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Nikkilee's avatar
Nikkilee
Member
7 years ago

Vitamins

Hi all,
has anyone tried Biotin for hair nails and skin ? Trying to find the best vitamin etc to help with this and maybe help boost hair growth (if anything can help) or does anyone have any reccomendations

4 Replies

  • After chemo go for it. I found just a multivitamin helped with my hair colour return and my nails less brittle. I tried this after 6 months of just focusing on nutrition. 
  • @Nikkilee BCNA recommend a website that evaluates most supplements - vitamin , mineral and herbal - which I gather on here some GPs use as well . It’s free and can either be viewed as an app called Herbs or  on the website

    www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient -education/herbal-remedies-and - treatment

    It is maintained by the Memorial Sloan Cancer centre in NYC and provides information for both patients and medical practioners.They research and monitor research with a focus on people with cancer.They look at a supplements purported uses and contraindications etc

    You can place a topic of interest eg skin/ nails whereupon it uploads supplements that are said to be effective for your reading as well as enabling you to search by supplement name eg biotin.

    Please be aware it should not replace the advice of your medical team but might provide further reading from which you can formulate questions to ask your team.
  • I take biotin, was recommended when I had a short stint of hair thinning a long time  after chemo - probably due to a shift in my "normal" shedding pattern, due to heaven knows what. It settled ages ago but I still take biotin as it isn't a problem with anything else. 
  • Hi @Nikkilee, I haven't tried Biotin but you jogged my memory and whilst my nails didn't suffer too badly with Taxol, when I was going through menopause before BC my hair and nails went weak and brittle so I tried silica tissue salts from Martin and Pleasance. Not a vitamin but a mineral used by homeopaths and not expensive.You can read about them here. Just check with your doc.
    http://schuesslertissuesalts.com.au/product/silica-schuessler-tissue-salts/
    On re reading I notice they're good for anxiety and insomnia too , might have to grab me some more  :D