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I recently gained access to my fungal laboratory test results from a year ago. I have had onchomycosis for 10 years or more and to say I am more frustrated than ever. Unbeknownst to me, what grew on my culture was a non-dermatophyte called Alternaria species. It is a mold (not a fungus) and responsible for less than 15% of infections. Alternaria lives in the environment. Commonly found in soil, and also known as black mold that can be found in your house. It starts with an injury to the toenail, allowing the organism to enter the broken nail and skin. I had such an injury 10 years ago. Over time it spreads to all the other toenails. Best line of defense is Itraconazole or one of the conazole family of drugs. Unfortunately due to a serious interaction with one of my daily medications, I can't take the preferred treatment. I am currently on my third round of Terbenifine, which is supposedly effective but not as well. Yes I am checking liver function via bloodwork every few weeks. I am also using Jublia topically, which happens to be ketoconazole so thats good, however I dont have a lot of faith in topicals even though I grind my toenails right down to the bed. I have done all the home remedies, old wives tales and potions. All the vicks, listerine, apple cider, tea tree oil, red light therapy, laser, iodine in the world won't help a deep seated infection where the matrix under the nail is affected. Apart from having them removed this is my last battle. It might take years of terbinifine and Jublia (and alot of $$$ spent so far!) but Im determined to have nice feet again! Sorry for the long rant, I know you all understand how frustrating it is. Moral of the story...find out what the organism is on your fungal culture and make sure you are getting the right treatment!
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I’m in the same boat as you. I found a medical pedicure place that has gotten good reviews. They’re very expensive though and without a guarantee of solving it completely, I’m hesitant to spend 1000s of dollars. I’ve done terbinafine twice and have been on Jublia for a month. Seeing some progress but still super embarrassed by my toes that are infected. I wish us success and optimism.
You are right; need to know exactly the organism causing the symptoms before treating it. Thats a start, but even then, as you know, there’s no guarantee that any treatment is going to cure a toenail fungus. It’s a multimillion dollar industry that keeps us spending in hope.
I thought I had this kind too because conazoles worked better for me and topical lamisil did absolutely nothing for my athlete's foot. But they tested mine and found dermatophytes. I was surprised oral lamisil essentially got rid of mine. Except my athlete's foot still itched even though the appearance went away, so he prescribed me econazole nitrate 1%. That finally helped the itch and seemed to actually help my nails too. It kept the fungus from returning after I finished terbinafine. I wonder if I had some sort of combo? I had athlete's foot for 10 years before it spread to my toenails. Had that for another 10 years. All that to say, I've had a good amount of success with econazole nitrate 1% topical. It's a cheap prescription if you want to try it.
Jubilia puts a coating on the nail so if your using other products (I believe you need tea tree and Vicks as well as jubilia and consistent filing), so I'm not sure how much you can penetrate the nail bed with the other topicals with the coating jubilia puts over it
I just found out I have the Alternaria. Dr gave me the option to Take Terbenifine and I asked about itraconazole. She agreed to prescribe that. Thought it was odd she didn’t recommend anything just gave me 3 options to try. Oral med, topical, or removal (not complete permanent)
Many people are getting better results by mixing in dmso to get the active medication to penetrate the nail matrix. I did and after 10 years something’s finally working
I had a similar story tried everything and finally brought it up with a kinesiologist I see regularly - that combined with phrena cream and soaking my nail in cold water with selson blue shampoo (anti fungal dandruff shampoo) worked. Took 3 months to see new growth. I also only wore open toe shoes for 6 months to stop reinfection and chucked out my infected shoes.
my physician suggested I stay with Jublia for 12 to 24 months in addition to the oral meds
The cheap topical worked much better for me than Jublia for some reason.
thanks I will look into this! I agree maybe you had a combo
Im not using any other topicals than Jublia as they dont work. Not for the organism I have. Been there done that
good luck with the Itraconazole! Im gutted I can't take it. Im currently on Terbinifine and Jublia. Its going to be a long haul.
Yeah this is just crazy. I never had any thing like this before and can’t Believe it is so hard to get rid of.
10 years for me. Its really awful
I scrub daily with Nizoral shampoo but I recently read it does nothing as the organism is deep under the nail and the shampoo doesnt touch it. I do it anyway lol, it makes me feel better
I think it’s good to soak a few times a week just to keep surface fungus away and to prevent it spreading to other toes and the skin. I started Soaking twice daily because it spread to my skin and the itchiness caused me to scratch my skin off - it was awful - blistering and weeping. Thankfully the soaks cured the skin fungus. If you’re open minded to alternative healing I’d highly recommend kinesiology - I was told I had black mould and several other types of fungus deep in the nail bed. In my opinion the kinesiology treated the worst of it which cleared the way for the topical creams to finish it off. I have a healthy full nail now - 8 months ago I had lost almost all my nail and was very close to booking a permanent nail removal.
Im so interested, what does a kinesiology do to help with toenail issues. Mine is a black mold issue as well apparently
where are you located? Try googling kinesioogists in your area - find an experienced one. It’s very alternative - as In Is not recognised at all by main stream science - I didn’t bring up my toenail fungus for 5 years because I didn’t think kinesiology would work on it - but because I’ve had so many other physical conditions treated with great success I eventually asked if she could look at my toe (I was also too embarrassed) There’s really nothing that can’t be treated - it’s a form of muscle testing where the practioner asks your body what the underlying issue is and your muscle responds with weakness or strength depending on what it needs for healing. It’s honestly very strange so you have to have a very open mind. If it wasn’t recommended to me by a trusted a friend I would have walked out laughing …. But her waiting list is 3 months to get in - so people are getting results - no one likes to waste money on something that dosnt work. Good luck
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