Fingernails

[harrie]

I recently completed 6 rounds of TCH. Outside of the normal dark discolorations, has anyone LOST their fingernails? I have not lost mine YET, but several of them sure do feel like they are loosening up!

Harrie

[Chelee]

Harrie, I did 6 rounds of TCH also. It was strange...my two thumb nails and index fingers got it the worse. (Meaning discolored.) Plus my two big toes. Then the rest of my finger nails got just *slightly* discolored...not bad at all. But I kept thinking my two toe nails on my *big* toes and my thumb nails would fall off. They stayed on what seemed like forever looking terrible. (I was thinking of putting BLACK nail polish on them and telling people I am going with the gothic look.) LOL They slowly got loser but as for my finger nails they just took forever to grow out. Now my two big toe nails actually came off eventually. So its hard to say what yours might do. Its a toss up. Hang in there...

Chelee

[harrie]

Thanks Chelee,

Last weekend when I took off my nail polish I was so surprised to see like white opaque coloring underneath the nail. Like there was space under there. I am wrapping strips of bandaids around a couple of my loose-looking nails. Am trying to keep them short, but still yet, sometimes it catches a bit on things.

I sure hope I don't lose my nails. I am a dental hygienist and I am not sure how it will feel with a no nail finger(s).

harrie

[tousled1]

Harrie,

I didn't have any discoloration of my nails, either fingers or toes, during treatment. I finished Herceptin last month and the nail on my big toe (right foot) started to feel funny. Lo and behold - it fell off. It is growing back but I found it very strange that it took that long for any of my nails to come off. I did have dry brittle nails that peeled the entire time I was in treatment. Guess everyone reacts differently.

[hutchibk]

When I was on Taxotere, my chemo nurse told me to use Sally Hansen's Hard as nails constantly on finger and toenails and to use tea tree oil on my cuticles every day to protect them from discoloration and loosening from the nail bed. It worked for me. I had no issues at all. Hope this helps!

[Esther]

when my nails came off from taxol, there was a really thin nail underneath. So it wasn't like you just had the nail bed there with no nail.

[Adriana Mangus]

Dear Harrie:

I had that problem when I was on Navelbine the first time, someone recommended Nailtique and it has does wonders for me. It's a little pricey ($12.-14.) , but an excellent product for brittle nails. You'll like it. You will only find it at a Beauty Supply not regular Drug store.

My nails are now healthy and pink colored. I love them!

[harrie]

Guess what I found out today!!! I went to this nail place to see if I could purchase something to protect my nails, the guy who I was talking to took one look at my nails and said I had a fungus underneath the nail!! I was so surprised! I had never had a fungus before and I had presume my nail problem was a direct side effect from the TCH. He gave me this small bottle of Thymolize Solution to drip under my fingernail at night before bed and he said it will clear up. How simple!!! I am going to give it a try and I hope he is right-on.

harrie

[LAURIE]

I think fungus and the discoloation from chemo looks very similar. It would not hurt to try anything (even if it was a fungus ir not). A friend of mine lost 8 of her fingernails on Taxol/Herceptin. She finished about 6 weeks ago, her nails are just now starting to grow back. Her hair seems to be growing back much slower than mine too. She had a real bad time on Taxol. She never got to finish her last dose. Hope your nails are looking great soon. My big toe turned dark about half way through Chemo. I have kept it polished ever since because I just don't want to look and see what it is doing yet.

[harrie]

Guess what!!! It was NOT fungus as the guy at the nail place was so sure about. Taxotere can make nails LOOK like they have a fungus, but is NOT fungus. Thank goodness!!! I had the confirmation from my oncology center that they look normal for taxotere. Several of my fingernails look like they are lifting off, but it doesn't look like it will be getting any worse. They feel ok and I will just wait for them to grow out.

harrie

[chrisy]

OK that's 2 words. Sorry. All you taxotere ladies pay heed. In my onc's office everyone who got Taxotere put bags of frozen peas on their fingers and toes during the taxotere infusion, the idea being to minimize blood flow to those areas and reduce the damage to the nail beds. There must be something to it, because it was like a RELIGION there, and I don't remember hearing anyone losing nails. They even had a little freezer that they kept everyone's peas in!

[caya]

Chrisy

I used the soft gel frozen paks when I had my Taxotere infusions - only held them at my fingertips - didn't think to use them on my feet.

My fingernails (and toenails) are okay - I finished Taxotere 4 weeks ago. Some mild blackening of a couple of fingernails, but nothing major. My onc. cleared me for a manicure and pedicure, which I had today.

Caya

[MCS]

sweet peas :)))))

I did not lose, in terms of falling out, but under taxol, they got so thin and splitting all the time. It's still happening and been off hercp and taxol since december. my nails just don't grow. with any special polish either. i just keep them really short against skin and put a pretty rosy and clear polish.

the funny thing is that under ac , they just grew and grew, could not keep then at a reasonalble length and then came taxol

such is life with this!

love

Maria Singer

[harrie]

Caya,

You and I both started taxotere almost at the exact same time. I finished my 6 rounds 4 weeks ago also (5/11). But now I am on Arimidex and you are on Tamoxifen. I bet you and I will also do herceptin at the same time!!! Isn't that a nice coincidence!! How are you doing on the herceptin alone? I am doing fine.
harrie

[Believe51]

Hubby is the one sick in this case, although he has not lost any nails yet, we are watching. One concern is fungal infections so please keep your nails scrubbed and dry and check for infection. Also, get yourself into a good nourisher for them to keep them as healthy as possible. My honey has also been watching his toe nails, which until recently I did not know about the infections and they can come if the nail loosens up too much from the bed. >>Waiting For A Miracle>>Believe51...(Marie G)

[harrie]

I think what helps, and this was a suggestion from my oncologist, is to apply tea tree oil to the nails and around the cuticles. Now that my chemo is finished, I know my immune system is on the rise and that alone makes me less apprehensive about the possibility of a fungal infection.
maryanne

[janet11]

I finished 6 rounds of TCH in January 2007. Starting in January, my fingernails had some discoloration. In Feb and March, some of them started to hurt and 'lift'. And then ooze. Gross. I just kept bandaids around them (so I wouldn't accidentally catch them on something). And I'd press on them to get any fluid out. Used peroxide, then would band-aid them again.

By April, they had gone back down and a couple more started the cycle. Now in June I can say what DID happen: i lost NONE of them, but they did 'disconnect' from the nailbed. Since I protected them from my carelessness, they never actually came off (they were connected only at the very base) and they gradually have been growing out. Now they're all connected at least 1/2 on each nail, nothing hurts, and I've been keeping them cut quite short so the disconnected part has minimal exposure (that part of the nail is pretty brittle as well).

I lost one toenail too that I didn't realize got affected. It just caught on something and I had to clip it off. But it was already growing another nail.

None is pretty, but it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating.

FYI: When they hurt, I simply held a freezer gel pack on my fingers. It work great!

Janet

[rentrac]

Though I never had nail problems with TCH last spring, I had a lot of fingertip pain and eventually lost part or all of 7 fingernails and 5 toenails with AC the year before. Bandaids helped some, but I couldn't stop using my hands enough to protect the nails. They grew back slowly but beautifully. I wish I had known about the remedies everybody else has mentioned. I also used cool packs - my favorite are rice bags. I buy colorful socks, fill them with dry rice and then chill them in the freezer protected by a ziplock bag to prevent absorbing off-odors. They also microwave easily for instant hot packs.

Good luck, and good nails!
Rentrac

Good luck and

[rinaina]

I use to have perfect 10 nails all the time and since Herceptin, my nails have been extremely weak, cracking and very ridgy. Never had these problems prior to Herceptin so it is either that or something else going on that I don't know about. August will be one year for me on Herceptin and that is all my onc felt I needed. I have had no reoccurences or metastasis and I am node negative but er/pr negative too so I am a bit apprehensive about being without Herceptin...actually down right scared because that has been my security for the past year following chemo and rads. However, I will be followed very carefully like all of you by my onc, surgeon, gynie, internist and of course by myself. Maybe my nails will get better but ya know what, all I care about is keeping the cancer away.