Some short words on the current state of things

So I am down to bi-annual posting it seems, haha.

Either way, after 6 years my fingernails are still completely normal and never has there been any signs of re-infection so the hardcore application of terbinafine gel that I have described at length proved to be my end-all-be-all cure. Also unchanged are my toenails, still disfigured with very little change. 

In later years I have discussed my hopes for NanoBio's experimental drug nnb-002 which was a way of delivering terbinafine droplets to the nail bed using nanoparticles, it was stuck on finished phase 2 trials (second of four trial regimens before a drug can hit the market) for years and now it seems to be shelved, so no nnb-002 for you.

Luliconazole has been sold in India and Japan and I have been trying hard to get it, including telling a friend to check out the drugstores while visiting Tokyo but no luck. It is OK though since I just wanted to give it a shot, everything I read seems to say it is only moderately effective, but it is still something else. 

When it comes to other new stuff, Ciclopirox nail lacquer has been joined by a couple new things on the topical side. Efinaconazole 10% nail solution was apparently approved in 2014 and like ciclopirox has shown some effectiveness but not staggering results. 

Tavaborole

Apparently there is a new kid in town, topical Tavaborole, This stuff contains a basic element, Boron (it makes you think of nuclear plants but is actually not radioactive). It seems this stuff has a unique ability to block certain enzymes' function and on top of that has a low molecular weight. Not being a physicist I don't really know what that means but apparently it means greater ability to penetrate nail and reach the nail bed compared to some -azoles and -afines like terbinafine. In a study it was 250 times more effective than ciclopirox when it came to solely passing through the nail barrier, which sounds good of course. However,  the stuff is in phase 3 trials and so far complete cure rates have been low. So, not on the market yet and as of now, not super-effective. 

Read more on https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4662369/

My shoutout remains active: if anybody out there can get me some Lulicon or have other ideas or useful information, just holler. 

Some more positive words on oral terbinafine (Lamisil)

I have mentioned many times that all scientific tests and trials show that terbinafine is still the top dog when it comes to antifungals, more effective than older substances such as griseofulvin and also contemporary ones like amorolfine. There are however no official topical terbinafine treatments for nail fungus, the one I have described earlier with Lamisil once applied directly on the filed-down nail is my own idea and may or may not be good for you, one person posted earlier here that his liver tests did show the red flag while he attempted my treatment regimen.

Oral terbinafine in the form of Lamisil pills has in trials been shown to have a 50 percent cure rate which leaves half of us still looking around. I did however come across this interesting article written by Nardo Zaias who apparently have many decades of experience in the field. According to him terbinafine has a delayed effect and a pulsed treatment regimen can be 100 % effective over the course of 12 months.

"With 20 patients, who had their nail bed 100% involved received one week of treatment every month. After approximately one year all patients were cured. This was followed by another set of patients, who also had 100% of their NB involved and who also received one week of treatment every two months."

Further on in the article it says "All patients were cured again in one year. Another set of patients received the same treatment regimen, one week every 3 months, and 95% of them cured after a year. Fatigued but encouraged, the last set of patients received one week of treatment every 4 months, about 50 % were cured. Meaning that the beneficial depot antimycotic effect lasts at least for 3 months. "

The article can be read at http://www.jscimedcentral.com/Dermatology/Articles/dermatology-1-1003.php

For those who read my posts it may seem I am a fierce opponent of alternative medicine, I am not. But when I am to put my mind to something that may take 3-6-12 months, really do everything right I want my chances of success to be as good as possible. And this is not a point that can be discussed really: in order to find out if a drug works you have to T E S T the drug scientifically and double-blind scientific trials are infinitely more reliable than my grandmother's words, my own gut feeling or stories told by friends.

Formula 3 antifungal by TetraCorp

Another product that I find a little interesting is called "Formula 3" and is manufactured by TetraCorp. Their product can be seen at their website http://thetetracorp.com/products/formula3-antifungal/ .

I have read a couple of posititve reviews online as you will always find no matter what product you research but the mixture itself seems interesting when you look closer at it. It contains tolftanate which is a completely legit antifungal, in trials it has been shown to be effective when compared to other antifungals, see http://www.ijdvl.com/article.asp?issn=0378-6323;year=1990;volume=56;issue=2;spage=130;epage=131;aulast=Rajendran .

It seems to be slightly less effective than azoles (itraconazole, clotrimazole) which in turn have been shown to be less effective than terbinafine, still the top dog when it comes to efficently treating fungal skin and nail infections. But apparently they have managed to make tolftanate oil-soluble and dissolve it in jojoba oil which should logically make for a better drug transfer, always the issue when it comes to nail fungus. I like to think that this should be able to peneterate a clean, thinly filed down nail and get to work.


A problem (for me) is that this is only sold in physician's offices and the website tells you to consult your doctor. I have found a couple of places on amazon and ebay that sell the stuff second-hand but they will not ship outside the US....


Either way, that might also be worth a try for those of us who have tried and failed with a lot of treatment methods. If anybody living in the US would like to help me get hold of a bottle of this stuff I would be grateful of course, I can compensate you for your efforts and expenses if you will have it sent to me.

Same goes of course for luliconazole, sold as lulifin in India and Lulicon/Rurikon in Japan, I am extra interested in that stuff.

New topical medication on market: Jublia topical solution

Once in a while I browse the web searching for updates regarding nail fungus research and new substances and treatment methods. As of now it seems a new thing is on the market. The company that markets Jublia is called Valeant and their website and their own press release can be seen on http://ir.valeant.com/investor-relations/news-releases/news-release-details/2013/Valeant-Pharmaceuticals-Announces-Approval-Of-Jublia-For-The-Treatment-Of-Onychomycosis-In-Canada/default.aspx . 

It describes some decent study results where between 15-17 % of patients were cured after a full year being medicated and the substance is applied on top of the nail like for example ciclopirox nail lacquer. 

Apparently this is so new that it is only approved for sale in Canada but those who live there and are struggling with nail fungus at least have something new to try. The test results are being released by the company itself and are moderately promising but hey, it is another option at least. If it was available where I live or could be purchased online I would give it a shot.

Check back for more updates, feedback, positive or negative is always appreciated  

Luliconazole

I believe I did write further back in the blog about the new substance luliconazole that has been kind of talked about in the last couple years. In 2010 the drug was launched in India under the name Lulifin as can be seen in this news report: http://www.fiercebiotech.com/press-releases/ranbaxy-launches-new-chemical-entity-lulifin-luliconazole-india .

It is also being sold in Japan under the name Lulicon, when you research it using search engines you should try both the spelling "lulicon" and "rurikon" (some completely unrelated pages with Japanese dress-up stuff might come up.....). It is manufactured by the company Pola Pharma and I have tried obtaining it through their Australian branch who referred me to the Japanese company who in turn let me know that they cannot sell drugs to countries where it has not passed all the tests (in simple terms that was the message, it is not being sold here so they can't send it here either).

I am curious about this one since it is A: something I haven't tried, B: it is actually real medicine and not something someone cooked up in their basement and sold over the internet with sexy words like "essential oils", "all natural", "homeopathic remedy" and so on. And C: one can find a couple promising studies online, like at http://www.sciencedomain.org/abstract.php?iid=234&id=14&aid=1918#.Uml8I_lkODg where it is stated that for mild skin infections Luliconazole cream and Terbinafine cream were equally efficient, here it must be remembered that Terbinafine is still the top dog when it comes to antifungals.


So I want to try the lulicon/rurikon/lulifin and try it on my toenail fungus, I am kind of reaching out here. Anybody who lives in India or Japan or knows another way to obtain medicine from there is welcome to contact me, it would be appreciated

My current status

So, it has become obvious at this point that I don't post much anymore. =)

The reason for this is pretty much that I don't have much to write. My toenails have been the area of battle for the last couple of years and I can't say I have had success. I kept treating them with the same procedure as described in previous posts, mechanical debridement of the nail by filing it down to as thin as possible using an electrical drill with a sander tip, then, with the nail either gone or a tenth of it's normal thickness I would apply Lamisil Once regularly. Lamisil is a proper medicine, there is nothing alternative about it. It went through the normal processes, years upon years of trials and research, millions and millions spent by a pharmaceutical company and to this day it (terbinafine) is still the substance that has the highest percentage of success in fungus sufferers. In other words: as legit as something can ever be.

It cured my fingernails 100 %, no trace of infection and I have been healthy for over 2 years now, see my posts from early 2010: http://battlenailfungus.blogspot.se/2010/03/new-photos.html and from late 2010: http://battlenailfungus.blogspot.se/2010/08/my-procedure.html . My toenails have not had the same success.

Working with toenails is more difficult, your back hurts as you carefully work your tools and try to see what you are doing while not hurting yourself. It also proved more difficult for me to treat them twice a day because it is more of a hassle taking off your shoes and socks when you realize you forgot to apply the gel.

A third thing: socks and shoes make for a warm, humid environment which is ideal living conditions for fungus. Your hands are out all day, breathing. How many hours a day do you walk around barefoot? These circumstances make me think it is much more difficult to treat toenail fungus than fingernail fungus. I have been a bit on-and-off with my treatment, at most I have applied it once a day but I never had a layoff of more than a week or two, I did however not see any significant improvement (3 nails seem healthy, the others are bad)so this year I simply stopped doing it and was thinking about what I was going to try next.

When I stopped treating it completely I noticed it actually went from not getting any better to getting WORSE. I don't know, but I assume the gel, as I use it, on me, was able to keep the fungus somewhat in check although not cure it, so I started using it again just for precautionary reasons and now I apply it maybe 2-3 times a week. I will move on to another procedure but I just have to settle on one. I hate spending time every day over several months on something that had no hope of working in the first place, and filling the wallets of inhuman charlatans and quacks, such as the people behind the zetaclear scam (get a job, you zetaclear people) is something I really would hate to do, see my blog on fake remedies such as zetaclear: http://battlenailfungus.blogspot.se/2010/10/popular-and-heavily-advertised-fungus.html .


I will drop back quite soon with a new treatment regimen for me personally and I will keep you updated on my progress/regress. I have just been lost for some time and holding out hope for my old treatment to keep working wonders on other parts of my body, but I will have to find something else. As said before, I make zero cents off of this blog and I will never do anything to promote a non-effective, heavily advertised remedy that contains only vinegar, water and perfume. Whatever I choose to try will be given a lot of thought, researched, and viewed in a scientific way.


I hope as many as possible choose to follow this blog because, no matter how rarely it happens, I will post only correct information regarding my progress and current treatment methods.

I had a request for a description of the "dremel-like" machine I was using to file down my nails, well, here it is. There is nothing fancy about it, just an old high-speed drilling machine with different tools to insert into the chuck. The 2 upper tools are the ones I use, and the one on the top does 90 % of the work, the other one is just for the last piece of the nail close to the cuticle.

It has adjustable speed, normally I start out on slow speed and increase it slightly when I get into it (and bored). It is a tedious process but I recommend doing one foot and maybe the other one the next day, or your back may start to hurt and you will not be too thorough anymore....

I would say any similar machine will do, for example the cheap ones off ebay since it requires no engine power or super speed. Get for example the one on http://www.ebay.com/itm/DREMEL-400-XPR-Rotary-Tool-With-Accessories-And-Paperwork-New-Exec-Condition-/160802040751?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25708c6baf  or try maybe this one, even cheaper: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Cordless-Rotary-Tool-40pc-Kit-Dremel-Tool-Bits-Fit-Dog-Nail-Groomer-Grinder-/170843162711?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c70bc857

If you get just any tool and it does not carry the suitable sanding tips you see in the pic (the top one the most important one, it also works just fine without the pointy tip, you can use a cylinder-shaped one), just go to your local hardware store and ask for dremel acessories and they will most likely have a big shelf with them. They are expensive, but only one is not expensive...


There you go, good luck. =)