treatments that contain vinegar. The only “doctor” who ever told me my body PH should be more alkaline to help battle the fungus was a homeopath, and as most people know by now, homeopathy is 100% placebo and completely uncientific.
Even if a change of the body PH in either direction would be unfriendly to the fungus it is highly un likely to cure it. Nail fungus normally stays with you for life if left untreated. Drinking water is a good thing but that alone will probably not make a difference.
Onto the good stuff: I AM NOW SUCESSFULLY TREATING MY NAIL FUNGUS!
For years the look of my horrible nails have made me feel bad about myself. A couple of months ago I did something radical: I took my microdrill, put a sand tip on it (for marking tools and stuff) and slowly but surely, for hours and hours, wore all my toenails down to nothing, and also my thumbnail. This was horrific at the time as it had rapidly gotten worse and was more or less loose all the way back to the base. With drills, knives and the motor drill with different tips I methodically wore it down till I was on bare skin. A few times it hurt and there was ome minor bloodshed when I got overexcited but it is really possible if you take the time!
On the bare nail bed I have since then applied 2-4 times a day Lamisil single dose, the FOOT fungus solution that contains terbinafine and is supposed to only be used once and not to be repeated. =) My toenails I cannot judge yet (though the nail bed looks nice) but my thumb IS ALMOST COMPLETELY GROWN OUT ALL HEALTHY. After all these years!
Once I had to wear it off again at the tip as fungus was getting hold, but just a couple millimetres and on with the treatment. I will have to do it again, 2 more millimetres, but at this rate I will have a perfectly healthy thumbnail within 1-2 months!
I will get back on this, but take this with you, the nail is an extraordinary barrier, and thinning it, or removing it completely will make ANY treatment more effective. Killing fungus is easy, but getting there is the hard part.
Best of luck to you all.
Fungus, I am so happy for you. I can relate to you so much about the depression assosiated with this. This has affected my life in such a bad way.
I am using a 40% urea ointment now to try and remove as much of the infected nail as possible ( every part of my nails are affected by this so it might take a while ) They are infected right down to the base of the nail.
I have removed about half of one toenail, I have been more aggressive with the clippers on this one nail and I have found the the fungus underneath is deeply rooted into the nail bed and it really is not pretty. This doesnt look like nail at all and I am wondering if this is fungus (?)
I am wondering if the urea will also remove this (anyone know?)
I am alos applying vinegar twice daily in the hope that walt stolls logic works.
Nonyx I had to stop using because it made my toes very sore :(
I have been using Nonyx now for about a month and a half. On most days, I apply it twice. There have been a few days when I only did it once or not at all. I am seeing what seems to be improvement. They are not yellow any more and they are getting thinner as I clear out the debris. They are still rough and appear to be scratched or damaged but they are definitely better. The one that has been the worst appears as if it is growing in clear or at least clearer. I also spent a week in the Gulf and noticed that when my feet were in sand and salt water, they seemed to be even more clear. I may begin soaking my feet in salt water just to see if this speeds things along. My husband is on board. We have not been cleaning our shower or our shoes daily like I had said I was going to do but we are diligent about applying twice a day and we have separate nail tools that we sterilize after each use. Neither of us have experienced any pain with using the Nonyx as some have stated and I hope that we don’t. Thanks for sharing all of your information. I’ll keep you posted on my progress. I’m in this for the long haul.
Tracy
I have been using Nonyx gel for nearly a year , my big toenail on my left foot was horrible looking (yellowish looking)it is now nearly completly clear. Two other nails on the same foot were completly black, i can now see improvement , it is clear towards the middle of the nails, yet still dark along the edges. My baby toenail on my right foot was also completely black, it was the last to show improvement , it took 9 or ten months to show any improvement at all, then suddenly it also has began to clear up. I can hardly believe it ; my nails have been discolored for 30 years or more and I am encourged by the results, Im just praying they clear up completely with continued use. I have actually left the house in flip flops, something I would have not dared to do a year ago.
It works
I saw great improvement in my toenails during the three months that I consistently used Nonyx gel twice a day and soaked my feet in a solution of apple cider vinegar and warm water every day or ever other day, and kept the nails trimmed back, getting rid of the soft part with the fungus. Both big toenails were growing out clear and two of the other toenails looked to also be completely clear. The rest were showing great improvement. Then I got busy and lax, but the improvement continued for awhile even so. Then when I was really lax it started to go backwards again.
I had been considering Pinpointe Laser until I read on here that it didn’t necessarily work. It’s a lot of money to have no guarantees.
At this point my game plan is to go back to doing what I know works. Knowing that it made such a difference, I am redoubling my efforts with the Nonyx and am determined to follow through for at least six months. I expect to see clearing. After that–when most of the visible fungus is gone, I will consider doing Pinpointe Laser, throwing all my current shoes away, and then wearing only open toed shoes (no moist places) and continuing to use the Nonyx gel and vinegar. And maybe start using Probiotics regularly too. I think this may be a game plan that works.
I’ll let you all know how it goes.
Desiree
Desiree, it sounds great that you had lots of success the first time around, I hope you can clear it out once and for all now!
Be wary though: when you start a treatment you are enthusiastic and motivated. That motivation often goes away after a while… After all, you did stop your treatment last time, didn’t you? Since treating nail fungus is bound to take a long time regardless of which treatment you choose I think it is important to go with a treatment that you will be able to stick with. If you are going camping for 3 weeks for example you are unlikely to warm up a foot bath every morning, so go with the treatment that seems best for you. Your work ethic does sound very good actually, most of us wouldn’t keep that up for long.
If you believe you can stick with that treatment every day, then I’m sure you can, and will soon be fungus-free!
As for myself, it is steadily looking better, growing out nicely. My middle finger developed a painful ingrown edge that is slightly infected, but I washed it and I now make sure to lift the nail tip up every now and then so it grows out on top of the skin instead. Almost good now.
Since they are almost completely grown out now I am enthusiastic and I really don’t want to wear them down again….. But If I see fungus starting to get a hold of them again I will do it again. So far it seems like you are safe if you remove what is visibly infected and leaves the rest.
Fungus,
How are your toenails? Would you put the success you have had down to the lamisil applications?
How long would you say it took for what you are doing now to work?
I am too scared to cut away too much because I dont like blood lol. But if I filed down as much as possible and tried the lamisil like you are using do you think there would be a chance of it working?
I’ve had athletes foot since I was a little kid who would wear my father’s work boots and my mother’s house shoes around the house. i’m 60 now. I have one perfect toenail next to my big toe on my left foot. All of the rest of my toenails are discolored and deformed, especially the little toes. My big toes are thick and yellow.
For years I’d always wear tennis shoes around other people, even sitting under an umbrella at the pool or beach on vacation. The athletes foot comes and goes, but I largely keep it in check. I’ve never been able to do anything about the ugly nails.
I just started the Nonyx treatment on July 7 so it’s too early to say how I’m doing. I’ll try to report back periodically.
NonyxExperiment, sorry to hear about your constant athelete’s foot. I had a similar long-lived infection. I forget how long… several years. My doctor had me put lamisil on my whole feet, up to the tops of my ankles for a full course. That worked! I haven’t had a reappearance in 10+ years.
Best of luck with the new treatment. Though if you’ve read these comments, you know the success rate of Nonyx and you know about the other treatments.
My toenails show no obvious improvement yet,I havent really looked closely and they grow slowly. But I have not been able to keep applying the gel more than once a day while I treat my fingernails 2-3 times a day.
I firmly believe the lamisil is responsible for the improvement I see. I have not used itraconazole for over a month but the nails keep getting better. The stuff works like a charm now that I expose the nail bed to it.
I made it sound funny for dramatical effect, haha…. It only bled a little when I got sloppy, just take your time and you will have no problem, but I strongly recommend a motorized tool as it is easier to use than a nail file, you become more able to be careful and thorough so to speak. As you start to get through the nail you will start feeling a slight discomfort but no pain, and rubbing the stone head over the exposed nail bed is not painful either, the surface is rather numb, imagine rubbing a file carefully over your wrist, it is the same sensation, not painful although slightly uncomfortable.
If you leave the nail but file it down to a minimum thickness (you will have to cut them short afterwards as the ultra thin nail tend to break easily if you allow the tip to grow out too far) I believe you are likely to have success too as I think the lamisil is able to penetrate through a nail that is only a tenth of its normal thickness. But do file away as much as you can bring yourself to do.
I hope you will do well, keep us updated!
PS: As the infected nail had been loose for between 2-5 years I started to believe the nail bed had started to “die” and would no more be able to have nail attached to it. Wrong! As I treat it the fresh nail grows completely normally and looks perfect.
Lee, I don’t mean to clutter your blog with unnecessary posts, but I forgot to answer one important question.
Feety, as of today I have been using this approach for about 3 months, I would guess around 10-12 weeks. I must say I noticed it worked straight away as the new nail immediately grew out healthy, but I still had to take some nail away again a couple of times as it after a while showed signs of infection at the very tips. So in the best-case scenario you could be fungus-free within 3 months when it comes to fingernails, and maybe 6 months for your toenails.
Taake care everybody
Fungus,
Thanks so much for answering my questions thats really helpful!
I also visit your blog as Lee did post a link a few posts back and I have to say your nails look fantastic!!
I’m so pleased for you as I for one know how much this can depress one but it’s brilliant how you have found something that works!
I did buy some lamisil once and now I am wondering how much should I apply at a time? It’s a tiny tube so I don’t want to waste any and need to be careful because of cost but hey if it could help i don’t mind so much, I can cut back on other expenses.
It is my toenails that are bad and I have seen a couple of chiropodists that have both said they dont think I will ever have a normal nails again due to the fungus (15-20 years infection so it is bad) I worry that over the years my nails have somehow forgotten to grow properly, they also tend to grow up and then stop and they don’t seem to grow past half way but then where do they go? I file them down but they never grow far so I havent been able to “snip” the nails, it is hard to explain how they grow.
But on a more positive note I have been using vinegar for a couple of months now and things are looking a tiny bit clearer but over the years I have had this before and they cant seem to get past the middle of the nail and get reinfected over and over again! So frustrating!
I will now try filing right down and teh lamisil once, thanks Fungus! And well done! :)
Feety, it sure can be depressing, especially if you really try to treat it and don’t get any progress. But fungus is a living thing, and nothing in this world is immortal, there is always a way. =)
I understand your point about the cost, but it is after all not a fortune. I have spent many hundreds of dollars on different doctors, drugs, terbinafine tablets and so on. Maybe a thousand dollars, to me this is important so I will gladly spend lots of money on it. To answer your question I will simply describe what I do, I don’t know if it’s optimum, but it worked for me. I apply a drop on each nail, enough so I can smear it out and leave the whole nail and a couple of millimetres around it nice and wet, and often I apply an estra string over the infected tips to make an extra defensive barrier there. My theory is that since this single-dose lamisil dries quickly and leaves a laquer-like layer on the surface it also shuts the fungus in while protecting the nail from the outside world. As I do this every day the layer is always there, working both ways.
The stuff is expensive by weight, but it lasts for a long time…. I have now used less than 1,5 tubes in the last 2 months, and I applied it on 10 toenails pretty much every day and on 4 fingernails 2 times every day. The tubes are about 25 USD a piece, and 4 grams. You could make a tube last 2 months which by this price would cost you maybe 13 bucks a month, surely you can spend that?
After a while the layer can turn a shiny greyish colour, especially on small depressions in the nail, but that is no problem, it only shows that you have a nice and thick layer of the stuff working constantly.
From time to time, maybe every 2 weeks I scrape the rubbery grey stuff of and clean the nail, this only takes seconds, then I just stick with the process.
I also had a nail specialist say I will probably never have normal nails again! HA. But I am content in the belief that they will improve but mayeb never be FULLY normal. My fingernails seem to make a miraculous recovery, but a few of my toenails have gotten thick and slightly deformed, this is probably due to bumps and injuries as it is a normal condition for soccer players. If they become fungus-free and grow nice and smooth with no discoloration, I don’t mind a few of them being somewhat claw-like in form.
And:nails grow at the base, not at the tip, so they can simply not stop growing, that is only an impression you get. You may be fooled by the fact that they grow very slowly and a badly infected nail can be difficult to judge as it brittles and so on.
Going to update my blog now, have fun this wednesday night. =)
I thought I had nail fungus for the last 15 years… my podiatrist sent a sample to the lab and said it is not fungus, but thickening of the nails due to damage (what damage I have no idea..my breakdancing days were in the mid 80’s…and the toenails looked great then!) Anyway, doc recommended Urea 50% gel.. it came out to $52.00 after insurance. It’s supposed to last 90+ days, not too bad. I am curious what others have heard about this?
I will let you know how this treatment goes and I think maybe down the road if I don’t see some drastic improvement in a month or so, I will also add some vinegar treatment to maybe thin out the keratin below the nails since I have seen so many have had good results from it.
(I so miss wearing pretty open toed shoes!) Let’s hope this works!
For years I had fungal growth on many of my toenails. I tried tea tree oil and another
similar oil from New Zealand all to no avail. Then I tried beer and vinegar… nothing.
I finally found a topical solution to the fungal situation. If you get a bottle of
Grapefruit seed extract [a citracide] and mix 40-50 drops in one ounce of rubbing alcohol
and apply twice daily with an eye dropper you’ll get your nails back. It’ll take many
months to grow your nails out and get rid of the fungus but it will work if you stick to
the program. My nails were totally black or white and flaking. They are now clear. I
still apply the solution once a day now to keep my nails from becoming re-infected. Best
of luck.
-Buddy
For years I had fungal growth on many of my toenails. I tried tea tree oil and another
similar oil from New Zealand all to no avail. Then I tried beer and vinegar… nothing.
I finally found a topical solution to the fungal situation. If you get a bottle of
Grapefruit seed extract [a citracide] and mix 40-50 drops in one ounce of rubbing alcohol
and apply twice daily with an eye dropper you’ll get your nails back. It’ll take many
months to grow your nails out and get rid of the fungus but it will work if you stick to
the program. My nails were totally black or white and flaking. They are now clear. I
still apply the solution once a day now to keep my nails from becoming re-infected. Best
of luck.
-Buddy
Fungus,
Thanks again!! I am using the lamisil once now and will keep you updated on how it is working. Your nails really do look amazing!!!
I will not worry too much about the cost, I dread to think how much I have spent over the years on creams and potions but this looks like it is definately worth the price! I just hope I can get some good results with it too.
How many times a day do you apply? Do you wash the nails before applying each time? I have been applying twice daily to my nails after a drop of vinegar, I wash my feet each time before I apply.
How are your toenails now? Are they showing signs of improvement too?
Well done again Fungus, it’s brilliant to see this has worked so well for you and thanks so much for your blog it really gives me and Im sure others a lot of hope! :)
Also Fungus, I was wondering do you have any during photos? (like after you used the motor drill) so I can get some idea of how much I should file down?
Feety: Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it!
As I wrote I did (do) apply it on my fingernails 2-3 times a day, and as one is supposed to be honest, sometimes I do it only once a day…. But I almost never forget it completely.
I do not wash them before applying. Although I wash my hands all the time I actually avoid cleaning the nails. I keave them in peace so the lamisil stays on, it becomes quite soft, not like a nail laquer, and easily scraped off. The greyness looks quite odd on my thumb but once you have had yellow nails, everything looks good…. But every now and then I take everything off and start all over again, no particular reason, It just feels like a good way to go about it.
I had a close look at my toenails yesterday, I am amazed with how slow they grow in comparison. =) It seems they show no signs of improvement. When I started this I could not bring myself to remove the big toenails completely so I removed what was lifted and yellow and wore the rest of the nail down to be very thin. Maybe 1/4 of the nail has grown out now and what grows out is still rugged and uneven. The rest of the nails are still thick and yellow in part. So nothing there. I have only applied on my toenails once a day, and forgotten/omitted it every once in a while. My plan right now is to wear them down and attack them with the excact same treatment regimen that worked on the fingers.
Sadly I don’t have any other photos, I had no camera for a while.
I recommend you to go by eye and feel. If it does not feel soft and you feel uncomfortable, you can take away some more. Press fith a thumbnail on the nail on question, you will feel if it is thin enough or if you can take some more. If it is numb to the touch it means there is still nail there. My big toenails I wore down till they kind of gave and bent when pressed upon lightly.
I have to say: I was worried about ingrown nails as they grew out, and my middle finger did grow into the finger on one side, making it painful and a bit pussy (pus-sy). I made sure it stayed outside the skin and after a week it was OK. But there is a small risk of having painful ingrowns of course. just thought I should mention that.
Grapefruit seed extract has some good reviews. Research implies that any antifungal ability it has comes from additives, and not from the grapefruit itself. But if it seems to be somewhat effective, why not use it? It does not matter much WHY something works…….
PS: sorry for typos…
Thanks again Fungus! At the rate you seem to be going with your fingernails you will soon be able to change your id to fungus free! :)
Ok so I will file going by eye and feel, something I always worry about when I file is that I might be pushing the infection deeper in to the nail bed but do realise the nail needs to be thin for products to penetrate.
I do have an electric manicure tool which I’m going to start using, it is probably the nearest thing to a microdrill that I have and that way I can try and be a bit more precise.
Grapefruit seed extract- this is something I havent tried before, maybe this is the acid in the grapefruit that makes it work for some people, like Walt Stoll says fugus cannot grow in an acid enviroment so maybe this is why it has worked. When I looked up the ingredients in the lamisil once I remember learning it has some acids in it but I didnt research much about them, but obviously the terbinafine is a good fungus killer. Another person on another forum had great results using the normal lamisil cream mixed with dmso (dmso is good at penetrating nails so it carries the lamisil well into the nail) I tried this for a good few months but didnt notice anything spectacular, I think I didnt mix it properly because a couple of other people on the forum had good results with the lamisil and dmso.
Here is a link to that forum, it is very helpful and teh posters are very helpful.
http://www1.epinions.com/msg/sec_~forums/show_~threads/cat_id_~10/id_~22641/forum_id_~201/pp_~1#posts
To be honest though the lamisil once seems to have worked so much faster and I will keep on trying with this and hope I have some improvement as you have had!
There is a company called novabiotics, they have made a product that sounds very succesful, they are still doing their trials though so it will probably be another year or so until it is available. I wish I could find out the ingredients but I dont think they have been announced yet.
Anyway I will keep battling and thanks so much again Fungus for your help and you have given me hope too! For so many years this has depressed me so it is so good when someone finds something that works and shares their results and help others! :)
My solution works. Soak your feet in saturated salt water, 30 minutes a day. File your nails thin so the solution can get in. I used Fungi-Cure after shower. That liqid dried up after 30 minutes so it forms a dead layer of skin. That drug does not work any more until you clean it up and file nail thin. The problem is no matter how well you did, if one fungus left, it comes back in no time.
I had the Pinpointe treatment done about 10 months ago. As background, prior to laser I’ve tried most OTC topicals but never a prescription oral. Have never tried Nonyx but will. Had some success with vinegar but only on the pinky toes. Have five toes with varying degrees of infection, none awful.
At the time of the initial laser treatment the Dr. said I had a mild case and she expected good results. She also said treatments beyond the initial may require additional payment. Initial treatment was $1,000.00 Five month followup revealed some improvement – not great. Dr. implied that their limited experience indicated a second treatment might be necessary and she did so without an additional charge contrary to her statement at the initial treatment.
I am scheduled for a followup tomorrow and will be interested to hear what the Dr. says. After 10 months I would have expected to see more results. The two smallest nails are essentially no different. Two middle nails look about 30% better but I achieved the same with vinegar years ago. Big toe was looking better, could see new clear growth but lately the fungus seems to be crawling back down the nail.
I think the protocol for this treatment is backward – rather than zapping the nail every five or six months I think they should zap them every month. At this point I couldn’t recommend the treatment at a cost of $1,000… I think all of the early adopters like myself are just beta testers because they rushed this device to market.
Should also mention that they sold me a topical treatment that I have been using twice a day – Dr. said it was a stronger version of an OTC antifungal – and a spray that I’m meant to shoot into my shoes to kill fungus. Both cost about $25 total. I was annoyed that after the $1,000 laser treatment I still had to monkey with the topical stuff. They also tried to sell me an electric UV light shoe tree to kill fungus for $120 but I didn’t bite. Sorry for the length of the post and I’ll update after my appt.
Just wanted to add my 2 cents…
Been dealing with toe-nail fungus for about 10 years. I am in my mid 20’s, so I always felt like “an old man” as I attempted to deal with this embarrassing issue.
I’ve tried everything from soaking my feet in malt beer (what???) to purchasing some online remedies. The online treatment I tried was called “fungisil” (which was later renamed to funginix). I filed my nails down and used the product twice a day (as recommended) to very minimal results. I was always torn between whether actual healing was taking place, or if maybe I was just imagining results with some wishful-thinking. After more research, it seems that fungisil is indeed another “online scam” that attempts to review itself favorably on “unrelated sites” (which I am sure that funginix owns). Same with Zetaclear. The ingredients tell all, and I am foolish for not researching this prior.
Anyway, I just want to be able to go barefoot again. The beach, the pool, flip flops – I look at these things with such envy! I was always one of the kids that loved going barefoot, loved the sand, the grass, the ability to enjoy the sun (I live in Southern California) – so it seems that this condition comes with some extra irony considering that I cannot leave my house in flip-flops on an 85 degree day.
After reading so many favorable reviews on this blog, I think I will give Nonyx a shot. I will keep everyone posted as to how it works. I am almost tempted to document the process with photos, has anyone done this yet with Nonyx?
Regarding the actual condition of my feet, my two big toenails are actually pretty thin and are the best looking out of all my toes. My three middle toes are a mess though, very flaky and thick. I am hoping that a twice a day treatment of Nonyx will at least give me enough results in the first few weeks to let me know that it will work.
Thanks for the great blog and for allowing me to openly talk about this truly embarrassing issue.
-Mike
I am 26 years old and I’ve been battling this horrible fungus for five years, well, I would say battling, I’d say hiding for five years. I always had pretty feet and would get compliments on the beautiful designs I’d get with my pedicures until I had two separare toe injuries that left me vulnerabel to fungus on both of my big toes. I didn’t pay to much attention to the yellowing at first, I thought it was just residue from the dark polishes but when yellow turned to brown I got a little worried so I bought some topical ointment. When I didn’t see results fast enough, (ofcourse as a young woman dating a young man I would have been horrified for my boyfriend to see my brown big toe nails) I went into just covering them up with nail polish. Eventually, the nail lifted from the bed and polish just wasn’t enough so I cut the nails down as far as I could and had had my manicurist sculpt me a new nail with acrylic and I swear it looked better then the real thing everytime, so I’ve continuted to do that for the last four years. But I’ve grown sick of the maintenance and the money it takes to ensure that my horrible secret is exposed as I still get compliments on how pretty my feet are. All I think to myself is “you wouldn’t be saying that if you know what was under this fake nail!”
Well on a recent vacation to Cancun I hit it on a stair at a water park and it came off completely. I was mortified! I ran out of there so fast I didn’t even get a chance to tell my friends I’d meet them at the hotel.
Well I’ve had enough! I confessed to my boyfriend that I have this problem and that I wanted to start taking some major steps to cure it and stop simply hiding it. And guess what! After three weeks I’m beginning to a clear pink nail for the first time in years! I soak my toes twice daily (morning and night) in a mixture of listerine, vinegar, and peroxide all equal parts for 10-15 minutes. I let them air dry while I do things around the house then I smother then in Nonyx and drip tea tree oil on top of the Nonyx while it’s still thick and wet then I cut a sandwich bag in half and tuck my big toes in the corners of each and put on tight fitting socks. I wear the plastic on it for half of the day then I take it off at lunch and let my feet air dry and apply another coat of nonxy and tea tree oil before I put my sock on without the plastic. Basically I don’t let the little monsters come up for air! I hit them with something all day long and I won’t leave the house without my bottle of Nonyx. I’ve also gotten into taking vitamins the encourage hair and nail growth and I think that’s helped speed up the process. I’m not giving up on this! I could have gotten rid of this crap sooner if I hadn’t been so vain but i’m determined to be done with it once and for all! I’m an attractive woman so all of my young adulthood I felt like people were trying to point out my flaws so I just hid them like the rest of America, but in my case, hiding it has only made these little buggers happy! I will come back in a month or so and update on my progress. Wish me luck!
UglyFungalSecret, good luck!
I grew something of an allergy to teatree oil after a few months of toenail use several years ago. And I tried using constant vinegar treatment but the nail started feeling really weird and bad after a few days of plastic-baggy soaking. Though my nail temporarily improved a lot after the treatment.
I’m going to a podiatrist in a few weeks. We’ll see if modern science has any good options. I’ll keep you all informed.
Here are some images of a woman that had her big toe nails removed.
http://www.pbase.com/lbliss/toenail2
I saw a podiatrist who says the best options are:
– trim the nail and apply topical – low chance of success
– nail avulsion (rip the nail out) + topical fungicide like Lamisil – 50% chance of success
– matrixectomy (rip the nail out, kill the nail bed) – 100% success rate… but no more nail
I’ll go for the nail avulsion when I’ve got the time. Wish me luck…. Update 1-9-11. I’m not going to try nail avulvsion. I found some articles in Podiatry Today that describe it as a palliative-only treatment (eg. Makes you feel better for a while but doesn’t cure). Look below for my next comment.OC Mike, Photo documenting your nonyx experience would be good, it’s encouraging to see peoples progress with products. Fungus has a blog (link on this page with their progress) Fungus has had great results, they were using lamisil once. Did you give nonyx a try? How are you getting on with it?
So many people on this blog had success with nonyx.
UglyFungalSecret- How are you getting on with your treatments? I know exactly how you feel about this, I had to resort to fake nails, it can be so depressing all this :(
Lee- Did you get the nail avulsion? Good luck :) I just also want to say thank you for creating this blog! its great!
Please keep us posted :)
“So many people on this blog had success with nonyx.”
I’m not so sure about this.
Ingredients:
* Deionized Water,
* Ethanoic Acid,
* Xanthan Gum,
* Fragrance
http://www.xenna.com/nonyx_ingredients.html
In plain english, that is water, vinegar, thickener (to change texture of product) and nice smell chemicals. That can’t work any better than vinegar itself.
I agree with a feety above about the work being done at novabiotics. There is mega bucks to be made and I’m sure a lot of biotech companies are working on this problem. Things will come to market that will solve this issue in time.
“Unblinded Phase IIa Clinical Trial Data Delivers Excellent Results for Novexatin ®, NovaBiotics’ Lead Product Candidate for the Treatment of Fungal Nail Infection
NovaBiotics, the clinical-stage biotechnology company, today announces the initial unblinded results from its Phase IIa clinical study for Novexatin ®. All study end-points were met in the trial which had been designed to assess the safety and tolerability of the novel antifungal drug candidate.
Novexatin ® was confirmed as being safe and well tolerated in all study subjects by the leading global clinical research organisation who conducted the study. These are very positive results in the context of the well described and significant safety/toxicological shortcomings of some currently available treatments.
48 patients with fungal nail infection were dosed daily with Novexatin ® for just 28 days, on a single toe nail. Although not an efficacy study, analysis of the clinical improvement of the treated nails, as a measure of Novexatin ®’s pharmacodynamic properties (i.e. its ability to penetrate the nail), revealed much better than expected initial evidence of efficacy during both the short 28-day treatment period and the 6-month follow-up assessment window. In this respect Novexatin ® has thus far outperformed any other drug candidate developed to treat fungal nail infection and the Company now looks forward to confirming these exciting indicative findings in larger clinical studies specifically designed to assess efficacy in patients. NovaBiotics is currently in the process of filing an investigational new drug (“IND”) application for approvals to undertake these trials in the United States.
The results of the clinical trial strongly suggest that Novexatin ® has the potential to revolutionise the market for the treatment of fungal nail infections which affects in excess of 12% of the world’s population. The safety data and pharmacodynamic assessment outcomes achieved for Novexatin ® are more compelling than data derived from other products (marketed and in development) tested in larger studies, during which each drug was administered for between three and ten times longer than the Novexatin ® 28-day study.
Novexatin ® is part of a broad portfolio of products which are being developed by the Company using its unique patented peptide anti-infective technology. The next product in the pipeline is Novamycin ®, a candidate treatment for potentially life-threatening blood-stream and deep tissue yeast and mould infections (predominantly Candida) which is expected to enter clinical development in 2011.”
http://www.novabiotics.co.uk/
Here is a little more on the company and where they are at. Things are looking really positive.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20100822/ai_n54869813/
At little bit more :)
“How was Novexatin ® discovered?
The naturally occuring antimicrobial peptides that the body produces in order to protect the skin and other organs against infection are the basis on which Novexatin ® and NovaBiotics’ other drugs have been engineered. In doing so we have capitalised on the beneficial microbial properties of these natural infection-fighting agents and have designed third generation peptide therapeutics such as Novexatin ® that can be applied for the treatment and even prevention of a range of fungal and bacterial infections.
How will Novexatin ® be used?
At the moment, as Novexatin ® goes through its clinical studies, it is brushed on to the nail every day for one month. We anticipate that this is how the final product will be used.
What does Novexatin ® look like?
Novexatin ® is a clear/slightly opaque solution that dries to form an almost invisible colourless film on the nail when brushed on.
Does Novexatin ® cause any side effects?
Novexatin ® could not be detected in plasma from any patients up to 16 hours after exposure to the drug and no adverse reactions were reported during the first stage of the clinical trials.
I am having limited success with nail fungus treatment currently available, why would I use Novexatin ®?
One of the most important features of Novexatin ® is that in the tests we’ve carried out thus far it clears infection and works much faster than currently available treatments. Another important difference is that the active compound in Novexatin ® kills the fungi that cause nail infections rather than merely inhibiting tehir growth, as most products do. This means relapse of infection within a full nail growth cycle is much less likely.
When will Novexatin ® be available?
Novexatin ® is now well on its way to being a drug but it will be at least 3 more years until it’s an approved medicinal product that can be prescribed by your GP or specialist physician.
Can I be involved in the further clinical trials for Novexatin ®?
This website will have details of any and all subsequent clinical trials that Novexatin ® will have to go through and we definitely hope that a component of future clinical evaluation will take place locally, but this depends on the design, structure and size of such studies”
http://www.novabiotics.co.uk/novexatin/faqs.html
I’ve been reading up on fungal nail treatments, including avulsion and I’m not encouraged. This article says, in short, oral Lamisil 50% success rate, everything else has approximately a 0% cure rate over the long term. including this:
And this article is none too optimistic either.
Another article/study: Oral Lamisil pulsed, 80% success. Adding Penlac and other topicals didn’t help
:-(
Thanks for the pointers to articles, Lee. Those articles are a little dated… 2003 and 2006, respectively, but I couldn’t find anything more recent to contradict the findings, so I guess they still hold.
Here is another article from the same source on the pro’s and con’s of the new PinPointe Laser Treatment, which was approved in December, 2010, by the FDA for treating onychomycosis.
Pro’s: Rapid treatment in 1 to 4 sessions, does not require medication (avoidance of potential liver damage), proven effective in a greater percentage than topical treatments or even Lamisil
Con’s: Costly (and not currently covered by insurance), requires patient to travel to a treatment facility (potentially multiple times), long-term efficacy is unproven, potential for permanent nail damage and deformities (rare, but documented), requires 6-12 months post-treatment to ascertain short-term success, 5 years to gauge permanency
I am for sure not going to rush out to one of these fly-by-night Laser treatment clinics that have popped up who advertise that for $1,200 they can cure my nail fungus. My topical regimen is keeping it at bay, has no permanently damaging side effects, is self-administered and relatively inexpensive. I’ll wait for a medical study which says “after 5 years the success rate is over 80 percent clear nails” before I consider something costly or risky.
I’m intrigued by Taco Bell’s post on Novexatin. I did some extensive reading about it and it appears to be the real deal. I’m encouraged! I found this article to be very helpful to put a human face on the drug developer, their origin and motivation. Certainly worth keeping an eye on.
Novabiotics is the answer in my opinion!!! Will be a day to look forward to when it is available, i just hope they hurry their trials etc, apparently a company is helping them fast track it to market, not sure what that means exactly but sounds hopful!
There are people on this world web that have cured their toes, such as Fungus from this blog that used lamisil gel and another person on another board has had success with lamisil cream, dmso and urea and another with urea, lamisil spray and hydrogen peroxide, these are people that I trust after reading their posts over the years. So I do beleive topicals work, its just a case of finding out which for each individual i suppose and consistency.
Im currently spraying with hydrogen peroxide, lamisil spray and urea cream, been doing this for a month or so now but no immediate results yet so will keep on trying until novabiotics becomes available.
Lamisil works perfectly well. I had one finger infected once and fortunately it totally lifted up and I was able to squeeze Lamisil under
the nail and keep it there 24hour per day. The nail grew out perfectly.
The big issue is that fungus in toe nails are much more difficult for Lamisil to get at since the nail is thicker and does not
tend to lift up.
PLUS the fact that the fungus multiplies very quickly. I saw how fast it spread in my pristine finger nail. It was scary. Thus, its really not that easy to treat.
I’m going to wait for some new product to come along.
An update on toenail fungus… Mix 1/2 oz. of white vinegar with 25-30 drops of grapefruit seed extract [NutriBiotic ®] in a 1 oz. bottle. Shake the bottle until there’s a lot of foam. Then use an eye dropper to dispense the foam on the infected nail. Do this at
least twice a day. It may take several months or more to regrow the nail to its normal state, but it will work. I had one big toe nail that was a chalky white powder and the other big toe nail was completely rotten and black. It took many, many months to totally regrow both nails. Using the foam every other day since the regrowth there hasn’t been any reinfection and both nails are clear. Hope this will help you.
Feety, Novabiotics might work… or not. There are a LOT of oral medicines on the market that marketed themselves “the answer”.
Buddy, I’m glad you got relief!
How are people doing with nonyx that have posted on this blog?
Please come back and tell us :)
I’m using nonyx again now (started again today) I stopped before because my toes got very sore but thinking about it, it must have been because they were maybe clearing.
I have been using lamisil topicals but with no success so am going back to nonyx after reading through these posts again.
Novabiotics-we need to wait approx another 3 years before it is available :(
Hi Feety.
I have not used nonyx but as mentioned before it is nothing but vinegar and water (not that it can’t be effective, vinegar has helped plenty of people) so I suggest you make it yourself. It may be inconvenient but not giving money to a company who sells vinegar and calls it something else gives some satisfaction… Get yourself some water, vinegar and a thickening agent like gelatine and you have nonyx.
People react differently to topical medication and some can even get allergic reactions to common substances like vinegar. If you experienced discomfort it is not necessarily a sign of dying fungus (you can’t feel that) but maybe you are sensitive to vinegar and the mixture may be too strong for you. Try diluting it and go at it again.
Thanks Fungus- The discomfort I had before I think is both the effect of being sensitive to vinegar (I filed ALOT and the skin that I caught filing did get very sore after applying nonyx to the area-I did try to avoid that part on the skin but it was difficult!)
And also it was also the fungus lifting as the parts that were being separated from the nail bed did get very painful, like the pain of an ingrown toenail, these parts were also pushing into the bed- this showed that the nonyx was removing the fungus/keratin but was so painful!
My nails are a complete mess and I hate it! I will be resorting to lamisil tablets very soon! I will give nonyx a month and then the tabs it is :(
Here’s a flurry of additional possible treatments from The People’s Pharmacy that don’t seem crazy. http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2007/11/22/getting-rid-of/. The People’s Pharmacy is an excellent podcast.
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