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What is your preferred oral regime with duration for treatment of onychomycosis?

How frequently can you repeat the oral course?
Community PollStarted

Which do you feel is most efficacious for a typical Trichophyton Rubrum infection of tinea unguium of the toenails?

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4 Answers
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Dermatology · University of Cincinnati
Answered on

My new favorite regimen is: terbinafine 500 mg once daily for one week, then take 3 weeks off. Repeat for 4, once weekly cycles.

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Dermatology · Randy Jacobs M.D.
Answered on

Back in the old days of the "toenail wars" between terbinafine and itraconazole, I was a speaker for both and learned that the pharmacodynamics of the two drugs favored pulsing for the latter but NOT for the former. Terbinafine does NOT leave the blood for weeks, unlike itraconazole (days), so if th...

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Dermatology · United Health Services
Answered on

Long ago, Nardo Zaias (nail expert) published a study about this. Terbinafine for onychomycosis achieves fungicidal levels after a month and these are maintained because it is highly keratophilic. Nothing to do with blood levels. Alternate month dosing at 250mg/d for 3 cycles (3 months of active the...

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Dermatology · The Skin Surgery Center
Answered on

If no medical contraindications, I like itraconazole 100mg bid for 5 days, skip 2 days, and repeat for 2 months.

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