I have nails!

I have nails!  Real fingernails!  To most of you, this is probably the most un-earth-shattering news possible, but for someone who has never, and I mean NEVER been able to grow their nails...

I have thumb nails!

I'm jumping up and down with excitement.  I'm over here like 'I just won the yarn lottery' excited!  Believe it or not, in my almost 55 years of existence, I have never had my thumb nails grow past the tip of my finger.  Never!  But now....  Just look!  I can actually feel my fingernail sticking out past my skin.   I am just SO excited!

How did this come to pass, you ask?

With Nailiques,

and Biotin.

You may remember that I started taking Biotin last April.  You can look here to see how bad my nails were.  If you look here and here, you can read about how the Biotin made my hair grow like crazy & how it had made my nails stronger but they weren't actually growing.

You may also remember that I grated the center strip of my thumb nail off with a cheese grater right before Christmas. (Can you say, Klutz!?)  That injury is a little hard to explain.  The grater took the center strip of my nail, but in typical grater fashion, it cut on an angle.  So over that center strip, about half my nail was completely gone then there was a VERY thin layer of nail that gradually thickened to barely-scraped up close to my nail bed.  I'm not sure if that makes sense to folks who've never grated their nail off with a cheese grater, but that's how it was.

It just so happened that a few days after the cheese grater incident, I had my annual appointment with the dermatologist.  I asked her if she had any nail growing recommendations, which of course, she did. Nailiques, Biotin and always wear gloves when washing dishes or using chemicals while cleaning the house.

Well, I haven't exactly followed the glove wearing rule.  I just can NOT stand to wear rubber gloves for any length of time.  Just the thought of them makes my skin crawl.  And I was already taking the Biotin. In early January I found the Nailiques at my local Target (for Much more than it costs on Amazon, I might add. Why didn't I think to look on Amazon first??)  Anyway, I bought it and less than two months later, I have nails!

nail growth

Even my grated off thumb nail has grown out.  The center strip is still a little thinner out towards the end of my nail but give it another month and even I won't be able to tell I ever tangled with that dammed cheese grater.

I feel like Cousin It

A Biotin update....

I feel like Cousin It.

As you can see from this poorly lit photo, my nails aren't doing much.  They have lost their wet tissue paper quality and now snap when they break.  But they still break and aren't growing as much as I'd hoped.

Admittedly, some of the lack of nail growth could be my fault, not the Biotin's.  At work, I'm constantly either sticking my hands into bags of loose coin or shoving things into little wooden compartments sort of like this:

except smaller and older and much more splintery.  Have I mentioned what a klutz I am?  It's no wonder my nails stay broken.

There's also my diet to consider.  During the summer when I'm working crazy hours, my diet is basically 'college student' minus the alcohol.

So.... the Biotin may not be doing a whole lot for my nails, but my hair....  My hair is out of control.  It's grown over four inches since the last week of April.  That's more than an inch per month.  I feel like Cousin It.  Thankfully, unlike Cousin It, the Biotin only seems to be affecting the hair on my head.  Thankfully, it is not affecting the hair on the rest of my body.  Scientifically, I have no idea why but I am not questioning it, nor complaining about it.

Don't judge

I had the day off from work yesterday and made a bit of progress on my modified Reyna shawl.

Modified Reyna Shawl

So, yes, it's a Terrible photo.  It's uncropped, has an uncoordinated background and has Terrible lighting.  I didn't crop the photo though because if you look closely, you can see I'm wearing my Christmas socks.  Don't judge.  It was my day off.  I stayed in my pj's all day.  The air conditioning has finally cooled the house down enough for my husband to be comfortable and for me to need a jacket, blanket and wool socks.  So yes, I'm celebrating not only progressing into the second color stripe on Reyna, but also summer, the comfiness of hand knit socks, a day off and Guardians of the Galaxy on TV.

One more thing - a Biotin update.  My nails aren't growing exactly but they are much stronger.  I've been taking Biotin for about eight weeks now.  The bottle says it takes six weeks to see a difference.  Before Biotin, my nails had the strength of wet tissue paper.  You just looked at them and they shredded.  Now, they are much stronger and instead of bending and shredding, they snap when they break. I have high hopes that soon, their extra strength will allow them to grow in length.  My hair on the other hand... my hair is out of control!  It has grown two inches in seven weeks.  I think I may have picked a really bad time to try the Biotin.  My hairdresser is  having a hip replacement & will be gone for a month or two.  Yikes!

Come Monday

Have you noticed I seem to have daily theme songs playing in my head?  Today, it's Jimmy Buffett's Come Monday.  I'm not wearing my hush-puppies, but I am singing, "Come Monday, it will be alright..."

And alright, it is.  First and foremost, I feel better.  I've been sort of sick since the middle of last week.  I've had some kind of cold/allergies/lung rot thing.  Up until late yesterday it left me more exhausted from coughing & lack of sleep than actually feeling bad.  By last night, I wasn't feeling so great & by 6 a.m. this morning, I was begging for death.  I took yet another mega-dose of Mucinex, went back to bed and (once again, thanks to Jimmy Buffett & God's Own Drunk) "slept for four hours and dreampt me some tremulous dreams" and woke up feeling much improved despite the weird, vivid dreams.  Thank you Mucinex!

Second, I finished the Make Believe #2 cowl and promptly blocked it, using my new Knitter's Pride blocking pins.

Make Believe #2 

I'm in love with the blocking pins.  They are a huge time saver!

Third, the Biotin really does seem to be working.  Last Monday, my nails looked like this:

4/8/16

And this week...

4/18/16

Okay, yes, my nails still look horrible, as do my cuticles and the skin around my nails.  But, I only fully broke two nails over the weekend.  I dented up and took a notch or two out of a few others, but only two actually broke/ripped off.  That is a HUGE improvement.  And if I could find a lotion that was gentle enough not to cause allergic irritations but strong enough to combat the frequent hand washing & antibacterial gel bathes I'd be in business.

In celebration, and to continue the Jimmy Buffett theme, I think I'll go grab a Corona & a cheeseburger and exercise my license to chill.

The good, the bad & the ugly

The good....

OTN 4/11/16

The newest cowl is coming along nicely.  I'm almost finished knitting the third lace repeat.  I can't decide if I want to continue it or not.  Four repeats would make it about the right height but They always say an odd number of repeats is more visually pleasing. Decisions, decisions.

The bad.... I spent the morning doing our taxes.  Yuck-O!

And the ugly....

My poor fingernails!  Good grief, I have The worst fingernails.  My pinky finger is the only one that ever halfway grows.  Ever!  Even when pregnant and full of pregnancy vitamins, my nails didn't grow.  I can look at them and they split and break.  They always have.  I'll be riding along in the car, hands gently holding the steering wheel, and Poof!  I suddenly have a broken, jagged nail.  I don't bother getting manicures because the few that I have gotten over the years didn't last more than an hour or two, tops.  It's pitiful!  And work doesn't help.  I'm constantly sticking my hands down into bags full of loose coin.  I may as well be sticking my finger tips into the office paper shredder.

But as bad as my nails are, there may be a solution.

Biotin from www.amazon.com

Biotin.  It promotes hair & nail growth and "cellular energy," what ever that means.  A co-worker recommended it.  She's been taking it to help her hair grow and says it's really helping both her hair & nails.  The bottle (& my co-worker) says it supposedly takes about 4 weeks to see a difference but I've been taking it for about ten days and I swear, my nails are already behaving better.  It may just be wishful thinking, but I have high hopes.

Well, I'm off to celebrate another tax season put to rest.  And by "celebrate" I mean, knit.  I'm not even going to cook dinner.  I'm just going to knit.  Besides, after paying our taxes, we probably can't afford dinner anyway.  Ugh.