Biotin supplement for teenagers

CookiesandCrunches16

Not sure if this is the right category but... My sister had trichotillomania for about 3 years and has recently stopped hair pulling. We have talked about getting biotin supplements to stimulate hair growth. She’s tiny, 5’1” and about 100 lbs. Is it safe for her to be taking 5000mcg once a day? Has anyone had any success with taking biotin? Thank you!

Spartan_Gingi

So glad to hear that she's doing better!!
Personally, biotin makes me break out, even at half doses. I use Viviscal. You can buy it at Walgreens or CVS, but it's 20 bucks cheaper on Amazon. Also, you can research some self-oiling massages that work. I like Castor oil, mixed with avocado oil and a few drops of both tea tree oil and rosemary. Castor oil has also helped with my eyebrows to get thicker . Best of luck to her!!!

CookiesandCrunches16

Spartan_Gingi wrote: »

So glad to hear that she's doing better!!
Personally, biotin makes me break out, even at half doses. I use Viviscal. You can buy it at Walgreens or CVS, but it's 20 bucks cheaper on Amazon. Also, you can research some self-oiling massages that work. I like Castor oil, mixed with avocado oil and a few drops of both tea tree oil and rosemary. Castor oil has also helped with my eyebrows to get thicker . Best of luck to her!!!

Great! Thank you so much for your help!

evileen99

Biotin made my nails grow, but did nothing for my hair. If you can, I'd take her to a dermatologist

CookiesandCrunches16

evileen99 wrote: »

Biotin made my nails grow, but did nothing for my hair. If you can, I'd take her to a dermatologist

Thank you for your help!

Slasher09

Biotin is a water-soluble vitamin (its in the B family). You pee out excess of these, which is why pee is a little neon after taking B12. This is also true for vitamin C. Vitamins D, E and A (with the exception of beta-carotene which you pee out) can be toxic in too high doses because it is stored in the fat

Whitezombiegirl

I took a biotin supplement very briefly. It gave me horrendous stomach pains. It was a horrible time till I worked out what was causing it.

I'm pretty sensitive to most medications and supplements though.

Noreenmarie1234

The recommended dosage for biotin for therapeutic effects can be anywhere from 30 to 100 micrograms per day for adults and teenagers. No adverse side effects have been reported for taking biotin dosages of up to 10 mg per day.

dsboohead

My 19yo niece has been taking it for 3 months and saw her on xmas.....her hair looked AMAZING! Shiny and healthy and so much longer.....I was shocked!

rainbowbow

Biotin is completely safe at that dose. I personally take the hair sweet hair supplement from HUM Nutrition and have had absolutely no break outs or negative side effects despite having them with other brands and it's also 5,000mcg/day. I highly recommend these if you're interested.

That being said.... as someone who also has trich, I would say that biotin (while helpful for stimulating hair growth) is unlikely to help the situation long term. You said she "recently stopped picking" and I would want to know more information about whether or not she's resorted to doing something else instead or if all of the compulsive picking has stopped completely. Has she been receiving psychological treatment like CBT? I would say there's a fairly good chance she's, in fact, not "cured" or done picking entirely.

For example, I started with trich when i was around 9 and i'm 27 now. Not only do I still pick sometimes, my picking has moved from the back of my scalp, to my eyebrows, to dermatillomania on my lips, to now mucous fishing syndrome (i pick my eyes) over the past 10 years or so. To be clear: i don't and have never eaten hair. There are still days where i'm stressed out, working on something mindless like accounting, and I look down and find my fingers covered in blood and my lips looking like this.

I am by no means a debbie downer, but, It's been my experience that most people who have trich also have OCD or another anxiety comorbidity which means that they usually deal with the issues for life. Proper treatment with CBT to be more aware of these episodes and also stopping obsession driven picking (just to be clear, picking is not a compulsion usually, it's just something we do to self-soothe) can be improved, but i don't know a single fellow picker who doesn't still pick when the going gets rough. This is why it's so common for these disorders to morph over time (as mine has) and not actually be "cured".


I don't know where she picks specifically but some helpful tips would be:

1. Use castor oil to stimulate hair growth (it also feels gross and makes me not want to pick).
2. See a dermatologist who can give her minoxidil aka Rogaine which can absolutely be used in children. Some areas she's picked may be scarred or damaged and need this.
3. If she picks elsewhere, things like wearing glasses, wearing thick greasy lip balm, using nail polish, wearing bandaids, etc.
4. Most importantly, get her long term help to break the cycle and prevent backtracking.

Edit: sorry for the rant by the way, this topic is just near and dear to my heart, as you can see in my lovely lips photo.

crysgabriela

I used 10,000 mcg of biotin and it made me break out into a rash all over my face and hands. I'm trying to rub castor oil and coconut oil on my scalp once a week and leaving it on my hair for about two hours or overnight. I've heard/seen miracles from castor oil use. Make sure if she does take biotin though to drink about 8-10 glasses of water a day to flush it through her system.

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H_Ock12

I took biotin for many years....teens, through college, into adulthood. I never noticed my head hair was affected by it, but my eyebrows, leg hair, and nails grew like crazy. Started breaking out in my mid-20s with acne, stopped the biotin, and the acne went away.

KellieTru

Just my opinion...consult a pharmacist. They have lots of knowledge about minerals and vitamins,
All the best to your sister.