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Vertical ridges on fingernails

rosie26

Senior Member
Messages
2,446
Location
NZ
I have had vertical ridges since severe ME if I remember correctly. My nails were on the thin side practically all my life until then.
 

john66

Senior Member
Messages
159
You can send pictures of your nails to Dr. Chi, they are based in Anahiem, CA, and there is a lot of information according to Chinese medicine that comes from the nails. I used to work for him and still use his Oxy Power supplement, which reduces lactic acid and increases blood oxygen. Lack of lunulae on the fingers is an indication of this.
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
You can send pictures of your nails to Dr. Chi, they are based in Anahiem, CA, and there is a lot of information according to Chinese medicine that comes from the nails. I used to work for him and still use his Oxy Power supplement, which reduces lactic acid and increases blood oxygen. Lack of lunulae on the fingers is an indication of this.

@john66 Do you mean that you can e-mail this doctor a picture of your nails and he will give you an opinion for free via e-mail without coming in for a consultation or seeing your nails in person? I am only about 1 to 1.5 hrs north of Anaheim and was curious from a Chinese medicine perspective what my nails might mean.

What is the Oxy Power supplement? You said that it reduces lactic acid and raises blood oxygen. In what ways or what symptoms has it helped for you?

I've been curious about the lunula issue as well but when I compare the total number of lunulae's that I have to that of healthy family members we are no different. I just have the thick red lines across the top of my nails.

upload_2016-2-28_22-56-55.png
This image is from Google and is not me but this is what my fingernails and toenails looked like last year when I was having severe MCAS/anaphylaxis and got down to 98 lbs from being unable to eat. Am much better now at about 115 lbs and my fingernails look normal but my toenails still look like the picture although not quite as extreme. The red line across my toenails is straight vs. in picture seems more jagged. But the part of my toenail without the red line is like an opaque, glassy white color instead of pink just like the picture. But it is smooth to touch and no vertical ridges.
 

john66

Senior Member
Messages
159
Yes, you can email hi8m pictures, if you are that close, I'd book and appt to see him in person. He has a PhD in endocrinology and worked for some of the major pharma companies before going out on his own
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
Yes, you can email hi8m pictures, if you are that close, I'd book and appt to see him in person. He has a PhD in endocrinology and worked for some of the major pharma companies before going out on his own

Thanks John, and not possible for me to travel to see him in March but am seriously considering contacting him to e-mail a nail picture and see how he interprets it. I have nothing to lose!
 

roller

wiggle jiggle
Messages
775
@all with ridges & other marks

your toe nails are the same?
 
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Aerose91

Senior Member
Messages
1,400
@roller my fingernails and toenails were affected but now it's only on toenails (but mine were not the vertical ridges.)
Hey @Gingergrrl. So get this-

Yesterday i tried a liver flush- the epsom salt all day and grapefruit juice/olive oil at night and got really, really sick. I was nauseous and throwing up most of the night as well as sickly and shivering. As of today i dont feel any different and didnt pass any stones, either.

However, as of this morning i noticed i have Terry's nails. I have a bad habit of biting my cuticles so i look at my nails every day and it just popped up this morning, the day after the liver flush (that didnt seem to do anything). Its on both my fingers and toes.

I googled it, found Terry's nails and liver disease so i came here to scope it out and here i am. I wonder what it means for us
 

undiagnosed

Senior Member
Messages
246
Location
United States
I have longitudinal ridges that I never noticed before. I also noticed that the onychodermal band area looked more pronounced. See the picture below. Anyone else have a similar thing going on?
grLWVgW.jpg
 
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Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
Hey @Gingergrrl. So get this-

Yesterday i tried a liver flush- the epsom salt all day and grapefruit juice/olive oil at night and got really, really sick. I was nauseous and throwing up most of the night as well as sickly and shivering. As of today i dont feel any different and didnt pass any stones, either.

However, as of this morning i noticed i have Terry's nails. I have a bad habit of biting my cuticles so i look at my nails every day and it just popped up this morning, the day after the liver flush (that didnt seem to do anything). Its on both my fingers and toes.

I googled it, found Terry's nails and liver disease so i came here to scope it out and here i am. I wonder what it means for us

Sorry and I somehow missed this post and that is very interesting @Aerose91. Do you still have the Terry's Nails now that a few days have passed?

In my case, it started with malnutrition during MCAS last summer when I could not eat anything due to anaphylaxis and was hospitalized. My liver tests were all normal at that time and I have never done any kind of liver flush.

It was on my fingers and toes but after many months, my fingers returned to normal but my toes never did. I have shown it to every doctor and no one has any clue except that it is some kind of vascularity problem. I've asked if it relates to cardiac or pulmonary issues and they all tell me it doesn't so I have just let it go even though I know it is not normal!
 

Aerose91

Senior Member
Messages
1,400
Sorry and I somehow missed this post and that is very interesting @Aerose91. Do you still have the Terry's Nails now that a few days have passed?

In my case, it started with malnutrition during MCAS last summer when I could not eat anything due to anaphylaxis and was hospitalized. My liver tests were all normal at that time and I have never done any kind of liver flush.

It was on my fingers and toes but after many months, my fingers returned to normal but my toes never did. I have shown it to every doctor and no one has any clue except that it is some kind of vascularity problem. I've asked if it relates to cardiac or pulmonary issues and they all tell me it doesn't so I have just let it go even though I know it is not normal!
It's gotten a little worse over the past few days but i dont feel any different. Im going to wait a couple weeks then try another flush and see if that changes anything
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
It's gotten a little worse over the past few days but i dont feel any different. Im going to wait a couple weeks then try another flush and see if that changes anything

It seems like the liver flush made you ill and possibly contributed to the Terry's nails so just curious why you are planning to do another one? What is it supposed to accomplish?
 

Aerose91

Senior Member
Messages
1,400
It seems like the liver flush made you ill and possibly contributed to the Terry's nails so just curious why you are planning to do another one? What is it supposed to accomplish?
Liver flushes are supposed to clear your bile ducts and rid you of gallstones and all the crap that comes with them.

I dont take one failed flush as necessarilly a sign that it can't help- it may just take more than one. I believe in the likelyhood that things need to get worse before they can get better
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
Liver flushes are supposed to clear your bile ducts and rid you of gallstones and all the crap that comes with them.

I dont take one failed flush as necessarilly a sign that it can't help- it may just take more than one. I believe in the likelyhood that things need to get worse before they can get better

Thanks @Aerose91 and was just curious. If you do end up asking a doctor of their opinion re: your Terry's Nails, I am curious what they might say as no one yet has been able to give me any feedback on this. Doctor's have either said they did not know, or it looked "autoimmune" or it was a "vascularity issue" or from malnutrition (which clearly is not the case now) etc, etc. It remains a mystery especially why it disappeared on my finger nails but remained on my toenails!
 

Aerose91

Senior Member
Messages
1,400
Thanks @Aerose91 and was just curious. If you do end up asking a doctor of their opinion re: your Terry's Nails, I am curious what they might say as no one yet has been able to give me any feedback on this. Doctor's have either said they did not know, or it looked "autoimmune" or it was a "vascularity issue" or from malnutrition (which clearly is not the case now) etc, etc. It remains a mystery especially why it disappeared on my finger nails but remained on my toenails!
Everything i looked up said congestive heart failure or liver disease. I think it's pretty obviously the latter for us.
I don't have any doctors anymore, i ran out of money long ago. Actually, ive been living in my car for over a year and sometimes am ledged up for a couple weeks cuz i don't have the gas money to go anywhere! Lol. All good tho, better than my parents' moldy house.
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
I don't have any doctors anymore, i ran out of money long ago. Actually, ive been living in my car for over a year and sometimes am ledged up for a couple weeks cuz i don't have the gas money to go anywhere! Lol. All good tho, better than my parents' moldy house.

I didn't know that and am so sorry to hear that and wish I could do something to help. I am not sure that it relates to liver issues in my case b/c all my liver tests are normal. I learned recently that I have autonomic neuropathy to my feet and suspect they might just not be getting adequate blood flow to the toenails? My feet are also always freezing and when I wear compression stockings, it helps me overall (but does not change the way the toenails look.)
 

Aerose91

Senior Member
Messages
1,400
I didn't know that and am so sorry to hear that and wish I could do something to help. I am not sure that it relates to liver issues in my case b/c all my liver tests are normal. I learned recently that I have autonomic neuropathy to my feet and suspect they might just not be getting adequate blood flow to the toenails? My feet are also always freezing and when I wear compression stockings, it helps me overall (but does not change the way the toenails look.)
I appreciate it, thank you. But we're all in tough spots in our lives

I dont think we need huge blood markers for our livers to be sub par. Apart from high bilirubin from my Gilberts Syndrome, which ive had since childhood, all my markers are good, too. I think we have to have had detox problems in order to get this disease so it wouldn't suprise me if our livers have always been sub-par
 
Messages
1,082
Location
UK
I've had vertical lines on all finger nails ever since the ME.

When i stop taking my liquid supplements and anti-oxidants i also get a big dent in the middle of my thumbs vertically but more in the centre almost like the head of a spoon indented into the middle of the nail.

But recently i've now got two horizontal lines going across the thumbs and a couple of fingers but less pronounced on them.

Its hard to show on the photo but the two parts where the light catches are the raised horizontal lines.

I'm guessing they're because of the sepsis i had a few months ago which started in both kidneys. I often wake with severe kidney pain in the mornings now in both kidneys.

image.jpeg


They don't look like lines in the photo but they run almost from one side to the other.