Biotin Question

I will be two years out on November 24 and I am still having problems with thin hair. I have started using 5 mg of Biotin in capsule form. I tried a test of leaving the capsule in water for 15 minutes to see if it broke down enough to be absorbed. It did not -- it just became very soft. Do you think it will be absorbed? I opened one this morning and ate it in peanut butter. Now I feel a little sick to my stomach. Don't think I will try that again. Any suggestions!!??!!

Hey Judy, Im not sure about the "capsule" type - I AVOID those completely, with the exception of my IRON pill, it only comes in script/capsules. I take a BIOTIN caplet and a much stronger dosage of it (600 mcg's) daily. Started taking that AND 250 mg of NIACIN, daily, for about 3 months and I'm finally seeing a big big big difference in my hair. I had so many surgeries, 1 RNY and 3 Plastic Surgeries, over a 3 year period, that my hair just never had a chance to rebound. It was very thin and NOT growing. AT ALL, even my hair dresser was shocked that I could go 6 months without seeing her and only need a quarter inch trim. Anyway, after adding the daily BIOTIN and NIACIN, and 2 table spoons of fresh ground FLAX SEED, my hair is growing again!!!!!!!!!! Not only new sprigs up top, but also in length - it's now touching the TOPS of my shoulders, but trust me that's a huge progress from barely covering my ears a few months ago. Good luck to you - hope life is treating you well, it's been a LONG time since we've gotten together, Lei

Hey Lei! Thanks for the reply!! So glad you are seeing results with the Biotin and Niacin. I did not know that Niacin was was good for hair treatment. Do you buy it over the counter? Maybe I should try it. Remember when I posted about Nioxin shampoo and treatment. You commented that it did not help you -- me either!! In fact, I think it made my hair come out more!!! So, I have completely stopped using it!!! You're right -- It has been ages since I have seen you! Let me know when everyone is getting to gether for lunch!

YEP, the NIOXIN (expensive) shampoos are just a lotta hype (IMHO). One thing that people may not realize is that you can't stop the hair LOSS, you can only try to promote the hair GROWTH. So when people sell you something saying it's to help you to keep from losing hair, bull-pucky! A lot of the causes for US losing our hair is two fold. Not only the depletion of nutrients during the highly malabsorption stages, but ALSO the shock of the SURGERY itself coupled with the lingering affects of anesthesia. When I was in my late 20's, I had GallBladder surgery - I was healthy as a horse, could eat enough for a horse, so getting in my "nutrients" wasnt an issue. STILL, I lost over 50 % of my hair. Yep, that's a whole lot and it's just not natural at the young 20's/years, you know? Anyway, that's when I learned (by my Dematologist) that my body was reacting to the surgery. In a lay-mens kinda term - when our bodies are put to sleep on the table, some of us, react stronger to the "sleep mode" then others and it can trigger our ROOTS to simulate death (hey, I told you I was trying to layman this explanation, and that's how he was able to simplify it for me to understand) ...but anyway, the roots can simulate hibernation and/or death. When you wake up, you won't even KNOW how much that surgery affects YOUR body or your scalp for several months. It takes that long for a dead root to actually fall out. So, for some product to BOAST that it can keep you from losing hair, just isn't so. A dead root, is a dead root, is a dead root - period. Yes, I get the BIOTIN and NIACIN over the counter - I buy them at GNC, that's where I found BIOTIN in a stronger dose, without having to ORDER it. One *******HUGE WORD OF CAUTION******** and I learned this the hard (painful) way, so please keep this in mind. NIACIN is a "flushing" vitamin. I had no freakn clue what the hell that meant and unfortunately, learned the hard way. A "flushing" is not something that goes through your system and you end up on da' toilet. Nope. It's something that goes through your blood stream and literally heats your entire body up. I didn't know that I should take a "low dosage" of the hard core Niacin --- OR --- Invest a little more money in a NON-Flushing Niacin. Gawd, how I wish I had now, but noooooooooooooo, Lei buys the big ol' economy bottle of the HOT/flushing pills. Anyway - lemme describe flushing for you. You pop the pill, and set your clock - cause within 16 minutes and 30 seconds of swallowing, you start to feel your body tingle, then it becomes more intense, you begin to turn a lil pinkish - the temps are rising, QUICKLY, within 5 minutes, you are bright bright bright RED (not pink, but deep RED, sunburned kinda look) and you TINGLE in HOT MODE for about 20 minutes. When the flushing is done, all the chemicals (ie, if you're a smoker or coffee drinker) comes bursting out of your blood cells and rises to the surface. Its your bodies way of trying to EXPELL the toxins. While it's bursting to the surface? You scratch and scratch and itch and can't ever make it stop - and I mean every part of your body, your inner ears, your upper eye lids, in between your toes, places you forgot you owned, ITCHES!!!!! This was the scariest most unexpected reaction to VITAMINS Ive ever had. I warn everyone now - never ever EVER go higher then a 200/250 dose. The one I took initially, that almost sent me to da' moon? LOL, um, well it was a THOUSAND dose. Needless to say, Ive cut that entire bottle up into 1/4's and that's how I take it now. BUT - just based on the tingling and surfacing type reaction I described above, you can see why it would help to STIMULATE GROWTH! Good luck to you - sweet thang!

Oh my gosh -- I certainly do NOT need to be RED in addition to NO HAIR!! Thanks for the warning!

Hi Leilani, Do you think it would be a good idea for a pre-op WLS to start taking these along with the other suppliments now? Or do you think it wouldn't make much difference, since "a dead root is a dead root is a dead root? I guess what I am asking is - do you think it would stimulate enough new hair growth to counter balance the hair loss when it begins? Thanks, Robin

Hello Robin!! Gorgeous day, isnt it, just a lil nippy with lots of clear skies and SUN? LOL, which has me wondering what Im doing sitting inside and not OUT being productive. This is what I would do, if I had it ALL to do over again, preparing for my weight loss surgery. I don't think I really understood just how important "powerloading protein" is to healing and recovery. I initially took the advice of OLD timers before me (keep in mind, this was 4 years ago) who suggested that I hold off, because my tastes could change, don't bother buying proteins till after my surgery. Nope. What I should have been doing was searching the market for one I could tolerate DAILY, if possible 4 to 6 weeks before surgery, and drinking a minimum of one a day, but more like TWO a day. Our bodies heal so much quicker when it has massive stores of protein to feed off of. I saw a huge difference in "my" recovery time with my Open RNY surgery (no protien power loading beforehand) and after all three of my Plastic Surgeries (that I did powerload in advance for). Night and day! So my suggestion *but of course, check with your doc* would be to start using a protien product NOW and take a good MULTI-vitamin, daily. As far as prepping in advance with Biotin/Niacin, the only way it will help to stimlate growth is if there are empty root cells/beds for a new root to grow in. LOL, hope that makes sense. In other words, if you have a full head of hair, you can't grow hair where hair already exists, BUT, if you're currently experiencing any type of hair loss, where ever the root becomes barron/dead, then GROWTH can be promoted THERE. So, in a long drawn out sorta way, what Im saying is, that "I" would not have bothered prepping with either before my RNY, because I went into it with a full head of hair. I WISH I'd done it before my subsequent surgeries though, because I didn't go into ANY of those with a full head of hair, and instead lost more with each operation. Hope most of this makes sense? Enjoy your weekend!! Oh and gloss over the typos, Im in turbo mode and wanted to get this out before I sign off and "pretend" to be productive around this house.

Hey Robin, I started taking Hair, Skin, and Nails prior to my surgery. I am three months out and I am noticing some hair loss but I am also noticing a lot of new growth. That stuff works for me. I have continued with it since surgery and will for some time to come. Anything that good can't be bad for you. My hair dresser and my nail girl comment on how fast my hair and nails grow. It's due to the supplement. I purchase this stuff from Wal-Mart. Just thought I would add in my two-cents worth. Lots of Love Kathy

*********HIJACKING LEILANI***************** Hey there GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You're BACK!!! WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!! We missed you ever so much!!!! I've been "lurking", just don't have too much to add these days. Home with a "strep throat" child today, so bored out of my mind. Can't believe you guys are leaving to go cruising a week from tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!! LUCKY DUCKYS!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, just wanted to say hiya, and seeeeeeya!!! XOXOOXOXOXOXOOX Sharon

I take Vitamin D (dry), Vitamin E (dry), B100 Complex and Milk Thistle in capsule form and think it is just fine. But, I do take 'em with a hot decaf tea chaser to help break them now. Nioxin did nothing for me years back with hair loss from weight loss (WW) so I didn't try it this time. My hair never 100% recovered from the weight loss back then (1988) though it did fill in alot just don't think it ever went back to what it was in younger days. Lost hair with this weight loss but but it is back to what it was pre-op. Not thick but what it was. Kathy