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View Full Version : What is the maximum amount of Biotin you can take?



openeyeddreamer
May 7th, 2014, 08:57 AM
Now I take 5000 mcg, but I also have Hair, Skin, and Nails vitamins and it contains 3000 mcg. I wonder if 8000 mcg is too much, but I've heard of people taking 10,000 with no problems.So how much do you take? How much do you think is too much? Are there any known side effects?Thanks for your input!!

darklyndsea
May 7th, 2014, 09:26 AM
It looks like it hasn't been studied, so you might not want to take too much because once you get enough your body can't use the excess so you're just wasting it. And since 35 mcg is apparently plenty for most people, I think you're good with only taking one biotin supplement.

chen bao jun
May 7th, 2014, 09:34 AM
Actually, I think Biotin is a vitamin that you don't just excrete the excess as waste. I've heard it causes everything from acne to headaches to in extreme cases, severe kidney problems. I wouldn't play around with it.

diddiedaisy
May 7th, 2014, 09:38 AM
I was taking 5000, but I stopped a while ago. I've just started taking them again today and when this jar runs out I'm upping to 7500. I did initially get a few spots when I started taking them but they soon went. I think the thing to do is build up slowly. A lot of people do take 10,000 without harm, but some people are against overdosing on vits etc.

I did put a bit of weight on, but I did have some digestive problems, and I needed the weight. It helps you absorb nutrients better so it possibly fixed my problem.

It is supposed to be water soluble so your body gets rid of what you don't use apparently.

tigereye
May 7th, 2014, 09:46 AM
It is water soluble so taking in more than your body can use will just see it put straight back out again. There probably wouldn't be too many side effects, at least not any more than you get at your current 5000mcg, but you probably won't get much more benefit out of upping to 8000 either. Save your money.

Anje
May 7th, 2014, 10:04 AM
I wouldn't recommend overdoing biotin, or any other vitamin. It's not an inert substance. If nothing else, many people get acne if they have too much, but I believe I've heard stories of people developing kidney problems with longer-term overdoses.

jeanniet
May 7th, 2014, 10:09 AM
Megadosing on vitamins is at best a waste of money, and at worse potentially very harmful. The notion that water-soluble vitamins are completely benign because you just "pee out any excess" is a myth. Your kidneys have to process everything you take in, and if you happen to have undiagnosed kidney or liver disease (extremely common)...well, you could be very sorry. Is it worth it to maybe, possibly, get a bit more hair growth? It's very unlikely to be deficient in biotin, and the needed amount is very small. If you're that worried about nutrients, improve your diet. Better yet, go see a registered dietician.

Vitamins don't make you healthier, and they sure as hell don't substitute for real food and a healthy diet.

redredrobin
May 7th, 2014, 10:12 AM
I took some 'hair skin and nails' tablets that had 45ug, which I understand is the same as mcg. I was so confused when I ready people were taking 10k when I was taking 45. It seemed a crazy difference!

MungoMania
May 7th, 2014, 01:50 PM
I take 5,000 mcg daily. If I take 7-8,000 I'll get headaches; no acne. Many longhairs swear by 10,000mcg a day. It's up to you.

Weewah
May 7th, 2014, 02:00 PM
I was taking 10,000mcg daily for about a month with no noticeable effects, either positive or negative. Maybe it made my nails grow faster but they already grow fast to begin with. I stopped taking the biotin because I'm not a doctor and don't know what I'm doing, and I didn't really notice a hair difference.

chen bao jun
May 7th, 2014, 02:12 PM
Megadosing on vitamins is at best a waste of money, and at worse potentially very harmful. The notion that water-soluble vitamins are completely benign because you just "pee out any excess" is a myth. Your kidneys have to process everything you take in, and if you happen to have undiagnosed kidney or liver disease (extremely common)...well, you could be very sorry. Is it worth it to maybe, possibly, get a bit more hair growth? It's very unlikely to be deficient in biotin, and the needed amount is very small. If you're that worried about nutrients, improve your diet. Better yet, go see a registered dietician.

Vitamins don't make you healthier, and they sure as hell don't substitute for real food and a healthy diet.

thanks for phrasing this better than I did, Jeanniet.
Of course we both know from experience that it tends to go in one ear and out the other with a whole lot of people because they seriously want a magic spell, but maybe someone will read this and stay within the (very slight) amount that is recommended. There's people here on LHC who have health problems from biotin, maybe some will weigh in.

lapushka
May 7th, 2014, 02:19 PM
This might be a good read:
http://igorsbelltower.blogspot.be/p/infamous-biotin-rant.html

tigereye
May 7th, 2014, 02:53 PM
I'll also weigh in and say that from a science perspective, vitamins do nothing for you if you're not deficient in them. Even with me, I get pretty deficient in vitamin D during the winter months according to blood tests (high latitude, wrong type of sunshine when we do get some, plus year-round wearing of sunscreen on doctors recommendations due to my other meds), but I know to stop taking my vitamin D supplements if my skin allergies get worse or I start getting heat-rashes because it's often a sign I'm getting too much. However, vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin so it's a lot harder to get rid of so it builds up fast if I'm taking my supplements.

However, one of my lecturers (specialities are, unsurprisingly, the renal system and the GI system) makes a point with vitamin C. So many people take in many times the recommended amount of vitamin C through supplements (because it's "water soluble" and apparently "not dangerous"), but it is next to useless for them because they take it in all at once (a smaller dose taken in over a longer period of time would be more effective if it is useful at all). The big issue is that you take in huge amounts more than you need, and your kidneys need to get rid of it. That is a lot of work for your kidneys. Never mind that you need water to remove all that, resulting in dehydration, and if you're chronically dehydrated, then the possibility of crystals and kidney stones forming, since asorbic acid (vitamin C) rather conveniently forms crystals when too concentrated (just like the minerals in very hard water really when your kidneys get chronic exposure). The side effects or damage can be invisible for years or decades after you stop taking the vitamin, and lots of people don't attribute side effects to something they took over a decade ago.
Please just save your money. The likelihood of kidney stones or other side effects may be low, and a lot of people might see no side effects from high doses (yet), but why take the chance when there's likely no benefit whatsoever on taking such high concentrations of vitamins?

jeanniet
May 7th, 2014, 02:53 PM
thanks for phrasing this better than I did, Jeanniet.
Of course we both know from experience that it tends to go in one ear and out the other with a whole lot of people because they seriously want a magic spell, but maybe someone will read this and stay within the (very slight) amount that is recommended. There's people here on LHC who have health problems from biotin, maybe some will weigh in.

Maybe another way to look at it would be to ask if you would be willing to take something you knew was toxic to get good growth--arsenic, for instance. If not, why be willing to take anything? It all has an effect on your body.

I have some (fortunately) mild kidney damage, and had absolutely zero idea. With luck and care, it won't progress more than is normal through aging, but you can bet I am really, really glad I wasn't megadosing anything, and I'm very careful about everything I take in now. In all other respects, I'm extremely healthy and my numbers are all great. Our best guess is that the damage is residual from a bad delivery plus the natural loss of function due to aging.

Nightshade
May 7th, 2014, 03:05 PM
I wouldn't recommend overdoing biotin, or any other vitamin. It's not an inert substance. If nothing else, many people get acne if they have too much, but I believe I've heard stories of people developing kidney problems with longer-term overdoses.


Megadosing on vitamins is at best a waste of money, and at worse potentially very harmful. The notion that water-soluble vitamins are completely benign because you just "pee out any excess" is a myth. Your kidneys have to process everything you take in, and if you happen to have undiagnosed kidney or liver disease (extremely common)...well, you could be very sorry. Is it worth it to maybe, possibly, get a bit more hair growth? It's very unlikely to be deficient in biotin, and the needed amount is very small. If you're that worried about nutrients, improve your diet. Better yet, go see a registered dietician.

Vitamins don't make you healthier, and they sure as hell don't substitute for real food and a healthy diet.


What these ladies said. It's important to remember that with anything that MIGHT give you a bump in hair growth, you have a genetic cap on how fast your hair is going to grow, and what its terminal length is. Mega-dosing on vitamins, soaking your head in essential oils, and topping it off with a whip of vaginal cream isn't going to ever put you over that pre-determined max.

To break it out another way:

Biotin and other supplements will only give you a boost if you were low in these nutrients. If you are, it probably isn't by much, so mega-dosing is still a bad idea.

Topical treatments like Monistat and essential oils will only help your hair grow faster if you have a scalp condition that essential oils can treat (fungus/low scalp circulation), etc. Neither one makes hair magically sprout faster for no reason at all.

lapushka
May 7th, 2014, 03:19 PM
Neither one makes hair magically sprout faster for no reason at all.

Exactly. And besides, *nothing* makes hair magically grow faster. Patience is still the big word around here.

Pamala513
May 7th, 2014, 04:06 PM
My Wellness Doctor recommended 5000 mg of Biotin for hair loss, but ALSO Super B Complex to take with it so you don't break out with acne like many do. And as for hair and nail growth, both have grown much faster than prior to taking both, and I have been on both for 8 months never missing a day.

Annibelle
May 7th, 2014, 04:51 PM
A member here shared with me her kidney failure experience when I asked that question, OP. I wouldn't risk it.

Scarlet_Heart
May 7th, 2014, 05:25 PM
I got bad cystic acne from it. YMMV.

meteor
May 7th, 2014, 08:38 PM
Run your plan by your doctor. There are definitely side-effects for overdosing on biotin, just like any supplements.

Actually, biotin is extremely easy for a healthy person to get via various natural sources in your diet: eggs, fish, nuts, veggies (esp. Swiss chard), milk, oats ... notice how these foods are extremely good for hair!
I recommend increasing your consumption of biotin-rich foods rather than taking more pills, as bioavailability is an important factor.

arr
May 8th, 2014, 06:31 AM
I took 5000 mcg for about a month and my scalp became sore and painful to the point that i couldnt even put my hair up. Very unusual, i know, but its something to be aware of.