Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

This may not be related to the Pramipexole but I have been on it for about a month and my always very thick fingernails are now thinning and breaking and cracking. I have not made any other change to my medicines or nutrition. Has anyone else experienced this?

Hi stathamiaura, Welcome to the RLS community. You will find lots of people with lots of experience with the problems, treatment, and difficulties that result from Restless Legs Syndrome. Plenty who get it as far as understanding how horrible life can get if you have severe RLS.

I haven't heard of nail thinning being a known side effect of pramipexole. It is not listed as a known side effect in the official FDA labeling. There are no messages on this forum from people having nail problems from pramipexole. I also couldn't find it in a google search of side effects. So... if you have nail thinning from pramipexole, you may be unique. Realistically, your nail problems are probably not due to pramipexole.

HOWEVER: Fingernail abnormalities ARE common with iron deficiency, and RLS is known to be caused by low brain iron. Be sure to ask your doctor for a ferritin test to help check on your blood iron level.

Because of the growth time of fingernails I would have thought that you'd have to be taking something for longer than a month for it to show in your fingernails.

I do not know what I did to cause issues with my nails...it may have been chemicals related to raising plants. Then again, who knows. They just got worse and worse. I could tap a nail on anything and have it break off. I just kept them short because otherwise I would have them break off and bleed. Late last summer, tired of this, I decided to so something.

Everything I read said that keeping your nails hydrated was essential - and I have my hands in water a LOT. I have hobbies that mean I am always washing. I hate wearing gloves. I also read that jojoba oil is a wax ester which is chemically similar to the oil in our skin - or sebum. I bought some pure jojoba oil and a few other things and made my own cuticle oil (it is WAY too expensive for me to buy prepared!). And, I used it religiously, including wearing gloves on my hands at night. I tried using gloves anytime I had my hands in water. Not always, but as often as I could remember.

This week, for the first time in literally years, I put nail polish on my fingernails. It is at least 7 months after I started this. And, tonight, I actually banged my nail on the oven handle....and it did NOT break!

Well done on the home made cuticle oil. My nails are ok but dry cuticles are still needing attention even though I use cuticle oil several times daily. Must take a look at the jojoba oil.

Polar Bear wrote:Well done on the home made cuticle oil. My nails are ok but dry cuticles are still needing attention even though I use cuticle oil several times daily. Must take a look at the jojoba oil.

My cuticles look better, too. Not perfect, but better. I keep looking at my nails, lol, with their pretty spring hot pink on them .