Switching minoxidil concentrations - from 5% to 15% and back

[WarLord]

Hello,
Have you ever experienced problems after switching minoxidil concentrations?

In January 2011, I decided to make an experiment with Xandrox 15 Plus in order to regrow some hair in my temples. I applied Xandrox 15 Plus once daily in the morning in my temples, and continued in using 5% minoxidil on the whole head in the evening.

In June/July 2011 I noticed that I regrew few thick hairs on bald places, but at the same time, my hairline in my left temple was utterly devastated. (I applied it only on bald places in my right temple.) I realized that I experienced a minoxidil-induced shedding that wouldn't stop. The stuff was simply too strong for me. Since I ran out of Xandrox then, I bought 15% EssenGen from MinoxidilMax and applied it only once every other day for 1 month, and in August 2011 I started to apply a 10% mixture every other day. In February 2012 I found out that it was producing no further results and I quitted 10% minox completely.

The thinned hairline has improved a bit in the meantime, but it was still below the original level. I noticed that there were always some new hairs growing, but the density didn't increase, which suggested that the hair cycle was shortened and the hairs fell out, grew back, fell out and so on.

Now, I would suppose that after quitting the strong minoxidil concentrations, which f*cked up my hair cycle, my lost hair would grow back. Some people even reported that after heavy shedding on 15% minox and switching back to 5%, they not only regrew the lost hair, but experienced an amazing regrowth.

Well, this doesn't seem to be my case. In mid-April 2012 (i.e. 2 months after switching back to 5% minoxidil), I started to lose whole groups of hairs along my hairline in the left temple, and now, even after 3,5 months, it still didn't stop. My left temple is in the worst state ever, already matching the Xandrox-induced shed. The lost hairs start to grow back after some time, but very, very slowly, and I wouldn't bet my money that they will regrow back in full density and strength.

My biggest concern is that 5% minoxidil may cease to work in me. :P However, this would be quite an unlikely coincidence, and furthermore, the hairline in my right temple, where I applied it only on bald places, remains solid like before. Therefore, I suspect that the hair cycle may only be "resetting", but I wouldn't expect that the hairline would be getting worse even after 3 months. It's mindboggling and depressing, because I don't know, what's happening. I have been using 6% minoxidil since mid-April (a mixture of 5% Kirkland with 15% EssenGen), which seems to be the best compromise in this situation.

I understand that this question is difficult to answer via the internet, but it is always better to share experience. One never knows, if someone experienced the same. In any case, if I had known that I would have gone through such an ordeal, I would have never used neither the Xandrox, nor any similarly strong minox! :P

[daffodil1003]

Thanks you for sharing

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[joshua]

I can relate to your story Warlord, switching from 5% minox to Xandrox 15% also left my hair devastated in a matter of mere months. My scalp also became red and inflamed on the places were I applied the stuff. Instead of naively continuiing usage I cut my losses and went back on regulair 5% minox (also because I read that other users were able to reverse the Xandrox damage).

This proved to be the best choice since after a few months a lot of lost hair on Xandrox was growing back again. I have no idea how much my bad bout with Xandrox has to do with this, since I also started using Folligen at the same time that I switched to 5% minox again.

I'm sorry to read that your return to regular minox hasn't been a succes story thusfar. However you do say you still use 10% minox along with the 5%. Maybe it's best to just drop the higher percentage minox altogether? It has still been just a few months since you dropped the 15% stuff so hang in there, thing may still take a turn for the better. I also went through some crappy months on 5% minox after dropping Xandrox when I was still shedding like hell, but thing gradually started to get better, until I saw a significant increase in regrowth.

[WarLord]

I can relate to your story Warlord, switching from 5% minox to Xandrox 15% also left my hair devastated in a matter of mere months. My scalp also became red and inflamed on the places were I applied the stuff. Instead of naively continuiing usage I cut my losses and went back on regulair 5% minox (also because I read that other users were able to reverse the Xandrox damage).

This proved to be the best choice since after a few months a lot of lost hair on Xandrox was growing back again. I have no idea how much my bad bout with Xandrox has to do with this, since I also started using Folligen at the same time that I switched to 5% minox again.

I'm sorry to read that your return to regular minox hasn't been a succes story thusfar. However you do say you still use 10% minox along with the 5%. Maybe it's best to just drop the higher percentage minox altogether? It has still been just a few months since you dropped the 15% stuff so hang in there, thing may still take a turn for the better. I also went through some crappy months on 5% minox after dropping Xandrox when I was still shedding like hell, but thing gradually started to get better, until I saw a significant increase in regrowth.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I also read stories like this, so I did hope that I would at least return to the original state 16 months ago.

However, you misunderstood my post. I was using 15% Xandrox every day from January 2011 to June 2011, then 15% EssenGen every other day in July 2011, and 10% mixture of Kirkland and EssenGen from August 2011 to mid-February 2012 every other day. So it's been 3,5 months since I quitted 10% minox. I was using 5% minox from mid-February to mid-April, and now I have been using 6% minox (a mixture of Kirkland with EssenGen) since mid-April.

The most depressing thing on it is the fact that I don't know what's actually happening and I can't take any appropriate actions. The solid and thick hairline in my right temple gives me a hope, but the devastation in the left temple advanced to such a degree that it's unberable for me. Well, my situation still isn't serious, because I am Norwood 2, but my left temple is almost Norwood 3 now. I did a big mistake that I cut my hair to 3 cm. Usually the short hair covers hair thinning, but now the mess became even more visible.

Furthermore, the situation is further complicated by dermarolling that I have been practicing since November last year. At first I used 2 mm needles every 4-6 days and my paranoia tells me that I could damage my hair follicles. On the other hand, I didn't press too hard, and now I am losing hair even on places, where I didn't roll much. Now I use 1 mm dermastamp. It produces some results on bald places, but it's like +1-2 hairs/week.

I seriously consider hair transplantation. So far my experiments brought more harm than good to me, and since my hair loss is still relatively mild and I have kept my hair with minoxidil for 15,5 years, it would be a very good investment

[joshua]

You've used the higher percentage minox way longer than me, so you just might need more time for your hair to restore to it's pre-Xandrox days...
Also, you say you're currently mixing Kirkland minox with another brand? I don't think mixing different minox versions is going to improve its effectiveness, maybe it's even holding your recovery back. I would just continue using plain ol' 5% minoxidil in the forthcoming months and see if things take a turn for the better. Good luck!

[Xandroxuser]

I thought I had followed the Xandrox threads quite closely - but I don't recall a lot of postings which say Xandrox 15% messed up things and then when posters went back to 5% things got better again. Can you please say where these postings are?

[WarLord]

I thought I had followed the Xandrox threads quite closely - but I don't recall a lot of postings which say Xandrox 15% messed up things and then when posters went back to 5% things got better again. Can you please say where these postings are?

So you think that it would be permanent? Don't scare me, please! Actually, there is a lot of threads of this sort.

I realized that one of them comes from Joshua above:
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=58038
"So it's been about three months since quitting xandrox 15 and I'm happy to report that the ton of hair that I lost while using that crap is growing back."

viewtopic.php?f=61&t=60193
"I was foam and dut but still losing, switched out the foam to xandrox 15 plus. Nothing at first but then just big losses, massive sheds. It continued for eight months. Contacted Dr Lee who said get off dut as its unproven long term but stay on xandrox as any hair you lose will come back. I lost so much i couldnt handle it and stopped the xandrox and went back to foam.
2 months after this my hair growth just exploded. Now I was shaving my hair short and its weird cause i never really realised it was regrowing until i just woke up one day and could do my hair like i used to and I was like wow where did this come from and people started commenting."

[WarLord]

You've used the higher percentage minox way longer than me, so you just might need more time for your hair to restore to it's pre-Xandrox days...
Also, you say you're currently mixing Kirkland minox with another brand? I don't think mixing different minox versions is going to improve its effectiveness, maybe it's even holding your recovery back. I would just continue using plain ol' 5% minoxidil in the forthcoming months and see if things take a turn for the better. Good luck!

I started to use the mixture in mid-April, when it was clear that things were getting worse. I simply mix 60 ml of Kirkland with 6-7 ml of EssenGen. EssenGen is a plain 15% minoxidil with the addition of retinol and caffeine. So far I see no shedding on the scalp, which suggests that the 6% strength is not excessive. I really have no better option, because as I said, I am not sure, what's happening. A slight increase in the minoxidil concentration is the best compromise at this moment. In any case, I will stop dermarolling (except bald places) and I will continue with the simple regime with 6% minox.

I wish I would never try the 15% Xandrox Plus!!! The ordeal through which I have been going during the last year was not worthy of the few regrown hairs! Now I would rather combine more things together in moderate doses - for example, 6% minoxidil containing 0.1-0.2% finasteride. The equation that if something works, it will work even better in higher doses, is not completely valid.