Anyone experienced bad acne while taking collagen/biotin??

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.

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

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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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