Half my life with an embarrassing thick, yellow toenail

I am a 30 year old man now, and when I was a young teenager I suffered from constant ingrown toenails. I had the sides of my nails cut out on just about every toe, some of them multiple times. My right big toenail was the main bother, and finally after having painful ingrown nails on both sides the doc took the whole thing off.

When it grew back it was yellow, insanely thick and flakey and grew into a tall hollow point. I tried everything I knew to rid of it and finally gave into the fact that my toe would always be a disgusting source of embarrassment.

Around the age of twenty five I set out to have the thing removed permanently. As weird as this might look, I just couldn't bear the look of the nail anymore. My doc talked me into trying Lamisil. It was newish at the time, and very expensive, but it had a great cure rate. I jumped on it only to discover I was extremely allergic to it. I broke out in huge welps and was vomiting.

I gave up again, until I was around 26. I went to a new doc that took it off completely but urged me not to do it permanently. He gave me some Perrigo Econazole nitrate cream (1%). I was instructed to use this twice daily on the toe during the whole regrowth period. It did nothing.

So I sit here, 30 years now, and I have come to the decision of removing this thing permanently unless someone can enlighten me with an experience of winning after a long battle of gross toe. I hate it. I live in great warm weather with clean water and endless swimming holes that I avoid because of it. I would still be a little weird about not having a toenail at all, but it beats having this disgusting two inch thick yellow fang of a nail.

Any advice before I do what is irreversible?