Met stopped my nail biting- why?

flubby · 02-24-2007, 01:40 PM

In have bitten and picked my nails all my life and NOTHING can stop me, except I have worked out, metformin. Everytime I take met my nail biting stops, I don't think about it I just notice I have long nails.
What I want to know is why! What does the met do that stops me nail biting.
Anyone got any ideas?

Eva37 · 02-25-2007, 07:12 AM

er - dunno. But great you have been able to stop biting.

eva

Allison. · 02-25-2007, 01:51 PM

A while back I posted on a thread about OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) Metformin did lower my testosterone level, but after awhile I needed an anti-androgen to keep the levels down.
Here is what I posted:
I have had OCD to some extent since maybe 9 or 10 years old. I count, like things a certain way, clean a lot, and bite my nails. I have never had it interfere with my life, just a few little quirks about me.
Well six months ago I started Flutamide for the hair loss. After almost thirty years of nail biting I have no desire to do so! I've had acrylic nails for years because of the nail biting, I remove then every few months and get a new set. I remove them myself, I find it too painful in the salon. Well in the between time I have usually chewed off too much nail to get a new set on. It has been a week and I have left them alone. This has never happened before! I last maybe a day or two. I have also noticed other things lately-less organizing, wanting/needing things a certain way. I am excited about the connection and that there may be help.
I saw your post and started doing some research. I found some very interesting info. Here is one of the articles that I found. There is more info about it if you google it:
Antiandrogenic Treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
TOMAS ERIKSSON, M.D., PH.D.
Göteborg, Sweden
To the Editor: Serotonin uptake inhibitors are the major pharmacological agents used in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, not all patients improve after such treatment, and it is questioned whether the disorder is in fact caused by abnormal serotonergic function. Moreover, it has been suggested that gonadal hormones might be involved in the pathophysiology of OCD (1). In fact, a few patients with OCD have been effectively treated with the antiandrogenic agent cyproterone acetate (2, 3).
I report the case of a man suffering from a severe form of OCD that greatly improved after treatment with a long-acting analogue of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone, which is known to reduce levels of circulating androgens to almost zero.
For Mr. A, age 42, the first symptoms of OCD had appeared at age 10, and he deteriorated during adolescence, when he developed severe rituals, obsessional slowness, cleaning compulsions, and obsessive thoughts. At the age of 20, he was given a disability pension, and since then no major improvement had been evident. For several years he was given adequate doses of clomipramine and extensive psychotherapy without any reduction in his symptoms. Mr. A was so tormented by the disorder that he raised the question of neurosurgical treatment.
On the basis of previous case reports (2, 3), he was given cyproterone acetate in ordinary doses for several months. Although he experienced a slight decrease in the intensity of his OCD symptoms, the effect was not obvious. Nevertheless, as a last resort and with Mr. A’s informed consent, treatment was started with monthly intramuscular injections of 3.75 mg of the long-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue triptorelin. In the first month he reported an increase in obsessions and compulsions. Such an effect is expected if androgenic hormones actually promote OCD symptoms, since plasma androgen concentrations are temporarily increased during the initial phase of treatment.
After 4 months, Mr. A claimed to be experiencing considerable relief. After 3 more months of treatment, only about 10% of his symptoms remained. He was no longer disabled by his illness, and he began study at the university level. The only side effect he noticed was a reduction in libido, which was less pronounced than it previously was when he was treated with clomipramine.
This observation supports the contention that OCD is associated with increased androgenic activity and that it can be effectively treated with pharmacological agents with antiandrogenic properties.

Source: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/...full/157/3/483

PBLayzod · 02-25-2007, 02:25 PM

I'm with the previous poster. Met supposedly helps get things back in balance. Since depression and anxiety are a couple of the PCOS symptoms is makes sense that these would improve as well as the other issues. Obviously nail biting, for you, was more than just a bad habit.

promise42 · 02-25-2007, 04:41 PM

Hey, I've bitten my nails since I was weaned from breast feeding at 2 years old. I have recently stopped biting my nails, don't even have the urge to bite them, for the first time in 27 years! I also just started taking Met. I didn't connect the two, but then I saw your post, and I thought, "Huh, wonder if the Met is why I've stopped?!?"

Now I just wonder if it will also make my thin, weak nails stronger, too! :-)

flubby · 02-25-2007, 09:04 PM

Well I amazed it wasn't just me! I was a terrible nail biter. I had no toe nails either! Usually I take a lot of vitamins with my met but can't afford them anymore so this time I knew it was certainly the metformin for me. I've had terrible anxiety issues in the past and always around the time when I have had the worst PCOS type symptoms.
Well, well. Nice nails for us ladies!

Now reading this thread I realise I no longer obsessively check things anymore either!
I wonder how many more of us there are!

Meg_Pie · 02-26-2007, 11:20 AM

While I never have been a nail biter, I have always picked at my nails. I found that before met my nails were thin, bent easily, and sometimes peeled. I noticed that not too long ago my nails are now thicker and stronger and I can't bend them.