Biotin before testing

[Kriticat]

I take a b complex, which contains 150μg biotin, how long should I stop taking it before my test?

[RedApple Administrator]

If I recall correctly, Medichecks advise to not take biotin for two days before any blood test.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

From Medichecks website

Having reviewed the available guidance, we advise customers to stop taking biotin supplements 48 hours prior to their blood test.When someone stops taking biotin their levels will usually return to normal about 2 days after they stop taking it. This finding is based on research into relatively small numbers of people. It's not yet known whether this can be applied to the general population.

Personally I stop any supplements that contain biotin 4-5 days before test

[Poniesrfun in reply to SlowDragon]

US laboratories advise to discontinue 72 hours before testing. Biotin can also interfere with other tests, not just thyroid so it's probably safe to hold just about any vitamin/mineral or herbal supplements a few days before testing.

Patti in AZ

[Kriticat]

 Thanks everyone, much appreciated, this site is such a wonderful source of information

[Sleepman]

Novice hypo sufferer

Just had my first monitor my health finger prick tests results in and I forgot to stop B complex (Biotin) before testing. Looked at what effect it might have on my results. ... Will stop 4or5 days before in future !!

How much does it affect results and what does it do to results ?

Found this paper. It strongly backs up our experts. Table 2 has other papers that report same effects.

TSH down versus not on biotin and T3 and T4 up, in this case by a lot

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Struggling to

Only 1 persons results who taking 200 mg/day Biotin ( I am on 150 mg)

TSH OFF biotin 2 to 2.2 ON 0.02 to 0.08 TSH down a lot

T4 OFF biotin 1.3 to 1.4 ON 3.2 to 7.8 T4 up a lot

T3 OFF biotin 2.8 to 3.05 ON 3.92 to 7.38 T3 up a lot

table from paper on biotin effects for 1 patient