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July 16, 2008

help!

This is the 30th or so time in my life I've tried to stop biting my nails. As of 5 days ago, they were approximately 1/16th of an inch. For some reason, maybe it's just the excessive liquor and drugs in my system, I'm still hanging in. Just got tired of my fingers hurting and I'm fearing passing the habit on to the kid.

I've made it this far before; I don't know if I'll be successful, but I'm hopeful. If anyone has any suggestions on how to quit (other than drugs and alcohol), I'd love to hear them.

Update: 31-Jul-08
It's been a couple weeks. I've had about 3 cheats so far; skimmed a couple nails. Still not even close to falling off the wagon. The tough part may be coming though. When the nails crest over my finger tips in a couple weeks or so, it's going to be such a unique sensation, it'll drive me nuts. So far, I'm enjoying the absence of throbbing pain from biting.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Try using that stuff for dogs to get them to not chew on furniture. It tastes really, really, bad. Trust me on that one. Ha ha Perhaps you could spray your fingers with that a few times a day. My other suggestion...braces...that worked for my son. I'm sure your teeth are at least a little crooked. Good luck!!

Miss Lexiloo said...

I get acrylic nails bc of this...for some reason I don't chew on those...but I'm thinking this may not be for you..hehe.

Probably something that tastes bad, would be your best bet. That, or take up smoking.

Dave said...

Nancy, I like the braces thing. Something to consider.

Lexi, I recently coated my nail and finger tip on two digits with super glue. I had the entire super glue shell off in about 2 minutes. It was more enjoyable than my nails. I think it's just as tough as acrylic too.

...smoking? ... promising

Unknown said...

I have the same problem and I do smoke, so I can attest that it doesn't help! And my almost three year old daughter is already biting her nails :( I recently read about a book called Rescue Your Nails by Ji Baek which is supposed to have a good 12 step program in it for nail biters, so I'm ordering that - hope it works!

Big Momma said...

You certainly don't want your daughter to be a nail biter. Stop using her as motivation. Smoking is never the answer!!!

Big Momma said...

Sorry...I'm typing outsitde at night and have seriously poor typing skills. Meant to say "Start" using your daughter for motivation.

Lorence said...

I wasn't really a "biter" but more of a "tearer". The nails would get to a certain length and I'd start tearing at them, aybe using a nip by a tooth to get started. Then a few months back I just decided to get a nail clipper and keep them trimmed to a length I was comfortable with. It's worked out so-so, I still tear at them at times especially when I forget to clip them or go too long between clippings. Will power - I don't have much.

Dave said...

Hey cbm, I saw Frankie nibbling the other day, that is the motivation for the current effort.

Lorence, I'm a big tearer and biter, anything ..

Still unbit

Not Important said...

There's a product called Thum that is supposed to stop children from sucking their thumbs. It's secondary use is to stop nail biting.

It smells bad when you apply it, but I don't think it makes the nails taste bad. Son uses it to stop biting his nails, but it stays in my car, so his usage is intermittent.

Dave said...

I'm over the really tough part, I think I'm going to try that thum stuff for the long stretch ahead. Thanks!

Cindy said...

Bitter apple spray might help, as someone has suggested, it's for pets. Good luck with your habit-breaking!