To try a toxic substance to cure my fungal toenail infections?

[Ecci]

I've had one infected toenail for ages and now it's spread to another three.

I've tried everything you can get from a pharmacy but nothing works. I've Googled what to do many times and tried lots of things that also didn't work.

I've read that farm animals and horses can get fungal infections in their hooves and farmers etc use copper sulfate solution to cure it.

Copper sulfate is toxic if ingested but I don't think it can get through skin so it should be safe to put on my toes, I think.

Has anyone tried using copper sulfate or found anything else that does actually work on toenail fungus?

Go to your GP and get a prescription for Terbinafine , it works if you take it for several months .

Dunno, definitely the sort of thing I’d do. I use iodine and hydrogen peroxide for just about everything 😂 both brilliant,
both toxic if ingested. You can get some sort of parasitic powder that basically eats the fungus - it’s fascinating - have a Google!

i do find that horses get top health treatments though so yeah I’ve used
mane n tail for swishy hair and DMSO for
joint pain.

Go to your GP. I had vile fungal toenails for ages and thought there was nothing I could do about it after I tried everything I could from the pharmacy. GP prescribed me some tablets :vague: and they completely sorted it - I think I was on them for a few months?

Applying tea tree oil (it can be diluted in oil) every day will cure it. It takes about a year to cure the big toe nail though.

Terbinafine, definitely. It takes 3-6 months but it works.

I tried everything! In the end the only thing that worked was terbinafine from the GP - I took it religiously, didn’t miss a day

Manky nail warning: before and after pix (I took a photo every fortnight when I cut my nail)

Another vote for terbanfibe, it takes ages but it works

I just looked at the dates of my pix and it was about 8 months in total - taking the pix encouraged me to keep going as I could see the improvement

Copper sulphate won't cause serious health damage just from skin contact, but it's an irritant and can cause dermatitis if you come into repeated contact so it might make your overall toe situation worse. I sympathise though because nail infections are an absolute bastard to get rid of! See your GP about conventional treatment and only resort to toxic chemicals/pliers/foot amputation if that doesn't work

No need. Just use the weekly anti fungal paint you get from the pharmacist and a NAIL FILE. Just keep in filing away at the surface of the nail. It increases the penetration of the nail treatment massively. You will quickly find the affected part of the nail gets filed away leaving the healthy nail.
keep on using the application whilst it grows out though. You might find many of your shoes are infected with the fungus so you don’t want to stop the treatment.
I realise it’s uncomfortable and unsightly - my nails were infected for 10 years at least, but I don’t think the NHS should be treating this when you can do it yourself. At the end if the day the NHS is really struggling to treat more serious illnesses. We should do what we can ourselves.

PS when I started really filling the nail properly the infection cleared within a few months (after trying various treatments for 10 years) - I don’t think that was clear in my previous post.

@MiniDaffodils Just because filing worked for you doesn't mean it will for everyone.

The NHS is available to anyone who needs it. I had a bad fungal nail for year's before I tried the GP. One ten minute appointment, one course of terbinafine, and the nail was cured and I no longer had pain and the worry of spreading the fungus to others.

@GettinPiggyWithIt

Dunno, definitely the sort of thing I’d do. I use iodine and hydrogen peroxide for just about everything 😂 both brilliant, both toxic if ingested. You can get some sort of parasitic powder that basically eats the fungus - it’s fascinating - have a Google!

i do find that horses get top health treatments though so yeah I’ve used
mane n tail for swishy hair and DMSO for
joint pain.

I've used purple spray and wound powder on myself

I went to a podiatrist who cut away the edge of the nail, drilled small holes in the top of it, filed it back and then gave me a cream (for the tow) and a liquid (for the nail) to use on it everyday. Took a few months but fully recovered now. See if your GP will refer you, although I went private through insurance but it cost around £400.

Toe!

Mykored - it's slowly clearing my persistant nail fungus - apply twice a day job. I'm sure GP and oral tablets are more guaranteed but this is actually working for me

I'm having the same sort of treatment @Shamoo described. I think it's called Clearanail. It's £40 each session (every 6 weeks) and I have to spray lamisil on my horrid nail twice a day and some scholl spray at least once a day. I've only had 2 treatments but I can see an improvement. (Hoping it will be grown out by summer)

I second tea tree, I used it neat on the nail applied with a cotton bud after going over the nail with an emery board, worked - after stuff from GP failed to make a difference

That's the sort of prescription you can readily get on the phone from your GP, if you explain clearly you've exhausted all OTC options. But do bear in mind that it takes months and months for a toenail to grow out, so the mere fact that it still looks yellow or brown doesn't mean you haven't killed the infection. The bit that got damaged by the infection will still look bad till the nail grows out enough for you to cut it off.

Terbinafine is pretty toxic too. It can cause liver damage or liver failure. It's a rare side effect but I'm not sure I would want to risk death for a grotty toe nail, however small the risk.

This is the only treatment which has worked for me. Now have one completely clear big toenail (treated last autumn, fully grown out) and working on the other toes one by one.

www.canesten.co.uk/discover-canesten-products/canespro-fungal-nail-treatment-set

Thanks for all these suggestions. I've had the infection about 4 years. Can't have Terbinafine due to other health issues. I've tried tea tree oil, didn't work. I've tried the stuff you paint on and file off, didn't work. I've tried powdered sulphur, didn't work. Can't afford a podiatrist and GP won't refer me. Will probably try some of the things suggested as well as copper sulphate, I'll have a list of things to work through. It's almost like having a hobby!

Vicks vapour rub worked for me

@Ecci with the Canespro stuff you essentially have to take your nail off (you put it on with a plaster over it and it softens the nail - you then take it off in bits, which is disgusting...), and then the whole nail has to grow back. But as I say, the only thing that's worked for me.

@NotSorry

I tried everything! In the end the only thing that worked was terbinafine from the GP - I took it religiously, didn’t miss a day

Manky nail warning: before and after pix (I took a photo every fortnight when I cut my nail)

Wow, that is bad. I just nail varnish over mine, probably not the right thing to do