My thumb nail came away from the nail bed in the shower this morning but is still attached on the inside, what is the best thing to do as sobbing hysterically doesn’t appear to be making any difference?
DaisyGirl xx
Stick a plaster on it till it grows through. That’s what I do for mountaineer’s toenails that I’ve had for years - very similar, got one now from my last mountain trip in March, just before Dx in April.
Thanks Ninja! I have managed to snip off most of the nail that has come away, plasters administered, cup of tea, eyes wiped & nose blown, normal service has been resumed!
OH god that sounds horrible! Poor Daisy Girl xxxxxx
I hated that part of things; mine didn’t start to fall off until weeks after last chemo. It’s better (and less painful) to let them fall off naturally so I cut mine as short as I could and then taped them down with micropore. I’m doing the same at the moment with my toenails.
Nymeria x
***SHUDDER*** that sounds nasty! And after your last treatment as well! I’d start thinking after mine that I could relax a bit about worrying about losing eyebrows/lashes/nails.
I’m really hoping not to have those probs as well! Bad enough being bald though I now have some of what Eltiks called “dandelion hair”, tiny little frail looking things sticking out of my head.
Sadly I lost the lot - hair, eyelashes, eyebrows and nails! However hair is finally starting to put in a proper appearance, ditto for lashes and brows but finger and toe nails are pretty cr*ppy. You don’t notice the damage to nails until much later on because they grow at a much slower rate than hair.
I don’t think you need worry so much about lashes/brows if they didn’t go the same way as your hair, as mine all fell out around the same sort of time really early in treatment. Loving the ‘dandelion hair’ comment - exactly sums mine up, along with being piebald! 
Hugs for Nymeria, the fully whammy you’ve had then.
I took all dark blue nail polish off yesterday to redo them as it’s been about 2 weeks. Nails not looking healthy underneath, light brown rings in them all and very pale and tinged slightly brown.
They’ve felt sore with any pressure on them at all.
Hoping they don’t decide to fall out.
Is it painful? xx
Yep, definitely the full whammy but hey ho it’s done and dusted now! I didn’t find it painful when nails fell off provided I allowed them to fall off in their own time. It’s when they are still partially attached and get pulled off that it hurts, so taping them down or putting a plaster on is definitely a good option, along with cutting them as short as you can. My fingers are a bit tender where the new nails are growing but nothing like as bad as TAX fingers.
What I don’t like is finding the b*ggers in bed in the morning - yuck!
What I don’t like is finding the b*ggers in bed in the morning - yuck!
- aaaak
Yeah that’s not good!
Glad it’s not painful as such! Not great though is it. x
Nope, not nice at all but I am going to treat myself to a visit to the nail bar as soon as they are long enough!
Oh Daisy poor u i sympathise! ((((((((hugs to you)))) hope the plaster works like Ninja suggrested - my mum did tht too when she had a similar thing to Ninja.Though I hve been lucky so far with my nails i dont know whether they will stay tht way, i am 3 weeks and 2 days, (counting cos gone past the 3 week bit where i would normally have next dose of poisons) but will they stay. they have been long and strong all thr chemo but my eyebrows and lashes faded, esp lashes, looks like im always crying my eyes stream incessently its horrible. hair started to grow back but better at back and sides nice and dark but on top its that dandelion wipsy stuff, urgyh, where and when will it be normal? Shar xx
Ooohh dear what to do!!! My nails have gone and my hair too, it’s not fair, but then nothing is… all I know is it’s taking the p**s!
Sorry to hear you are in the same boat, still at least I only have two nails going west at the moment! Hair went 2 weeks into FEC, eye lashes and brows on 3rd TAX, nails were hanging in there (pardon the pun) until last weekend (4 weeks after last TAX) really looked after them too, but only the ones that weren’t iced are starting to fall off. Not as painful as I imagined though, the plaster caps are doing the job but not very attractive, goes with the rest of me really!
Hay ho, chin up and all that!
DaisyGirl xx
Forgot to say that I too am dandilion head, but going to shave it off at the weekend!
It’s sh*t what it does to our appearance isn’t it! I’ve never been particulary high maintenance or anything but I draw the line at having no hair etc.
I’m kind of glad to see the dandelion fluff but wondering it I should shave it off until I’ve been a month past my last chemo sesh.
Does it matter if the fluff is weak? I don’t want to even shave off 1 1/2cms of hair… talk about trauma
I know what you mean! For the first time in my life I spend most of my time worrying about my appearance, even though the end result is looking like something out of Lord of the Rings!
At the hospital yesterday, I was complemented on how nicely I had tied my head scarf, so all the effort must be worthwhile!
I am going to go for it re hair as I am hoping that it will encourage it to all grow the same length, but yes I can’t quite believe I am going to voluntarily do this!
DaisyGirl xx
Hi Guys, I’m just waiting to start my chemo, didn’t know about the nail loss, is it in the book they give you, maybe I just missed it!
Hi Angela
It depends on the drug - it’s things like Taxotere/taxol that are hardest on the nails - and it doesn’t happen to everyone.
Dx
Hi Angela
Don’t worry about nails unless you are having TAX (Doxetaxel in my case) this is the one that can affect your nails. If you are, see if your unit has cold gloves and socks, if not I took cool bags with frozen peas and ice blocks and sat with my feet and hand in them whilst I had the chemo, (apparently works on the same principle as the cold cap) the results for med were that my toenails and fingernails of my right hand are significantly better than my left had that did not get iced (because of canulation)
pm me if you want to chat
DaisyGirl xx
hi everyone,
yep the nails are bad mine are pretty much all falling off, and one big toe nail looks a bit wobbly lol,
my hair is growing back but it feels more like down than hair very soft like a peach effect, maybe it will thicken and harden up a bit hopefully,
the rads served me a bit too, i got a nasty burn under my arm but that seems ok now (touch wood),
always tend to heed on the side of caution these days, and try not to tempt fate too much,
i have also got a pain in the bottom of my foot, the doctor gave me a steroid injection in it and that REALLY hurt,
oh well apart from all that i seem ok,
all the very best to my fellow comrades love Liz xxx