Biotin

[Purdy Bear]

I found this webpage on everything Biotin, its a B Vitamin and one of its deficiencies is hairloss and Alopecia.


http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/984803-overview


Do we have a Biotin thread (Iv looked and couldnt find one), maybe we need to start one?

I have ordered my Biotin, but its yet to arrive. Id love to hear your experiences of taking it.

[Cirafly24]

There are many biotin threads!
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/search.php?searchid=1994316

I started taking it near the end of March, in combination with MSM. I have had 1.75" of growth since then :)

[Cleopatra18]

i dont think biotin did anything for me =/

[naereid]

I've been taking a cheapo hair supplement since February. According to the box, it contains zinc, B1, B2, B6, B12, biotin, folic acid, niacin and pantoten acid.

Haven't noticed any increase in growth until this week - my roots are 1 cm long, and I dyed my hair 3 weeks ago. Normally it takes them 4 weeks to reach 1 cm. Maybe I made a mistake in my calculations, or it could be because of the spring, or the pills are finally kicking in.

[smilinjenn71]

I started taking Biotin daily about a month ago, I guess. My hope is that over time it will help strengthen my fine hair strands. So, my main goal for Biotin isn't for my hair to grow quicker but stronger.

Obviously it will take a year or so to tell if my stands are stronger or not. I'm willing to keep taking it though because fine hair is so fragile that even putting it up dry can cause breakage. Unfortunately I know this from experience. My hair is still SHLDR length right now, so pony tails are my only option. I use the most kind hair ties I can find....all fabric. Still, breakage.:(

[McFearless]

I noticed growth in my nails before my hair, but after about a month I definately saw a change in my. My nails have to be cut every day now. I can't say this is only because of biotin since I also take a multivitamin and fish oil.

[Jenn of Pence]

Hmmm...I'm giving consideration to biotin and multi-vitamin supplements, but not making a move just yet. Reading all your comments will be helpful for making a decision, though.

[christine1989]

Biotin did little (if anything) for my growth but it reduced my shedding to nearly 0! I think it was totally worth it. If you want more growth you could try out horsetail- it works pretty well for me.

[Demetrue]

Every time I take even one Biotin pill, I break out with cystic acne - it's horrible because I wish it would work and give me long beautiful hair, but instead I am ending up with scars on my face!

[Jenn of Pence]

Every time I take even one Biotin pill, I break out with cystic acne - it's horrible because I wish it would work and give me long beautiful hair, but instead I am ending up with scars on my face!

Oh yeah? Do you have cystic acne at all besides when taking Biotin? I tend to get it off and on, and I certainly wouldn't want to just invite them...so painful :eek:

[Kathie]

What sort of dose is typical?

I've just started taking a hair skin and nails sup. (runs down stairs and grabs them because she’s just had dinner and needs to take them with food) and they have a 2.5mg daily dose of biotin in them. I understand that if you take biotin by itself it will probably be more....

I would be interesting to see what does people are taking to get results :)

[naereid]

What sort of dose is typical?

I've just started taking a hair skin and nails sup. (runs down stairs and grabs them because she’s just had dinner and needs to take them with food) and they have a 2.5mg daily dose of biotin in them. I understand that if you take biotin by itself it will probably be more....

I would be interesting to see what does people are taking to get results :)
According to this thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=44247), people use between 1,000 and 5,000 mcg, and up to 10,000 mcg! :blueeek:

My box says 150 mcg, 300% RDA. :shrug: Seems so tiny and useless next to those big numbers!

[Kathie]

Thanks for that! Good to know that my supplement is within range, once you do a milligram (mg) to microgram (mcg) conversion.
It’s my first month taking it and measuring growth- probably take a few months to actually get an affect.

[naereid]

Man, thinking about all this makes me feel like I really should step up my dose. Found an address of a shop that sells 1,000 mcg pills, and tomorrow I'm off to buy them. Time to get serious! :p

[IcarusBride]

I've been taking Biotin daily for ~2 months now. I took 1mg/day for the first month and 2mg/day the 2nd month. I'm going to increase to 3mg/day after my current bottle of 1mg pills runs out (gonna buy the 3mg/pill size next time). I'm not sure if there are any effects at all, really. My nails are SLIGHTLY stronger, but not much. At first they seemed to grow SLOWER but not they grow just average again. My shedding hasn't reduced very much either. It's definitely less than pre-LHC (shedding several hundred strands a day, reduced to about 100 now) but I still shed unnaturally large amounts, and I think the decrease may have more to do with handling my hair gentler and wearing it up, not the vitamins. I haven't experienced the negative side effects that some people have mentioned (headaches, acne). My skin has been clearer lately, if anything.

[Demetrue]

Oh yeah? Do you have cystic acne at all besides when taking Biotin? I tend to get it off and on, and I certainly wouldn't want to just invite them...so painful :eek:

No - I had some mild acne when I was a teenager, but never cysts. My skin has been clear for years. I am now 49 and the last thing I need is acne on top of my wrinkles!

[Beaglebuddy]

With Biotin, I have read that you need to take it either with a B-complex vitamin or Vitamin C and this will help prevent breakouts. I am not sure if this works or not. I do take 5000 mg of Biotin along with a B-Complex and have never had a breakout due to Biotin. And my skin does have a tendency to breakout easily.

[Cholera]

I've been taking biotin for 6 months now, and I think my strands are stronger, and I'm sure they're growing faster (I can never get an accurate measurement, though).
I've never ever gotten acne or headaches from taking any dose of it. Usually I take two 2500 mcg pills, but every now and then I'll take three.
As for an RDA for biotin, there isn't one. You can't overdo it. You might want to start with a lower dose, and if it doesn't work, you can work your way up to avoid any possible headaches or acne.

[Pandora.]

I would love to start taking biotin, but I'm afraid that I'll end up wasting my money.
However, I've already been taking cod liver oil capsules for a week now. Unfortunately, nothing much is going to happen in that short space of time.

Another thing I'm terrified about - in terms of taking biotin - is if I'll start to get SO MUCH acne. I have clear skin right now, but I swear if biotin ever made me break out, I would quit using it and swear to never touch it again.

[Cirafly24]

What sort of dose is typical?

I've just started taking a hair skin and nails sup. (runs down stairs and grabs them because she’s just had dinner and needs to take them with food) and they have a 2.5mg daily dose of biotin in them. I understand that if you take biotin by itself it will probably be more....

I would be interesting to see what does people are taking to get results :)

I take 1,000mcg (1mg) daily. I wanted to start out low, because I have acne-prone skin. I haven't had any problems in the past month and a half, so I'll probably increase to 2,000mcg daily soon.

[jera]

By itself Biotin hasn't done much for me, but in combination with other vitamins and minerals, C, D, E, iron, msm, and zinc, I've definitely noticed improvement in my hair's growth and condition.

I take 5,000 mcgs and do not have any breakouts from it but I worked my way up very slowly. ;) Oh yeah, switching to a largely organic diet has helped my hair the most. It's worth mentioing.

[sibiryachka]

I've been taking biotin daily for about 5 months; I started with 500 mcg a day, but increased to 1000 about a month ago. My hair doesn't seem to be getting longer faster, but there's a definite increase in new growth and thickness, especially at the hairline. I'm acne-prone, but haven't seen any increase in that, thank goodness. My nails have always been weak and slow-growing - in fact, they're why I started taking it - and it's just in the last few weeks that I've been able to tell that they're stronger. I think it took that long for the new and improved growth to reach the tips, where I could detect a change.
Where I saw a dramatic difference right away was in my eyebrows and, somewhat less so, my lashes. There's a powerful vanishing-eyebrow gene working in my family, and the biotin really seems to have reversed it! Even my mom and sister noticed; they're darker and thicker, enough so that I don't feel the need for eyebrow pencil anymore...and I NEVER thought that would happen. Seeing that change so quickly gave me total confidence to keep taking it, trusting that other improvements might come slowly, but they will come.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

Reading that link, i think i might have biotin deficiency :/ I have dry skin all over, very slow hair growth and fungal infection on scalp...

By the way, OMG. Now i see why my hair grows very fast when i'm sick! I take antibiotics and to decrease its negative effects on my body i also take vitamin-B complex!!

Mystery solved! :D

[alwayssmiling]

I've been taking biotin daily for about 5 months; I started with 500 mcg a day, but increased to 1000 about a month ago. My hair doesn't seem to be getting longer faster, but there's a definite increase in new growth and thickness, especially at the hairline. I'm acne-prone, but haven't seen any increase in that, thank goodness. My nails have always been weak and slow-growing - in fact, they're why I started taking it - and it's just in the last few weeks that I've been able to tell that they're stronger. I think it took that long for the new and improved growth to reach the tips, where I could detect a change.
Where I saw a dramatic difference right away was in my eyebrows and, somewhat less so, my lashes. There's a powerful vanishing-eyebrow gene working in my family, and the biotin really seems to have reversed it! Even my mom and sister noticed; they're darker and thicker, enough so that I don't feel the need for eyebrow pencil anymore...and I NEVER thought that would happen. Seeing that change so quickly gave me total confidence to keep taking it, trusting that other improvements might come slowly, but they will come.

I was just thinking today, that Biotin doesn't seem to make my hair grow any faster, but I certainly seem to be having to pluck my eyebrows more regularly. In fact almost daily. I wondered if it was just my age - but maybe its the biotin.

[DulceCandy]

I LOVE BIOTIN.
i had breakage, and my hair was falling out.
My mom is a hairdresser and reccomends it to all her clients. She actually was able to cure a sick toe nail by taking biotin.
Once I took my hair noticeably grew. My mom also showed me puffs my new hair growing in my scalp. I am not losing as much hair anymore and my baby hair is soo long.
MY nails are also the longest and strongest they have ever been.

[Demetrue]

Dry skin, hair falling out and thinning eyebrows is also a symptom of hypothyroidism (thyroid not producing enough T3/T4).

[McFearless]

Does biotin cause shedding? All of a sudden my hair is shedding a lot. Of all my vitamins I've taken Biotin for the least amount of time so I think it could possibly be that:(

[LawyerGirl]

Since I've been following the LHC threads I've seen a lot of people comment that biotin made their skin freak out. I take biotin but I have to drink extra water and be more careful with my skin routine.

[ems]

I´ve been taking it for 1 1/2 month. Cant really say it has made my hair grow any faster, but I´ve had no side effects either. Actually, I think my skin looks better on it, and I was always acne-prone when I was younger. My nails are super strong also

[ems]

I hear some people say you need to take supplements for three months or so, before it really kicks in.
Have no idea why it should be so, what are your experiences?

[Kathie]

I've been on Biotin since May-ish now... I stoped last month as a test month to see what would happen...
There wasnt any change in my growth rate but, I started shedding way more than the months I was on it. So I'm taking it again :D

[RachieBaby]

I love biotin, I actually think it helped to clear my skin, i've been on it about 2 months now, my nails are rock solid now and grow mega fast. I started off on 300 micrograms and have worked up to 1000 micrograms, i've not seen much difference in my hair yet, but im hoping that over time I will :) xx

[gotzbrainz]

Drink Loads Of Water On This Vitamin. This Will Cancel Out Acne And Headaches.

[aenflex]

Yup I went that route a few years back and my skin broke out in all these small, rash-like acne patches. I normally have very clear skin with no acne of any sort, so I knew right away that something was up. Of course I'm not a scientist or anything, so I cannot definitively prove it was the Biotin, but when I stopped taking it - viola - no more acne patches. It's too bad too, because I would love the help!

[Qwackie]

My kiddie gummy vitamins (Yeah. I take kiddie gummy vitamins) have biotin. Haven't seen much of a difference yet, but I'm waiting. Saving up for some actual biotin that is just biotin and not a bunch of other stuff.

[liagibba]

I *just* started taking Biotin yesterday, I'm excited to see what it might do for me. I've also just started using Tretinoin and Benzaclin, and I drink a lot of water, so I don't think I'll see any adverse skin reactions. We'll see!

[Theobroma]

I've been taking biotin for the last two months or so.

Haven't had any adverse effects like skin breakouts... but I've also noticed no difference at all in shedding. The stuff just seems to be doing precisely nothing for me.

I guess I'll keep taking the tablets until I run out, but it hardly seems worth the effort of buying any more. *shrugs*

[Kathie]

I've been taking biotin for the last two months or so.

Haven't had any adverse effects like skin breakouts... but I've also noticed no difference at all in shedding. The stuff just seems to be doing precisely nothing for me.

I guess I'll keep taking the tablets until I run out, but it hardly seems worth the effort of buying any more. *shrugs*

It’ll be interesting to see if you notice a difference when you stop taking them. Only when I stopped did I notice an increase in shedding. I’m back on them now and the shedding is minimal again.

[crystal_89]

I started a multivitamin for hair/skin/nails about a month ago. Its meant to be taken twice a day and each tablet contains 1.3mg (1300mcg) of biotin. I often forget to take it, so some days I take it twice a day and sometimes I take it once every two days.

I haven't experienced any bad skin reactions from it (it contains Vit C and Vit B5)

I have experienced some headaches.

I'm not sure if my hair is growing quicker or stronger but then again I don't measure it. However, my nails are growing faster and I'm cutting them more often.

[Chamomile betty]

I've taken Puritins Pride biotin for years. My nails look good when I take it regular. I also like GNC Ultra Nourishair with 1200biotin.

[tweegirl]

For some reason, biotin is really hard to find at the pharmacies in my neighbourhood. I buy it whenever I can find it, but it's sporadic so I doubt I've reached the optimal effects. Right now I'm taking folic acid and a B Complex with Vitamin C supplement. My nails grow so fast, and my hair to its full potential (.5 an inch) each month.

[McFearless]

Take it after a meal, perferably your largest one and drink loads of water! Biotin hasn't made the hair on my scalp grow unfortunately, but others have had lots of success with it.

[In2wishin]

Tried Biotin and broke out more that I ever have, especially on the neck where I never had problems. Stopped it and the breakouts stopped. Tried 1/2 every other day and broke out again! I always drink plenty of water (2 quarts minimum daily) I guess Biotin is not for me :(

[Dragon]

Got some today to try.

[Gothic Lolita]

Does coffee influence the effects of biotin? Normally I'd take one pill about 10 min after I had a coffee, but since coffee does influence some things I wonder if it is the same case with biotin.

[RachieBaby]

Ok this is probably going to sound stupid but...
I know you should take biotin with meals and drink lots of water but what time in the day do you think is best to take it? I take one with breakfast and one before I go to bed. I sorta figured this is a good routine to try as I guessed your replacing what you lose through out the day and your setting yourself up for the day?

Sorry if i sound like an idiot lol :o

[Dragon]

I take mine on an empty stomach when get up in the morning and befor going to bed.

[Theobroma]

I know you should take biotin with meals and drink lots of water but what time in the day do you think is best to take it?

With meals? Interesting -- the package insert on mine says to take it half an hour *before* the first meal of the day!

[littlenvy]

I take mine ONLY in the mornings.
Strange but it has the same effect on me as caffeine and if I take it late then I can't sleep or have a very hard time falling asleep.

[angelfell]

I have been taking Biotin for about a month now, and have noticed that my nails are growing a bit quicker, but no change in my hair yet. However, this is to be expect.. it takes an average of 2 months to start seeing results, maybe longer! So, you will have to be patient. I take Spring Valley Biotion Super Potency (5,000mcg or 5mg). I take 1 daily. I don't think I need more than that.. after all, what isn't used it simply excreted through urine, so why waste it if I don't need to? If I don't notice a different after 2 months or so, I will try doubling the dose before discontinuing. Also, I have noticed Biotin has given me more energy, so if nothing else, it's sort of a perk for the morning :). Good luck!

[angelfell]

OH, BE CAREFUL! If you get the capsules filled with powder like I take, take it with at least a drink and preferrably a meal! You probably wont have to worry about an upset stomach.. but you will have to worry about burping it up! One day I was in a hurry, and I took it without a drink or food. 30 minutes later, I was driving, and I burped up white powder! It flew out of my mouth and looked like smoke. I was horrified. On the bright side, it was tasteless, so it wasn't all bitter and whatnot.. but I will still never take it without a drink or food again.

[RachieBaby]

Thank you for all the replies :) Hmmmm I may try taking it half an hour before I eat and see what happens :) this is all interesting stuff haha :)

[urara12]

Does biotin cause shedding? All of a sudden my hair is shedding a lot. Of all my vitamins I've taken Biotin for the least amount of time so I think it could possibly be that:(

that's I am wonder too....

[Soraine]

I've just started on Biotin from Holland&Barrett. I hope it works because I was taking the skin and nails one from Greenlife. They made me nauseous but they made my hair and nails grow so fast, i had to trim my nails every week =/ I'm praying these new ones work!

[Kathie]

that's I am wonder too....
I noticed the opposite, but everyone is different :shrug:

[angelfell]

Dry skin, hair falling out and thinning eyebrows is also a symptom of hypothyroidism (thyroid not producing enough T3/T4).

Ehehe, I have thinned eyebrows, but it was a symptom of my over-plucking. Shame on me! I have noticed more eyebrow hairs growing in rapidly.. maybe this will solve my problem :).

[sfgirl]

I'm really curious about taking this. Is anyone still taking biotin around here?

[iSuperHeroic]

I love Biotin! I feel it makes my hair grow faster and my nails look better. My only downside to it, is that it makes my acne a bit worse. It isn't too bad, I don't get cystic acne or anything but it IS kind of embarrassing because not only is it on my face but my back and chest too.

I've heard taking Zinc after Biotin will help clear the acne up, but I haven't tried it.

I take 5000mcg of Biotin daily plus prenatal vitamins and I really feel my hair has changed.
It's wonderful!

[midsummernight]

HI!! I looked up a lot of information online about biotin and from what i found out is that biotin supplements are only useful if you have a biotin deficiency. Biotin deficiency is very rare since biotin is commonly present in everyday food. A 30microgram dose(typically found in a multivitamin) is more than enough for most people. Also since biotin is water soluble excess biotin that our body doesn't use just flushes out with urine.
Hope this helps.

[maborosi]

I am almost 100% certain that since I've started taking biotin, I'm seeing -something-.

I've been taking it for a few weeks now, once in the morning, and once in the evening, for a total of 1,000 mcg. My eyelashes are getting very, very long. Longer than I have ever seen them! I'll be waiting a bit longer to see if it makes a change in my hair. But my eyelashes are looong. I think my nails might also have gotten a little help from it, too, because they seem to be growing more quickly.

I have recently started taking 1,500 mcg (500 mcg 3 times a day) and I probably honestly won't go much higher than that. I have had no acne, but then again, I don't really ever get acne.

~maborosi~

[longcurlygirl<3]

Biotin helped me with shedding :) But I ran out and have since not bought any since last year :p

[chai-blue]

I've been contemplating getting a natural biotin supplement, but i'm too chicken because of some of the side effects. i know they don't happen to everyone, but i'm just a bit cautious. :oops: