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Original poster

Terbafine anti-fungal oral drug for fungal toe-nails

66 replies

TooManyMiles · 02/03/2018 12:13

The GP said that the treatment which is like a lacquer applied externally does not work, and only recommended terbafine taken internally.

Has anyone tried this?
Did it work?
Did you have side-effects?

Does anyone know of any alternative/non-Western Medicine effective treatment?

OP posts:

WhatCanIDoNowPlease · 02/03/2018 12:16

Yes it worked like a dream with no side effects although GP did a blood test first to check my ?kidney function? was ok before i started the course.

WhatCanIDoNowPlease · 02/03/2018 12:18

Sometimes you just have to accept that horrible strong drugs do the job very well indeed and for me, that was one of those times.

AnnaMagnani · 02/03/2018 12:22

Yes, worked marvellously. No side effects after absolutely nothing else had worked including the sodding nail lacquer.

If there was an alternative, it would be called medicine.

Footle · 02/03/2018 12:23

Liver function probably. I took a course about 20 years ago , felt fine, and I had no recurrence for maybe 7 years.

I finished another 9 month course about 18 months ago. I felt slightly sick for much of the course - but was in my late 60s which might have made my liver more sensitive. Anyway the good effects wore off pretty quickly and my toenails are now at least as bad as ever.

I wouldn't take it again. Not sure what to do now but my nails look horrid.

Verveine · 02/03/2018 12:24

DH had this and now has perfect toe nails which is incredible because they were in a really awful state. He had no side effects but his GP did say that another GP in the practice refused to prescribe it as he thought it was dangerous....

ohfortuna · 02/03/2018 12:28

My concern would be that if it works the chances of recurrence are high
those who have had success for how long did your toenails stay in good condition?

AuntyElle · 02/03/2018 12:35

You could see if a local podiatrist uses marigold therapy. (I’ve never tried it.)
www.ludlowpodiatrist.co.uk/blog/detail/marigold-therapy.html

ohfortuna · 02/03/2018 12:39

No offence but Marigold therapy sounds like bullshit

Original poster

TooManyMiles · 02/03/2018 12:44

Thank you very much for replying everyone.

It is helpful to know it definitely has worked well for some of you, but in other cases it has worked well but then later the problem recurred. I am a bit worried because I am in my mid 60s, generally well, and would rather not set up a new problem with side effects. (But the GP took a blood sample to do a liver test, which I am waiting for before deciding whether to go ahead.)

I am a bit worried by that other GP's opinion which Verveine mentioned, though encouraged it worked so well with her DH under his GP!

If there was an alternative, it would be called medicine.
I disagree that this is always the case.

OP posts:

ohfortuna · 02/03/2018 12:50

Fungal nail infections are unsightly and they require quite a lot of care to keep the nails filed down etc, but beyond that are they harmful?

WhatCanIDoNowPlease · 02/03/2018 12:50

Mine was over 5 years ago, maybe 8 years??? No recurrence but if I did I wouldn't hesitate to take more tablets. As long as your liver function is ok, why wouldn't you? It was horrible having fungally nails, it looked awful and made me unwilling to wear sandals. Such a simple remedy to such an unsightly problem.

ohfortuna · 02/03/2018 12:53

why wouldn't you?
Because I don't want to do anything which harms my liver

WhatCanIDoNowPlease · 02/03/2018 12:54

That's why to have the blood test to check your liver is ok I think. I'm not sure it harms healthy livers? Anyone know?

whoareyoukidding · 02/03/2018 12:55

Reading this thread with interest. I've had terrible toenail fungus for about 10 years now. I've tried so many remedies (not the tablets). Has anyone tried soaking nails in apple cider vinegar?

ohfortuna · 02/03/2018 12:59

Just done a bit of Googling it seems that the longer you leave the infection the harder it is to get rid of
I've had it for probably 20 years

ohfortuna · 02/03/2018 13:01

Is the disease worse than The Cure?

hairycoo · 02/03/2018 13:01

they is also the laser treatment. I have heard good things about that and am considering it myself.

WhatCanIDoNowPlease · 02/03/2018 13:03

Well as long as your GO is happy with your liver, I guess it's a case of try it and see. But if it's not making you nauseous etc then it really can be a painless miracle cure.

For me, I would definitely definitely take the tablets again if prescribed.

Bowednotbroken · 02/03/2018 13:06

The podiatrist I see recommended tea tree oil - the stuff in little dark bottles rather than any other form. She warned me it would take ages - and it is doing, but I can finally see an improvement. So I just put a drop or two onto a cotton bud, then smear it quite firmly onto the skin at the base of the toenail and over the whole nail. By quite firmly I mean almost painfully if that makes sense?

ohfortuna · 02/03/2018 13:14

That's interesting @Bowed, how long has it taken for you to see an improvement with the tea tree?

whoareyoukidding · 02/03/2018 13:16

Tea tree oil didn't do it for me but maybe it will do it for you. Right now I'm back on the prescription stuff you paint on.

Tbh I know that my problem is caused to a greater degree by the amount of sugar I eat. When I was on a diet, I noticed my fungus started to clear, and then when I went back to eating chocolate every day, it came back. But I like chocolate and I am not prepared to give it up. Anyone else noticed a sugar or maybe yeast connection with their toenail fungus?

IvorHughJarrs · 02/03/2018 13:19

My GP is not in favour of it as there is a high chance of recurrence and nails may not look normal even when the infection has gone

He said the chances of liver damage are few and far between but, if it happened, you wouldn't care how many other patients had got away with it. His view was weigh it up "wearing sandals vs liver damage"
According to our local podiatrist, the reason topical treatments fail is that people don't use them correctly, don't file the nails adequately and don't use them for long enough

AnnaMagnani · 02/03/2018 13:21

I tried tea tree for bloody years. All it did was stain my nails and let the infection spread to more nails. Waste of time. I used to kid myself every now and then there was improvement.

There wasn't.

AnnaMagnani · 02/03/2018 13:24

Also I was filing the nails down religiously with clean nail files. It just doesn't work - the nails collapse as they are yucky fungal rotten things.

Laser might work if you have a podiatrist that does it.

whoareyoukidding · 02/03/2018 13:26

The laser treatment, hairy : I read recently somewhere that people have been using their gel nail laser dryer to treat their nail fungus, with some good results, apparently.

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