Nail Health

DebE13 · Post by **DebE13** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:41 am

This may seem like an odd question but is there an significance to health and cuticles/nails? I know that the condition of a person's nails is an indicator of health but I was wondering about the cuticle area. I have a nice pink color to the under-nail area but the lunula is absent on both pinky fingers and is irregular shaped on others. In addition, the half-moon shaped lunula varies in size on my fingers whereas they used to be all uniform. Does this indicate some sort of deficiency? I am able to grow my nails long naturally so I'm assuming something must be right otherwise they wouldn't grow so nicely. I do have some very prominent ridges which I've read threads about here. Is this just due to age or another paranoid obvervation of an MCer?

jmayk8 · Post by **jmayk8** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 8:38 am

hmmm now that you mention it, I only have the lunula on my thumbs! I also have ridges on all of my nails. They do seem to grow though...??

cjbndtsn · Post by **cjbndtsn** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:41 am

Interesting enough I was just talking to someone last night about my nails. I have never had any issues with my nails before but was remembering that I seemed to go through a phase where my nails were ssssoooo brittle and breaking just looking at them. I was constantly complaining that every time I turned around my fingernails were breaking. This was just before my MC started!!!! THey seem to be fine now but had a stint of about 4 months of my nails seeming like paper thin glass. My lunula's on my pinky's are almost gone but that never occurred to me to be an issue or a problem. I don't know if my nails are better since my MC issues are better but just an FYI I was able to remember that I had that problem just before I was diagnosed with MC.
Thanks for another interesting topic.

Bifcus16 · Post by **Bifcus16** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 12:22 am

I'd be keen for any insight on this as well.

I have been having trouble with thin brittle nails for nearly a year. I am sure it must be something missing in my diet, but I don't know what. Have tried taking silicon supplements, but that doesn't seem to work.

No idea what it is, but it is a blooming nuisance. I try to keep my nails cut as short as possible, as they split when only a few mm long. It's really annoying when they break whilst still attached, so I have to wait till they grow out until they can be trimmed. Another one did that this morning. sigh. I can't use nail hardening polish at it makes them even weaker when it splits off.

And now that I look, I only have the lunula on my thumbs (assuming you are referring to the whiter crescent near the cuticle). I didn't know you are supposed to have that on all fingers.

Hmm. You have no idea how many times I have googled for this without success.

Any suggestions gratefully considered.

Lyn

fatbuster205 · Post by **fatbuster205** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 4:07 am

Funnily enough my nails normally grow fantastically but the past couple of months they keep splitting and breaking and I am constantly having to trim them really short - this is really unusual for me! I am on 9mg budesonide - 6 weeks since I started the two weeks prednisolone - but my nails were splitting breaking before then. It is so frustrating!
Anne

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:58 am

I have the same problems with soft, spitting nails and have no lunulas *except* on the thumb that splits badly. (I'm currently missing a large chuck of nail on my right thumb. Ouch!) My doc has no idea what's wrong with my nails.

Some articles suggest it's a low thyroid problem but I'm supposedly OK in that dept. I don't believe it but the docs do.

Post by **tex** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 12:16 pm

Marcia wrote:Some articles suggest it's a low thyroid problem but I'm supposedly OK in that dept. I don't believe it but the docs do.

It appears to me that precious few doctors actually know how to treat thyroid issues, but they are all convinced that they know what they're doing (at least they do a good job of pretending that they believe that they know what they're doing). I've discovered that docs in general like to pretend that their patients are doing fine, because they don't like to be associated with any treatments that aren't working properly. I suppose facing poor results makes them uneasy, and causes them to feel insecure, and I can certainly understand that. So as long as they get the lab test results they want, they're happy campers. The fact that their treatment programs often don't completely resolve a patient's symptoms is usually swept under the rug, so that it's not on their radar to distract them. LOL.

Every time I would point out to my doctor that my thyroid treatment was not resolving all my symptoms (such as eyebrows, body temperature, etc.), he would look at me like a cow looking at a new gate, but the lab results were always good enough for him.

Tex

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 12:39 pm

I've recently been discovering this, Tex, as I've mentioned on here before. My lab results were okay according to Mayo (but not according to other guidelines). I had numerous symptoms and felt like crap but those results said I didn't have a thyroid issue so "how about some blood pressure medicine and maybe you should consider statins". I don't think I've optimized my NDT dosage yet but my blood pressure has already improved without BP drugs and my energy level and overall feeling of wellness has improved. My tremors (which I'm pretty sure was adrenals) is improving as has my vertigo.

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 3:13 pm

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 6:17 am

NDT = Natural desiccated thyroid

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:00 am

Thank you!