Addison's Disease Support Group

Addison's disease (also known as chronic adrenal insufficiency, or hypocortisolism) is a rare endocrine disorder. It is estimated that it affects about 1 to 2 in 100,000 people. It occurs when the adrenal glands, seated above the kidneys, fail to produce enough of the hormone cortisol and, sometimes, the hormone aldosterone

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sheri7 10/16/2013

Just curious. I have noticed that I have very pronounced horizontal ridges on my fingernails. They have gotten very bad. I googled it to see if there was a vitamin that may help.
I was surprised to read that it is a symptom of several things. One of the things was problems with adrenals. Has anyone else noticed ridges like this and what causes it?
Thanks!!

Rhondafaye42 10/16/2013

Hi I have secondary adrenal insufficency and also have those ridges in my fingernails and I was wondering have you looked at your finger tips like where your fingerprint is, do you have wrinkles on those because that's another sign that I didn't know about until after I was diagnosed. Hope this helps

webber 10/17/2013

Yes, that is a sign of adrenal fatigue and the pituitary gland overworking and producing too much ACTH. The first reason I started looking into help issues related to Addison's was because I had started getting black line on my fingernails. By the time I was finally diagnosed I had large black lines down all my nails. I called them my zebra nails for lack of another description. After starting on steroids the lines started to fade. I have been on steroids for almost 3 years now and the black lines are gone but mild ridges remain. If my adrenals get a bit over stressed now I do start to notice that the ridges increase and faint black lines start to appear. I use this as yet another gauge of adrenal stress.

sheri7 10/17/2013

thanks so much for you replies!! so i'm not nuts. I have primary AD. I was diagnosed 10 years ago but have only noticed in the last few weeks the ridges....I just have pronounced ridges but they are not black.
I have had had those wrinkles on my fingertips for a very long time. I notice that sometime they are much worse than normal but they stay that way almost all the time.
I will say that I have been having a lot of bad days lately. I have a lot of stress and people I have to take care of. anyway yesterday and today I feel so tired.....I would describe it as a deep bone fatigue. this disease is indeed a challenge don't you agree?

webber 10/18/2013

I totally agree that this disease can be a challenge with some amazingly good days and some horrible days! All in all I am still very thankful when I look at the health problems others have mine seem much less!

sheri7 10/18/2013

AMEN webber!!! I am thankful for every good day I have!! I never would say "why me?" because "why not me!" there are so many others with pain and problems that need my prayers!!

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