Rapid weight loss, hormonal fluctuations and stress can cause hair loss. Baldness is affected by hormones and genetic predisposition. The B vitamins promote healthy hair and, if you suffer from a vitamin B deficiency, taking supplements might promote growth. But B vitamins do not treat hair loss, and taking them in excess could prove dangerous.
Causes of Hair Loss
If you're losing hair, find out the cause. Your doctor can test for vitamin B deficiencies and, if appropriate, recommend that you take supplements. Medications, such as chemotherapy agents, can cause hair loss. Other common causes include physical stress -- illness or sudden weight changes, for instance -- or emotional stress, such as divorce, mental illness or the death of someone in your family. Thyroid problems and certain medications, including taking large doses of vitamin A and some blood pressure medications, can cause hair loss, and so can pregnancy, menopause and the use of birth control pills. Male pattern baldness isn't caused by hair loss but by lack of new hair growth.
Vitamins B-1 and B-2
Although you can purchase B vitamins as stand-alone supplements or in B-complex formulas, they are not necessarily safe. Some formulas contain extremely high doses of vitamin B. Avoid taking excessive amounts of vitamin B to treat hair loss. Vitamin B-1, also known as thiamine, proves fairly safe when taken in high doses, but skin irritation and allergic reactions may occur. The dose to treat B-1 deficiency ranges from 5 mg to 30 mg a day for mild deficiency and up to 300 mg a day to treat severe deficiency. Side effects of taking vitamin B-2 supplements include diarrhea, a change in urine color -- it may turn orange -- and increased urine output.
Vitamins B-3 and B-5
Few people suffer from vitamin B-3 deficiencies, but people who drink a lot of alcohol may not get enough from their diets. If you need B-3 -- niacin -- to treat a deficiency, the usual dose ranges from 50 mg to 100 mg a day for mild deficiencies and up to 500 mg for severe cases. If you don't need extra niacin, taking it to prevent hair loss -- or for any other reason -- taking high doses puts you at risk for serious side effects, including vision loss, kidney problems, stomach ulcers and liver damage. Vitamin B-5, also known as pantothenic acid, is used to treat hair loss, but insufficient evidence supports this use. Vitamin B-5 will likely not cause serious side effects, but you may experience diarrhea if you take it in amounts higher than the recommended daily allowance of 5 mg.
Vitamins B-6 and B-12
Women who take birth control pills may suffer from vitamin B-6 deficiency, a condition that might trigger hair loss. The recommended dose for treating B-6 deficiency due to use of oral contraceptives ranges from 25 mg to 30 mg a day. Other people with vitamin B-6 deficiencies take 2.5 mg to 25 mg a day for a few weeks and then reduce their dose to 1.5 mg to 2.5 mg a day. Women going through menopause might experience hair loss, and adults older than 50 face about a 1-in-31 chance of becoming deficient in vitamin B-12, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Taking more vitamin B-12 than you need might cause blood clots or diarrhea.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Vitamin B-3 (Niacin); June 18, 2009
- Medline Plus; Thiamine (Vitamin B-1); May 9, 2011
- Medline Plus; Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2); Nov. 19, 2010
- Medline Plus; Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B-5); Nov. 19, 2010
- Medline Plus; Pyridoxine (Vitamin B-6); Dec. 13, 2010
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements: Vitamin B-6
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