Vitamins

[longmanedreamer]

Hi there!! I didn’t come across a thread about vitamins to support hair growth and health yet so I wanted to start one. If there is already one, I apologize! What vitamins are you all using and do you see a difference??

[akurah]

Vitamins are generally worthless unless you're taking them either by doctor recommendation or prescription. Most of them are expensive pee, and Biotin will give you acne.

[Dendra]

Hey longmanedreamer :waving: I thought you might find this thread interesting (if very long!): http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=9984

There's lots of people discussing vitamins on there and how effective they've found them to be. Personally I take two very cheap, basic multivitamins. That way, if they're not doing anything I'm not wasting a load of money. Plus, one of them tastes nice ;)

[Wendyp]

I can’t say I notice hair growth difference, I’m actually prescribed vitamins, and I agree that a lot are filled with junk. You have to find pure vitamins. But what I do notice is my hair grows faster when I take protein regularly. And I do think the collagen peptides are helping with that.

[lapushka]

I take a multivitamin but that's it. And at 100% the daily recommended dosage, and a tiiiny amount of biotin, no crazy percentages.

And I get 1/2 inch growth a month.

You can't force hair growth for the life of you.

[Dendra]

I take a multivitamin but that's it. And at 100% the daily recommended dosage, and a tiiiny amount of biotin, no crazy percentages.

And I get 1/2 inch growth a month.

You can't force hair growth for the life of you.

The dosages of my vitamins are also only at 100% or just over, I don't want any nasty side effects like the ones associated with biotin.

And I will second that I think protein has the biggest impact on hair growth.

[Dark40]

Hi longmanedreamer! I take vitamins too. I think they are all worth taking, and I do see a big difference in my hair growth. I see less shedding as well. I take one multi-vitamin, vitamin B, C, E, and a vitamin for all of hair, skin, and nails.

[Dark40]

Vitamins are generally worthless unless you're taking them either by doctor recommendation or prescription. Most of them are expensive pee, and Biotin will give you acne.

My hair, skin, and nails vitamins have lots of Biotin in it, and I don't have any problems with acne at all. You have drink plenty of water if you take vitamins that have a lot of biotin in them. You should drink plenty of water for your overall health anyways.

[Aredhel]

IMO if you eat a well-balanced diet, most people absolutely do not need biotin supplements in such high percentages. I took straight biotin for a bit, and I broke out like crazy. My skin is generally quite smooth with maybe 1 or 2 pimples on occasion during my cycle, but I had a face full of cystic acne when I took biotin :rolleyes: And I drink so much water, I could pass as a fish. Multivitamins are great, but they won't expedite your hair growth, especially if you're already healthy to begin with.

[MusicalSpoons]

Dang it, I forgot acne was a common side effect - I started to take a hair/skin/nails including biotin, broke out in acne after a few days, so stopped. Decided to drastically reduce the dose and I'm still all broken out, so I guess I can't tolerate it :-(

I take other vitamins because my levels are borderline low but I can't say I've seen any discernible effect on my hair.

Definitely don't take megadoses without doing some research first, btw. Some can really affect levels of other vitamins, and even though excess of water-soluble vitamins can be excreted out, it's still extra work for your kidneys (and liver, if it goes through there first).

ETA: I forgot to mention, usually unless you are actually deficient, vitamins won't speed up growth, but they might make the growing hair healthier :)

[lakhesis]

I take multivitamin and some MSM :) if it doesn't help the hair, it definitely helps at least my skin

However I used to take extra dose of biotin and I definitely did experience breakouts :neutral:

[ipickee]

Biotin is my nemesis.
But I do take a Women's Vitamin Pack, Collagen, Evening Primrose, and sometimes Vit D. I've heard collagen can make you break out, but it hasn't caused me any problems.

[Glitch]

Whatever you decide to do when it comes to vitamins, just be careful. Before a surgery, I was suggested to take the vitamin B complex, and began bleeding randomly since I already naturally had enough vit B in my body. It was pretty scary, and didn't go away until a few days after I stopped. Whenever I take any general vitamins now, I don't consume them daily or habitually, just once in a while. Everyone is different so just be informed :)

[MoonRabbit]

Whatever you decide to do when it comes to vitamins, just be careful. Before a surgery, I was suggested to take the vitamin B complex, and began bleeding randomly since I already naturally had enough vit B in my body. It was pretty scary, and didn't go away until a few days after I stopped. Whenever I take any general vitamins now, I don't consume them daily or habitually, just once in a while. Everyone is different so just be informed :)

This. I used to take B complex religiously, because I was informed it could help with depression and anxiety. So I took one every morning, then I started to notice that I would feel sick and I wouldn't start to feel better until my urine slowly started reducing in a bright yellow color through out the day. I knew my body was telling me it had enough and it was working over time to filter the amount I didn't need. I'd also like to add that at this time in my life I was very under weight, and not eating for many days so I know I was deficient in everything but the pills were still way too much for my body to handle.

[Glitch]

This. I used to take B complex religiously, because I was informed it could help with depression and anxiety. So I took one every morning, then I started to notice that I would feel sick and I wouldn't start to feel better until my urine slowly started reducing in a bright yellow color through out the day. I knew my body was telling me it had enough and it was working over time to filter the amount I didn't need. I'd also like to add that at this time in my life I was very under weight, and not eating for many days so I know I was deficient in everything but the pills were still way too much for my body to handle.

I'm glad you realized it before it got too far! It's wild how much a simple vitamin pill can really impact the body.

If anyone's curious to know more about hair vitamins, particularly biotin, here (http://igorsbelltower.blogspot.ca/p/infamous-biotin-rant.html) is a sourced, detailed article from a former lhc member.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I just take a general multi-vitamin, and fish oil daily. I haven't noticed it making any difference to my hair.

[SeRe]

I might be the minority but I think good quality supplements work. I experienced rapid hair regrowth on my head after I corrected my iron and Vit D deficiency. Turmeric cured my cough issues last year. I have taken a multi-vitamin my whole life, esp B vitamins. It helped improve concentration and memory (I was given B complex through out my childhood and was always a straight A student right through college), and helps me sleep well. Zinc really helps with overall immunity. I don't take any biotin over what's in my multi. Biotin doesn't affect me.

My brother is taking melatonin to help with insomnia.

I must add that I am a vegetarian who is also vegan a lot of the time. I have a limited appetite so I take supplements (multi, Vit D) regularly, and use turmeric, zinc when necessary.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

They make me break out. No matter what. Low dose, more water, whatever. It makes me break out.
I use to be able to tolerate them but I dont think my body can anymore

[DoomKitty]

I take a hair, skin and nails formula and a women's multivitamin. I also take a fairly high dose of iron due to anemia. I've noticed I shed less and my nails grow stronger when I've got the iron right and the hair skin and nails formula has made my nails grow super fast. As for my hair, it grows faster in summer so I don't know if it's affected my growth rate as yet.

[floraflowerpowe]

The way I feel about vitamins is that you can have a little extra on top of a "healthy" diet, or take them because you don't take certain food groups (dairy or meat or ...) or because of anything medical related. Personally I don't use special vitamins for hair growth. The only ones I use are vitamin D (especially in the winter when there's basically no sun) and a basic multi vitamin. In the past I've had vitamins specially for skin and hair, but I didn't see any difference in thickness or growth rate.

[QuoteTheCrow]

I'm a supplement person and have (thankfully!) never noticed any ill effects. I agree with another poster up a few ^^^ in that I don't think the vitamins or supplements speed up the hair growth (other than collagen, which I have noticed a big difference), but I think the supplements grow "better" hair. Diet does this, too. I first noticed years ago when I went in the Army and was eating three square meals a day with plenty of protein, getting plenty of exercise, attempting a good night's sleep, and drinking a lot of water. I could see my most-recent hair was in so much better shape than my ends. I could see, strand for strand, how much thicker the new growth was. Definitely made me a believer!

[lapushka]

Oh yeah, I also take glucosamine + chondroitin, some supplements have MSM in them, but that is for joint health & has little to do with hair.