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Do hair vitamins belong on the list I send before blood tests?

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The clinic's form asked for medicines. I listed my prescription, then left my hair-and-nail gummies off because they were beside the toothpaste rather than in the medicine drawer.

When I mentioned the blood tests to a friend, she said, "It's only biotin. You're overthinking it."

The tests have not happened yet. I looked at the label and found that I could not explain whether the listed amount mattered. [NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements says biotin supplements can interfere with some laboratory tests and recommends telling healthcare providers about supplements](https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Biotin-Consumer/).

I will send the clinic a photograph of the label and ask for instructions, rather than choose a stopping interval from online comments. How much detail should I include so this gets connected to my actual test booking instead of becoming a vague question about vitamins?

Discussion

2 community replies

Include the product name, the label showing the amount per serving, how much you take, when you last took it and the test date. Ask whether it affects the ordered tests and whether the clinic needs you to do anything differently.

Where the gummies live is an understandable mental shortcut, but it is not what determines whether the information matters. Update the form rather than feeling obliged to defend why you left them out.

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