Husband is having brittle nail issues with Ibrutinib? How have others dealt with this?

[kathymac52]

My husband has always had great nails, but has been on Ibrutinib for 6 months, and his fingernails and toenails are breaking....any treatments out there that help this?

[Yuck]

Biotin, 5,000 MCG, May take about a year for nails to grow out.

[AussieNeil Administrator]

Lots of tips in this post: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo....

If your husband decides to use biotin (a B vitamin), make certain that he temporarily ceases taking it for a week before hormone level blood tests, as it interferes with the testing process, resulting in misleading test results.

Neil

[krperez]

I've been on ibrutinib for 5 years (in a clinical trial). I take 5,000 mcg Biotin, keep my nails as short as possible, and use Barielle Nail Strengthening Cream at night. During the first year or so, the ends of my fingers also peeled somewhat. Nails are better but still somewhat affected -- I just try to deal with it and not use them anymore to scrape, lift pop-tops, etc. The peeling stopped after about a year, and I stopped using the nail cream around 6 months ago because I wasn't sure it was helping. I think now that it was and have used it again the last few evenings. The nails seem to do (look, at least) a little better already. It's a matter of balancing risks: I'm thinking now that if one is doing well on ibrutinib, it is probably worth the side effect to be still alive and have a generally good quality of life. Good luck.

[annmcgowan]

Hi I see Neil has kindly cited post generated by me that gave me a great response and many ideas to try, so I won’t repeat them here, thank Neil.

Just to add to everything else here I have been putting germaline new skin on my fingers during the day to protect and that has helped me and is less unsitely than plasters etc.

I am told the nail and finger problems are temporary around a year. I am 7 months in so will let you know.

My nails were strong and long pre ibrutinib too.

Good luck

Ann

[annmcgowan]

Hi I forgot to mention E45 intense recovery cream which has helped with the sore finger tips.

Ann

[kathymac52]

Thanks all for these good ideas

[Lola69]

The best advice I ever got was from a manicurist. Dip nails/ hands in warm olive oil. 5 min a day. Wipe with a paper towel and massage the rest into nails and hands.

[dmmck]

I agree with Lola. Soak fingers in olive oil.