10 months on Kirkland Minoxidil 5%

[Silverfox]

Hi,

I have been using Minoxidil (Kirkland) 5% for 10 months now. I had diffuse thinning and had tried all the "natural" routes to no real avail (Zix not too bad). In the first 6 months I had really good success and went from my thinning being noticable in bright light to hardly noticable at all. However, at the start of March I noticed I was loosing a lot of hair. I know about the sheds, so I didn't worry. It is now the end of June and the hair is still coming out and my 'not every obvious' thinning is turning into a bit of a bald patch. I also use 2% Nizoral 3 times a week

Anyone with any advice? I will not go the Propecia route as I can't afford to have my hormone levels affected, so do I have any other options? Any topicals worth adding?

I am 34 years old and live in the UK. Can't afford a transplant, but no-one else in my family is loosing their hair so quickly (all brothers & cousins have some receding, but are all 10+ years older than me. Dad didn't go really bald until in his late 60s).

Thanks,

Silver

 

[yankee]

Stories like this are the reason why I have chosen to stay clear of minoxidil. the more research I do the more I reveal that minoxidil is a temporary solution at best and in the end feel it only speeds up the hairloss.

Sorry to hear of your problem.

 

[NeedHair247]

You might be becoming insensitive to it.
if your happy with minoxidil, then try using a higher conc like a 10% or 15% (its on ebay)
or try using spironolactone cream

 

[JWM]

You might want to add some retin-a.

 

[Boondock]

Stories like this are the reason why I have chosen to stay clear of minoxidil. the more research I do the more I reveal that minoxidil is a temporary solution at best and in the end feel it only speeds up the hairloss.

Sorry to hear of your problem.

Smart move. Wish I worked this out as early as you did. A pretty pointless treatment IMO.

 

[Oknow]

Stories like this are the reason why I have chosen to stay clear of minoxidil. the more research I do the more I reveal that minoxidil is a temporary solution at best and in the end feel it only speeds up the hairloss.

Sorry to hear of your problem.

Smart move. Wish I worked this out as early as you did. A pretty pointless treatment IMO.

Did it accelerate your hairloss?

 

[KeepTheHair]

It is only pointless if you are brainless.

Minoxidil does NOTHING for male pattern baldness. Your hair WILL continue to be "attacked" by DHT. ONLY using minoxidil is a huge blunder on your part. You HAVE to use some sort of DHT blocker/inhibitor or else the results from minoxidil will be overwhelmed anyway.


Minoxidil does not stop working, neither does your body develop a tolerance to it.


Think of it this way, a house is on fire, right...minoxidil is the new furniture. It looks better, but DHT is still setting sh*t on fire. You have to block the DHT. Minoxidil just improves appearance. Soon enough more furniture will burn anyway and then you think ok...stop using minoxidil and then at the end of it all it looks twice as bad.


Either use finasteride, spironolactone or SOMETHING to block the DHT...otherwise your hair WILL get worse.


Don't blame minoxidil for the state of your hair man. Minoxidil is the only product we have for real regrowth at the moment and to be honest it is working damn well for me. I am using a lot of DHT blockers so I doubt DHT will set fire to any more of my hair, if you know what I mean.

I have had no side effects from the finasteride I use.

 

[eth0]

Anyone with any advice? I will not go the Propecia route as I can't afford to have my hormone levels affected, so do I have any other options? Any topicals worth adding?

You could try topical spironolactone, but it's currently unproven.

You probably already know that your only real answer is propecia.
What's your problem with it?

 

[Boondock]

Stories like this are the reason why I have chosen to stay clear of minoxidil. the more research I do the more I reveal that minoxidil is a temporary solution at best and in the end feel it only speeds up the hairloss.

Sorry to hear of your problem.

Smart move. Wish I worked this out as early as you did. A pretty pointless treatment IMO.

Did it accelerate your hairloss?

It's hard to say. It may have simply done nothing. It certainly did give me scalp irritation, and white flakes which meant more bathroom/mirror checks than had I been wearing a piece.

 

[Silverfox]

Anyone with any advice? I will not go the Propecia route as I can't afford to have my hormone levels affected, so do I have any other options? Any topicals worth adding?

You could try topical spironolactone, but it's currently unproven.

You probably already know that your only real answer is propecia.
What's your problem with it?

Nothing to do with sexual side effects or the like. I developed a disease as a teenager due to my hormone levels changing (due to puberty) and needed a transplant to fix it. I love my hair, but wouldn't risk having the misery of that time again! I am happy to dump anything onto my head if it regrows hair, but am careful what I put in my system.

 

[eth0]

Whatever you put on your head also goes into your system, your skin absorbs things. Putting minoxidil on your head means you have minoxidil in your system.

 

[fairhaired]

It is only pointless if you are brainless.

Minoxidil does NOTHING for male pattern baldness. Your hair WILL continue to be "attacked" by DHT. ONLY using minoxidil is a huge blunder on your part. You HAVE to use some sort of DHT blocker/inhibitor or else the results from minoxidil will be overwhelmed anyway.


Minoxidil does not stop working, neither does your body develop a tolerance to it.


Think of it this way, a house is on fire, right...minoxidil is the new furniture. It looks better, but DHT is still setting sh*t on fire. You have to block the DHT. Minoxidil just improves appearance. Soon enough more furniture will burn anyway and then you think ok...stop using minoxidil and then at the end of it all it looks twice as bad.


Either use finasteride, spironolactone or SOMETHING to block the DHT...otherwise your hair WILL get worse.

Don't blame minoxidil for the state of your hair man. Minoxidil is the only product we have for real regrowth at the moment and to be honest it is working damn well for me. I am using a lot of DHT blockers so I doubt DHT will set fire to any more of my hair, if you know what I mean.

I have had no side effects from the finasteride I use.

I have tried finasteride and had terrible sides. What else could I use? Anyone know?

 

[fairhaired]

For example: would using rogaine, with spironolactone 2% cream be something that people would recommend? Thanks again!

 

[Silverfox]

Hi guys,

I took your advice and got myself some 20% AA (Skinoren) and started applying it 1-2 times a day at the same time as the minoxidil (5%). Where I was once going very thin on top (around July/August 2010 time) I now have quite a thick (ish) head of hair!!!!!! Skinoren and minoxidil is working for me. I have been on the Skinoren for about 4 months now and don't feel hopeless like I did before.

My key concern now is that the tube of Skinoren says don't apply for more than 6 months. Thant is about 1-2 months away. If I stop I may lose the progress I have made.

So my question now, will using Skinoren indefinately bring me any problems????

Any experience very welcome!!!

Again, thanks guys for the advice, I was ready for giving up the fight and taking a Bic razor to my head. I now am experimenting with different hairstyles


Silver

 

[JWM]

I see no reason why you can't continue using the Skinoren. People have been using Dr. Lee's Xandrox (which contains azeleic acid) for years with no problems.

How are you applying the cream in accordance with minoxidil, and where did you get the cream?

 

[Silverfox]

I see no reason why you can't continue using the Skinoren. People have been using Dr. Lee's Xandrox (which contains azeleic acid) for years with no problems.

How are you applying the cream in accordance with minoxidil, and where did you get the cream?

I am buying the cream online from NZ http://www.hairpharmacy.co.uk/product_skinoren.html
It is £13 vs £4 with UK prescription, but hey, I guess they get the arm in when they can! I put the minoxidil on, rub it in, then put the cream on the tips of my fingers and rub it in straight after. It stung the first few times, but is OK now, although it does leave my scalp a bit guey, but guey is better than baldy, so I am happy!!!

 

[Silverfox]

I see no reason why you can't continue using the Skinoren. People have been using Dr. Lee's Xandrox (which contains azeleic acid) for years with no problems.

How are you applying the cream in accordance with minoxidil, and where did you get the cream?

I am buying the cream online from NZ http://www.hairpharmacy.co.uk/product_skinoren.html
It is £13 vs £4 with UK prescription, but hey, I guess they get the arm in when they can! I put the minoxidil on, rub it in, then put the cream on the tips of my fingers and rub it in straight after. It stung the first few times, but is OK now, although it does leave my scalp a bit gooey, but gooey is better than baldy, so I am happy!!!