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Dr. Diana, both a doctor (therapeutic optometrist), and a recovered POTS and ME/CFS patient, offers help and hope for POTS, Dysautonomia, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Chronic Fatigue, Chronic Lyme, vascular abnormalities, Fibromyalgia, and Multiple Sclerosis. Dr. Diana is now working full time at POTS Care.

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Weird changes in my nails

NEW STUDY! Parasym Plus™ for Multiple Sclerosis › Forums › PrettyIll.com Discussion › Skin › Weird changes in my nails

  • This topic has 54 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 1 month ago by Nompancakes.
Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 55 total)
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  • July 31, 2011 at 1:33 pm #1358
    Dr. Diana
    Keymaster

    Well, after much comparison and after realizing that pictures online are usually on the dramatic side, it looks like my nails are “Terry’s nails”. I WAS able to get rid of the white spots with extra zinc, but the nails are still flattening.
    Yes, I read that longitudinal ridging can come with age (thank you for reminding me about AGE, mother1991. hee-hee), but I was suspicious because it seemed like the ridging, spotting, flattening and red line came on simultaneously and suddenly. It seemed too coincidental. Here’s a link to a Terry’s nail that looks almost exactly like mine:
    http://bit.ly/rc7c6e Scroll down to “Terry’s nails” (And be glad you don’t have some of the other ones you’ll see on the way down. Eeks.) :)Diana

    July 31, 2011 at 5:46 pm #1363
    Deb
    Participant

    My nails look like that too. I don’t have any of the problems they listed but there is something going on with my liver since I have had repeated high bilirubin levels.

    I was wondering too about something else with my nails. There are no moons on any of the nails except the thumb and there it is just a sliver. I know the thumb should be about 20% of the pink, the index finger should be about 15%, middle finger should be 10% and ring finger should be about 5%.

    I am thinking that it may be my tendency toward anemia or a lack of oxygen. With my tachycardia it wouldn’t seem like oxygen would be a problem. It seems to me it is likely an EDS or mast cell problem. I have Raynaud’s but that isn’t much of a problem this time of year. Blood pooling in my extremities is more of a problem right now so that seems like it would help get oxygen to my fingers. I have considered putting a few drops of food grade peroxide in a drink each day to see if it would help but I can’t stand the taste of it even if everyone says it has no taste. 😛

    As far as I know I do not have any lung problems or kidney problems. I saw them online as possibilities. I did get a bad UTI that may have damaged my kidneys about 8 yrs ago. Ever since then, if I get a fever for any reason, my kidneys ache. The only other thing related to that is that I tend toward a high morning urine pH. That is a little unusual too.

    Thank you,
    Deborah

    August 2, 2011 at 12:50 pm #1367
    MGC.
    Participant

    Hi all… backing up a bit… Dr D… I started with my PCP re my nails. He said he knew something about fungus, but I needed to see a Dermatologist.

    Do any of you have problems with liver functioning/ cholesterol? Unfortunately Mast Cell Diseases can have a negative impact on our liver. My Cholesterol is screwed up… low HDL and high Triglycerides. Tryptase breaks down HDL before it can do its job of helping to clear stuff out. And it seems poor liver functioning is implicated in some of these nail problems.

    August 8, 2011 at 4:53 am #1376
    loulou
    Participant

    Hi all. I have really heavy thickening and curving of thumb and index nails. They also have horizontal ridges and I try to file them down but it keeps returning! Also get splinter looking things under my nails too.

    Hope I can post this useful link…. http://mrishaanshareef.blogspot.com/2008/10/finger-nails-to-predict-health.html

    Lots of good pics and info on there. Lou 8o)

    August 21, 2011 at 12:20 am #1388
    Dr. Diana
    Keymaster

    Hi all… backing up a bit… Dr D… I started with my PCP re my nails. He said he knew something about fungus, but I needed to see a Dermatologist.

    Do any of you have problems with liver functioning/ cholesterol? Unfortunately Mast Cell Diseases can have a negative impact on our liver. My Cholesterol is screwed up… low HDL and high Triglycerides. Tryptase breaks down HDL before it can do its job of helping to clear stuff out. And it seems poor liver functioning is implicated in some of these nail problems.

    I think this is very important — thanks for posting! I need to have my cholesterol checked, but meanwhile, many of us DO have issues with bad cholesterol, and many of us have “weird livers”. I hear a lot about liver fibrosis even in patients who never drink alcohol. This is a great point. Thank you for posting! 🙂

    September 21, 2011 at 8:44 pm #1486
    fiona-jane
    Participant

    i heard that you can get a lot of ridging if you are a smoker due to lowered blood oxygen levels. i dont smoke and have a few on my thumb nails, but they’re notoriously bad for their oxygen perfusion, have a lot of problems with it at the moment!

    i also get massive horizontal ridges on my toe nails due to nutrient deficiencies (get them when i cant eat for a few days/weeks) and eventually when the ridge reaches halfway along my toes (from bed to tip) the nail snaps off. happened so often since i was a kid that i’ve lost count. i can use the ridges like a medical diary to tell me roughly how long ago my tum last went on strike, its actually very useful!. as i dont have many vertical ridges i’m not sure those are related to nutrient deficiencies….. but other changes (like flaking, spotting etc ) are likely to be nutritional…..

    although i could be talking (writing?) rubbish as it’s nearly 3 am and i should have gone to bed hours ago but got sucked into this new (to me) forum. told myself to look at it in the morning but just couldnt wait!

    fi xx

    September 21, 2011 at 11:08 pm #1487
    Dr. Diana
    Keymaster

    i heard that you can get a lot of ridging if you are a smoker due to lowered blood oxygen levels. i dont smoke and have a few on my thumb nails, but they’re notoriously bad for their oxygen perfusion, have a lot of problems with it at the moment!

    i also get massive horizontal ridges on my toe nails due to nutrient deficiencies (get them when i cant eat for a few days/weeks) and eventually when the ridge reaches halfway along my toes (from bed to tip) the nail snaps off. happened so often since i was a kid that i’ve lost count. i can use the ridges like a medical diary to tell me roughly how long ago my tum last went on strike, its actually very useful!. as i dont have many vertical ridges i’m not sure those are related to nutrient deficiencies….. but other changes (like flaking, spotting etc ) are likely to be nutritional…..

    although i could be talking (writing?) rubbish as it’s nearly 3 am and i should have gone to bed hours ago but got sucked into this new (to me) forum. told myself to look at it in the morning but just couldnt wait!
    fi xx

    Hi fi! So glad you jumped on! My mom smokes just a little and has longitudinal ridging, but I don’t smoke. I DO, however have a BIG lack of oxygen perfusion, so that makes sense. Thanks for your help, fi!
    Are you taking any mast cell treatment for that tummy? (something like Zantac and Zyrtec, double doses? Just curious… Big hug…

    September 24, 2011 at 4:03 pm #1499
    Dr. Diana
    Keymaster

    the only problem is I am severely allergic to sulfa drugs and with this med (diamox) from what i read would not be really able to take.

    Hi again, I wonder if you wouldn’t be OK with cromolyn sodium — it’s a mast cell stabilizer? It is about as inert drug as you’ll ever find! You won’t notice a difference for a month or even two, but then — wow, what a difference. It won’t “kill” the mast cells you have now, but it should allow some of them to come to their timely deaths, and the new ones will be better behaved. If you can’t tolerate Zyrtec, after you have cromolyn sodium, you will likely be able to tolerate more drugs easier — perhaps Xantac at that point? Neptazane (instead of Diamox) has to still be watched carefully with you and your doctor because it is still a sulpha derivative. Rats. But again, seeing a specialist about cromolyn sodium I think would be a SMART move! Will you let us know? Thanks so much and HANG IN! 🙂

    September 27, 2011 at 12:08 am #1506
    HorseHappy
    Participant

    My nails look like possibly a combo of Terry’s Nails and Red Lunula.

    I have the dark pink strip at the distal end of my nail and I have NO lunula on any of my fingers. I have small ones on my thumbs. But as it says that Red Lunula is associated with collagen vascular diseases and I am a VEDSer, that makes sense.

    Marie

    September 27, 2011 at 1:50 pm #1508
    dawnrulost
    Participant

    i have double white stripes(guess kinda like mee’s) and red lunulas on both thumbs, also all nails are rippled when they grow

    October 10, 2011 at 6:44 am #1523
    bearcat
    Participant

    thank you for the nail link!

    I have the longitudinal ridges (but they came on and get worse ‘slowly’ over the years, so I guess… the age thing… ; )))) – and luckily I dont have the terry’s redness)- and yes… oops I am a smoker… but my mum who’s never smoked in her life… also has them
    my nails actually grow v fast, but are v weak (but I’ve always been a nail biter- though always a ‘bite hem as short as you would cut them”- NOT damagingly short)
    and like deb, I have no moons (apart from on thumbs) either

    and in the last year or so I’m also getting pitting on several nails… but then… I obviously do have a connective tissue disorder ; ) and I have also had a bout of alopecia areata (brought on as far as I could tell by a 3 week bout of too much physical and mental stress)

    and yes, I also have high cholesterol despite NOT having a high cholesterol diet…

    me thinks I really ought to try anti histamines…
    (might maybe at least ‘cure’ me of my seemingly-allergic-to- sudden- temperature- drop sneezing fits and 10mins of ‘having a cold’ symptoms)
    xxg

    October 10, 2011 at 2:12 pm #1525
    MGC.
    Participant

    thank you for the nail link!

    and yes, I also have high cholesterol despite NOT having a high cholesterol diet…

    me thinks I really ought to try anti histamines…
    (might maybe at least ‘cure’ me of my seemingly-allergic-to- sudden- temperature- drop sneezing fits and 10mins of ‘having a cold’ symptoms)
    xxg

    Bearcat… my husband, who will eat every high fat, sugar loaded food he can find, has very good cholesterol levels. I, on the other hand, just do not tolerate these foods well and have the Cholesterol problem. uuggghhh!!

    Do try the antihistamines. That is where I started. At one time, I could tolerate only a very narrow range of temperature. Too cold or too hot made me symptomatic. Much better now!

    October 24, 2011 at 3:40 pm #1547
    Dr. Diana
    Keymaster

    My nails look like that too. I don’t have any of the problems they listed but there is something going on with my liver since I have had repeated high bilirubin levels.

    I was wondering too about something else with my nails. There are no moons on any of the nails except the thumb and there it is just a sliver. I know the thumb should be about 20% of the pink, the index finger should be about 15%, middle finger should be 10% and ring finger should be about 5%.

    I am thinking that it may be my tendency toward anemia or a lack of oxygen. With my tachycardia it wouldn’t seem like oxygen would be a problem. It seems to me it is likely an EDS or mast cell problem. I have Raynaud’s but that isn’t much of a problem this time of year. Blood pooling in my extremities is more of a problem right now so that seems like it would help get oxygen to my fingers. I have considered putting a few drops of food grade peroxide in a drink each day to see if it would help but I can’t stand the taste of it even if everyone says it has no taste. 😛

    As far as I know I do not have any lung problems or kidney problems. I saw them online as possibilities. I did get a bad UTI that may have damaged my kidneys about 8 yrs ago. Ever since then, if I get a fever for any reason, my kidneys ache. The only other thing related to that is that I tend toward a high morning urine pH. That is a little unusual too.

    Thank you,
    Deborah

    Hi Deborah — high bilirubin — did your doctor rule out hemolytic anemia (the blood cells break, and can be viewed on a slide under the microscope). I wouldn’t let them ignore that!

    October 24, 2011 at 3:44 pm #1549
    Dr. Diana
    Keymaster

    Hi all… backing up a bit… Dr D… I started with my PCP re my nails. He said he knew something about fungus, but I needed to see a Dermatologist.

    Do any of you have problems with liver functioning/ cholesterol? Unfortunately Mast Cell Diseases can have a negative impact on our liver. My Cholesterol is screwed up… low HDL and high Triglycerides. Tryptase breaks down HDL before it can do its job of helping to clear stuff out. And it seems poor liver functioning is implicated in some of these nail problems.

    Hi again, Honestly, it doesn’t sound like nail fungus to me. But that is worth about what you paid for it! Cholesterol — you are SO right. I’ve always had bragable cholesterol levels. Not anymore! It’s high now, as is true with most of us with mast cell issues (even teens). I’ll be eager to see if mast cell treatment brings it back down. Liver function can be affected by mast cells, and can cause liver cysts and liver enzymes to go nuts (and cause liver enlargement). How are you doing with that?
    Gentle hugs, 🙂 Diana

    October 24, 2011 at 7:25 pm #1564
    Deb
    Participant

    Hi Deborah — high bilirubin — did your doctor rule out hemolytic anemia (the blood cells break, and can be viewed on a slide under the microscope). I wouldn’t let them ignore that!

    So is this a special test they don’t usually do? My RBC comes back normal now that I have been taking an herbal iron supplement.
    I was originally tested 2 yrs ago after a car accident when my neck just would not got well. I got an MRI and the person that reads it noted soft bone marrow. So the doctor got me to get a CBC. It came back low. I tried iron and my blood pooling got really bad. My legs felt like they had real iron in them – maybe 50 lbs worth! So then I tried herbal iron and had no problem. I’ve had my blood checked a few times since then and it has been ok but my bilirubin was still just a little too high.

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