Any Responses Will Be Greatly Appreciated

I have always had long, strong, beautiful, natural nails and always had compliments on them....UNTIL I got pregnant with my first child! I developed vertical cracks and the nails would split vertically right in the middle. They were so brittle and thin I could literally peel the nail off my finger. I was told it was due to the hormone changes because of the pregnancy, which was VERY difficult with MULTIPLE problems, including gestational diabetes. A close friend ALSO had gestational diabetes with her first child and she told me she ALSO had the same problem with her nails. It took over a year after my son was born for my nails to get better, and almost 2 years for them to return to the hard, strong nails I had before pregnancy, same for my friend. However, it did NOT happen with my second pregnancy, and I did NOT have gestational diabetes or major complications with the second one. Sooooo....you may want to check out your hormones, and the possibility of diabetes! My mother-in-law has also complained of losing her nice nails because of hormones. Good Luck!

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http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nails/WO00020

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Underlying health issues can be seen in fingernails; you may want to do an internet search and see what you can come up with (someone below mentioned thyroid issues). It may just be an age thing, too. When I worked at a pharmacy, we had one older customer who took gelatin capsules (you can get empty capsules made out of gelatin, but that's not what I'm talking about -- I'm meaning capsules filled with gelatin), and she swore by those to help her keep her hair (a full head of long hair!) and fingernails. That may help you.

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I was told those lines are a sign of vitamin deficiency. have you changed your diet recently? You could try going on some prenatal vits (yes, even if you're not pregnant, lots of women stay on them for strong healthy nails & hair) for a while to see if it makes a difference.

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D., are you getting enough fat in your diet? That happened to my sister when she was dieting too hard. The nurse at the diet place told her she wasn't getting enough fat in her diet. When she increased the fat (some butter on her bread), it got better.

When I read about nails on-line, it said that lack of protein could be an issue, so maybe that was really it instead of fat, if you go by what they say. In any case, problems with fingernails can indicate an underlying illness, so perhaps a checkup at the doctor's office along with bloodwork would be in order.

Good luck!
D.

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My mom always knows when her thyroid meds have to be adjusted by when her beautiful long and strong nails start to crack that way..... May want to go have some simple bloodwork done to check your thyroid. =0)

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D. - please let us know what help you find. I have a friend that is a faithful vitamin taker with the same problem...but, my company just introduced some scientific, plublished research showing that absorbancy/solubility is a problem with *most* vit/min supplements. Most only getting less than 10% into the system. So - the quality of vitamins you take are really important if it's nutrition you are lacking...

I'm going to try to get my friend to switch vit/min products; I'll let you know if he sees a difference...

J. B.
www.joyboudreau.com

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sounds like you are not getting enough calcium or are lacking essential vitamins in your body.are you taking any kind of medicine that might have contributed to this new problem? are you getting the proper nutrition? Are you experiencing any new symptoms or illnesses along with the nail problem? talk to your dr and see if they can tell you whats causing the problem. then can do tests to see if you are lacking vitamins or minerals or are having any other kinds of problems. The nail problem could also be caused by a nail fungus so see someone to determine what treatment would be best for you

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