Switching to Minox once a day

[Nene]

Brief History
I'll be 28 this summer and I've been losing hair since I was about 16. I started using minox at 19 and got great results, but quit when I was 22. My hair loss worsened so I got back on minox at around 23.5, but also threw finasteride into the mix. I got some results, but at that point, I guess the hair loss was more advanced and I didn't see the same results I saw in my earlier 20s, I pretty much stabilized around Norwood 2 with thinning in the Norwood 3 region. But I kept using the minox religiously and threw in copper pepptides in the foolish hope of returning to a strong Norwood 2 or even 1.5.

Current Situation
So at this point I'm a Norwood 2 to 2.5 with pretty heavy thinning in the Norwood 3 region, I'm pretty sure I'd be advanced Norwood 3 if not for treatments. In any event, I've accepted the fact that the minox and fin are only helping me maintain at this point and nothing short of a HT will bring back lost hair. So now, I'm thiking of switching to minox once a day. I've heard a lot of long term minox users have switched to once a day without any adverse effects. Also, I've gotten some bags under my eyes and my face is a little bloated. I've been using minox for almost 9 straight years so it's impossible to know whether this is due to age or if it's due to minox, in any event, I'd lke to cut back on putting chemicals in my body after such a long time.

Bottom Line
So please! Share your stories of switching from twice a day minox application to once a day.

[Bryan]

I don't think topical minoxidil "maintains" hair, so it seems perfectly reasonable to me to switch from twice a day to only once a day (while continuing the finasteride, of course).

[Nene]

I don't think topical minoxidil "maintains" hair, so it seems perfectly reasonable to me to switch from twice a day to only once a day (while continuing the finasteride, of course).

Well I guess what I mean is, it is maintaining the hair I grew using minoxidil, but it is no longer growing new hairs.

[Bryan]

Using topical minoxidil only once a day is about 2/3 or 3/4 as effective as twice a day, anyway, so I don't see any real reason not to switch to once a day.

[Xandroxuser]

Using topical minoxidil only once a day is about 2/3 or 3/4 as effective as twice a day, anyway, so I don't see any real reason not to switch to once a day.

Bryan - and others - can you say more on this? Is your principle that if it takes 'x' minox to grow new hair, it only takes 1/2 'x' to maintain that minox new hair.

What concerns me about this, is how do you deal with the fact that the ageing process ('natural' MPB trajectory) itself presumably makes it more difficult to 'maintain' this new growth? Or do you think the ageing process only affects the efficacy of fin?

As an ex-Dr Lee Xandrox user, it would be nice to know I could go to minox products 1/2 as effective as his, and still maintain Lee hair! I am sceptical about this, much as I would like to believe it.

[maximiliandreams]

In my opinion...it's a little bit controversial about all of this stuff.I think that with ageing the MPB is not becoming more agressive and i will tell you why (this is only my personal point of a view so i dont bind someone with it)Why do you think that with ageing,the MPB is getting more agressive?I think that the reason of hairloss is only 1,and it's not getting more agressive with ageing,it's just the cycles of hair growth...with every cycle the hair is getting worse and worse...if you do nothing about that... it's really controversial,because for example if i start balding when i am 20 years,or at 28,the speed of balding is the same..for example if i am 20 years and for 2 years when i am 22 already i become from NW2 to NW3,so what?Does it mean that if i start balding at 28 i will become from NW1 to NW6 for 1 year?I restarted now the minoxidil..and generally i dont mind to use it twice a day..it's not a big problem...but the problem is that when i apply it in the morning my hair looks like **** and i look like an idiot with it..i cant go out with that hair so i wondered if i could use it only in the night .. but i think that starting minoxidil in the begining only once a day is a terrible mistake..i think that it's better to start it twice a day for minimum 8 months and regrow as more hair as possible,and then to experiment ..try to maintain the regrowth...so that's exactly what i will do...i am on finasteride from 24.07.2011,and started minoxidil on 20.08.2011 for 2 months and than stopped it..(stupid mistake) and while i was on it...i had unreal shedding followed by unreal regrowth..and for 1 month my hair was very thick and no shedding..but i think just because i stopped minoxidil i started to shed badly and i lost a lot of hair...cause i was on fin 1 month and started minox 1 month later...was on it for 2 months,and then stopped it.. i thought that the result was only because of the finasteride,because before i started finasteride i was on minoxidil for 1 year,and as you know the minoxidil alone and without nizoral is very weak to stop MPB..so whatever,i was afraid from finasteride but when my hair got worse i decided to try it..(no side effects)..i used minox only 2 months and when i saw the regrowth on month 5,i thought...it's the finasteride i dont need minoxidil...but may be i was wronge so i restarted it now..it's very strange ... to start treatment..have unreal shedding...followed by unreal regrowth...and now shedding badly again and lost a lot of hair after the amazing regrowth..dont know what to do..for now i will continue fin + minox + nizoral + fish oil..that's all .i am quit

[Bryan]

Using topical minoxidil only once a day is about 2/3 or 3/4 as effective as twice a day, anyway, so I don't see any real reason not to switch to once a day.

Oops, I goofed! I confused those numbers above with what had happened in Price's later 1999 study, in which 2% topical minoxidil used twice a day was 2/3 to 3/4 as effective as 5% topical minoxidil used twice a day. Sorry for the confusion!

The only topical minoxidil study I've ever seen that compared once-a-day use with twice-a-day use was an early one by Olsen. She found that going to a once-a-day schedule after the peak of regrowth after the first year had a "notable decline" in nonvellus between 1 year and 3 years. After transfer back to twice-daily treatment, the hair loss stabilized in the daily dose treatment group. (Note that only 2% and 3% minoxidil was being used in that study, which may be an important thing to consider!)

[Bryan]

Using topical minoxidil only once a day is about 2/3 or 3/4 as effective as twice a day, anyway, so I don't see any real reason not to switch to once a day.

Bryan - and others - can you say more on this? Is your principle that if it takes 'x' minox to grow new hair, it only takes 1/2 'x' to maintain that minox new hair.

See the correction I just made above! I was confusing two different studies!

[squeegee]

Using topical minoxidil only once a day is about 2/3 or 3/4 as effective as twice a day, anyway, so I don't see any real reason not to switch to once a day.

Bryan - and others - can you say more on this? Is your principle that if it takes 'x' minox to grow new hair, it only takes 1/2 'x' to maintain that minox new hair.

See the correction I just made above! I was confusing two different studies!

Been drinking Proxiphen Bryan?

[Bryan]

See the correction I just made above! I was confusing two different studies!

Been drinking Proxiphen Bryan?

No, I was starved for FOOD when I typed that! I was about to go eat some pizza, when I momentarily confused the Price study with the Olsen study!