Biotin: Success and Acne

[ladylowtide]

I have been on Biotin for three weeks now and my hair has grown slightly more than an inch!
My normal growth is .5 inches a month.
So do grow over an inch in 3 weeks is a great improvement.
:happydance:
Unfortunately I also am breaking out like crazy. I have to wash my face like three times a day, and it is still bad. Has anyone else who has taken biotin noticed if it calms down after a while? Because I don't want to stop taking it because this is the fastest my hair has every grown.

Update:
The break outs have stopped! After almost 5 weeks they have completely vanished!
:happydance:

[Mrsbaybeegurl]

I have basically stopped taking it because of both severely brittle nails and breakouts. I broke out like crazy on the face when I took it in a pill but had some success in emptying the capsule into a blender in my daily smoothie. This worked really well, except I did notice my nails were peeling like crazy and I had a few body pimples, nothing on my face though. I just added a pill to my smoothie 3 days ago and bam another body pimple (I don't have any body acne at all so it's def from the biotin) and my nails that became thicker and strong since using MSM have now gone paper thin again I have peeled 6 out of 10 already like crazy. I know it helps people with nails hair and skin usually, but the only thing it helped on me was my hair and it wasn't worth it.

You can try putting it in a smoothie, it's not noticeable taste wise and it did help with facial acne, perhaps that will do the trick for you too. Hopefully you won't have the other reactions I did.

Also I heard taking it with other B vitamins helps some people as well but I don't have much experience with trying that out.

EDIT: Oh, and CONGRATS on the growth, that's impressive!! :)

[ladylowtide]

Thank you. Taking it has caused my nails to grow like crazy too. I have to cut them every 5 days or so. It is a good I idea about maybe putting it in a smoothy, accept that I bought these tablets of it so I will have to think about how I would do it. How long did you take it.
I was sort of hoping there was an adjustment period where it might calm down a bit...
I also felt I should add that I usually only get two - three blemishes a month.
And that I am taking 5,000 mcg a day of the biotin.

[DarkSky]

For me I had to stop because of breakouts. It did nothing for hair growth but made my nails stronger.

[Avital88]

oh wow, i didnt had any acne for over a month and i was so happy, 3days ago i started biotin and got a pimple on my forehead now and a small one on my cheek.. bleh,im not gonna take it anymore,i rather have clear skin than extra growth

[ladylowtide]

It seems like a lot of people have trouble with this. Maybe I will just soldier on, for a month or two and see if dies down. If so I will definitely let you guys know! :)

[Silverbrumby]

It seems like a lot of people have trouble with this. Maybe I will just soldier on, for a month or two and see if dies down. If so I will definitely let you guys know! :)

I did get some to start with but I'm not sure if it was going to happen anyway. Been on 5000mg for over a year now and it feels fine. Nails are growing for the first time in my life. Hair doesn't feel all that different to tell you the truth but I keep taking it because I believe that it takes a good 2 years for the real results in thickness and texture to be fully appreciated. :)

[Honeyfall]

It seems like a lot of people have trouble with this. Maybe I will just soldier on, for a month or two and see if dies down. If so I will definitely let you guys know! :)

Yes, please let us know how it goes for you. When I tried it I got the worst acne of my life, but my hair did grow very fast and my shedding went way down. If the skin does eventually adjust then it may be worth it for the extra growth...

[Mrs.Witherup]

Man I just started it last night, and I'd better not get worse acne! Also I have a headache today, which is rare for me, but I am trying to cut back on caffeine, so that's probably the culprit there....

[Amber_Maiden]

I stopped taking biotin because of how bad it made my skin, and same with msm. I used biotin for 8 months and the acne never stopped. Wasn't worth it for me.

[BeccaAngel]

I only take about 1300 mcg for me and it has been helping my growth and health of my hair a lot, and helping my nails grow a bit faster. I did notice a little more breakout than usual but unless it gets worse over time. I plan to continue taking it for a while longer. :)

oh yea and its also been helping me out with my energy, I usually have trouble with feeling tired through out the day. I find there are more benefits than negative reactions to this vitamin. So let the good out way the bad? :P

[Honeyfall]

I stopped taking biotin because of how bad it made my skin, and same with msm. I used biotin for 8 months and the acne never stopped. Wasn't worth it for me.


Sadness! Well that's good to know, at least. :cry:

[Covet]

I only got an increase in breakouts for the first week or so and then it toned down, but I know someone who had acne for about a month before it stopped. Maybe try it for a week or two more and then decided whether or not to ditch it?

[MaryMarx]

I took biotin for 2 months, then I just couldn't stand the acne anymore, it made me feel so bad.
It also took a while for it to clear up. Not worth it in my opinion. :(

[ladylowtide]

So many great and informative replies :), I am sorry to those of you that had such trouble with it. I have decided I will try it until the end of May and if I have no improvement in my skin I will ditch it.
Normally I would ditch it sooner, but I am addicted to the fast hair growth, and I love the energy this supplement gives me, normally I'm tired most of the time, so this had been an improvement.
And with all this extra energy, I'll be able to wash my face like 5 times a day.. :p

[aldasbeke]

I took biotin for a few weeks last year, and I also broke out really badly to the point where I had to stop taking it. I didn't even take it consistently and I still broke out. I didn't notice any big hair improvements either, so it wasn't worth it for me. I briefly thought about mixing biotin in with my shampoo, but I'm not sure if it works that way or not...

In the near future, I may try pre-natal vitamins, as I know some people have had success with those and I don't think they cause acne like biotin does.

[ByGrace90]

I have been taking biotin for a few months. No break outs here, I made sure of that. I drink a ton of water everyday and I take a multi-vitamin with it. I hear if you combine biotin with zinc, it will help with breakouts.

[TiffanieJean]

I have the same problem. I gave up on Biotin...

[CharleaMurphy]

I started taking it about 4 days ago but I can't yet reach a verdict on whether it has affected my skin as I already had a couple of pimples.
My skin is usually pretty clear with the occasional small breakout.

[Kelikea]

I used biotin until my one bottle was empty. It did nothing for my hair or nail growth. Can't say much for my skin because it was already breaking out and I ended up on RX meds.

[CharleaMurphy]

I'm only taking 1000mcg per day so mine maybe won't have as much of an effect but I may up the dosage next time I buy it.

[GoldberryHair]

I love Biotin, if you find it works well for you and you don't want to give up on it, you could consider going to your doctor and getting a medication to control your acne. I'm on Doxycylne (pre-Biotin, I have very bad acne in my genes) and it has literally, as cheesy as it sounds, changed my life. ALSO, as much as you might not want to, STOP washing your face so much, two times a day MAX. When you wash your face so much you're stripping your body of it's natural oils and it's starts kicking into high gear to max up for the loss and that causes even more oil. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. I hope this helped, good luck! :)

[KwaveT]

I had no trouble with 1000 mcg. I got breakouts for about three weeks when I increased to 2500 mcg. I went to 3500 mcg and my breakouts lasted even less time than that. I am guessing that some people will adjust if you stick with it. Others may never adjust. You are not going to know which you are until you find out.

[iSuperHeroic]

It made my hair grow a bit faster, but I, too, stopped taking it because it made my already bad acne worse.

[iSuperHeroic]

I love Biotin, if you find it works well for you and you don't want to give up on it, you could consider going to your doctor and getting a medication to control your acne. I'm on Doxycylne (pre-Biotin, I have very bad acne in my genes) and it has literally, as cheesy as it sounds, changed my life. ALSO, as much as you might not want to, STOP washing your face so much, two times a day MAX. When you wash your face so much you're stripping your body of it's natural oils and it's starts kicking into high gear to max up for the loss and that causes even more oil. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. I hope this helped, good luck! :)


I'm also on Doxycyline, I just started it last month.

How has it been working for you? I have issues with acne on my back and chest area and it's cleared up a little, but not a whole lot.

Does the nausea from taking it eventually wear off?

P.S. Sorry for bombarding you.

[GoldberryHair]

I'm also on Doxycyline, I just started it last month.

How has it been working for you? I have issues with acne on my back and chest area and it's cleared up a little, but not a whole lot.

Does the nausea from taking it eventually wear off?

P.S. Sorry for bombarding you.
Lol yeah I helped my back a lot! Are you eating when you take? When I would take it on an empty stomach I got nauseaus but if I eat I'm good.

[lolot]

i had to stop taking it because of that, i couldnt get rid of acne, but now im taking a multivit that has biotin just less for the last month and my hair grew an inch !! im so happy :D

[PurplePenguin]

I've been on biotin for a couple of months now, at first I had a little bit of acne but now its not any worse than what I would normally get. My nails are growing longer than ever and are becoming very strong...my toenails on the other hand don't seem to be affected by the biotin :shrug: I don't know why though. I think my hair is growing but I don't measure so I'm not sure. I just started taking MSM for my joints and found out the other night it can help hair growth too so we'll see how that goes.

[Mrs.Witherup]

So I've been doing the boitin for over a week now, I started out with 5000 mcg, but I've moved down because I keep getting headaches! Which is kind of unusual for me, I don't get them that often. I've also been very tired and had body aches :shrug: Not sure if it's the biotin, but that's the only thing that has been added to my routine lately....
Anyone else get headaches from it? Did they eventually go away??

[MoonlightShadow]

I heard that some people drink more water to ease the break outs... I'm not sure how it worked for them.

[Carissamarie08]

I've never noticed acne when on biotin, I guess I am one of the few lucky ones.

[ladylowtide]

UPDATE!!

The break outs have finally stopped! I was ready to throw in the towel, but I waited it out and my skin is back to normal!

So those of you who quit because of break outs. I have been taking 5,000 mcg of biotin everyday once a day, I had bad acne for several weeks, but it did eventually stop!

[millyaulait]

The possibility of breakouts is what's keeping me from trying Biotin. :(

I am just so scared off by it! I think I'm acne-prone at the best of times..

I'm trying out other vitamins & supplements.. So tempted to try Biotinnnnnnn. Sigh.

[spookyghost]

Wow-I had no idea that biotin can cause break outs. I thought it was suppose to improve the skin along with the hair and nails. Im still going to try it. I am at leas lucky that I have never had an acne problem to begin with so maybe if I do break out it wont be too bad:)

[filthygorgeous]

wow i'm really happy that i didn't break out with biotin...maybe i really needed it or something!

[maborosi]

I take 1,000 mcg of biotin daily and have not had any issues with acne. It really helps my nails grow much stronger, too! Not sure about its effects on hair, though ^^

~maborosi~

[HuggyBear]

I take a multi that has 150 mcg of Biotin and am tempted to up my dosage but I'm not going to chance a breakout. I have struggled for years to get my skin clear. With the help of MSM and changing my diet by eliminating cow milk and reducing my intake of refined sugar, I have succeeded in getting rid of 95% of my acne. Not gonna chance it even though it's tempting to do so. :)

[Five of Five]

I think the acne side effect may have something to do with the fact that mega doses of one B-vitamin will make it more difficult to absorb other B vitamins.

Megadosing on Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) is said to be effective for treating acne in up to 90% of people, as it helps with fat metabolism and thus stops so much oil being deposited in the skin - but can have a side effect of hair shedding. That makes me think that it causes a deficiency in vitamin B4 (biotin), while excessive biotin causes a deficiency in B5.

[natural80]

I have been taking biotin for about 2 weeks. I haven't had any major breakouts on my face. I have some breakouts on my chest and back, but I already had those. I take 5000 mcg and a multivitamin. I also drink 8 glasses of water a day. I haven't noticed any growth since I just chopped all my hair off. I'm not going to look for growth until two months of taking it. Many people claim that you have to take it at least two months before seeing results.

[Xxanderia]

Hay I'm so happy I found this post! I started taking 5000mcg about a week ago and already breaking out like mad. Its to the point where its cystic even. I haven't had acne this bad in years! I would try sticking it out to see how it goes, but my problem is that I'm about to start aesthetic training, and I cant work on other people's skin if mine looks horrible! Such a dilemma.
So because I need my face to clear, but still have two full bottles of the 5000mcg and really don't want to waste it, do you guys think maybe taking the one pill once a week would help? Or would it mess everything up further ... catch-22 I suppose.

[Silverbrumby]

Never had a problem with biotin but did get one or two spots for the first few months.

[velvetvenus]

I tried biotin a couple of months ago and had the most horrendous acne breakout I have ever had in my life. Came off it, skin cleared. Will never touch it again!!

[Sophiatrist]

After some major surgery I had telogen effluvium (really, really bad shedding) and went to a hair restoration place for a consultation. Regarding biotin, their recommendation was to start with 5000 mcg and see how my body reacted. If, after a week or two, I had problems cut my dose in half. I was lucky, no problems at all as far as acne or headaches were concerned. Because of the surgery and resulting shedding problems I am probably not a good example of how well biotin actually works (though I am REALLY happy with my results) but I thought I'd share the recommendation I got from the hair place.

[lmfbs]

I took biotin for a while but after learning more about it and other water soluble vitamins and the risk of taking them, I stopped. Sometimes I think the things we're willing to do for our hair is absolutely crazy. I would highly recommend you at the very least look into the risks involved. Biotin is something your body makes naturally. It's very very rare to be deficient in it, and if you are, you'll know.

Please don't risk your health for your hair. That's silly.

[Zebradora]

So glad I found this post. I have relatively clear skin, just get a hormonal breakout but since I started taking biotin (5000) my skin has gone crazy! I haven't noticed anything in my nails but my hair has already grown 1/2 inch in a couple of weeks! I don't know if it's the biotin or my natural growth rate, I bleached my hair a lot for the last few years and this is the first time I've had semi-virgin hair.. It would just break off before. ANYWAY, I'm planning on sticking with it, as long as I can. I really want to grow out my hair and it might be helping? Its good it cleared up after a few weeks for you though. Crossing my fingers!

[Silverbrumby]

No fast growth in my hair but I now have the longest, strongest fingernails in my life. Biotin is the reason without a doubt. It's been 12 months now on the supplement. I still don't know if the nail result will translate to the hair as the hair at the bottom is not yet the biotin hair. I probably have about 6 to 8 inches of that. If my hair has changed like my nails then I'm looking forward to the strongest and possibly most resistant hair yet aka the cuticle on the hair shaft being flatter and tighter to the hair. Just like my nails no longer peel.

We'll see as I'm here for the long hall and will stay on it for the next year. By then I'll definitely know if the quality of the hair I'm growing has improved.

[Loviatar]

I have to echo lmfbs's post above and link you to this explanation.

http://igorsbelltower.blogspot.co.uk/p/infamous-biotin-rant.html

Those of you taking 5000mcg a day, you are taking 22 times the daily recommended dose of biotin. Please don't risk your health. :flower:

[Tristania]

Biotin hasn't aggravated my acne so far, and I've been taking it for a couple of month now. In fact, I think my skin looks better than ever.

[Kirzja]

I have been taking biotin for hair growth for only 17 days now, and it has actually cleared my skin from the acne I have been struggling with since forever! My skin has never looked and felt this good.

I started seeing a skin therapist about 5 months ago to finally solve my eternal acne problem, who sold me a number of (expensive) products for home use and several professional chemical peelings with salicylic acid for deep cleansing.
When comparing before & after photos she took of my skin, 5 months and 4 chemical peelings -and several hundreds euros- later, no visible improvement at all. :( She agreed there was no difference.

However, my skin has recently improved a lot. When I came in last Friday, my skin therapist said she could see my acne was practically gone!
The only thing I changed in the meantime is a 5000 mcg biotin capsule a day. (coincidence??)

I am so surprised to see this skin improvement, after reading people's experiences with breakouts from biotin.
It is too soon to tell whether biotin has any effect on my hair growth, but the skin improvement alone is enough for me to keep taking it. Love it!:cheese:

[rock007junkie]

From what I've read in other blogs the secret to keeping acne at bay when you are on Biotin is drinking a lot of water throughout the day. Many of the people that had suffered breakouts reported that as soon as they upped their water intake the problem was gone...which makes sense. If you are taking a huge amount of a vitamin and not enough liquids it is bound to have some sort of effect on your body.

[ghost]

I started taking biotin a couple weeks ago, and developed exactly one blemish -not even really a zit, it feels more like a bump under the skin. It's annoying, but easy to cover with makeup.
If more crop up, I'll probably stop taking it. My hair will grow either way, but I don't want to sacrifice my good skin :c

[maborosi]

I take biotin, 1000 mcg daily. That seems to be a good limit for me. I don't really get acne from it, and it's made my nails and lashes/brows grow beautifully, so it's a keeper for me. :)

~maborosi~

[Coolcombination]

Has anyone experienced weight loss through taking biotin, I think it has sped up my metabolism.