Ciclopirox Risks, Warnings, and Complications

Precautions Before Starting Ciclopirox

Tell your doctor if you have had an allergic reaction to ciclopirox or any other medicines. 

Give your doctor a complete list of your medications, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, nutritional supplements, and herbal products. This will help avoid drug interactions between ciclopirox and your other medications.

Ciclopirox may not be safe for people with certain health conditions. Tell your doctor if you have had an organ transplant, recent chicken pox, human immunodeficiency virus or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome (SCID), cold sores, diabetes, cancer, skin symptoms (flakiness, itching, or crusting), shingles, genital herpes, fungal infections of the skin (athlete's foot, ringworm), peripheral vascular disease, or seizures.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, could be pregnant, are planning a pregnancy, or are breast-feeding. This drug is a pregnancy category B (animal studies have revealed no evidence of harm to the baby, but clinical studies in humans are not available).

Precautions During Use of Ciclopirox

Keep all your medical and laboratory appointments during treatment. Your doctor will trim your nails once a month. 

Do not use other nail cosmetic products on the treated nails. Keep your nails clean and dry. Use separate nail care tools for infected and healthy nails. Do not share these tools with others. 

Change your socks and shoes frequently if your toenails are infected. Wear well-fitted, low-heeled shoes. Do not walk barefoot in locker rooms and other public areas. Protect your hands and feet with appropriate footwear and gloves while playing sports, using strong chemicals, or doing work that could injure your nails.

Ciclopirox Drug Interactions

Using ciclopirox with certain other drugs can affect how it works. Possible drug interactions between ciclopirox and other medicines can increase the risk of severe adverse effects. The following medications can have possible drug interactions with ciclopirox:

• Steroid inhalers such as fluticasone (Advair, Flovent, Flonase), budesonide (Rhinocort, Pulmicort), beclomethasone (Beconase, Vancenase), flunisolide (AeroBid), triamcinolone (Nasacort, Azmacort, Tri-Nasal), and mometasone (Nasonex)
• Topical corticosteroids (creams, lotions, ointments) such as betamethasone (Alphatrex, Diprolene, Betatrex, others), alclometasone (Aclovate), clobetasol (Temovate, Cormax), desoximetasone (Topicort), desonide (DesOwen, Tridesilon), diflorasone (Maxiflor, Psorcon), fluocinonide (Lidex), fluocinolone (Synalar, DermaSmoothe), flurandrenolide (Cordran), hydrocortisone (Cortizone, Westcort, others), halcinonide (Halor), mometasone (Elocon), triamcinolone (Kenalog, Aristocort, others), and prednicarbate (Dermatop)
• Oral antifungal agents such as itraconazole (Sporanox), ketoconazole (Nizoral), fluconazole (Diflucan), voriconazole (Vfend), and terbinafine (Lamisil) 
• Anti-seizure medications

The above list may not describe all possible interactions of ciclopirox. Give your doctor or pharmacist a complete list of your medications, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, dietary supplements, and herbal remedies. Also, tell your health care professional if you smoke, drink alcohol, or use recreational drugs because some of these substances can cause serious health complications when used with prescription and non-prescription medications.