7 months on minoxidil, hair is worse

[catch22]

I started rogaine foam 5% in the first week of June 2014 to help with my slowly receding hair line (used twice a day without fail). Looking back, it wasn't as bad as I made it out to be, but I figured I should tackle the problem while I still could reverse it.

I think I may have made a mistake. I went through a pretty rough shed for a few weeks (all over my head) and there have been no visible results. I've done a ton of reading on this and from what everyone suggests, shedding is a good thing since you respond well to the medicine. However, I haven't made any progress. It has gotten way worse and I've been thinning out all over my head where it once was very very thick. I just don't know what to do. Should I ride this out until a full year or should I quit while I still have the hair I have?

I'm still losing over 100+ hairs a day easily with lots visible in the shower. I have never shed like this until I started rogaine, now its a daily thing. I know people say that rogaine wouldn't make my hair fall out, but damn I didn't have any issues until now...

 

[DENI3D]

I started rogaine foam 5% in the first week of June 2014 to help with my slowly receding hair line (used twice a day without fail). Looking back, it wasn't as bad as I made it out to be, but I figured I should tackle the problem while I still could reverse it.

I think I may have made a mistake. I went through a pretty rough shed for a few weeks (all over my head) and there have been no visible results. I've done a ton of reading on this and from what everyone suggests, shedding is a good thing since you respond well to the medicine. However, I haven't made any progress. It has gotten way worse and I've been thinning out all over my head where it once was very very thick. I just don't know what to do. Should I ride this out until a full year or should I quit while I still have the hair I have?

I'm still losing over 100+ hairs a day easily with lots visible in the shower. I have never shed like this until I started rogaine, now its a daily thing. I know people say that rogaine wouldn't make my hair fall out, but damn I didn't have any issues until now...

Dude I did the exact same thing. 7 months exactly and things only got way worse since I started using it. I read it said on the package to stop if you don't see results within 4 months. Since I only saw negative results I decided to stop but the damage was already done. Don't think it changed or made anything worse than was going to happen eventually, just made it happen faster. Wish I hadn't started it but I was hopeful that it would work. Might want to ask people who stayed on it longer but everyone on here says you need to take it with finasteride to be effective. Personally I just don't feel like taking that risk for the hope that it will save my hair. So I've just accepted it for what it is :/

 

[catch22]

Dude I did the exact same thing. 7 months exactly and things only got way worse since I started using it. I read it said on the package to stop if you don't see results within 4 months. Since I only saw negative results I decided to stop but the damage was already done. Don't think it changed or made anything worse than was going to happen eventually, just made it happen faster. Wish I hadn't started it but I was hopeful that it would work. Might want to ask people who stayed on it longer but everyone on here says you need to take it with finasteride to be effective. Personally I just don't feel like taking that risk for the hope that it will save my hair. So I've just accepted it for what it is :/

Thanks for responding. Did yours get any better at all once you stopped or did you lose slower?

I also feel like it speeded up my hair loss exponentially. I just assumed that since I was shedding it must be making it grow new hair all over. I've read a lot of places that you should give it a full year to see if it works or not. I feel like it's a risk either way and I have no idea what to do. I also do not want to screw around with finasteride.

I truly wish I didn't even bother starting this. I would suggest to anyone if you have a good amount of hair, it's not worth the risk. Hopefully, if someone is contemplating using it, they should reconsider.

 

[DENI3D]

Thanks for responding. Did yours get any better at all once you stopped or did you lose slower?

I also feel like it speeded up my hair loss exponentially. I just assumed that since I was shedding it must be making it grow new hair all over. I've read a lot of places that you should give it a full year to see if it works or not. I feel like it's a risk either way and I have no idea what to do. I also do not want to screw around with finasteride.

I truly wish I didn't even bother starting this. I would suggest to anyone if you have a good amount of hair, it's not worth the risk. Hopefully, if someone is contemplating using it, they should reconsider.

Only stopped about month and a 1/2 ago and I guess so not really sure. Too early to notice but I don't expect balding to stop suddenly so I doubt it just hope it slows down some. Ya I had a decent amount of hair and had just started thinning to where it was noticeable when I started. Well its definitely noticeable now and instead of just along my temples and a barely noticeable receding hairline I have an obvious receding hairline and all my hair on my head is thin now. Just hope I can get a couple more years with what I have but I'd doubt it. Lets just hope for a cure buddy :wave: Hopefully by the time we're 30, (I'm 23 now lol) And ya it definitely felt like it speeded up my hairloss exponentially as well, not sure how much more I lost than I would've but I know it was significant.

 

[shookwun]

minioxidil is literally useless without finasteride, especially if your hair loss is on the more aggressive side.

Nizoral, Minioxidil are secondary to finasteride. ALL THOUGH WHEN USED TOGETHER they provide a more synergestic type of defence, and combination towards male pattern baldness. As a stand alone it wont do much. it's a vasodilator that promotes hair growth, providing more blood flow to the scalp, in return more nutrients to the follicle. DHT restricts, and chokes the hair of these vital necessities, so without an actually DHT inhibitor, the inevitable will happen eventually. It's all relative, but with the combination of both medications it will have a profound effect. As a stand alone finasteride would obviously be the better option.


minioxidil supports hair growth but it wont prevent DHT from binding to the follicle.