Low estrogen and fingernails

Has anybody ever had fingernails with vertical ridges and break easily when their estrogen is low?
I know it is a symptom of low thyroid, but my doctor says my thyroid levels are good, and doesn't want to up my compounded thyroid medication.

Yes, I do! I have mentioned this numerous times and the Dr.s have always said it's "aging". I'm not buying it. My estrogen level is in a pretty good range now. I have suspected thyroid though.

I used to be a nail tech, it's common for the verticle ridges in our nails to become more prominent as we age. I can tell a big difference in mine in just the past five years. Also, when I worked in a salon, a lot of the older ladies would have nails that were more heavily ridged. You can buff it out a bit with a very fine buffer or use a ridge filler under polish.

Also, not sure where you live, but the winter tends to make my nails much more brittle. It can't even be blamed on the furnace, as ours is electric instead of gas. For me personally, they break a lot less in the spring and summer than fall and winter. I think there is just less moisture in the air so the nail contracts more, making it easier to break.

Hair also grows at a slower rate in winter.

also another way to minimize broken nails is to file them in more of a square or "squ-oval" shape. This spreads the surface pressure across the entire tip of the nail when ever you make any sort of impact.

It would take a significant amount of time for thyroid issues to show up in one's nails. It take an average of three months fro your nail to grow from the cuticle to the end of your finger tip... could you have had an issue a few months ago that has been remedied??

Thank you for the great iformation.
I think I have had ongoing issues...they get better...then worse...
My main concern was the ridges. It's a little scary since I've heard that you can tell a persons health by looking at their nails. Don't know if it's true or not.

...looks like spelling is another low estrogen issue

my understanding is that the horizontal ridges are a greater indicator. You will see deep horizontal ridges in the nails of folks with iron deficiency.

On a side note, hubby and I did two rounds of IVF a little over a year ago, about ten months later both big toe nails started peeling for a brief time. They've stopped now and are back to normal, I really do think that was an indicator of the stress my body was under during the IVF cycles.

Wow...that's interesting.
Maybe something to do with hormone imbalance as well.

I didn't have problems with my nails up until the last six months or so. My accupuncturist told me that it may be due to liver issues. Not everything is because of estrogen. My levels are fine.

Thanks Kim... I agree.
I was only leaning towards the low estrogen because I recently switched delivery methods, and I feel like I could use more due to other symptoms. They just happened to come on at the same time.

It's good to hear I am not the only one with the fingernail issue. I guess I'll just give it more time, and maybe drink a little dandelion tea!