I was recently asked my opinion about whether or not biotin supplementation would help hair loss. Here's a bit of commentary, plus information about melatonin, another supplement that has been studied.
As with any supplement, it's only going to help if you are indeed deficient in that particular nutrient. There are many reasons you could be deficient in biotin. One of the most relevant to PCOS, is the use of medications valproic acid and carbamazepine. These are seizure medications, also used to treat bipolar disorder and migraine headaches, that have been reported to cause or exacerbate PCOS. So if you've ever been on those medications, you may want to consider supplementation.
If your diet has been out of balance in any way (severe dieting, overeating, eating disorder, cutting out entire categories of food (gluten-free, paleo, vegan, etc.) with a focus on what to eliminate rather than on how to be complete, you may be at risk for biotin deficiency.
It's certainly not going to hurt, and it might help. The dose reported in the literature is 5 to 10 mg per day. However, keep in mind, if your hair loss is primarily related to high testosterone levels and you do not adhere to your complete recommended protocol, biotin will not fix what those problems are causing. It's not a miracle cure.
The best food source of biotin is Swiss chard. Which I was happy about because one of my favorite quick meals is a Swiss chard frittata…I actually planned on making one tonight before knowing this. Nice coincidence!
The other supplement I'm a little more versed in, is melatonin. You all know I'm a big fan of sleep, almost more than diet, for its power to heal. About a year ago, I was poking around in PubMed and found the abstract below, specifically looking at using melatonin to treat androgenic alopecia, which is specifically the type of hair loss you all have. I was coming out of a pretty stressful personal period myself, and had started to notice that my hairline was receding…not fun to look at! So I figured I'd try it myself before writing about it. What I do, is take a melatonin pill, dissolve it in my hand with a few drops of water, and then massage it into my skin with coconut oil. Simply using water didn't work, it needed a carrier. I've noticed that my hair is gradually starting to grow in again. It's not thick and lush, by any means, but it IS growing some hair back.
A caveat here, it won't happen in a week, and you have to be consistent with application. If you're going to flake out about it…don't bother even starting. It's taken almost a year to see a difference. But if you're committed and willing to be persistent, it's definitely worth a try.
Here's the article.
Fischer TW, Burmeister G, Schmidt HW, Elsner P. Melatonin increases anagen hair rate in women with androgenetic alopecia or diffuse alopecia: results of a pilot randomized controlled trial. Br J Dermatol. 2004 Feb;150(2):341-5.
BACKGROUND: In addition to the well-known hormonal influences of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone on the hair cycle, melatonin has been reported to have a beneficial effect on hair growth in animals. The effect of melatonin on hair growth in humans has not been investigated so far.
OBJECTIVES: To examine whether topically applied melatonin influences anagen and telogen hair rate in women with androgenetic or diffuse hair loss.
METHODS: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted in 40 women suffering from diffuse alopecia or androgenetic alopecia. A 0.1% melatonin or a placebo solution was applied on the scalp once daily for 6 months and trichograms were performed to assess anagen and telogen hair rate. To monitor effects of treatment on physiological melatonin levels, blood samples were taken over the whole study period.
RESULTS: Melatonin led to a significantly increased anagen hair rate in occipital hair in women with androgenetic hair loss compared with placebo (n=12; P=0.012). For frontal hair, melatonin gave a significant increase in the group with diffuse alopecia (n=28; P=0.046). The occipital hair samples of patients with diffuse alopecia and the frontal hair counts of those with androgenetic alopecia also showed an increase of anagen hair, but differences were not significant. Plasma melatonin levels increased under treatment with melatonin, but did not exceed the physiological night peak.
CONCLUSIONS: To the authors' knowledge, this pilot study is the first to show that topically applied melatonin might influence hair growth in humans in vivo. The mode of action is not known, but the effect might result from an induction of anagen phase.
Castro-Gag M, Pérez-Gay L, Gómez-Lado C, Castiñeiras-Ramos DE, Otero-Martínez S, Rodríguez-Segade S. The influence of valproic Acid and carbamazepine treatment on serum biotin and zinc levels and on biotinidase activity. J Child Neurol. 2011 Dec;26(12):1522-4. Epub 2011 Jun 3.
Wolf B. EditorsIn: Pagon RA, Bird TD, Dolan CR, Stephens K, editors. Biotinidase Deficiency. SourceGeneReviews [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2000 Mar 24 [updated 2011 Mar 15].
Zempleni J, Hassan YI, Wijeratne SS. Biotin and biotinidase deficiency. Expert Rev Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Nov 1;3(6):715-724.