Does Biotin really work?

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  • WrenStory
    WrenStory Posts: 103
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    yes!! it help my hair growth so much. however it gave me lots of acne so I was told to pair it with a vitamin B (B5) and that helped!

    The acne is what I've read about in so many of the reviews online... it's kept me from trying it. Wonder what the % is of those who develop it?
  • tonightokayalright
    tonightokayalright Posts: 289 Member
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    yes, it definitely works! I've been taking it for about a year now and my nails look amazing! Before biotin I could never get them to grow past my fingertips without breaking, and now I actually cut them down pretty frequently, which is amazing to me. Haven't really noticed a difference with my hair and it did take about 4-5 months of taking it religiously before I noticed a difference in my nails, though.

    What brand do you buy? I don't have trouble with my hair, but I've had horribly brittle, weak nails my whole life :frown:

    I buy different brands each time (whatever's on sale or whatever I have a coupon for!), but I always buy the little liqui-gels....never the hard tablets.

    Why do you pick the gel caps over the tablets?
  • Spenezich
    Spenezich Posts: 5 Member
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    I've had mixed success with Biotin (I take 7500mcg everyday for about the past two years). I wouldn't say my hair grows faster however, I've had a lot of new hair growth (ie: "baby hairs" sticking up everywhere, lol!). My nails however, grow a lot faster, but aren't much stronger as they still bend and peel. The best result I've had was actually with my eyelashes! I've always had very short, sparse eyelashes and now they're long (well, longer) and much more plentiful.

    I've also been taking MSM for my joints and heard that a nice side effect of it is faster hair growth. Well, after six months my joints still crack and pop and I haven't noticed faster growth, but I figure I might as well finish the bottle. sigh.
  • Off_The_Record
    Off_The_Record Posts: 17
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    I'm curious about this too! After seeing so many positive results I am willing to give it a try. I have never had much of an ACNE problem so I hope this doesn't develop into one. Fingers crossed xox
  • MightyDomo
    MightyDomo Posts: 1,265 Member
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    At first I thought you were talking about the oil you put on skin to reduce the appearance of scars and striae.... but that is bio-oil, haha, my bad.

    But I am glad I came in anyways as my sister would definitely be interested to hear about this if she hasn't already!
  • Fat2Fit145
    Fat2Fit145 Posts: 385 Member
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    yes, it is a magical pill you can take to speed up your metabolism, along with raspberry keytones, green tea and green coffee beans.

    Clearly you don't know wha Biotin is, as it has absolutely nothing to do with weightloss...
    Guess ubermensch didn't even read the post...


    THIS! lol.. cus i dont know what Biotin is and jus by reading the post and by common sense figured it was a HAIR related product and not weight loss related lol..
  • lauralind5
    lauralind5 Posts: 133 Member
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    If Im faithful about taking the biotin (3000 mg) my nails dont peel off in layers and I have noticed that my hair grows faster. Ive been on and off it enough times to know that it really does help and not just coincidence.

    As a side note, when I owned a horse, he was given biotin supplements for stronger hooves :)
  • racheljonel
    racheljonel Posts: 400 Member
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    yes, it definitely works! I've been taking it for about a year now and my nails look amazing! Before biotin I could never get them to grow past my fingertips without breaking, and now I actually cut them down pretty frequently, which is amazing to me. Haven't really noticed a difference with my hair and it did take about 4-5 months of taking it religiously before I noticed a difference in my nails, though.

    What brand do you buy? I don't have trouble with my hair, but I've had horribly brittle, weak nails my whole life :frown:

    I buy different brands each time (whatever's on sale or whatever I have a coupon for!), but I always buy the little liqui-gels....never the hard tablets.

    Why do you pick the gel caps over the tablets?

    I've always heard that when it comes to vitamins liquid is best, then gel caps, then tablets. I don't know if it's true but it makes me feel better to take the gel caps haha.
  • a_mandolin_
    a_mandolin_ Posts: 336 Member
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    My fingers are crossed it helps! I'd been meaning to try it for ages, but I finally bought some about a month ago. 1000mg, which was the lowest. It was already 333% the daily value so getting more seemed silly.

    My nails peel extremly badly and my hair is dry, brittle and I could make a pet bear with all the hair I find around the house in a week.
  • CornellGirl
    CornellGirl Posts: 30 Member
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    For which use?

    Biotin stimulates hair and nail growth (and to an extent - skin growth).

    Women's Day or pills found at GNC are really helpful. I've found that the biotin supplements work better in the summer months.

    *Be wary of claims that biotin increases your nail growth. I would recommend starting biotin in the winter months - in the summer months the sunlight & extra vitamin D production naturally makes your nails growth rate increase (confounding factor).

    Another recommendation would be to eat foods high in folate, iron, and vitamin B. Furthermore, painting your nails will prevent you from biting them and getting regular massages (you can do this yourself) will stimulate hair follicles & growth. Do not wear restricting ponytails too much - they can cause premature alopecia and thinning!
  • sweetnlow30
    sweetnlow30 Posts: 497 Member
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    I lost A LOT of hair two years ago when I lost the bulk of my weight even thought I did it slowly and ate right. You could see my scalp in spots and it was horrifying! I took biotin for about six months while I was still dieting and I didn't notice much of a difference. It wasn't until I started eating at a maintenance level, that my hair slowly grew back. It is now thicker than it was but not nearly as thick as before I started losing weight.

    I now take a kelp (iodine) supplement every day to boost my thyroid and it seems to help a bit. I had to stop my supplements before my back surgery and I noticed I lost a lot more hair during that week and a half. Even though my thyroid tests are fine, I seem to need that extra thyroid boost. It also slightly boosts your metabolism for weight loss. Anyway, you can do some reading on kelp and ask your doctor if it would be alright for you to try it along with the biotin.
  • Gwynhyffar
    Gwynhyffar Posts: 24 Member
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    I didn't read all of the posts here, but I spoke with a nutritionist about biotin about a year ago. It will not stop your hair from falling out, but it encourages regrowth and strengthens the follicle. It also helps with nail strength. Good luck!
  • laylaness
    laylaness Posts: 262 Member
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    I took Biotin for about 6 months and it helped a bit, but about a year ago, I started taking Prenatal vitamins (even though I'm not preggers), and my hair is growing soooo fast, and it's coming in a bit thicker, too. I have fine, thin hair, and even my SO has noticed a big difference.
  • HealthyBodySickMind
    HealthyBodySickMind Posts: 1,207 Member
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    I took Biotin for about 6 months and it helped a bit, but about a year ago, I started taking Prenatal vitamins (even though I'm not preggers), and my hair is growing soooo fast, and it's coming in a bit thicker, too. I have fine, thin hair, and even my SO has noticed a big difference.

    What kind of prenatal vitamins?

    I've tried prenatal vitamins before and have been using the GNC hair, skin and nails, which do work. My hair seems to grow faster, and my nails grow much faster.
  • Angeliize
    Angeliize Posts: 29
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    I've been taking it for 2 years. I forget at times to take it and I notice some difference. I have a lot of hair... and I mean A LOT. Even so, I didn't want to start losing it now. My dietician recommended biotin.
  • Victoryemm
    Victoryemm Posts: 1
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    I just bought biotin today. 5,000 mcg. I'm way too afraid to start off with that dosage so I split the pill in half to avoiding having to keep buying more biotin with higher dosages. I just recently cut off 5" of my hair because it was ridiculously unhealthy and dead. I'm afraid of breaking out. I have really really clear skin and a good completion, I always have. I'm drinking tons and tons of water. Another concern I have is that I not want to grow hair all over my body (face, legs, arms/armpits etc...). Has anybody had a problem with this? This is coming from a female with thin hair that doesn't grow often or thick. I assume somebody with thicker hair to begin with wont have the same results with this as somebody like me. Thank you so much to anybody that helps!
  • padams2359
    padams2359 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    I noticed recently that the hair on the top of my head was thinning. This is a pretty new experience for me. I have always had very thick curly hair. There was a very small spot on the crown of my head that was thinner. I had to move my hair around to see it. I went for a hair cut today, having curly hair, I seldom get it cut because my wife likes it curly. I had it cut short, as I usually do. I was very happy with the cut. The woman that cut it gave me a mirror, and spun me around to see the back. Fortunately there were very few other people in the salon because of the expletives I began to spew. With the shorter hair, my crown was almost bare.

    My father was balding by age 23, my mother has 4 brothers, all in their 70s. 2 have been balding for as long as I can remember, 2 have very thick hair. This did not start until after I started dieting. I have started taking iron supplements, and was told by the woman who cut my hair ( I did tip her well, appologized, and told her I was very pleased with the hair cut that she took quite a while to meticulously cut) to try biotin. She said that the recent weight loss, and the fact that I had gotten to 47 with little or no hair loss, it could work. Any help? Especially the guys...
  • Safiyandi
    Safiyandi Posts: 151
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    I was hoping it would help with my nail brittleness and flaking - took 5000mcg/day for ~8 months. I got terrible headaches and an increase in acne, blagh. Damn stubborn dry nails. Hair looked great, though.
  • padams2359
    padams2359 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    Oh great! Never had ache through puberty, but had hair. Now if I want to have hair, I might have to have ache. I have spent the last 35 years taking care of my skin to have it go to **** now? My father would make me go in the dermatologist office with my older sisters and watch them get picked, put under UV lights, and look like they were put under a broiler the day before. All he would tell me is, "See what will happen if you don't wash your face."
  • TigerBite
    TigerBite Posts: 611 Member
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    Um, ya know ... If your hair is falling out or thinning and your nails aren't growing right, um ... maybe you should go see a doctor ... These are symptoms of an underactive thyroid or some other deficiency ... Once you've corrected the underlying issue you should be fine ... That being said, Nioxin shampoo works pretty well for thickening up hair ...

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