• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Fingernail problems

Ocean

Senior Member
Messages
1,178
Location
U.S.
I have horizontal ridges on one of my fingernails and little pitted indentations on others. Here are some pictures from google that resemble what I have:

pitted nails

Beau's lines

I plan to ask my doctor about this. The internet says it could be a sign of disease or nutritional deficiency.

I was just wondering if anyone else had either of these two issues and if you did if you found out what it was from and if it got fixed somehow.

Thank you!
 

Dreambirdie

work in progress
Messages
5,569
Location
N. California
There are probably a number of deficiencies that can cause fingernails to become ridged and pitted.

I had very fragile fingernails, which chipped and peeled easily. What helped me was biotin, which is a B vitamin.
 

Ocean

Senior Member
Messages
1,178
Location
U.S.
Thanks Annesse, Last time I had it checked my levels were normal. But the nail thing is pretty recent so I'll ask my doctor to check next time, my levels might have dropped in the past few months for some reason. Thank you!
 

richvank

Senior Member
Messages
2,732
Hi, Ocean.

Nails and hair are made of alpha keratin proteins. They get their strength from crosslinking between adjacent protein molecules by disulfide bonds between cysteine residues in the proteins. I think that the reason nails and hair become weak or brittle in ME/CFS is that cysteine becomes deficient. This occurs because of the disruption of the sulfur metabolism caused by the vicious circle mechanism that includes a partial block in methionine synthase. To tie in with what Annesse wrote, part of this vicious circle mechanism in ME/CFS is a functional deficiency in vitamin B12, which is caused by glutathione depletion, also part of this vicious circle mechanism. Note that in ME/CFS, there is usually a functional deficiency in vitamin B12, rather than an absolute deficiency. Measurement of the blood serum B12 level is often within or even above the normal range, but the cells are not able to use it effectively, so it continues to be recirculated between the blood, the liver, and the gut.

Lifting the partial block in the methylation cycle by means of one of the methylation protocols should correct problems with the nails and the hair.

Best regards,

Rich
 

Ocean

Senior Member
Messages
1,178
Location
U.S.
Hi, Ocean.

Nails and hair are made of alpha keratin proteins. They get their strength from crosslinking between adjacent protein molecules by disulfide bonds between cysteine residues in the proteins. I think that the reason nails and hair become weak or brittle in ME/CFS is that cysteine becomes deficient. This occurs because of the disruption of the sulfur metabolism caused by the vicious circle mechanism that includes a partial block in methionine synthase. To tie in with what Annesse wrote, part of this vicious circle mechanism in ME/CFS is a functional deficiency in vitamin B12, which is caused by glutathione depletion, also part of this vicious circle mechanism. Note that in ME/CFS, there is usually a functional deficiency in vitamin B12, rather than an absolute deficiency. Measurement of the blood serum B12 level is often within or even above the normal range, but the cells are not able to use it effectively, so it continues to be recirculated between the blood, the liver, and the gut.

Lifting the partial block in the methylation cycle by means of one of the methylation protocols should correct problems with the nails and the hair.

Best regards,

Rich

Thank you Rich. Do you think if you have a chance you could look at my post about supplements? I'm very reluctant to try more supplements because I always have so much trouble with them and from what I read the methylation protocol relies on supplements? I haven't felt great after taking sublingual methylB12 either. I just wondered if you have any thoughts on trying it despite my usual issues with supplements. The post is here:
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/showthread.php?15157-Problem-with-supplements-especially-vitamin-D
If you have a chance to look at it I'd appreciate it a lot. Thank you!
 

uni

Messages
52
Hi,

I've definately noticed my nail quality getting worse after getting CFS. I'm guessing its either due to nutritional deficiencies, oxidative stress, or the methylation issue that Rich talks about.