Splinter hemorrhages

[Spencer88]

Hi all! 

Been coming to this forum since my diagnosis in October of 2016. Since my diagnosis it's been an up and down fight but I have more good days then bad ones now that I've been 5 months gluten free. Had a few accidents along the way but we keep going! 

Recently I noticed a black vertical line that comes from the middle of my nail shooting straight up to the top. It appears to be in the thumb nail. All my other nails on my toes and hands are clear. 

I did some research on this and it says it's called a splinter hemorrhage. These can be associated with many different issues ranging from endocarditis to a trauma to malnutrition. Has anyone else experienced these? 

I would attach a picture of my right thumb nail but for some reason it says the picture is to large to upload. 

[ravenwoodglass]

Please have your doctor check this out. It could be splinter hemmorage but it also could be cancer. While chances are it isn't anything dire it is best not to take any chances.

[Gaerty]

Have been dealing with splinter hemorrhages on three of my toe nails since February. I did go to my doctor who rightly so did a very complete blood work-up ruling out other diseases such as lupus and RA and referred me to several other doctors to make sure that it was not cancer, endocarditis, or something serious. I went to the doctors.   I have done some research on vitamin deficiency and it seems that some link splinter hemorrhages to vitamin C deficiency. For the past 2 1/2 weeks I have been eating 3 clementines a day (in addition to the usual multivitamin that I take) and it seems to be helping the splinter hemorrhages. One has grown out and not returned. Visited my GI doctor today and talked about malabsorption of nutrients as a potential issue. We are doing more blood work and checking nutrient levels.  I have to believe it has something to do with the celiac. Sorry I don't have a better answer, but like you am trying to figure this out. Please let me know if you find any answers, and yes, be sure to check with your doctor to rule out anything serious.

[Spencer88]

Gaerty, 

thank you for sharing this with me! You want to know something crazy? The night before you sent this I was googling "vitamin deficiencies linked to splinter hemorrhages" and an article came up about vitamin C deficiency. I can't remember the last time I took vitamin C or drank orange juice or consumed anything that has vitamin C on a regular basis. It's crazy that you responded to this post when you did. My splinter hemorrhage is razor thin and looks like it could be shrinking but it's hard to tell. Also it's not growing out of the nail bed. It stated more in the middle of my right thumb nail. I don't take a multivitamin mainly because I can't find one that doesn't trigger my anxiety. Trying to find a good one that doesn't have energy boosters in it like green tea and extra B vitamins (all my B vitamin levels are great). I haven't been tested for low C vitamin levels but I might have to now. I was tested for some of the base ones that most celiacs have issues with, folate, magnesium, B's, E's, and a couple others and all of them came back good with the exception of my vitamin D3 which in November 2016 was 16 and we tested it again in February, it moved up to 26. Still low but moving up. My liver numbers in October 2016 were bad but by February 2017 they were perfect. I had skin rashes, most of those have cleared up over the past 5 to 6 months, by about 85%, since I was diagnosed. This splinter hemorrhage came up about 7 to 8 weeks ago. Like I said it appears to be growing out but I'm still going to get it looked at. 

Let me know what your doc says about the vitamin C levels. Also what multivitamin do you take? 

Ps: I bought some clementines yesterday. 

Thanks for responding! 

Spencer 

[Gaerty]

Hi Spencer88- just wanted to update you on the splinter hemorrhages. I went to my GI doctor and he ran a bunch of bloodwork. I didn't actually get the bloodwork done for a few weeks as I wanted to go back to consistently taking my B-12, D3, K, and multi.(Solgar VM-75)  When I did get the bloodwork done, all the numbers came back fine. Vitamin C is water soluble so harder to test for than A,D,E, and K but I thought A,D,E, & K would serve as an indication of how my body was absorbing. Splinter hemorrhages have grown out on my one toe and seem to be growing out on my other foot as well. Today, I think one may be starting on another toe, so am increasing my clementines to 3 a day again and seeing what happens. (I had gone down to one a day). This seems so non- scientific, but I am giving it a shot. My GI also wanted me to check with a rheumatologist, but my tests for RA and Lupus all came back fine, so not sure I will be making an appointment. Getting tired of jumping from doctor to doctor. So far have seen General practitioner, GI, Cardiologist, & Dermatologist. We have ruled out a lot, but no answers as to why. Getting tired of hearing the word "idiopathic". How are you doing?

[Spencer88]

Gaerty,

I am glad to hear that you've ruled out the worst stuff. That at least helps clear any anxiety or worry you might have. I know that would clear up mine. I have good news! About three days ago my splinter hemorrhages cleared up 100%! The one that was on my right thumb was long and was there for about 2 to 3 months. I started taking this Vitamin C supplement 1000 mg once a day about 3 weeks ago. Whats crazy is that on the day I started the Vitamin C I noticed a small hemorrhage cropping up on my left thumb. It was very small. By day 7 of taking the vitamin C the one on the left thumb started growing out. By the second week I noticed the one on the right thumb shrunk drastically and by the end of week 3 they were all gone. By day 10 I also started taking 25mg of iron because all my muscles keep twitching. My B's and Magnesium came back good 5 months ago. I heard low iron can cause that symptom as well. So thought I'd give it a try. 

I am not sure if it was a combo of the C and Iron or just the C that helped clear the splinter hemorrhages but for sure it was one of those things because they are the only things I have changed recently with supplements in the past 30 days.  

[Gaerty]

So great to hear! Actually makes sense with the iron, as vitamin C helps in the absorption of iron. Sounds like a good theory that it is either the vitamin C, or vitamin C aiding in the absorption of the iron. Thanks for all the feedback. Going to try adding iron as well. Hoping this will help us both feel better and worry less  

[Spencer88]

I use this company called solgar for the iron 25mg and the vitamin c 1000mg. They are gluten-free and formulated to be gentle on the stomach. They cost a bit more then what you might find at Walmart but I think it's worth it. Good luck to you. Let me know how it works.

[Gaerty]

Just wanted to see how you were doing. Did the iron and vitamin C work for you?

 

[Victoria1234]

 

Just wanted to see how you were doing. Did the iron and vitamin C work for you?

 

 You can click on the persons name and see when they were last on. In this case it was May 30.

[Spencer88]

So far so good. I took the C and Iron for about 4 weeks daily. I stopped taking the iron for two days and then I went in to test my iron levels and my iron levels were perfect.  As of this post I have not taken the C or Iron supplements in about 3 to 4 weeks and in that time I have not had any splinter hemorrhages, even small ones. So far so clear. Knock on wood  

I was experiencing a lot of chest pains and heart palpitations. I read up more on vitamin D3. I found out that those are symptoms of to much D3. I was doing 5,000 IU since my diagnosis back in October 2016. I stopped taking that about two weeks ago and those symptoms cleared up.

The only thing I can't seem to shake are my muscle twitches/spasms. I've tried chelated magnesium and that doesn't seem to help too much. Not sure what to try next. 

Other than that and occasional cross contamination all is well.

How goes it for you?

[knitty kitty]

"I was experiencing a lot of chest pains and heart palpitations. I read up more on vitamin D3. I found out that those are symptoms of too much D3. I was doing 5,000 IU since my diagnosis back in October 2016. I stopped taking that about two weeks ago and those symptoms cleared up."

 

Were you taking Calcium supplements while taking Vitamin D?  Calcium needs to be supplemented as well when Vitamin D is low.  Calcium and magnesium need to be taken together in 2:1 ratio.  Calcium is used by muscle cells to contract a muscle.  Magnesium is used by muscle cells to relax.  Taking one or the other alone can make heart palpitations and muscle twitches. Zinc is important, too.  Optimal Vitamin D levels are 80 - 100.  

While taking just vitamin D, I had palpitations, too, until I added a Calcium, magnesium, and zinc supplements.  Remember, twice as much calcium as magnesium and zinc.  

Hope this helps.

 

 

[Gaerty]

 

20 hours ago, Spencer88 said:

How goes it for you?

Am doing ok. Took the vit C and iron and by the beginning of August all the splinters had disappeared. Stopped taking the vit C & iron and 3 weeks later they seem to be returning. My GI doctor and I are going to test for iron deficiency in 2 weeks, so will stay off iron & C until then to confirm that it is indeed the correlation with the splinters. Will see what happens. So glad to hear it is working for you. Encouraging. Figure I may need to pay greater attention to getting more natural iron in my diet.

[Spencer88]

Sounds like some progress for you as well. Let me know what the conclusion is if there is a link to low vitamin C and Iron that's causing the splinter hemorrhages.