Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kendal Rauh on April 27, 2011 at 6:36pm

I've never experienced pain, but my fingernails do have little dents and lines. I've been told that "pitting" of the fingernails is a natural side affect when having alopecia, but if you're experiencing pain you might want to talk to a professional if it doesn't go away.

Good luck and I hope the pain goes away for you soon!

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Permalink Reply by Norm on April 27, 2011 at 6:51pm

Hi Dave.... I've got those horizontal lines in my nails too, but I just move my hands 90 degrees and they become vertical. Freaks the doc totally :)
Sorry, I'm only messing, but I just couldn't resist!

But the joints.... that's simply "getting old" (but we're not as old as TG, so we're OK!)

Cheers! - Norm

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Permalink Reply by Stacey on April 28, 2011 at 4:15am

Hi Dave, ditto the comments that 'pitting' is characteristic of alopecia. Have had lines all my life, but real 'pitting' I only experienced once. My alopecia became agressive and I lost everything, including my finger and toe nails. Apparently that is pretty rare, so what I was left with were very tender, fragile nail beds for a little while, unitl the nails fortunately started growing back. I now have 20 nails and they are very strong, white and lined of course, but I have them back and a treasure them, even if they look a bit silly some months. Manicures do make them look more even, but only for special occasions I would go to the effort. I only know of one alopecian who lost a nail and it never grew back (thumb).

As for the joints, you don't need another person on a 'support' website to remind you of your age =) I am not aware of any link there, but if I were you, I'd visit my doctor and discuss supplements too.

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Permalink Reply by Tallgirl on April 28, 2011 at 1:28pm

Try MSM or glucosamine for the joints. Works for me! :)

Stacey: Those of us over 50 joke about age constantly. It's our way of teasing each other into a smile. We accept the obvious!

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Permalink Reply by onekeylady on May 2, 2011 at 8:13pm

Interesting, I just found out about the fingernails being related to the alopecia today from some brochures I received from AW. 2 years ago when I had the first flare up of AA, I had started going to a specialist here in KY that does bio-identical hormone replacement and was told he was great with identifying auto immune diseases. Since I had seen so many auto immune diseases, I still hadn't understood the AA being auto immune without any illness to go with it. One thing he said to me on the first visit was that he could tell my hormone levels were way off, and that once we got them balanced, the ridges and lines in my nails would go away. I had those lines and ridges (dents) for years. They did go away, and now I am having a flare up with the AA again, and he ordered some blood work as he thinks the hormone levels have changed and need to be adjusted. I had my blood work the other day and will see him on Wednesday this week. After seeing the brochure about the nails, I noticed that my ridges and lines are appearing again. Can't wait till Wednesday to see how the levels turned out, and then once we adjust the levels with the bio-identical pellets I use, also prior to the pellets, I had taken Mobic for arthritis for years. I have not had to take anything for 2 years now since starting the pellets, and the past couple of days my joints have also been sore. Once he adjust the pellets to replace what hormone levels have changed, then these should once again improve. When I first saw him he thought that my auto immune could also be RA, but that was not the case. I do have spiking blood sugar, but not diabetes, so I do have to watch my weight and nutriton closely. It will be interesting to see if the hormone levels are adjusted, if the hair will start growing back again.

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Permalink Reply by AK13 on May 14, 2013 at 5:09pm

Onekeylady what kind of specialist are you going to? Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Sar90 on May 14, 2013 at 3:05am

you might have iron deficiency...

I've commented on a couple posts explaining this.. vertical lines, pitted nails, hair loss.. fatigue.. all lead to low ferritin levels.. more common in women and infants, but men can be iron deficient too!

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Permalink Reply by Dave on May 16, 2013 at 1:09pm

I thank you all for your replies. Every little bit of info, whether it can help me or not still helps. I have several autoimmune disorders, and its funny how they all seem connected to one single root cause- Ophiasis alopecia, asthma, allergies, eczema, nail lines seems to be the only one I havent nailed down so far, yet I have the feeling its connected somehow.

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Permalink Reply by dreamscometrue on May 19, 2013 at 10:47pm

If you do a search on google for clinical trials using Abatacept to treat AU, and also google cures for AA/AU, a lot of those articles relay people with AA/AU have those same exact symptoms. Ive had them for at least 10 years now, had AU for 20 years. I've tried iron supplements, and felt great with my energy and B vitamins too, the ridges diminished but never totally went away. I think the cure is in the blood with the body needing an anti inflammatory

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Permalink Reply by Dave on May 20, 2013 at 11:06am

Very interesting to know, dreamscometrue. My worst symptoms are my eczema- so far, nothing has been particularly brutal symptom wise, but the eczema is getting worse. Ive heard from those whove had ophiasis pattern alopecia like me, they have had quite a bit of what ive got going on, so it makes sense about the anti-inflammatory.

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