Fungal/brittle nails and other infections.

[SAMBS]

Toe nails and other. 

I've had fungal nail infection in one foot for years, kept trying tea tree oil, then resorted to buying products from Boots when lived in UK. None worked. Now have fungal nail infection in both feet. I have also over years had other infections like UTI, and more rcently had a bronchoscopy here in France, because in 2 yrs I've lived in this rented house which has damp and mould I've had bronchitis? Certainly I've had lung and oesophagus infections which had to be treated by antibiotics. I found the antibiotics seemed to also help nail infections clear a bit and make toenails easier to cut! 

Not that my toe nails grow as fast as fingernails, FN's just split more easily generally. 

I've not seen Canestan over here, though the name rings bells and I'm sure that was prescribed when I had a urine infection. Is that possible?  Also don't remember now  if it would have been prescribed here or UK. 

My Dr here did prescribe a cream for my toe nails, that came With a special type of plaster to wrap around toenail to encourage nails to come off! Not done that yet, because I'm worried about the flesh under the missing nails being open to recurrent fungal infection. Infections seem to be a recurring part of my health over decades. 

I still await results of bronchoscopy done 23/4 March, the rather large mucky looking sample in a small tub had to be sent by the local Lab to a specialist Lab in Paris called Bionomis (perhaps connected to theLouis Pasteur Institute and was written to by local lab telling me that and that the result should be with me in around one month - so by end April, it's now 10th May and I'm still waiting! 

At various stages in my life I had tb infectd gland in my neck as a postwar baby, removed by op. My dad had tb was in a sanatorium in Kent for treatment, while my mother used to be a hop or Apple picker in Kentish orchards. I have a photo of me as a baby in my prom, with the orchard as the backdrop. We had lived in what I would now describen as an old fashioned gypsy style caravan, presumably near the orchards.

This was all near the British Legion Village in E or W Malling, as I recall. Needless to say because I will be seventy next year, all relatives who could have given me much more information than I was aware of as a young girl, have all since died. My health was something never spoken about by my parents, it was only my paternal grandmother who enlightened me as to what happened in the early years, because my parents separated and I eventually spent a lot of time over years with grandparents. My own father only died 18 yrs ago and if I'd known before then how much Healthwise I know and have now, I'd have been better able to keep doctors informed as we moved around even during my own marriage of almost 50 yrs. 

re my lungs, as well as the TB, whooping cough at 5, I also had a collapsed lung when I was 29, came totally out of the blue, purely through a little cough to clear my throat! 

In France, I still think there's a possibility of circumstances now, my husband and I chopped our own wood down for the log burner in a forested mountain area. Since separation , I now live farther N, near b&s - I-law. (I am an only child, so no siblings) but it is all agricultural. 

In general though in the period of my life when I lived near the sea, we were I hr from med in SW Fr, in Scotland I overlooked we overlooked the R Clyde. In Essex we were I mile only from N Sea and sailed for many years. I never had all these infections when living in coastal Essex. Once back in wooded mountain area is when I was told I had a blood disorder and 3 months later had aneurysm and brain haemorrhage.

I can't see there cannot be a link to habitat and good or bad health problems over the course of my life. as well as being autoimmune to TB since a baby, I was also diagnosed as having Hashimotos (autoimmune hypothyroiditis) in early 2015. I'd lived in this house 1 yr then. When it rains there is always a heavy atmosphere inside the older stone built  house (converted way back when from a cottage originally) also ventilation is not brilliant so I have windows and back door open as much and for as long as possible. 

Moving is difficult, my car was written off in an accident 4 days after I moved N, and effects of BI eventually meant i know I would not be safe to drive again. Especially with these various infections being in my blood stream circulating around my body, liver and brain. 

So I hope someone out there might have some idea how to keep these recurring infections at bay through diet, lifestyle etc. I refused to keep taking the various antidepressants my doctor here originally prescribed, I think they may have made my liver toxic causing the cirrhosis - not helpful with a suppressed immune system. 

[GAtherton Administrator Fungal Infection Trust]

It would certainly be a good start to find a dry mould free home. Living in a damp atmosphere will exacerbate respiratory allergies & asthma, with increased risk of infection.

Pay attention to good diet and if you have hypothyroid then ensure that you keep up your visits to your doctor - check your vitamin intake is ok. 

Your nails sound like they need antifungal treatment - something a bit more powerful that tea tree oil!

[SAMBS in reply to GAtherton]

Thanks GAtherton, I'm glad you understand it's all complicated with health and circumstances. There is nothing I can rent suitable or affordable available at present I've been looking for months since health deteriorated so rapidly.  I need to be close to shops & transport - didn't envisage all this happening when I moved in Oct 2013! In laws and I don't keep contact anymore. Hindsight is a wonderful thing also. 

[GAtherton Administrator Fungal Infection Trust in reply to SAMBS]

If a home move is not possible then you can start working on cleaning it up. We usually find that insufficient ventilation is an issue in damp homes (see damp home advice at nacpatients.org.uk) so try to identify the source of the damp and stop it happening. Then we also know any absorbent materials showing signs of damp or mould should be removed - even dust can cause problems!

In the UK the tenant and landlord each have duty of care for the home and health of occupants resp. so if the landlord is being neglectful then (theoretically) action can be taken - but we still get many cases reported.

[SAMBS in reply to GAtherton]

Thanks DAtherton,

Yes I've looked up all the French regs. Not as compulsory or easily enforceable as in UK. I have had  2 French official employees of the Department (county) I live in who have tried with her and she's refused to take a daŷ off work to meet with either of them. That is why I now have a lawyer working for me with the help of French Legal Aid I applied for and got. 

I am not allowed to employ or have works done without her permission and if I ask I have to pay! She wrote a codicil to the contract that after I'd moved in. She asked my to sign, because I'd asked if I could have one small job done, which she tried to make bigger and more expensive than it needed to be, silly me signed then decided not have that job done, when I realised what she had done to me in way she had worded it! it was  nothing to do with damp, which wasn't showing at that  time. Work would be at my cost anyway, or local tradesmen won't work on the property doing even a simple job for me, either because I am a tenant or English. That was when I realised she was breaking the law with condition and electrics - all verified by the Huissier, (bailiff to you, who has some legal jurisdiction and power to make a report compelling her to do certain works to what regs there are enforceable. 

I repeat this is France -  and they obey or not EC or local regulations, at their own will. I've found on the Internet some that the UK has signed up to but that France hasn't! My husband and I ran our own well established and respected but small  home Improvement business in UK. And removed there and here our own homes. So I recognise and appreciate quality workmanship and well aware what is proper and safe or not. Not much has been done professionally or to safe regulatory requirements here. 

It's not a question of the tenant " cleaning" or installing proper and working ventilation. That is the la delays responsibility. There is the appearance of ventilation grilles, but nowhere for air to come in or go out and certainly not connected to any electricity in the house, except one installed 18 months ago wired to a separate box put  in the the fuse board cupboard and once started wouldn't stop, so it drew all the warm air out 24/7, till I took cover off and stopped it by removing one wire from a hole it was put into. On checking wiring diagram left with instruction book it hadn't been wired up properly. But I'm not an electrician so wasn't going to fiddle. I replaced the cover the left it like that! 

As to the old and damaged tiled roof ( I can only see front not the back because there is no access and no windows In rear wall + lack of any wall insulation downstairs which she knows well, none of that Is within tenant responsibilities. All internal downstairs walls were freshly wall papered, ceilings freshly painted. Upstairs is converted roof space for 2 bedrooms, and bathroom/wc - all with low ceilings. 

So thanks for trying g to be helpful with your suggestions, today I've been advised by Huissier when I went in  to see him - he phoned the lawyer for me and was told I'll be getting a letter from her in next few days with the court date for my action against Landlady. I've also yet agin been in to 2 agents today in next town with train station there  and several small shops and supermarket all within walking distance of centre, and there is still nothing around suitable (size and price wise). They have known for a while I need something asap.  It's been an extremely stressful 2 yrs in this house and it took me a while to realise it was this house making my health worse or causing additional complications with it. 

Since last autumn, when I got another infection, I've looked at French, American, and UK sites about causes and effects of damp in housing. That what made me get my doctor take notice and he ordered the chest X-ray eventually, leading to blood test, visit to pulmonologist and having the bronchoscopy, results still awaited as said! 

We've had torrential rain here this afternoon and the atmosphere in the house feels heavy again when I got back from shopping at 5pm. When it's not raining I always have windows and back door open to allow ventilation through the house. The mould behind wall paper under windowsills is from damp penetration through the external wall. They do not have foundations or damp-proofing on older stone built and rendered houses here. All damp can come up from the ground if things aren't well sealed.I've lived here (France) for 8 years now, owned a property from 2002 - 2008 -   so well aware of the differences I've seen between much older and new build properties, this being the 5th one I've lived in, probably the oldest and certainly the worst! 

[Magic777]

Well candida can be a whole system oroblem and i lived in a bkack mould environment and think it spread to mt lungs can you get vick or seeential oils lavender is very good for fungus so i apple cider vinegar green tea low sugar diet pleny of garlic if tolerated iodine also taken internalky and epsom salt foot baths or baths you will be low in mafnesium cokking with thyme ginger cloves cinnamon all should help rosemary too try to have some good protein and fat meals carrots and onions b vits too for stress try to keep ventilated use plenty of salt on food as you may have low stomach acid use good butter and fats to cook and eat or coconutoil if you can rub that in add some lavender oil i use it all over good luck

[Sammy2]

Hope you are doing OK. Did you get your bronchoscopy result?

I have been struggling for years with multiple symptoms. I have been trying to piece together my medical history. A close relative died with similar symptoms as myself and it gets you to really think about the causes of illnesses and how with a bit of research like reading this forum you can really help yourself over and above what the doctor can prescribe/advise.

I have just finished dosing myself with a few drops of oregano oil mixed with soya milk regularly for a few weeks until I read that you have to give the liver a break from it. Prior to that I liquidised garlic for a few months and drunk that each day as a shake. Now I have tried D-Mannose and Xylotene for a week. I have taken advice from this website regarding epsom salts and have a bath with a high concentration of epsom salts when I am feeling bad. I have sprayed magnesium oil on a funny toenail.

I use tea tree oil vapour as an inhaler to relieve my sore lungs and unblock my sinuses. Also taken advice from this website over vitamin D. Mine was very low so I have been taking supplements. Also my folic acid was low so I have been supplementing that too. You need to help the body get its own immune system working at an optimum.

I know I have had EColi because that was proved by culture and possibly StepB (that was positive on a swab only) and also I am fairly sure a fungal infection as the doctor said it looked like it; but the tests did not confirm it so they didn't offer me any treatment.

I don't really know what I am doing with it all but having seen my relative deteriorate so quickly just relying on the doctors' advice and nothing else, I know I need to do something for myself above what the doctors are offering me.

I would be interested to know more about what Autoimmune TB is that you mention. I have never heard of that.

I have had TB all my life. The doctors think I picked it up when I was a baby in the 60s. I had one course of treatment for it when I was in my 30s when they got a positive test for it in my lungs but I think it lingers in the body. The drugs only kill the replicating TB germs and if there are some still dormant in other places then the drugs won't kill them and they are the ones that can reactivate later in life when your immune system is stretched by other illness or affected by drugs eg TNF Inhibitors which dampen the immune system.

I am not on any prescribed medication currently but I have been in the past.

I am wondering how many of my problems now are due to the TB and/or the 6 month course of drugs they gave me for the respiratory TB but I am having to research myself because none of the doctors talk to you straight about these risks.You don't seem to be able to talk openly about TB either; the doctors seem to want to hush TB up. It is almost like a forbidden word in the medical profession as my experience goes. Problem is the doctors are the only ones who have access to the appropriate tests which can confirm/otherwise these infections and if they say you don't need the tests you are stuck. They seem to want to put everything down to 'anxiety' and if you go back to them and say you really think you need the tests the more anxious you seem so you are in Catch 22.

Would like to know how you are getting on!