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View Full Version : Does Biotin really causes acne?



hemolymph
June 15th, 2010, 11:38 PM
Oh no! I started taking a vitamin with biotin in it like 3-4 days ago and I developed 2 EXTREMELY LARGE cysts and 2 pimpls on my forehead. I have not gotten acne on my forehead in over 11 years.
It's been bothering me why/how this started then I read another poster here said Biotin gave them a huge zit.

Is it a coincidence or could that be the culprit? I am so sad!!!

little_cherry
June 15th, 2010, 11:56 PM
If you're taking too much biotin, it can in fact lead to pimples and cysts...I was taking more than the bottle suggested and ended up breaking out. Check out what foods you're eating-you're probably getting enough biotin already! ^_^

christine1989
June 16th, 2010, 12:01 AM
I take a pretty high dosage of biotin (5mg) and it dosen't cause any acne as long as I take zinc with it.

Gumball
June 16th, 2010, 12:04 AM
When I took lots of biotin (I've been out for a long time and too lazy to buy more) it didn't cause any bad reactions for me. It's water soluble and I try to drink a fair amount of water, so what's not absorbed leaves me quickly enough.

MermaidGirl
June 16th, 2010, 12:27 AM
I take a pretty high dosage of biotin (5mg) and it dosen't cause any acne as long as I take zinc with it.

Christine, how much zinc do you take to balance the biotin? :)

hemolymph
June 16th, 2010, 12:42 AM
Ok I need to try the Zinc........if that doesn't work might have to take just 1 hair,skin,nails per day instead of 3 as the bottle suggests.

vanity_acefake
June 16th, 2010, 01:26 AM
I found if i took too much biotin i broke out horribly too. I reduced my dose and increased my water uptake. My skin looks so much better now. I am on the week before my period which is when my skin is always awful and although its not perfect it is 100% better than it normally is. I hope this helps.

Toadstool
June 16th, 2010, 01:35 AM
It gave me acne so I stopped taking it.

Loreley
June 16th, 2010, 02:04 AM
I started taking a hair vitamin yesterday which contains biotin. I hope it won't cause acnes, I have them already, even without biotin... :cry:

Anje
June 16th, 2010, 07:35 AM
I broke out when I started taking it in addition to whatever was in my normal multivitamin. Haven't tried balancing it with zinc, but I already do a Ca/Mg/Zn supplement.

Asequui
June 16th, 2010, 09:37 AM
I've been taking 5000 mcg of super potency biotin with other vitamins/supplements for about a week now and haven't noticed any new spots. I would agree that drinking a lot of water is key here, even if you don't take biotin and get spots. The body is mostly comprised of water so if you don't get enough of it throughout the day, it can react badly (spots, low energy, brittle hair and nails, etc).
Another thing to try if you're prone towards spots (I occasionally get them from stress and sweat etc) is to use some tea tree oil along with some high grade colloidal silver (I say high grade because I've heard some odd things about the lesser quality stuff) after you wash your face and before you put on lotion. Also, don't over-wash (ie: strip the skin) as that can cause your skin's oil production to go into overdrive.

Hope it helps!

alwayssmiling
June 16th, 2010, 09:50 AM
I've heard this and I didn't get anything, and I'm prone to a few spots. I do however get horrible headaches and I have to give it a break for a few days. I've been taking 2000mg per day of biotin since November.

Iron0Maiden
June 16th, 2010, 09:59 AM
When I firat atarted taking it, I got acne for the first few weeks, but then it cleared up. So dont worry just keep taking it.

McFearless
June 16th, 2010, 03:18 PM
Cut down on your dosage and slooooooooooowly build up your tolerance. It hasnt happened to me but so many people have reported acne due to biotin. Increase your water intake also. Good luck

Arctic_Mama
June 16th, 2010, 03:52 PM
Too much biotin did indeed break me out, though that reaction subsided after a few weeks, my skin is more clear without it.

Pandora.
June 16th, 2010, 04:00 PM
I only took 300mg of Biotin (sometimes 600mg or 900mg) for like a week or two and I'd noticed my skin was so much worse than it usually is. I had a few pimples, but my skin is usually really clear :/ I decided to take Biotin a few days ago (don't ask why) and a few came back again. Eurgh I hate the stuff.

christine1989
June 16th, 2010, 06:04 PM
@ MermaidGirl: I take 50mg of zinc for 5mg of biotin and that keeps me acne free. :)

MermaidGirl
June 16th, 2010, 07:32 PM
@ MermaidGirl: I take 50mg of zinc for 5mg of biotin and that keeps me acne free. :)

Thanks, Christine, good info to have!

IcarusBride
June 16th, 2010, 11:28 PM
Biotin does not cause acne for me. I started with a very small amount and am working up slowly. First, I took 1mg/day for 2 months, then 2mg/day for 2 months, and soon I will increase again to 3mg/day, which I'm pretty sure is where I'll stay.

JBO
June 17th, 2010, 08:08 PM
I got terrible acne when I was taking biotin

ravenreed
June 17th, 2010, 09:03 PM
I just started biotin about a month ago and I have a horrible acne flare up going on. I already drink almost a gallon of water a day, so upping my fluid intake is not an option. I hope the acne settles down soon!

schiele
June 23rd, 2010, 11:19 PM
Biotin makes me break out, but only for a short period of time.

When I originally started taking 1000mcg of biotin daily at the beginning of the year I broke out for about a week, but nothing too bad. I upped that to 3000mcg a day when I started birth control in April, because I read that the pill can cause hair to thin, and I had pretty bad acne for about two weeks (thought that also could have been caused by hormonal imbalances). It cleared up eventually, but last week I started taking 5000mcg of biotin and a day or two later I woke up with 7 zits.

I'm young so I'm prone to having bad skin, but biotin only makes it worse.... However, my skin always clears up a week or two later, and I think a few pimples is worth the increase in growth I get. :D

MonaMayfair
June 24th, 2010, 05:42 AM
It's never given me spots, but I do also take zinc. I didn't know you were supposed to take zinc to balance the biotin though!

StephanieB
June 24th, 2010, 07:02 AM
I take what's considered a reasonably high dose - 10 mg per day (in the form of two 5-mg caspules taken together at the same time), along with my other suppelements:
relatively high doses of MSM and glucosamine chondroitin
resveratrol
CoQ10
a well-known brand of once-daily vitamin/mineral supplement that's repackaged by a different well-known brand
Ultimate Flora vag support capsule


Please remember that I have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehlers-Danlos_syndrome) --- includig the hyper-elasticity of skin, and the hypermobillity of joints, and the slooooow-to-heal skin issues. My hair and nails and skin grow extremely slowly, as a result - and are poor/weak, as compared to the hair and nails and askin of healthy persons.

It seems that APL is about as long as my hair is ever going to get. It's been APL for a couple of years, now - and I've only trimmed it once (about 1/2 inch - 3/4 inch) an dusted it (1/4 inch) once in all that time. I suppose that APL might be terminal for me, given my illness.


I have extremely sensitive skin (because of EDS) and I break out very easily -- but I haven't had any problems with that lately, and certainly not since I've started taking Biotin. Now, there is zinc in my multi-vitamin/mineral...

jivete
June 24th, 2010, 07:42 AM
At 5mg I got acne. At 4mg, I'm okay.

Gothic Lolita
September 5th, 2010, 09:29 AM
To slow down my extreme shedding I started taking 5 mg daily gain, about a month ago. Now I have a pretty bad break-out, but I'm not entirey sure it's related to the biotin!
Now I want to stop taking it daily, but does anybody know how long biotin is stored in the body? I'm pretty sure that too-much will be flushed out since it is water-soluble, but is there a way to build a depot so that I won't have to take it daily? It does help, otherwise I'd just stop taking it.

Demetrue
September 5th, 2010, 10:27 AM
Every single time I have tried Biotin (including trying to start slowly and build up, drink tons of water, etc) I broke up in horrible painful cysts all over my face, which ended up with dark scars all over my cheeks and chin. I am in my 40's and have not had any acne in years until taking Biotin supplements. My skin's reaction to the Biotin was SO not worth it. It did not clear up while taking it, just got worse and worse, so no Biotin for me!

Carolyn
September 5th, 2010, 10:37 AM
I've been taking 5mgs for several years. I don't recall an acne breakout when I started it. I've read that some supplements can cause a detox effect and one is biotin. If your body is detoxing something out it will take a while to get rid of the toxic stuff and calm down. So don't be too quick to say it doesn't work. It may be working as it's supposed to and you need time to adjust. We all know everyone's body make up is different and you never know if it will happen to you until you try it. I've recently had a couple of bad acne spots but I'm not blaming it on anything but recent stress.

Schefflera
September 5th, 2010, 10:41 AM
As a couple of people mentioned, you could try building up your dose -- I understand a number of people have found letting themselves get used to it to help with both the skin issues and headaches.

chelseamichelle
September 5th, 2010, 09:53 PM
I've been taking Biotin for 4 days, and I now have some very bad acne. I'm going to continue taking it in the hopes that it will pass..

Gothic Lolita
September 6th, 2010, 09:10 AM
Today is the second day without Biotin. My skin still looks bad, but I never had flawless skin, so I'm not sure if the biotin really is to blame. But if it is. I don't want to decide between fuller hair and bad skin or bad shedding and still-not-clear-but-better skin :(

Purdy Bear
September 21st, 2010, 02:25 AM
Im not taking Biotin tablets but I am eating swiss chard, spinach and bananas ever day. Iv noticed a break out of spots on my chin. Iv never really had a spotty skin as its so very dry, I didnt even have them in my teens.

I cut out the chard and the spinach and my skin got better, introduced it again and I got spotty again.

The spots arent like normal ones either, they are more like multiheaded huge things, so sadly Im going to have to reduced the chard and spinach, hopefully the bananas will give me all I need.