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Blondieee
July 13th, 2017, 01:43 AM
I've been experiencing severe hair loss for a while. You can see straight through to my scalp and I'm a teenager with no family history of female hair loss. Two dermatologists have recommended Biotin. One of them wanted me to take 2500 mcg and the other one wanted me to take 6000 mcg. I have very low ferritin which I'm taking a supplement for so that is probably the main contributor of the hair loss. But my doctor tested my Biotin levels and found I have a deficiency. I know it's rare, but I'm having malabsorption from gut issues so I'm having difficulty absorbing nutrients from my food. A couple days ago I started taking Biotin gummies. 2500 mcg in 2 gummies. I took 1 gummy the first day, 2 gummies the second day, and 2 gummies the third day. I stopped taking it because I'm getting acne already and I never break out. I have 3 small pimples going up in a row next to my eye and 1 on my cheek. Not extremely bad so far but if this keeps up, it will get a lot worse. I never break out. This is very unusual for me. I don't even ever wash my face because if I use a cleanser on it, I break out no matter what the cleanser is but if I use nothing it stays clear. How do you avoid the acne with it? I looked up symptoms of Biotin deficiency and it's pretty scary. So what am I supposed to do? I drank plenty of water thoroughout the day. I always drink plenty of water. Any thoughts?

diddiedaisy
July 13th, 2017, 03:12 AM
Biotin stops my shedding dead in its tracks, I think if you take B vitamins with biotin it should stop you getting spots. I've always taken them with biotin and I've escaped the spots.

I also suffer malabsorption issues and at my worst I was taking 10,000 of biotin. My doctor and dietician was aware of this and saw no issue. I did used to take breaks from it though, I would say the higher doses are fine to take if you have a deficiency but I wouldn't recommend it long term. My hair drops out like crazy when my system decides to stop absorbing food so I think when you get that issue sorted out you should definitely see improvement in your hair. It's a long road to growing it back and one I'm still on myself but it will improve.

There is a thread called the great shed and also the great shed part 2 if you don't want as many people reading your posts (sorry I don't know how to do links), but you will find people there who have similar issues to yourself and they provide great support.

Good luck :)

Nymphe
July 13th, 2017, 03:19 AM
Are you taking a multivitamin and B complex as well? Biotin was never meant to be taken without other vitamins. Stay on the smaller dose first to see if that helps.

Arctic
July 13th, 2017, 04:50 AM
Are you drinking enough (water)? I've heared that might be contributor too, whether one gets breakouts or not. If you are drinking too little, try to amp up the water quantity (but stay within the recommended amount per day).

Acne breakout are no fun, but try to think of the big picture here first and foremost. You'll got to get healthy. Sometimes skin reacts but clears again after a while. Not saying you shouldn't take the issue seriously, but somehow, someway you just need to get those nutrients.

Nique1202
July 13th, 2017, 06:18 AM
The acne is happening because you're taking way more biotin than your body needs. The recommended daily intake amount for biotin for adults is in the range of 30 mcg, and you say you're trying a 2500 mcg dose? So even though you're deficient in it and you may need, say, 100 mcg a day of intake to process enough for your needs, you may still be getting 25 times more than your body's asking for. (That's just a guess, but 2500 is definitely more than ANYONE needs.)

If you're recommended to take two gummies daily, I'd cut back to a half of one per day or find a significantly lower dose supplement. A B-100 complex will have a much more reasonable amount of biotin, balanced against the other b vitamins for fewer side effects. Also, drink an extra couple of glasses of water/juice/tea/coffee (though be careful of the too-much-caffeine buzz with the latter) every day to help your body flush the excess biotin from your system through your kidneys. Anything except energy drinks and alcoholic drinks will help with the hydration level to push the excess biotin out. You don't need to drink multiple giant bottles of water a day or anything, but one or two extra cups of liquid can make a big difference to flush out the excess.

You may have to wait until the acne that's started already has healed to see a major difference, but hopefully no more will start.

saff.cel
July 13th, 2017, 07:07 AM
I have a sort of off kilter suggestion that could potentially solve your nutritional issue (and so even everything else in the bargain), you should look into intermittent fasting. I've been on a 20 hour fast - 4 hour eating schedule off and on for nearly six years (I didn't do it while I was pregnant, because of nausea), and it completely solved my hypertriglyceridemia without any actual change to WHAT I was eating, just WHEN I was eating. The theory basically goes that no natural carnivore has food just lying around all the time, they glut when they make a kill and have their wits and energy about them until they find the next one. So eating all the time isn't natural (6 small meals a day being a myth, essentially), and what we're doing when we do that is shocking our system, disabling it to recognize and utilize what we are putting into it. So by eating less your body is able to "put things away" better. It also frees up time and since you're only eating one or two meals within a short period, it makes you more cognizant of what you're putting into your body. I like to eat right before I got to bed since eating makes you tired (the 2pm slump is real, and it's caused by lunch).

Before I started this, I was on twice daily medication for my problem, and assured that because I was normal weight, young, and not an alcoholic that it was genetic and would only get worse. I've been off my medication since year two, last year my triglycerides were at 30!!!! 30!!!!!!! That's insane, considering I once had levels of 1000 at the point they started medicating me. I know it sounds crazy, but it was really a life-changer for me, so just on the off chance you're one of those people who wonders what you would accomplish if you didn't have to sleep, this is the closest analogy to that idea that I've ever been able to achieve.

Anje
July 13th, 2017, 08:39 AM
I've heard both B vitamins and zinc, for preventing acne from biotin. It wasn't something I wanted to pursue overmuch since dosing biotin was clearly creating a problem for me instead, but I didn't have a tested deficiency. In your case, it might be a good idea to try.

jera
July 13th, 2017, 09:52 AM
When I first started taking biotin years ago, I got cystic acne from it. So I stopped. When I joined LHC I wanted to try again, so I took the lowest dose I could find which was offered by Puritan's Pride back at the time and it was only 380 mcg. I had no negative effects from it and began increasing the dose and now take 5,000 mcg a day. Maybe just try this and see how your body and hair responds to it.

akurah
July 13th, 2017, 06:04 PM
My advice is to follow your doctor instructions. And inform them you're getting acne. They probably have you taking it for a medical reason beyond regrowing your hair, and we're frankly not medically trained, and even if we were, we don't have physical access to examine you or access to your records.

Cherriezzzzz
July 14th, 2017, 04:31 PM
When I first started taking biotin years ago, I got cystic acne from it. So I stopped. When I joined LHC I wanted to try again, so I took the lowest dose I could find which was offered by Puritan's Pride back at the time and it was only 380 mcg. I had no negative effects from it and began increasing the dose and now take 5,000 mcg a day. Maybe just try this and see how your body and hair responds to it.

Oooh I like this idea! It's customized by each person's needs this way!

lapushka
July 14th, 2017, 04:41 PM
My advice is to follow your doctor instructions. And inform them you're getting acne. They probably have you taking it for a medical reason beyond regrowing your hair, and we're frankly not medically trained, and even if we were, we don't have physical access to examine you or access to your records.

Fully agree with that OP. In previous threads you have indicated more issues, so I think it would be best to talk to your doctor about it and give them feedback.

*Wednesday*
July 15th, 2017, 09:41 AM
My advice is to follow your doctor instructions. And inform them you're getting acne. They probably have you taking it for a medical reason beyond regrowing your hair, and we're frankly not medically trained, and even if we were, we don't have physical access to examine you or access to your records.


Fully agree with that OP. In previous threads you have indicated more issues, so I think it would be best to talk to your doctor about it and give them feedback.

I'm going to really piggy back on this. Agreed. A doctor diagnosis you with a Biotin deficiency, you can have other medical issues happening. Hair loss, brittle nails is a symptom of other things which your doctor attributes to the lack of Biotin. It's not common to have a Biotin deficiency since your body also makes it. You may have other issues. People advising you to tinker with dosages, bad advice.

Nique1202
July 15th, 2017, 02:08 PM
I'm going to really piggy back on this. Agreed. A doctor diagnosis you with a Biotin deficiency, you can have other medical issues happening. Hair loss, brittle nails is a symptom of other things which your doctor attributes to the lack of Biotin. It's not common to have a Biotin deficiency since your body also makes it. You may have other issues. People advising you to tinker with dosages, bad advice.

It's biotin, not antidepressants or heart medication. Yes, OP should talk to their doctor and report the reaction to the biotin, but we were trying to give advice to use in the mean time, and with regard to biotin specifically, it is NOT dangerous to reduce the dosage. Deficiencies like this are long-term things, and biotin isn't typically available on its own in less than a 2500 mg dosage which is probably why the doctor prescribed that amount in the first place.

If it were almost any other prescription I would agree with you, but the specific dosage of the specific vitamin in this case is 99.99% likely to be fine to cut back on.

*Wednesday*
July 15th, 2017, 02:44 PM
It's biotin, not antidepressants or heart medication. Yes, OP should talk to their doctor and report the reaction to the biotin, but we were trying to give advice to use in the mean time, and with regard to biotin specifically, it is NOT dangerous to reduce the dosage. Deficiencies like this are long-term things, and biotin isn't typically available on its own in less than a 2500 mg dosage which is probably why the doctor prescribed that amount in the first place.

If it were almost any other prescription I would agree with you, but the specific dosage of the specific vitamin in this case is 99.99% likely to be fine to cut back on.

My apologies. I didn't mean to offend by that comment. I just feel when someone is under a physician's treatment, it's better they be directed back to their physician.

akurah
July 15th, 2017, 02:56 PM
It's biotin, not antidepressants or heart medication. Yes, OP should talk to their doctor and report the reaction to the biotin, but we were trying to give advice to use in the mean time, and with regard to biotin specifically, it is NOT dangerous to reduce the dosage. Deficiencies like this are long-term things, and biotin isn't typically available on its own in less than a 2500 mg dosage which is probably why the doctor prescribed that amount in the first place.

If it were almost any other prescription I would agree with you, but the specific dosage of the specific vitamin in this case is 99.99% likely to be fine to cut back on.

I've been following OP's other posts. I don't think you're aware of the other health problems she has been having. Unless OP is exaggerating, and I don't think she is, she honestly should not be changing anything insofar as her vitamin regimin goes without talking to her doctor.

So no, my post and the others similar to mine are not out of line. Malnutrition isn't anything to play around with.