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Original poster

Toenail fungal treatment

65 replies

upwardsandonwards33 · 18/06/2017 21:18

I saw this in Boots but it cost around £25. Has anyone tried it? I like the idea of it as it has nail polish and no filing. I have been avoiding doing something to my not so lovely toes due to this faff but this heat means I need to get going. Sorry about not being good at doing links properly.

www.boots.com/nailner-treat-and-colour%E2%80%932-x-5ml-10228678?cm_mmc=bmm-_-Google Boots PLAs--Boots Shopping - All other products--All other products&product=10228678&gclid=CNvztbGUyNQCFW-x7QodewMPzg

OP posts:
Hulder · 20/06/2017 02:46

Want2be you are screwed over by your healthcare costs.

Terbinafine costs £30 for 84 tablets to buy from an online prescription here.

Its actual cost per tablet will be pence.

I bought mine so total cost £30. No doctors visits. Even on the NHS it would have been max 1 visit then repeat prescriptions. It either works or it doesn't - there's no point in someone repeatedly coming back so a doctor can stare at your toenail except so you can bill them for the appointment.

GPs don't want to prescribe it because a) the NHS is cash strapped even for meds costing pence and b) there is a rare risk of liver problems which seems a lot to risk for a cosmetic problem.

Want2bSupermum · 20/06/2017 13:26

Not really screwed over. We paid nothing for it as fully reimbursed and the cost was for a full 24 months of treatment.

Hulder · 20/06/2017 16:22

You still paid via your insurance premiums. As did everyone else using the company.

24 months simply doesn't cost that much - the cost of the drug is pence.

There was massive price inflation going on so everyone could make as much money as possible out of something that should have involved 1 doctor visit and some repeat prescriptions for a medicine that costs peanuts.

SouthWestmom · 20/06/2017 16:36

I'm reading this slightly stressed now as I'm worried about my toes!

I noticed half my middle toe looked 'lifted' from cuticle to mid way and paler but assumed it was damage from shoes as it's the same on the other one.

Should I start treating it? I'm crap at skin stuff, it really triggers my OCD. Gross toe pic attached....

Toenail fungal treatment
MMXV · 20/06/2017 16:37

Terbinafine applied topically to the nails and nailbed in the form of Lamisil athlete's foot cream morning and night will not damage your liver and should eradicate fungal toenails at the same rate (~ 12 months for the big toes)

Furball · 20/06/2017 20:23

LokisLover It;s these ones www.boots.com/nailene-so-natural-toe-nails-10163955 - though cheaper on Amazon

They (super) glue to your nail - not sure what happens if you have no nail -

jollyhockey · 20/06/2017 20:48

I have nasty fungal toenails. Tried the Terbinafine years ago but it made me too nauseous to finish the course. Will give Lamisil,or tea tree a go but can anyone advise brst type of file to file them down. Thx

WhatToDoAboutThis2017 · 20/06/2017 21:31

Noeuf I can't quite tell from that picture but if you even think you might have fungal toenails go to the GP asap because the longer you leave it the worse they get and the harder they are to treat.

jollyhockey Lamisil is Terbinafine, but you could try the topical version.

Stuffofawesome · 20/06/2017 21:37

Citricidal essential oil (grapefruit seed extract) dilute in coconut oil and rub under nail and along cuticle regularly for a few weeks

SouthWestmom · 20/06/2017 22:02

What thank you, I'm so stressed by it - my OCD makes me catastrophise - it will go to my finger nails then my face then my hair . Maybe I should tell the GP.

Footle · 20/06/2017 22:08

I took Terbinafine ( not an antibiotic but a fungicide ) for 9 months, finishing 18 months ago. I didn't feel very well on it. It worked for about another year, but now the fungus is back.

OCSockOrphanage · 20/06/2017 22:22

I think that drug is not widely used in the UK because it can cause or exacerbate liver problems. DOn't quote me; not a GP.

WhatToDoAboutThis2017 · 20/06/2017 22:24

Noeuf I don't know if it helps, but I had/have very bad fungal nails on both big toes, and it never spread anywhere else.

I was always very careful though - never touched the nails directly! If come into contact, wash hands immediately. Never wear socks twice in a row etc etc. I also never have bare feet so they never come into contact with anything that could leave fungal traces and cause it to spread etc.

They are very contagious, but like I say, they never spread anywhere else and my DH never contracted them either, even though we share the same bath/shower and bath mat.

SouthWestmom · 20/06/2017 22:35

Thanks what

It's really kind of you, I'm sure normally it will be fine, although I did fiddle with my feet and then scratch my head and then panic all my hair would fall out....

I will see the GP - I think some of the advice on here seems to point that way and I can't cope with self help stuff that may/may not work

WhatToDoAboutThis2017 · 20/06/2017 22:42

That's okay, Noeuf Smile I don't have OCD but I have had severe anxiety in the past so I understand the paranoia and worry!

I was only a teenager when I got my fungal nails and didn't actually realise anything was wrong until they got so bad nothing could be done Sad Last year one big toenail had to be removed and acid put on so it never grows back due to numerous infections after the fungal turned ingrown too.

The other big nail is apparently not fungal anymore but it is severely damaged from being fungal - it's about thirty nails just grown on top of each other and curled round so very ugly, but GP won't do anything as it doesn't cause any pain. I'd have to go private to have it removed and we just can't afford it.

So yeah, after having my nails ruined by fungal infections there is absolutely no way I'd be pissing about with home made remedies, and if I actually posted a picture of my damaged fungal toenail nobody else would either!

paradoxicalInterruption · 20/06/2017 22:47

Pure tea tree oil sorted my manly toe out. But it was relatively minor.

SouthWestmom · 20/06/2017 22:47

OMG you poor thing: so easy to miss things as a teen. Ds had athletes foot and it was only when I was messing around painting his nails that I noticed and he was like 'I wondered what that was' - luckily had some Fucidin and that's worked.

Anxiety isn't great either. Lots of respect to some of us for getting out the front door sometimes

WhatToDoAboutThis2017 · 20/06/2017 22:55

Yeah, absolutely. It was about the time my mental health deteriorated too, so that didn't help.

That's great you managed to sort the athletes foot on your DS as that fungus can creep into the nails and cause a fungal infection, so it too needs to be sorted asap!

I have no idea where my fungal nails even came from Confused Never had athletes foot, they weren't damanged by shoes or trauma. It's so strange.

Anxiety is a bitch. I literally couldn't leave my front door without a lot of support for many years. I'm late twenties now and after some intense CBT I'm a fully functioning adult, but those years were so hard that I have absolute respect for anyone with anxiety just making it through the day.

Want2bSupermum · 21/06/2017 00:02

Hulder I think you misunderstood. DH took his prescription for two years. So if you are paying £30 per quarter that is £240 for the whole treatment period. Even with the bad exchange rate, it's $300 and the gross cost was $275.

He saw the doctor a lot because they couldn't believe it wasn't clearing up.

Want2bSupermum · 21/06/2017 00:03

Also the treatment plan they had him on worked. He doesn't have fungal toes anymore and hasn't in 3 years.

Tanaqui · 21/06/2017 12:20

The gp won't prescribe for mine as only one nail. Is that the lamisil once or the ordinary that is terninatine? I've been using loceryl, but it's expensive!

Artyfarty555 · 21/06/2017 23:08

I have the loceryl on prescription, on my second box., it does seem to be working but it's taking months. I did try VIcks but that didn't work so trying the Loceryl stuff. It's a faff filing down the nails etc before you apply the clear liquid but I'm intent on having coloured nail polish back on my nails, even if l have to wait till next summer.

legolammb · 21/06/2017 23:15

Neat tea tree oil helped me - applied on and under the nail twice daily, with no nail polish used

Thistle72 · 21/06/2017 23:38

I suffered with fungal toenails and the thing that worked best for me by accident I may add was Liz Earle's Botanical body wash. I used it in the shower and think my nails must have been drenched in the body wash and after about 2 weeks there was a significant difference and I've not had it since.

gastropod · 22/06/2017 07:52

Struggled with this for a few years. The over the counter treatments didn't work.

In the end, apple cider vinegar (the cloudy, unfiltered kind from the health food shop) every day worked for me - but it took about a year of religiously applying the stuff. Spray on nail every day, plus a long soak in a footbath (mixed with warm water) every couple of weeks. Doesn't smell great but the smell goes once it dries.

Tried tea tree and vicks (both long term) and neither made a different in my case.

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