[QUOTE=ellenwst]My nails look like hamburger.  I've been biting them for years...it's like a compulsion of mine.  I am not even aware that I am doing it most of the time.  I can't stop.  Anyone else have this problem or suggestions on how to stop (besides wrapping my hands in duct tape)?[/QUOTE]

No replies?  Does anyone here bite their nails??? 

[QUOTE=ADDitup]Well... it is almost as if I can use my nails as a gauge to determine how well my medicine is working.  Before I was on medications, my fingers were bloody stumps...  I found that I would chew the nail, the finger, etc, whenever I was trying to concentrate on something... Especially like Watching a movie... I would inadvertantly destroy an entrie hand during a good movie.  Also when I was driving, I would do this.  When I am properly medicated I tend to be able to do the things I want to do, without supplemental stimulus, like nail biting.  I actually have finger nails now. :)[/QUOTE]

Yep.  I do the same while watching movies.  It's really bad at night and when I am driving.  It's such a compulsion.  Nothing has worked and I start a new job on Monday and my fingers look HORRIBLE!!

[QUOTE=BOBEL]As kid I bit them till they bled and chewed  my toenails and the surrounding skin on both my fingers and toes.  I probalby  couldnt have an issue chewing my toenails now lol.  I grew out of it. I mostly   pick at them now. It isnt as harmful. Once and a while I  will  chew off a hangnail I picked at.  Pretty much all it means to me now is I never have to cut them only  remeber to clean under them   because when they get   long enough to  get a hold of i tear them off without even thinkingof  it. Maybe now, i wont. I am shaking my leg much  on medication.[/QUOTE]

Ha ha.  I chewed my toenails too....so gross, I know.  Believe it or not, I went like 3 years without biting and then about 2 years ago, I started up again.  I keep trying to think back to those years and what made me stop, but I can't think of any event/circumstance or where I was emotionally that made me stop.  This sucks.  They are so embarrassing.  I go to extreme measures to hide my hands and I am very self-conscious.

Chronically - and the skin around my nails too - it is disgusting!  Specially because I am a gardener - gross hey?

Stopping - dont have a clue!  Try that bitter paste on stuff!

Or...... rub your fingers with onions and the smell will remind you that you are biting them - and you will stink - so that might be a good idea on holidays.

Cheers!

I don't bite my nails but I do have legs that won't stop moving. One will be going like mad and then the other will decide to join in. So bad that I will jiggle whole lines of desks if they are connected.

I think both are just nervous habits that developed into subconsious behavior. It gets some of that energry out in activities that don't involve loads of energy.

i bite mine, i dont know im doing it and now ive started on the skin!
i feel like a plonker and want to stop!

i have grown them b4 but i cant be arsed anymore lol

I have never really bitten my nails...they are too tough and hurt my teeth, but my gosh, the skin and cuticles around my nails catch hell...I am constantly fidgeting, picking and pulling at my cuticles. I have done it for so long, that I really dont even feel any pain from it. I have really messed my hands up from doing this in the past and have ripped the cuticles WAY too deep and caused them to bleed like crazy... eeeck...

I notice I do this a lot when watching movies and such..I wont even realize I am doing it. It drives my hubby mad and he will throw a pillow at me or whatever he can to make me aware of what I am doing, so I will stop.

I also have a bad bad habit of pulling at the cracked, dry skin on my feet. I have finally somewhat broken myself of this habit, because Ive been getting my nails done, and because of the thickness of the nails, I cannot really grab at those little bitty flakes of skin... for once in a LONG LONG time, my cuticles and feet are not looking so nasty...

Amy

[QUOTE=monk]only time I ever grew mine was when on meds!
I don't even know when I do it, but I must or there's a secret nail-biter fairy at work [/QUOTE]

I wish she would come and visit me!

Hey,

I bit my nails from age 5 to age 21 and I mean bit them till no skn no nail and now am 26. I haven't bitten my nails for years. First I decided to use a stress ball, those things you can squish in your hands, kinda works out the arm a bit. I had a couple of them, one at home work, school and in the car or purse. At home if anybody noticed me biting then they would throw the ball at me and I would play with that instead of bitting. I also had to work on my self-esteem though that was huge for me. I realized that I had no self-confidence even though that was the hardest to admit to myself as well as others, That's actually how I started to pay attention to things I did rather then what others where doing. I'm just as important as everbody else, sounds cheezzy I know but truthfully it works!! I don;t know really what's best for you but yeh it never hurts t here someone elses story!! Good Luck

biting nails, skin around nails... check     picking at toenails... check     picking at scabs.... check

If I see someone else with finger/toe nails that look long enuf to pick I will have  the urge to grab their hand/foot and rip away. Not that I've ever actually done that, but the thought goes through my mind.  Compulsive? Me? Not at all!   /sarcasm

It extends to non-animate stuff too. I know I got into trouble with my mom a number of times when I was little for picking at peeling wallpaper. There's just something about it that begs to be pulled!

I have really thin, brittle nails as it is, so my biting them doesn't help.

And yeah, they are a gauge of my life and how 'in control' I am.  Sometimes I have nothing but ragged snags.

Today I look down and I actually need to clean up the edges with a file!

Yippee!

I have biten my nails on and off my whole life(I'm 36). I have not biten them for a few years now. One thing that helps me is to keep polish on them. When I go to bite my nail, the polish reminds me not to. 

I don't bite my nails too much, but I do bite and chew my lips non-stop. They end up cracked and bleeding, and I have to keep a constant supply of Chapstick nearby. I chew them so much that by the end of the day, my jaw usually hurts.

I bought some bitter lime gel to smear all over my Christmas tree to keep my cat from chewing on it.... maybe I should put some on my lips.

I forgot to add in my post that I chew on the inside of my mouth frequently. Not to the point that I break the skin or bleed, just gnawing. Sounds crazy. Anyone else do this? I've known 2 people who do it, so I know I'm not alone.

Kelly

OMG, I bite the insides of my mouth and chew on my lips too... I have a spot on the inside of my mouth, on both sides right in the corner that is kind of toughened from years of biting and chewing right there... its just a totally unconcious habit I have had for pretty much all of my life...

I know Ive had people comment that I look like Im scowling or that I look like Im mad all the time..and its not that I really am...its just Ive usually got that peice of skin bit in between my teeth...

Amy

 Hey Amy

thanks for letting me know that we share this problem. its comforting to know that i am not the only one with this issue. Have a good day!

Kelly    

Since I was 5 yrs. old I have been biting off the cuticle and skin around my nails.  I believe it was my way of handling stress and worry long before I was on any meds at all.  I don't do it as much anymore, but if I get involved in a movie I have my gloves handy to slip on so that I won't start with out knowing it.

But unfortunately, my cuticle biting has ended up having a very negative side effect in my mouth.  My upper teeth have shifted to one side and I have very small spaces inbetween three front teeth.  This could only have happened from the pressure exerted on my front teeth during the biting process. 

They now have a product in most stores like Walgreens to put on children's nails to keep them from biting them.

I have always bitten the skin around my fingernails.  It has since stopped when the Ritalin in my system.  The same is true with biting the inside of my mouth.

Schwep

Hey, I bit my nails from age 5 to age 21 and I mean bit them till no skn no nail and now am 26. I haven't bitten my nails for years. First I decided to use a stress ball, those things you can squish in your hands, kinda works out the arm a bit. I had a couple of them, one at home work, school and in the car or purse. At home if anybody noticed me biting then they would throw the ball at me and I would play with that instead of bitting. I also had to work on my self-esteem though that was huge for me. I realized that I had no self-confidence even though that was the hardest to admit to myself as well as others, That's actually how I started to pay attention to things I did rather then what others where doing. I'm just as important as everbody else, sounds cheezzy I know but truthfully it works!! I don;t know really what's best for you but yeh it never hurts t here someone elses story!! Good Luck[/QUOTE]

Now, that's a good example of behavior modifications. Good for you, Jingles!

I've bitten my nails forever, but only to where I would have filed them, cuz I hate filing with an emery board. Ick! And I've always kept them short, thanks to my mom instilling it in me. So never wore polish, didn't think they looked good on short nails. Never had long nails, except maybe the thumb and pinky grow once in a while. But then I always break 'em off by mistake.

HOWEVER, I DO bite my cuticles. And suffer from that. I've been trying lately to catch myself before doing it, and maybe going for the cuticle cutter and using that. I also have problems with my fingers tips (near ends of nails, cracking open...I'm sure it's because I don't wear gloves in the cold and rinse my dishes in ice cold water (have no choice right now).

And whoever said they their legs shake...forget who it was, that can be a side effect of your meds.

Anyway, good luck to all of us!

ohmigosh!!  i never would have made the connection, because i never bit my nails, but i did a BARAGE of other things to drive the folks around me nuts!!!