Biotin

[yellowflower]

Has anyone tried this and does it work?

[TwilightBloom]

I have been taking Biotin for about 6 months, and I have seen so much improvement, my hair is stronger, and it is growing faster, also i have less shedding which is what i started taking it for, suggested by a stylist, I even have new growth on the places where it had stopped, i was losing my hair line on the sides, and now i have hair growing there.. If i take anything it is the biotin, i do not miss a pill ever. I love it, along with the advice of everyone here on this board, i am back to loving my hair, and it is healthier than it has ever been.. Hope this helps.

[yellowflower]

That's really good, glad to hear it is working.

I just started taking it today as I want my hair to grow faster due to growing out dye.

What strength tablets do you take and how often? I have 1000ug tablets says to take twice a day, I have read people taking it 3 times a day though. What do you do?

[MandaMom2Three]

I just started taking this, I'm hoping to see results :D

[chrissy-b]

I've tried biotin several times in the last three years but each time it makes me break out so badly that I do not know if it would've helped my hair grow or not.

Here are just a few links to other threads about biotin.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=58449&highlight=Biotin
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=47879&highlight=Biotin
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=31246&highlight=Biotin
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=50061&highlight=Biotin

[TwilightBloom]

Mine are 1000mcg, and i take 3-4 a day..usually 3. I have never had it cause me to break out, but others have, so you might wanna keep a watch on that, but other wise, i love it..

[yellowflower]

Yes I have heard that, Im a little worried about that as i suffered with bad skin as a teenager so I am hoping it does not have that effect.

[Fingolphin]

I use it as well. It has definitely made my hair grow faster and become stronger. There are some annoying (to me) accompaniments. It makes my finger and toenails grow faster (but stronger too), and on rare occasion I get some kind of "zit" or something on my scalp. But for the most part, the pros outweigh the cons.

[greyTraveler]

Yes I have heard that, Im a little worried about that as i suffered with bad skin as a teenager so I am hoping it does not have that effect.
I've had some horrible adult acne in the not to distant past; I'm now taking 2000mcg of Biotin a day w/o problems -- my guess is that the way biotin causes acne is different than the way my body did it in the past; hopefully the same will be true with you.

[ScarlettAdelle]

I swore by it when I used it.. I used to take about 3g a day, and it worked quite well. It does, however, take a while to start working, it took me a good 2 months to really notice results.

[Night_Kitten]

I've been taking biotin for 2 months now, started with 500mcg, and about a week ago switched to 1000mcg (I take one tablet a day).
It's too early to tell wether my hair grows faster, but I deffinitely noticed less shedding :D

[gypsymoon]

I take it everyday and I have also seen quite a difference in my hair as well as my nails. My nails use to be very brittle and would break and peel but since starting on the Biotin have not had that issue anymore and my hair is growing. Haven't had any issues with breaking out though.

[cataphract]

I started taking 1000mg/day recently. Didn't realize it was such a relatively low dose, lol! I haven't really noticed a whole lot of difference yet on my head hair, but (TMI Warning) my pit hair grows like weeds now :/

[greyTraveler]

I swore by it when I used it.. I used to take about 3g a day, and it worked quite well. It does, however, take a while to start working, it took me a good 2 months to really notice results.

Are you sure that was 3g, and not 3mg?

Just to be completely clear: 1000mcg is 1mg. It's easy to miss the difference, and the "extremely high (but safe)" dose I found in the literature was 300mG (300000mcg).

I'm asking simply because I've seen the same question come up in other biotin threads. From what I can tell nobody thinks that 3g would be a problem. I'm just checking to be sure.

[cataphract]

Are you sure that was 3g, and not 3mg?

Just to be completely clear: 1000mcg is 1mg. It's easy to miss the difference, and the "extremely high (but safe)" dose I found in the literature was 300mG (300000mcg).

I'm asking simply because I've seen the same question come up in other biotin threads. From what I can tell nobody thinks that 3g would be a problem. I'm just checking to be sure.

Ha! You're totally right. I'm taking 1000 mCg...

[yellowflower]

When did people notice they were breaking out? As I started two days ago and on the day I started taking it I got a wierd spot and just found another on my chin, is this just a coincidence? I didnt think it would start the day you start taking the pills?

How long was it before other started noticing?

[Fingolphin]

When did people notice they were breaking out? As I started two days ago and on the day I started taking it I got a wierd spot and just found another on my chin, is this just a coincidence? I didnt think it would start the day you start taking the pills?

How long was it before other started noticing?

I suppose I noticed it after a few months of taking it. But it wasn't on my face; every now and then (but still rare) I would get these weird "zit"-like spots on my scalp.

[skyblue]

I've been taking it every day for almost a year, just the one pill though a day 1000mcg, my hair still grows slowly and I haven't noticed any new growth but my hair looks healthier, my ends don't dry out like they use to, how much can you safely use everyday??
I thought that the one pill was the daily percentage that was needed.....confused help ;)

[lyria]

I had perfect skin as a teenager and biotin made me break out. Even after I stopped using it, there was a long recovery period. Use with caution.

[christine1989]

I take high potentcy biotin and I think it really helps reduce shedding and makes my nails stronger. I haven't noticed any increase in growth rate but less shedding is incentive enough to make me take it :). I know a lot of people report that it causes acne (it caused a few little bumps for me) but taking zinc with it cleared everything up.

[ancilla]

I was originally on 5,000 mcg but it broke me out, so someone here suggested that I start at a lower dosage and slowly work my way up. I bought some 1000 mcg and have had no problems!

[Raekwon]

Biotin, Folic Acid, and Inositol (My friend takes two 5,000 mcg Biotin pills per day for maximal results... 1 pill in the morning, 1 pill before going to bed. Excess Biotin gets peed out anyway)

oh and these are pics of his hair, he's been having 10,000 mcg of Biotin per day for a year now:


http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/1606/dscn0997n.jpg
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/294/dscn0987g.jpg




[He told me Biotin made his hair thick.]




^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[little_cherry]

Please don't take over the recommended dose...Any supplement in huge doses is very harmful to our livers and kidneys.

[Raekwon]

. . . The "recommended dose" of Biotin is 35 mcg per day, but that doesn't do anything for hair growth.

and you cannot overdose on Biotin, if you take more than your body can absorb then you urinate it out since it is water soluble.

[christine1989]

Please don't take over the recommended dose...Any supplement in huge doses is very harmful to our livers and kidneys.

With biotin it wouldn't matter if you took the whole bottle. Water soluble vitamins don't stress organs even in large doses. Suppliments that are fat soluble can be dangerous and cause organ failure though.

[little_cherry]

If we excrete out the excess, doesn't that say that we're basically wasting money on taking excess supplements? The body will only store a small amount. Think about it. The liver is actually working harder to process the excess biotin so that it can be eliminated from the body. Also, it may be difficult to OD on WS vitamins, but it's not impossible. Anything in excess is harmful. :shrug:

[ScarlettAdelle]

Are you sure that was 3g, and not 3mg?

Just to be completely clear: 1000mcg is 1mg. It's easy to miss the difference, and the "extremely high (but safe)" dose I found in the literature was 300mG (300000mcg).

I'm asking simply because I've seen the same question come up in other biotin threads. From what I can tell nobody thinks that 3g would be a problem. I'm just checking to be sure.

oh! I didn't realize the "m" didn't transfer! I was typing on my phone XD yes, I was taking 3 MG a day.

[nereida]

HI there!

I've been taking biotin for 2 weeks right now, dose 5mg. Finally my hair stopped falling out! I love it, I am in a half of the packaging and I would like to continue my "biotin journey" as long as I can. I want my hair which I lost to regrowth fast to my bra length soooooo madly.

[Vercelli]

I have been taking a German product for approx. 2 years (right now only 2-3 times a week, when I started I took one caplet every day) and I can see major changes with regard to my hair! Another effect it has in my case is that my fingernails grow faster and don't break that easily anymore. But as I don't know anything about probable side effects (if there are any) I'm not sure yet if I should take a Biotin product "all my life"/for a very long time. On the other hand I'm afraid of not taking Biotin anymore at all because it might make my hair worse.

[skyblue]

I found this article this morning...
http://www.vitaminstuff.com/vitamin-biotin.html

[ChatNoir]

I have been taking a supplement containing biotin for the last couple of months but had to stop for about three weeks because I went away and forgot it at home. I experienced less shedding and a LOT of new growth. I did break out slightly though, so the zink tip will be checked out :D

[fairy_ends_girl]

I've been taking a wonderful hair supplement that has 1200 mg of Biotin in it as well as (sulfer) MSM and other stuff in it. I have noticed and incredible change in my hair. No more shedding and my hair actually had a growth spurt. I've been on it for 2 1/2 weeks now. I am also taking extra B and Iron vitamins. Oh and I am coconut oiling hair every night too. :)

[sedonia]

Please don't take over the recommended dose...Any supplement in huge doses is very harmful to our livers and kidneys.

Little Cherry, the USDA RDA's are useful, but are not gospel truths. They are usually based on minimum amounts under which people start to show vitamin deficiencies.

I recently spent some time on PubMed looking at biotin research. There are peer-reviewed studies in medical journals documenting a number of favorable results from large doses of biotin (e.g. reduction in insulin resistance in type II diabetics), and a fairly large literature from which no adverse or dangerous effects from large doses are emerging.

[greyTraveler]

Little Cherry, the USDA RDA's are useful, but are not gospel truths. They are usually based on minimum amounts under which people start to show vitamin deficiencies.

I recently spent some time on PubMed looking at biotin research. There are peer-reviewed studies in medical journals documenting a number of favorable results from large doses of biotin (e.g. reduction in insulin resistance in type II diabetics), and a fairly large literature from which no adverse or dangerous effects from large doses are emerging.

I concur that too much can be a bad thing -- and as a result I generally check medical literature before I take any supplements (or even prescribed medicines for that matter). For biotin there are documented cases of people taking 100's of mg (not mcg) of biotin w/o harmful effects. I'm guessing that biotin might not need to be broken down by the liver before the kidneys can excrete it, or perhaps even though we are talking about large numbers compared to the RDA, it is still small amounts compared to what our livers can handle.

On the flip side, the fact that people can get acne w/ doses in this range does indicate that it isn't completely benign, and it is possible acne is not the only possible ill effect. It probably makes sense to continue to check the literature periodically for anything we take in unusual quantities.

[MandaMom2Three]

Well so much for biotin :(. Count me among the "biotin gives me headaches" crowd :(. And yes, I was drinking plenty of water too :(.

[greyTraveler]

I found this article this morning...
http://www.vitaminstuff.com/vitamin-biotin.html

And from the first line of the article:

Biotin works with other B vitamins to make healthy cells and convert carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into energy. Biotin also promotes healthy hair, skin, sweat glands, nerve tissue, bone marrow, and male sex glands. (emphasis added)

Depending on how the last is achieved, this could explain the acne. It is also possible that it explains headaches -- some migraines are caused by hormone imbalances.

[Amy87]

I used to take biotin with awesome growth results. However, the fact that it makes ALL your hair grow faster drove me to stop taking it. Shaving legs is a pain in the butt and I don't want to do it every single day.

[sedonia]

Did anyone get longer or thicker eyelashes on biotin?

[MissManda]

I was taking biotin for a couple of months but I had to stop due to financial reasons. Hopefully once things settle down I'll be able to start taking it again because it reduced my shed rate and gave me some new growth as well as even longer and thicker eyelashes. I don't know if it affected my growth rate, but I don't think I was taking it long enough for me to tell.

I've also noticed that some of my hairs are growing in with a more coarse texture. I've noticed that some of my shed hairs look normal until you look at the root where about .25-1.5" is coarser and has strange bendiness/waviness. It happened around the time I started taking biotin, but I don't know if this is my body/hormones or if it's the supplement. :shrug:

[pretty wings]

I have been taking GNCs Hair, Skin & Nails which has 3000 mcg of Biotin since last November. I seem to be getting hairier and need to shave more often so I'm assuming the same is happening with the hair on my head too. I guess I got lucky because I haven't broken out but I have been getting headaches here and there. Nothing terrible though.