Hair loss: Can I still take Biotin if my blood test results say I'm very healthy?

[Samantha303]

After taking vitamins, iron tablets etc. for almost three months, my hair loss reduced to 50 on average per day but my part line is still the area where suffered the most.

I was very surprised when my doctor said my results (Vitamin D, B12, follic acid, androgen, thyroid, iron, kidney and calcium etc. sorry i dont know the accurate medical terms but got this great news over the phone from my doctor) show that I'm perfectly healthy apart from a slightly lower than normal V D level which is not a problem at all.

I am still taking VB, iron, VE, fish oil, zinc and calcium tablet on a daily basis with a healthy diet. Can I assume my hair is recovering now becos of my returning to a healthy diet for the past two months?
Or should I still see a derm although i have not experienced any scalp problems?

Main question, can i still take biotin to help my hair grow better?
I can still see my scalp (and ofc loads of thick and healthy short hair) under artificial light.

I've been experiencing major hair loss from September but only returned to a healthy diet with supplements since mid November - December. Took the blood test last week which is the end of Feburary. I lost around 70 on the day after the blood test when i got five tubes of blood taken and got my period two days after blood test.
Obviously i lost slightly more hair when i got my period so i thought i had some problems with my thyroid/kidney but my tests came back all normal. http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif
Whyyyyyyyyyyy?

[patchoulilove]

Biotin is considered a water soluble vitamin amongst B vitamins. All of which are needed on a daily basis. While it seems intuitive to conclude that it wouldn't harm one to take it, maybe the most prudent advice would be for you to redirect this to a nurse at your doctor's office given your current vitamin regimen is under doctor's instruction. Assuming you take vitamins without direction from your doctors (re: what and how often) and you feel you are in good health; then you can probably do whatever you want in this regard. Tldr: ask doctor. But, all things considered, water soluble vitamins are relatively benign.

[Firefox7275]

Glad to hear your results are approaching normal.

You should be asking this question of an appropriately qualified medical professional: registered dietician or the doctor who holds your medical notes and ran the tests. Much safer than seeking validation from a biased group: very very few here hold any health qualifications and too often it shows.

Biotin is found in a huge range of foods, its simplicity itself to adjust your diet whilst still keeping it balanced and nutrient dense. It is NOT proven safe to take high doses of even supposedly 'water soluble' vitamins: we had one member here (a nurse, Jojo I think?) who reported the early stages of kidney failure with biotin.

[Scarlet_Heart]

Just a heads up, if you are prone to acne, you might want to avoid high doses of biotin. While my hair did seem to grow a bit faster while I was taking biotin, I got bad cystic acne.

You could always try folic acid instead. That's what's in prenatal vitamins that seems to make pregnant women's hair grow fast.

[Panth]

Just a heads up, if you are prone to acne, you might want to avoid high doses of biotin. While my hair did seem to grow a bit faster while I was taking biotin, I got bad cystic acne.

You could always try folic acid instead. That's what's in prenatal vitamins that seems to make pregnant women's hair grow fast.

That's a common myth. Folic acid does not make hair grow faster (nor does the iron supplementation taken by pregnant women). It is pregnancy that makes hair grow (or, to be more precise, it elongates the anagen (growth) phase of your hair follicles, resulting in a greater percentage of your hair being in anagen at any one time during pregnancy, resulting in thicker hair).

[Mai Gloeckchen]

Let me share some of my experiences of the last 3 years of hairloss.
1. Always get your blood checked AND take the results home with you! I have read of so, so many ladies who were told "Everything is fine!" And it really wasn't. Especially the ferritin levels. Many doctors tell you all is fine, when your level is at 15 or so. Which is really low. You should be over 40, better over 70, optimal is around 100. It sounds hard but: don't trust your docotor, only trust what you can read black und white. For doctor's hairloss is only peanuts. OK, for most doctors. there are some good guys too. :)
2. Be patient (I know, that sucks the most). Hair needs about 2-4 month (averagee 3 month) to respond to a certain trigger. Both hairloss and regrowth. That is because of the telogen phase, which lasts 3 months. Telogen hair is already dead, you cannot save it. It will fall out. So you always aim at prolonging your anagen phase preventing to become telogen.
3. Bloodlevels are not always the answer. When you talk about hairloss at your part, that sounds familiar to androgenetic hairloss. If so, there are hairtonics like Regaine or ElCranell with minoxidil and alphatradiol to help you. IF they help you can be shure that you have androgenetic alopecia. First indicator is a shedding phase which means that you lose evenn more hair with that tonic. Because the tonic stimulates the hair folicles to build new babyhair. That babyhair pushes out the old telogen hair and that means, right, more hairloss at first. I experienced that twice. It is hell. I didn't manage not to panic. But afterwards it helped and I had a lot of regrowth.
4. Maybe most important but also the most difficult: don't panic. :) Stress doesn't help you. And: humans are no machines. Me personally I loose a lot of hair even without hairloss. Around 60-80 a day. I know other longhairs who suffer from hairloss (which means, they loose volume) with only 40 hairs a day. We are all individuals. And life is not always the same. Sometimes we are more active, sometimes we gain a littel weight, sometimes we shed some more hair. There is a certain range of noprmality.

Best whishes,
Mai

[Norwaygirl]

After what I have heard, there is no point in taking vitamins unless you are unable to get them through your diet. There is only a certain amount that our bodies need. Therefor, excessive consumption is not going to give any effects as the body does not use it anyway.

[Samantha303]

Let me share some of my experiences of the last 3 years of hairloss.
1. Always get your blood checked AND take the results home with you! I have read of so, so many ladies who were told "Everything is fine!" And it really wasn't. Especially the ferritin levels. Many doctors tell you all is fine, when your level is at 15 or so. Which is really low. You should be over 40, better over 70, optimal is around 100. It sounds hard but: don't trust your docotor, only trust what you can read black und white. For doctor's hairloss is only peanuts. OK, for most doctors. there are some good guys too. :)
2. Be patient (I know, that sucks the most). Hair needs about 2-4 month (averagee 3 month) to respond to a certain trigger. Both hairloss and regrowth. That is because of the telogen phase, which lasts 3 months. Telogen hair is already dead, you cannot save it. It will fall out. So you always aim at prolonging your anagen phase preventing to become telogen.
3. Bloodlevels are not always the answer. When you talk about hairloss at your part, that sounds familiar to androgenetic hairloss. If so, there are hairtonics like Regaine or ElCranell with minoxidil and alphatradiol to help you. IF they help you can be shure that you have androgenetic alopecia. First indicator is a shedding phase which means that you lose evenn more hair with that tonic. Because the tonic stimulates the hair folicles to build new babyhair. That babyhair pushes out the old telogen hair and that means, right, more hairloss at first. I experienced that twice. It is hell. I didn't manage not to panic. But afterwards it helped and I had a lot of regrowth.
4. Maybe most important but also the most difficult: don't panic. :) Stress doesn't help you. And: humans are no machines. Me personally I loose a lot of hair even without hairloss. Around 60-80 a day. I know other longhairs who suffer from hairloss (which means, they loose volume) with only 40 hairs a day. We are all individuals. And life is not always the same. Sometimes we are more active, sometimes we gain a littel weight, sometimes we shed some more hair. There is a certain range of noprmality.

Best whishes,
Mai



I should defo take my results back tomorrow.

My doctor is absolutely dreadful. After she told me my results all came back normal I again stressed the fact that I have been having trouble waking up in the morning for more than 2 months, she simply gave me one of those answers which I've heard of for millions of times in my entire life - 'sometimes people feel tired if they sleep more' 'maybe try not to wear your hair up' !!!
Sometimes (at least 3 days out of a week) I just couldnt get up at all without 12 hour sleep. You can see how this could affect my life as Im a uni student with heavy workload. :(

[Panth]

I should defo take my results back tomorrow.

My doctor is absolutely dreadful. After she told me my results all came back normal I again stressed the fact that I have been having trouble waking up in the morning for more than 2 months, she simply gave me one of those answers which I've heard of for millions of times in my entire life - 'sometimes people feel tired if they sleep more' 'maybe try not to wear your hair up' !!!
Sometimes (at least 3 days out of a week) I just couldnt get up at all without 12 hour sleep. You can see how this could affect my life as Im a uni student with heavy workload. :(

Having been through the same bit as I've bolded - definitely get the figures off them and check your iron and B12 levels. Anaemia can cause that.

[patchoulilove]

I second this anemia advice above. Get another opinion from a more thorough doctor. I hope you start to feel better soon!

[HazelBug]

It could be that by suplimenting you made your levels high enough to test normal. So the thing you might have been deficient in could have gotten missed. Of course it's great that the supliments are working! I'm very prone to anemia. My body doesn't like to absorb iron. Plant based sources do basically nothing for me. I can usually get enough if I'm diligent with my diet and eat red meat 2 or 3 times a week. Of course since I'm prego, all bets are off. I can hardly get meat down. Fortunately I've been able to choke down some vitimins lately.

I do believe that you should do your best to get your nutrients from food. But when it isn't always possible there are vitimins to help you along. You should probably use a multivitamin designed for someone of your age and gender. Biotin itself isn't the only b vitimin you may need. People have mentioned to be careful about acne with it. I find that if I'm getting cystic acne (which people mentioned online a lot with biotin use) that taking a garlic pill helps. Of course then you smell like garlic.

If you feel like there is something wrong with your body then you need to make sure that you get answers. Read your test results and learn what all the numbers mean. I've had some terrible doctors. (been sent home from the hospital only for my doctor to send me back the next day with mrsa in the face) And I've had some great doctors who listen and try to find solutions.