Anyone experienced bad acne while taking collagen/biotin??

22 Oct, 2013, by SpottyFace

Hi Everyone, I have had a problem picking at my skin for at least ten years. Although I never really had bad acne, I would just squeeze and pick at any little bump which would cause a pimple or a sore. I started taking a collagen supplement about a year ago, thinking that it would help with scarring (and also for a few wrinkles...) I started breaking out really bad with deep pimples...which of course I picked at. These pimples never really went away completely. Needless to say my skin has been absolutely terrifying for the past year. About two weeks ago I realized that the acne could be related to the collagen supplement. I stopped taking it and started taking high doses of vitamin C and 50 mg of zinc and it seems like my skin has really improved, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. I also just added a vitamin E supplement. Has anyone experienced an increase in acne while taking a collagen and/or biotin supplement?? Any thoughts on this?? I wish everyone dealing with this problem the best of luck...this will get better!!

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Lindsey October 29, 2017

I know this has been years since the post was made but yes! Anytime I take collagen supplements I get deep hormonal acne around my jaw line and chine. You don't find a lot of ready information about this but it does happen and can be a cause for acne if you all of a sudden developed it once you started taking collagen.

serene October 29, 2017

Biotin causes an increase in acne. It's a well known side effect of taking it.

bebe November 24, 2017

I have ended up here because I'm looking for info on collagen supplements causing acne. I don't suffer from acne at all and both times I have tried collagen, I have developed deep cystic pimples. I would love to know what causes that to happen and odd that everything about collagen seems to say the opposite is true.

Lindsey November 24, 2017

Biotin doesn't cause the acne for me as I have taken biotin with no issue. But anytime I do collagen in bovine it happens. Same goes with eating a lot of cheese and drinking milk. This may be specific to me but I have done various elimination diets to find the cause. Each time it was the college supp.

CalaD February 02, 2018

Yes i had the same problem!!!! I started taking the collagen with vitamin C and now i have pimples all over my face and neck!!! I never had acne like this... how long will this take b4 it goes away?

Smog April 08, 2018

I have been taking marine collagen for around one month and also developed really bad deep spots that are quite painful. What is frustrating is that my skin is noticeably softer - just more spotty! I was hoping it might improve after 3 months but it doesn’t sound promising....I’ll keep going for a bit longer

Heatherw June 26, 2018

Me too. Started taking a collagen peptides supplement, made from bovine collagen, and I'm getting deep painful cysts on my jawline and chin. I don't breakout like this. I have maybe gotten 3 or 4 cysts like this in my life. Now I have 3 on my face at the same time. My supplement doesn't contain biotin, but I've been taking that for over a year with no issues. It the collagen. I'm just going to stop because most evidence suggests there's no benefit to skin, nails, or hair anyway. You're better off taking vitamin c, silica, and biotin. I believe your body uses all these in the production of collagen.

heidihat July 28, 2018

I thought I was crazy. I recently started taking collagen supplements and developed deep cystic acne. I mean huge on my check and neck, it is terrible. I stopped taking the collagen thinking that is the only thing I have done differently. I have not developed any new bumps, but seems slow going to go away. Vitamin C (high doses) also gives me cystic acne.

Gargamel March 06, 2019

When I was taking Vital Proteins bovine collagen peptides I got horrific deep cystic acne on my neck and jawline. It was painful and super ugly. It lasted long after I stopped taking the collagen and I had to go to a dermatologist to get rid of it. She prescribed a low dose of an antibiotic and a retinoid cream and that took care of it almost instantly. It’s a bummer about the collagen because I’ve taken it in the past (Neocell Super Collagen I got at Whole Foods) and gotten amazing results—glowing, radiant skin. I wish I knew what it was that caused the deep cystic jawline/neck acne. My assumption is that it comes from hormones present in the cow. I wish there were more info available on this super unfortunate phenomenon.

Unicorn May 02, 2019

I started using collagen 100% pure hydrolysed powder in order to achieve healthy glowing skin but i got the contrary! Whenever i use it i have outbreaks on my cheeks with red and painful acne! Definitely not recommending it!

ruth dupuis June 04, 2019

i bought and started taking collagen+c in october 2018, took it as directed for the 4 month supply. i broke out in sore swollen pussy acne around my chin, mouth, and eyes . it is now 4 months since i finished taking it and am still breaking out and have even developed blood shot eyes that matter all the time. eye dr. says no sign of infection just allergy. i don't know if the eyes are affected by collagen+c. has anyone found a way to get this collagen OUT of my system fast. please help. thank you ruth dupuis. please respond right away.

epstone July 23, 2020

Hello there, I notice these posts are fairly old now but I have been experiencing all of the above after taking Marine Collagen + Vit C tablets for 4 months. It's been 1.5 months since I stopped but still experiencing issues. Does anyone have any updates following their experience? How long did it take to leave the system? Thanks!

Mia68 September 09, 2020

I recently tried the FurtherFood bovine Collagen Peptides that you buy at Costco.I have never had deep acne in my life and I am 52 years old. I developed deep cystic acne in my cheek bone area and under my mouth within days. I stopped the Collagen immediately. It has been two weeks and the acne still has not healed. I will never try the collagen peptides again!

Fluffycat October 27, 2020

Replying to epstone... I started with Marine collagen in July 2020. It was all good at first with my skin improving and the joint in my toe feeling so much better. Now it’s the end of October and I have terrible cystic acne. I’m really gutted as my skin feels very soft. I’ve never suffered from acne before. I’m going to try going to one sachet every other day, hoping it will improve with a lower dose.

RiseAbove January 05, 2021

So grateful to find this post and all of your comments. The skin on my face has broken out with a strange 'water-filled' acne (chin, cheeks, nose, a little on my forehead) and some are tender. I was thinking it was a delayed response to eating suger/desserts last week -- but, after reading this, it would make sense if it was the Gingerbread Collagen I've been drinking 1-2x/day for the past few days! Ugh. I've also started taking Vit. C again...and might stop taking it all for awhile. Any advice on how to clear it up besides drinking lots of water? I've been using tea tree oil to keep it clean and hopefully heal the spots quicker.

snipzie January 05, 2021

Is this anything you have ever had before? It would be more of a topical reaction or a type of infection...herpes, bacterial, viral... What EXACTLY is your regimen and products that you use?

Buddhasmom February 11, 2021

The post is "old," but I just came across it. YES!! i never had problems with acne until i started using collagen supplements!!! Awful!! People need to be warned about this. It got so bad that my lower jaw, chest and upper arms broke out!!!! I didn't connect the dots until i started doing research on what was causing and by then i had broken out all over the place it seems. My complexion was so nice that a friend would say to me that i had porcelain fine skin. NOT now!! I'm actually pretty angry that this has happened to me in my late 50's, early 60's. I've been using a liquid crystalline formula that is supposed to help with anti-scarring because i have picked at each and every zit that popped up. I AM NOT A HAPPY CAMPER. Though i will say that one company has refunded my $ for the collagen.

snipzie February 11, 2021

Im wondering what products exactly did you use and if there were other ingredients that could have exacerbated that side effect. I've never tried collagen products...wondering why it would have caused the breakout. That totally sucks and now you have to deal with another issue. How long have you been off it and is there any improvement?

RiseAbove February 11, 2021

Snipzie, thank you for your replies! I appreciate you suggesting that the breakout could have been bacterial, viral, or even HSV. It helped in my research - and now I use a different cleanser and stay clear of collagen/gelatin and high fat/oil products. Skin has greatly improved! Buddhasmom, sorry about your reaction too! It's so frustrating! The supplement Super Lysine helped my skin tremendously, for whatever reason.

Buddhasmom February 11, 2021

Thank you! I use lysine, also using a liquid crystalline spray on my face to help prevent scarring.

.Gingersnap. February 23, 2021

My sister and I used to take hair, skin, and nails vitamins with biotin in them and they caused breakouts for us too :/ Make sure to look out for biotin in multivitamins

cwood5 May 13, 2021

I made an account so I could post here too. Since there isn’t a lot of warnings about this out there I was so glad you all posted. I took collagen on and off for about 2 years before I really suspected it was the cause. My acne got pretty bad recently when I was taking it consistently. I finally finished a canister and decided not to buy anymore and my skin has completely cleared up in about a month! I had terrible red acne around my jawline and neck that were painful and would only sometimes come to a whitehead. It was awful and embarrassing. I am still dealing with the scars of course but those will fade in time. Acne is always complicated, but collagen certainly made it much much worse for me. I was just using it to get a little more protein in. Definitely not worth it. I’ll eat some real food instead, you should too! Beat of luck if you are dealing with this/searching for information.

Buddhasmom May 14, 2021

Too lithium can cause acne also!! I am MAD that this warning is not put out there for those of us who are using it to help with moods. The only way i found out was through one of my nutrition books. It has caused for me to break out with omega 6 oils and most likely caused the break-outs with the collagen also. After i stopped supplementing with the lithium the break-outs have stopped for the most part. It'll take time for the darn lithium to work completely out of my system. So glad i found out!!! I hope this helps others. If you are breaking out, get off of the LITHIUM!!!

Buddhasmom May 14, 2021

Forgot to say that I still need to watch my omega 6 oil intake. Dare Lithium!!!!

PurpleKissPh May 23, 2021

I'm here because I noticed that my skin got better when I stopped taking Youtheory's Collagen with Biotin. I took Collagen to help me with my acne problem and I am not getting any younger so I thought I should start taking better care of my skin by taking collagen supplements.

Buddhasmom May 23, 2021

Stopped taking biotin, but i don't think that it was bothering my skin. It was the lithium because when i stopped taking this my skin is clearing up.

Xiprodd June 05, 2021

I am so glad I found this message board! I’ve been collagen loading for the par couple of weeks. I couldn’t figure out why I started breaking out with cystic acne on my chin. I was thinking it was from wearing a mask. Now I’m sure it’s the collagen. I’m going to stop taking it immediately. Ugh...I’m so annoyed.

Fluffycat June 05, 2021

UPDATE to my previous post in October 2020. I stopped taking the Marine collagen. At the time I wasn’t sure if it was definitely the collagen or could be to do with the onset of possibly being pre menopausal. Anyway it took a while for the persistent acne spots to stop appearing. I would say till about April 2021 (6months till the really awkward ones disappeared). Dare I say the spots have gone ! My skin has improved dramatically and I won’t be touching collagen again. I started to use Weleda Skin food that I heard was good and I wanted something that was just simple and more natural. It’s very thick but my skin easily absorbs it and just loves it. My skin looks and feels as good as ever. Won’t be taking anything internal for my skin again... apart from healthy foods.

Buddhasmom June 05, 2021

Yade.olive June 22, 2021

I’m new to using collagen. Only started using it because of all the hype I’ve been seeing. Ive only started using collagen for about 2 weeks now. And I thought I was going crazy or maybe I was getting my monthly. But Ive never seen my skin so red. I now have a whole whopper of pimples on my chin area and nose and cheeks just growing… will stop USING IT FOR NOW! Haven’t had my skin so red since I was in high school :(