From Biotin to Silica for Hair Growth

[Nae]

Thank you everyone! I really think that I am gonna stop it now. I had been taking it for at least three months so I guess there is really nothing that it can do for me if I take too much of it! I guess just I needed a little convincing to completely stop taking it.
I'll see how I do without taking it. Hopefully my skin will be happy again!

Oh goodness. I am so glad you are going to stop. Mega dosing on biotin almost always causes Cystic Acne. It is just not worth it, biotin is only going to work if you are deficient in it. If you live in a Western country you almost certainly aren't. It is in tons of stuff. Cheese and other dairy products, fatty fish, peanut butter, yeast, eggs, mushrooms, pork, chicken, raspberries....you would really have to TRY to be deficient.

Stick with your mulit-vitamin. Pitch the biotin, I have heard some people get scars from the acne that don't go away for ages and ages. It totally isn't worth it. I don't know anything about silica. Frankly, the best way to get growth is to eat healthy, get exercise, and take care of your hair. It will grow!!

[Avital88]

biotin made me break out like crazy too! my skin never was this bad not even in puberty, it sucks.. silica works wonders for my hairgrowth though

[Rosa]

Avital, I didn't know about silica for hair growth. Great! I'll look into it. Has anyone tried folic acid?

[Helenae]

I've been taking biotin for over 2 months and had no break outs, guess it depends on the person.

However, I also take zinc and a multivitamin. Zinc works is sort of a natural tetracycline.

I can't lie, I've seen results - but nothing amazing. I guess I should take it up to 6 months before I can judge...

[Tattersail]

@A.Correira; biotin is actually a water-soluble vitamin; vitamins generally act as catalysts in biological functions, or in other words, they are neccessary for certain mechanisms to take place, such as production of tissues and facilitating other functions in the body.
silica is actually a mineral; minerals are the building blocks of tissues.
so you need the building blocks (minerals, protein) and energy (carbohydrates, fats) and catalysts (vitamins, enzymes) to actually make stuff. you need a bit of everything. if you don't have enough/ too much of something imbalances can occurr and then you get deficiencies and those deficiences show up as oily skin/dry skin/flaky skin, whatever.

also silica is one of the basic building blocks of cell tissue and is part of pretty much all cells of your body. if you want to try it out safely, get as a 'tissue salt', its ground up very finely (as a homeopathic preparation) and is really easy for your body to take up.

if something makes you break out its probably a sign that its not needed by your body; your body is saying 'ah, what's all this sh#t?!' and tries to get rid of it. silica, especially when its taken as a tissue salt is also very good for pushing waste out of your body. just do a google search for 'silica cell salt' or 'silica tissue salt' and you'll get some info

[Tattersail]

@rosa, folic acid is simply vitamin b9, as long as you eat some red meat and green leafy veg you should be fine - its very important for the production of dna and the correct process of cell division and growth; therefore very important to have sufficient amounts if you are pregnant and trying to grow a new human inside you

[ladylowtide]

Did biotin for 3 months. Thought it was helping. Turned out my hair was just having a growth spurt. Made me break out something fierce. IMO not worth it.

[jacqueline101]

I agree don't ruin your health with extra supplements your body is rejecting.

[sofo]

I use some supplements with silica paired with some b-vitamins including a small dose of biotin. My skin actually breaks out less which is the main reason I continue to take them, and I guess I need to shave my legs more often. If my hair grows faster or not is hard to tell. I have also noticed that the hair on my arms gets so long I feel I need to trim it, its long enough to curl otherwise. Never had that issue before. If it affects the hair on your head its very likely to affect the hair on the rest of the body as well. Might be worth thinking about. I do have a ton of body hair supplements or not though. I'm just happy its blonde, because it wouldnt be pretty otherwise... Guess I'm optimized for a cold climate.

[Leeloo]

I don't think biotin and silica are self exclusive vitamins and they are both included in the hair, skin and nails vitamins. Silica is known to be very beneficial to skin in the long run, so I think you'll benefit from both or just silica.