Biotin symptoms and conditions

I have been taking the generic version of Wellbutrin, Bupropion, for almost 6 months. It has been the only thing to lift a bit of my chronic depression and anxiety. It gives me enough energy to navigate my day- I am not as tired all the time, nor do I feel so heavy and generally lethargic.

About 2 months ago, my hair started falling out. I have always had extremely thick, shiny hair. I started taking more vitamins to no avail. I couldn't figure it out because I didn't see anything about hair loss on the literature from the pharmacy that comes with my pills. Huge gobs of hair would come out in the shower or anytime I combed it. It got on my clothes, on the floor, on my pillows... It was horrifying! I believe I have lost about half of my hair, no kidding. I don't have any bald spots thank goodness, but that is because I started with so much hair in the first place. But if it keeps going at this rate, I can't imagine not being bald in the near future! Recently my friends have even commented on my thin hair. I try to not comb it unless it is just as the bottom, and even then I am pulling the hair up through the comb, not pulling the comb down through my hair. I wash it as infrequently as possible and even though I desperately need a trim, I will not go to the salon.

Just tonight I found this information and this very informative site. I am so mad though, because I never saw this as a possible side effect in any of the main literature- maybe I just missed it?

What is scary to me is to think about going off this drug...I'm afraid I won't be able to function as well with day to day living. My fatigue, depression, and anxiety are so immobilizing. I am going to try to go to a low dose and see if that helps, as well as continue to take the extra vitamins with biotin.
I really hope that's enough.

I didn't get much help in the past from any other antidepressants (I have tried 4). Almost as bad as the hair loss (although not visible to the entire world) was the total lack of sexual desire and ability to have sexual pleasure with the other drugs. That is part of the reason I loved Wellbutrin: no sexual side effects, a slight decrease in appetite/weight, increased energy and alertness, and a decrease in depression and anxiety (not completely, but the best I have had so far).

The only other side effect I have experienced is irritability and that has recently become worse. I notice I am much terser with my daughter and have less patience in general. I am likely to have angry reactions and at times I find myself feeling confrontational, whereas in the past I have always shied away from confrontation.

It is definitely a mixed bag with any of these drugs and very disappointing. Good luck to you all and thanks for sharing. . .

hi, i've read through this several times, and it is now 3am and i find myself reading them again.

i was on both effexor and wellbutrin (generic versions of both) for quite some time, but didn't have full-on hair loss like I have now 'til about earlier this year when I was on wellbutrin only and was taking 150 mg twice a day. I got off of it because I have always had thin hair so I started to freak out when I noticed hair loss.

Unfortunately I became so depressed that I simply HAD to get back on it; and made the biggest mistake of my life by going up to the full 400mg dosage of the generic wellbutrin.

It killed me. I have very very very little hair especially on ONE side of my head, the left, and can no longer wear my bangs forward like I used to.

I went to the dermatologist (who I think was pretty bad, actually, because I went in for my HAIR and he didn't even do a strength test by pulling on it or anything!) and he said I had male pattern-ish baldness which is even more disconcerting because I can't hide the hair loss, I have a huge bald spot near the front of my head -- and I'm only a 21-year old female, people! This is beyond depressing, really. I'm beyond angry at my psychiatrist for always always downplaying the hair loss risk. I loathe him for it, in fact. But anyway.

I am going to start on biotin, and probably some prenatal vitamins, and maybe even tail Rx (******).

Thank you for posting your experiences, it has been a huge comfort to me (I wasn't lying when I said I read this thread many many times before and am reading it again now, at 3am!)

I have been taking the generic form of Wellburtin (Budeprion) for about a year and until recently the only side effects that I had were dry mouth and weight loss (which was a plus). Within the past few months I have noticed my normally thick hair thinning considerably. My family and friends say they can't notice it but it is definitely happening. I also have sensitive, itchy scalp and redness on my scalp. Has anyone had this before? I'm really upset because of the hair thinning, but also because I know that I will have to get off Wellbutrin and it's helped me in so many ways. I'm also concerned about my hair growing back in to it's usual thickness.

I have stopped the medication for about a week and started taking Biotin, but I wondered how long it takes to see some re-growth? I'm so bummed bc I loved the affects of Wellbutrin.

I decided to use Mirena, well...let's just say that I am considering getting it removed. I have lost tons of hair, I have been using Rogaine, biotin vitamins, and Nioxin cleanser and scalp therapy and still the hair loss continues. I always feel and look bloated, my ankles are swollen, and I am tired all the time. All these symptoms began when I got this "WONDERFUL" IUD. When I talked to my gyno. she simply brushed me off, so I went to my dermo. who I also thought was going to dismiss me. He told me that Mirena can cause hair to fall out and told me not to ignore it. I have decided to have it removed, I hope my body will go back to normal after this. Good luck everyone!

People!In short BIOTIN!
Here's my story... I have had severe hair loss from this med and from other causes. Wellbutrin is now causing me anger severe memory loss and itch all over. I have taken it before several times because it has no sexual side effects but the hair loss is a no can do for me. I didn't know it did that until reading recently these posts. I just switched back to it from zoloft because of weight gain and sexual stuff. What I do know is about hair and that mine is falling out. I also know that I have been working on regrowing mine basically from nothing fore the last two years and that BARNONE BIOTIN is the best thing you can take to regrow your hair healthier and faster from the inside out. It takes about one month to see results. You can get it from CVS! Take the highest dose, twice a day at first and then once a day for maintenance. Two hairdressers told me about it and then I said I should try this. So glad I did, because I have great hair genes like so many here and now they are showing. Now to get off this crap medication!! I've

Your OB/Gyn's are prescribing this pill to get a kick-back from the pharmaceutical rep. Loestrin 24 is TERRIBLE. I've been on bc pills for over 15 years. I was switched from Neocon (which I LOVED) to Loestrin because I'm "over 30 and I smoke". I've been on this pill for a year and just took myself off last month. I've GAINED 30 LBS! I was a size 6 when I started this medication, I'm now a size 10-12! I appreciated the fact that I had little to no periods while on this medication, but the headaches, fatigue, mood swings, and weight gain are just NOT WORTH IT! Please do yourself a favor, if you are taking this pill and have no problems then great! However, if you experience weight gain, mood swings, break-outs, etc. Tell your doctor NO MORE! They can certainly prescribe you something better and forgo their little kickbacks from the pharm reps. I have no idea how I'm going to lose this weight and I'm so depressed because this has happened to me. If you relate at all to this then save yourself from ending up where I am and get off this pill!

Im 17 years old and started getting sick a lot after getting my period at the age of 13. after numerous tests, and 2 years later i was diagnosed with both hashimotoes and graves disease. the doctors put me on synthroid and for a week i felt great. then after that i no longer wanted to take it. i didn't like the way it made me feel. i've been on the medication now for 2 years and my hair is so thin. it keeps falling out, and its very noticeable. i get a lot of headaches and severe cramps. i'm almost always tired. i get my levels checked every two months like the doctor wants. they are regular. anyone else feel the same? my mom is considering switching doctors.

Hi, I've never posted on one of these sites but here goes... Lamictal does indeed affect some vital nutrients. They are biotin, b12, b6, L-carnitine, folic acid, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin K. My hair started falling out in clumps. I had my levels checked and I was VERY low on biotin, and L-carnitine. I was also low on zinc. I dropped my dosage from 150 to 100 to 75 to 50. With doctors approval. I started taking centrum silver and skin, hair, and nail vitamins and my hair stopped falling out and is starting to regrow. I am now back up to the 125 level and feeling better. I also started taking L-carnitine and that has helped as well although it had nothing to do with my hair loss. As to the other side effects...I have headaches, and neck stiffness, and sex headaches at the 100 plus level. And a buzzing/ vibrating in my right ear. For the migraines I take Advil. DO NOT TAKE TYLENOL WITH LAMICTAL. It lowers the level of lamictal in your system. I only take Excedrin when I must. I know this is long. I hope it helps. Even with all the side effects I still will take lamictal. It has made a huge difference for me. ( I also have occasional nausea and dizziness.) Hope this helps.

I have been on 3 different birth control pills/patches in the past 2 years and I am sick of it. I know that some people are fine on and off birth control pills, but for me, I will never take one again. I was first on the Ortho Evra patch and that was the worst thing imaginable. I was throwing up on and off and developed a problem with my kidney's that caused what seemed like a UTI but after taking antibiotics never got better, until I got off of the patch. I switch to Ortho Tri-Cyclen. It was reasonable for a while, because at least I could function as a normal person again. But after a while I noticed it's side effects too; nausea, no sex drive, and a variety of others. So I then switched to Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo. Although it was the best of the 3, it still gave me side effects that I could not deal with. For the past 2 years, no one has been able to understand my moods, I have had to struggle to feel sexual, have gone from 20-30 vision in both eyes to having 20-200, loosing 20 lbs which makes me 103 lbs now, and after that, finding out that I can no longer eat dairy products (out of the blue). My hair is thinning out and is dull because my birth control pills lowered the amount of nutrients my body could take out of my food (look it up! Birth Control pills can cause definiency's in calcium, b12, biotin and others). Birth control pills were the only pills I was taking during those two years (except for the antibiotics I mentioned earlier) and I had not changed any of my eating habits. I will never go on a birth control pill again, and I hope that I can start to feel better and heal after the craziness those pills have inflicted on my body.

Help me! I have stopped taking Yasmin for about 4 or 5 months because my husband and I want to conceive. I AM STARTING TO LOSE MY HAIR! I am so worried about this as I am losing at least double the normal amount everyday and this has been happening for about a week now. I have noticed the difference as my hair is not very thick. My husband has noticed. My friend says she can't tell, but if you look in my bathroom and my comb you would think I was undertaking radiotherapy. I went to my doctor two days ago and she thinks it could be thyroid or iron problems. She thinks it could be ceasing the pill but is unsure......PLEASE, is there ANYONE who has experienced this? And if so will it stop? I am so distressed about it.

I took Yasmin for 2 years and about 6 months after starting Yasmin I started getting migraines at least 3 x per week and sometimes 5 x per week (before not even really getting many normal headaches). I thought it might be my birth control and saw my OB who referred me to a Neurologist who put me on a medicine for migraines. About another 5 months later I noticed I had a small bald spot in my hair line. Saw a Dermatologist who diagnosed it is alopecia. I immediately stopped Yasmin and migraine meds and decided to get an IUD (GREAT CHOICE!) My migraines stopped almost immediately, however my hair loss continues to progress. I now have 3 additionally bald spots on my head and areas on my scalp that are very thin. I feel great otherwise, no headaches, no depression (other than losing my hair), no anxiety, appetite is normal. I'm so desperate to find someone else that has had this specific problem as no one believes the hair loss is connected to Yasmin. I just pray after awhile the hair will grow back. Please if anyone has experienced this same situation please post what might have helped you get through it and if it does ease up! One more thing - I have scalp pain, like burning on the front and top and back part of my scalp, wide spread, not only in the bald areas.

I went to my doctor on Monday December 17, 2007, because I was experiencing a fever, chest congestion, with an extremely painful cough. He gave me 7 sample blister packs of Levaquin 500mg, and a sample Pulmicort Flexhaler 180mcg. He also prescribed a cough medicine for night time if I needed it. He said I had bronchitis or a possible pneumonia he couldn’t hear. I also used a nebulizer with Abutrual.

On December 23, 2007 I awoke with the most intense pain I have ever experienced. My wrists, finger, toe, elbows, knees and ankle joints all hurt. My muscles in my legs and back burned. My hands, fingers, feet, toes, and shins felt like they were “asleep” or the worst pins and needles ever.

My husband went online and found out that is was most likely caused by the Levaquin. And thankful I was taking TWO steroids! So when I called the company that makes Levaquin they told me to stay in bed! When I asked them how long this could last they said 1 week to two months.

As of today, the pain in my fingers, toes, wrists, elbows, ankles and knees, which is like tendinitis is mild to moderate. The burning in my muscles in my legs and back is still intense. The “pins and needles” is affecting mostly my hands and feet and my left leg from the knee down. I also still have a deep pain under booth knees. I have also experienced a periodic facial twitch on the left side, below the eye about 1.5 inches.

I am weak, and completely unable to get around do to the pain in my legs and feet. I am furious that my doctor prescribed a medication that could cause these problems without warning me, as samples do not come with warnings. I feel disabled, angry, and would like to know what I am supposed to do now!! Has anyone found anything that helps with the pain?

How long will my pain last knees, legs, feet arms all my joints,,,, I feel like I am 100 years old! How long will it take to get better, my doctor took blood Friday to see what was going on but I haven't heard anything yet

wow!
it sounds like everybody hates topamax from all the posts that i read... although i didnt read them all...

anyway, at first i had the memory loss thing but it seems to be ok now. i think i always had memory problems though, but it did get worse for the first couple months on topamax and then a little worse when my doc upped my dose. although now i think that my body may have gotten used to it, bc i feel a bit back to normal with my memory.

i also have the leg tingling. mainly i notice something like a slight throbbing if i put my foot down too suddenly, but it doesnt actually hurt. i notice the actual tingling in my legs/feet when i drink though, but only when i drink.

what else? oh, the hair loss. ALTHOUGH, this could also be from my dying my hair a lot... bc i have always had a hair loss problem, but i think the topamax accelerated it.

however, these side effects arent enough for me to get off the drug until my doc thinks so. i had migraines every week or more. horrible ones where i had to stop what i was doing and lie down. i missed a lot of school , missed a lot of work... sometimes they would last for more than a day. i needed help. now i only get migraines during that time of the month, and several docs have said its bc of the lack of estrogen... even when i get those migraines i only get the symptoms , not the pain. i dont even have to take anything. i have my life back... haha, i sound like a lifetime story or a commercial. anyway, i <3 my topamax and im just going to start taking a biotin supplement to prevent hair loss until i can get off this drug when it is time.

I have been on topomax for about 10 days(50 mg for first week and 100 mg since then). I have severe hair loss, loss of apetite, memory loss, loss of words, confusion, not able to think clearly, mood swings and depression. I am worried at all these side effects. I sometimes think, if I have to chose between severe headaches and all these, is it worthy to continue Topomax? My Doctor only warned me of tingling effect on fingers and toes and nothing else. Today I had been to another doctor for second opinion and he actually asked me a few question as part of check up and the it struck me that all these things are happening to me. I was kind of ignoring these effects so far thinking they are part of post partum depression.

TOPAMAX HAIR LOSS and BIOTIN:

Recommend that anyone losing hair to immediately start taking large doses of Biotin (a water soluble B vitamin) in doses of 5000 mcg (5mg) to 10000 mcg (10mg). Since TOPAMAX goes after your nervous system I also recommend that you take B12 (it must be methylcobalamin B12 only) 5000 mcg (5mg) to 10000 mcg (10mg) and B6 25-50mg. See a doctor and if possible see a Naturopathic Doctor.

My wife is experiencing massive hair loss. She had a metabolic panel ran on her to ensure it is not thyroid and is scheduled to see a specialist on hair loss next week. I just came off the National Institute of Health website at www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a697012.html where they list hair loss as one of the problems with the drug. They recommend that you see a physician immediately. My Wife's hair was literally coming out by the roots and since her hair is naturaly thin it won't be long before she is bold unless she can get it stopped.

My 14 year old daughter was on Topamax for migraines for 7 months and when she went off, she lost considerable amounts of hair. I'm not noticing regrowth - and that scares me for her. She had such beautiful blonde hair and I'm concerned that this is going to get worse as opposed to better. Has anyone noticed regrowth???

dear lisa, its chrissy sorry iv taken a while to respond...

i just read ur posting about the hair loss and yes ive heard that it is a very common post yasmin side effect. i didnt experience it myself but i do get the depression the week that my period is finishing. its gotten better since i first stopped yasmin but its still noticeable.
have you been feeling any better apart from those symptoms?? just remember that ur nearly 3 months off yasmin and the first two months are the hardest.
im six months off it now and i feel so much better. you will get back to normal soon i promise... you just gotta hang in there...
you can take some natural vitamins to increase hair growth and it will only be the hair on ur head not anywhere else...
there is one i heard about i think its called Biotin??? something like that anyway and you can get it from like health food shops .....
it may help im not sure of any others though.

try to stay positive and i wish you the best results in whatever you decide to do.
lots of hugs to you
luv chrissy xoxox

Hey Girls...
I posted a while back when I first got off yasmin. I have have been off it now for 2 months. I still haven't been able to lose weight, My Hair is even thinner, I cry every time I wash my hair b/c of the crazy amounts that I see go down the drain and even more when I brush it. My hair was soo thick and now, you can see my scalp from all sides..I'm only 21!!!!! I went to the doc and did some blood test, and everything seems fine except my liver, I don't drink like the average college student, so I know it can't be that, it must have been yasmin.
Does anybody have any advice for my hair??? I am desperate!!!! I started taking Biotin but my hair has only gotten worse! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!

Post your symptoms since stopping Yasmin!!!

Hey everyone it's Kay21 here and I just wanted to post my 3 month off Yasmin update. Because stopping the pill is a hard decision, I figured we should all post are updates here to help/support those who are planning to stop or who have recently stopped Yasmin.

I have been off of Yasmin since April 17. As some of you already know, I was experiencing horrible side effects while on Yasmin for 3 years (particularly stomach problems, vaginal dryness, muscle cramps, increased blood pressure and heart rate and anxiety).

The first 1 month off of Yasmin was okay. In fact, I felt the best I had ever felt in a while. My blood pressure and heart rate decreased and the migraines and muscle cramps went away. But when I hit the 2 month (8 week) mark, I felt HORRIBLE. I was severely depressed and anxious. I was crying all the time and felt a severe sense of DOOM! The physical symptoms also started to become problematic. The acne increased and I started growing more facial hair. The worse symptom, however, was that I started losing a ton of hair. I would lose stray hairs all day (probably about 200 a day). Since I have hit the three month mark, the hair loss has gotten MUCH WORSE! Now I am losing CLUMPS of hair all day. I have seen several doctors about this. Some say it's because of stress and a few (a derm, GYN and endo) say that hiar loss is common after stopping bcp. I have already loss about 1/3 of my hair.

I am also really concerned, because I have not had a period since April 22. So my doctor has put me on provera for 10 days to induce a period.

For those who have stopped Yasmin, what have your symptoms been (i.e. increased acne, weight gain, anxiety, etc.). Has anyone experienced hair loss? How long did it take to get a period???

Thanks...