Biotin help!

[ohrinaaa]

I'm sorry, I am new to this forum and I had a hard time trying to see if they had a Biotin forum. But I need help with Biotin. I bought Biotin pills they are 1000mcg. No matter how many I take I would go to the bathroom and my pee would be a neon yellow color. Does this mean my body is not taking in the biotin? Has anyone else had this problem?:rolleyes:

[lechatn0ir]

This happens to me too and i think it is normal. I think your body just took out the excess biotin that you don't need. I wouldn't worry about it.

[heyshortyhey]

I had the same problem once. I was told exactly what lechatn0ir said. Your body puts out the excess biotin you don't need. You're probably taking it for your hair, but watch out cause it will make your nails grow like crazy! I started taking fiber pills with biotin in them about 2 weeks ago, and when I took my nailpolish off i was surprised! My nails never grow that long that fast. haha.

[banglaminerva]

LOL! Well, you all answered a question that had me wondering quite a bit for the last two days, but I didn't think of the biotin piece. Thanks!

[lmfbs]

No matter how many you take? You're taking more than 1 1000mg pill? That's verging on dangerous.

I recommend you read this.
http://igorsbelltower.blogspot.co.nz/p/infamous-biotin-rant.html

[prettykitty]

I'm pretty sure 1,000mcg is a heckuva lot of Biotin. I take 300mcg a day. :/

[Sophiatrist]

I take 5000 mcg a day, which would be equivalent to 5 mg, I think that is a pretty common dosage for people taking it for hair growth. It seems like it is helping the hair on my head, I know for sure that my fingernails are growing much faster and are less prone to breakage. Also, instead of shaving my legs every three days it is now every other day.

According to an article on the Mayo Clinics web site there is no known upper limit for a safe dose and they have observed people taking 10,000 mcg/day with no ill effects.

[hellucy]

I take 2000mg a day but have in the past taken 5000mg - for me this amount caused spots so I lowered my dosage again.


According to an article on the Mayo Clinics web site there is no known upper limit for a safe dose and they have observed people taking 10,000 mcg/day with no ill effects.

I have read a clinical trial which was testing biotin (can't remember what for but I remember it sucessfully proved whatever it was) were the people involved were taking upto 25,000mg a day most without problems, major hair growth was a reported side effect - unfortunately so was acne but that clears up once the dosage is dropped

[Pandora.]

I actually only take 300mg, if I go much higher than about 500mg I start to experience some really bad side effects.

[Humbug454]

Overdosing / megadosing on Biotin with the assumption "you just pee the excess out" is very dangerous.

Biotin can cause damage to your kidneys and liver if taking it for long enough.

Thinking that the more you take the greater increase in growth you get is totally wrong, it's not even proven to increase hair growth. I certainly didn't see any benefits from it and after reading about how dangerous it can actually be I decided to stop taking!!

[lmfbs]

Let's think about this logically for a second.


No matter how many I take I would go to the bathroom and my pee would be a neon yellow color. Does this mean my body is not taking in the biotin?

If you're peeing it out, your body isn't absorbing it. Biotin is a water soluable vitamin. When your body has enough, it secretes the rest. You're peeing out all of that extra biotin that your body doesn't need because YOUR BODY DOESN'T NEED IT. Just because you pee it out doesn't mean that your body isn't processing it or that it's not potentially harmful.


According to an article on the Mayo Clinics web site there is no known upper limit for a safe dose and they have observed people taking 10,000 mcg/day with no ill effects.

There's no known upper limit - that doesn't mean that there isn't one, just that studies haven't been done.

The quote below is also from the Mayo Clinic:


Because lack of biotin is rare, there is no RDA or RNI for it. Normal daily recommended intakes for biotin are generally defined as follows:

Infants and children—
Birth to 3 years of age: 10 to 20 micrograms (mcg).
4 to 6 years of age: 25 mcg.
7 to 10 years of age: 30 mcg.
Adolescents and adults—
30 to 100 mcg.

People are taking 50 or 100 times what's recommended - supplimentation isn't even recommended because it's not required.

There's no proof that biotin actually increases hair growth.

In saying that, I took biotin suppliments (300mcg/day, 4 days a week) for 6 months and I believe it increased my hair and nail growth. However, I don't think taking suppliments for something I don't need is healthy, and for me, it demonstrated an unhealthy obsession with my hair. I was willing to potentially risk my health for my hair. That's crazy.

If you can get results with 300mcg/day, why bother taking 10,000 or 5000?

[pepperminttea]

People are taking 50 or 100 times what's recommended - supplimentation isn't even recommended because it's not required.

Agreed. There's also a lot of foods that contain it:


The richest source is nuts (peanuts, filberts, almonds, peanut butter). A half cup of peanuts yields more than double the daily requirement of biotin for adults. Smaller amounts of biotin (anywhere from 3 to 8.5 micrograms per serving) are found in tuna, pork, banana, papaya, carrots, avocado, tomato sauce, nonfat milk, salmon, swiss chard, sweet potato, haddock, lowfat yogurt, cashews, cooked egg and soy protein isolate.

From here (http://www.ehow.co.uk/facts_4910664_what-foods-contain-biotin.html). Even if you're a vegan who's allergic to nuts, there's still several fruit and veg options. :)