A minoxidil warning - Evidence minoxidil causes eye circles, wrinkles and bad skin

TinSoldier

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There's no scientific evidence that Minoxidil can cause wrinkling of the skin as a side effect. At this point, it's just a false rumor going around to scare people away from Minoxidil who could potentially benefit from it so those that weren't successful with it could feel better about themselves.

I had amazing success with minoxidil.. it gave me back about a year of hair. So your theory makes no sense. You guys spend so much time on these boards and all push these drugs so hard and are so unwilling to accept anyone complain about "unscientifically proven" side effects, I can't help but think some of you work for the drug companies.

This side effect may be rare but there are enough people who have claimed to experience it that it obviously exists for a small percentage. If it doesnt for you then you are lucky and keep using it. My purpose is to warn people to keep an eye on it so that they dont wait until its too late that theyve done irreparable damage to their faces.

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wow did somebody actually give me negative rep for "scaring the newbies".. haha.. dude whoever you are you are a sad sad soul and I pity you.
 

chipsy

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Grab a quality eye cream and soldier on. Been on minoxidil for a long time but I also take good care of my skin. I just think there are a lot of guys on here ready to blame the products on a range of sides that all come down to general ageing and neglecting basic health care.
 

TinSoldier

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Grab a quality eye cream and soldier on. Been on minoxidil for a long time but I also take good care of my skin. I just think there are a lot of guys on here ready to blame the products on a range of sides that all come down to general ageing and neglecting basic health care.

The first time I experienced eye issues was a few months into using minoxidil when i was 20, so that was not "general ageing". When I resumed minoxidil this year, the lines came back within a month. I don't see it as a coincidence.

I've been on retinol and a skin vitamin this year, more water intake and more exercise than ever. But doesnt help enough unfortunately. The thing is I can live with it NOW..my concern is that I will inevitably go bald eventually and i dont want to be 35, bald AND have the skin of a 50 year old drug addict. I'm just thinking about the future.
 

unplugged88

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Why can't you accept you're just getting wrinkles and getting old at 20 years old?
You won't stay youthful looking forever you know. Stop blaming the minoxidil.

Why can`t you accept you`re going bald and getting old at 25 years old?

That`s a terrible attitude and point of view.
The worse thing you can do is ignore side effects when taking a new medication. They could potentially progress and cause deeper harm.
 

TinSoldier

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Why can't you accept you're just getting wrinkles and getting old at 20 years old?

I don't have much wrinkles for example at the age of 25. But most of my friends were already wrinkly at the age of 21.

And they don't use minoxidil at all. You won't stay youthful looking forever you know. Stop blaming the minoxidil.

I'm not going to play this game with someone who's made 2500 posts in a hair loss forum, you've obviously got a warped perspective or alternate agenda. I'm out.

Peace.
 

Agustin Araujo

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dutasteride IS a male hormone destruction medicine. It inhibits 5ar1 DHT, which is present in high levels in the male brain. Have fun having the mental functioning of a woman. 8 years ago it was just the craziest of rebels who would consider it. Now even (not fully developed) teenagers are casually taking it because internet culture has made them think it's fine.

People campaigning for teenagers to order dutasteride online and use it is dangerous. Someone sharing his experiences with minoxidil side effects is not. At the end of the day it is up to anyone to weigh the risk/reward and even I am continuing with minoxidil despite experiencing side effects.

Dutasteride can cause side effects, just like any medication. I'm just not worried about getting side effects from Dutasteride. If I do get them, I can just quit the medication and they'll subside. Dutasteride has been shown to be very well tolerated by most men. My point is, it's not going to hurt to try Dutasteride.

Minoxidil without doubt, can cause side effects such as dizziness and faintness being common ones. I'm just stating that there's no scientific evidence that Minoxidil can cause wrinkling of the skin. I would stop using Minoxidil if it's causing unmanageable side effects.
 

resu

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On the side-effects list the most common ones were eczema and hypertrichosis.
 

resu

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Dutasteride will probably inhibit normal development of the brain, something that isn't done growing until mid 20s at least.

I can't believe the change in opinion toward dutasteride the past few years. Until recently people on here and hairlosshelp actually understood the science behind the stuff they were taking and most posts regarding anti-androgens were about that. Now everyone just encourages others to take anything and everything and pops things like dutasteride like nothing because people on the internet don't think it will have any consequences. It's mind boggling.

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Did they specify whether the eczema was caused by allergy or was it just a reaction being stimulated?

I might be starting to get the hypertrichosis. There are some more hairs around the edges of my eyebrows than I remember, but I'm not sure. This stuff better be make my scalp hair grow soon :p

Yes they did, the dermatitis was caused by a bad reaction to the vehicle (PG) and to an allergy to minoxidil itself (less common).

See here:
https://drive.google.com/viewerng/v...ude.pt/bitstream/10400.4/1464/1/minoxidil.pdf

That's more than 10% which is very common, water retention was on the least common list and there is no percentage.

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It's funny how the scaremongers are never even getting those. Always the odd wrinkles that affected 0 in 1000 people.

A lot of those 1 post users calling finasteride and minoxidil poison are made by the natural hair treatment shills to push their "no side-effects since it's natural" bs products.
 

Quantum Cat

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Dutasteride will probably inhibit normal development of the brain, something that isn't done growing until mid 20s at least.

I can't believe the change in opinion toward dutasteride the past few years. Until recently people on here and hairlosshelp actually understood the science behind the stuff they were taking and most posts regarding anti-androgens were about that. Now everyone just encourages others to take anything and everything and pops things like dutasteride like nothing because people on the internet don't think it will have any consequences. It's mind boggling.

this worries me too. There's a thread in the Tell Your Story forum where a 16 year old kid is taking Dutasteride. Worse still, he appears to have no sign of male pattern baldness.
 

massa

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Its not minoxidil that causes side effects though? As far as im aware scalp irritation by liquid minoxidil is largely caused by a bad reaction to ethanol/propylene glycol.

Sometimes these forums do more harm than good with people scare mongering and giving out wrong information. I waited years to properly treat my hair loss due to people spreading bs about permanent sides from finasteride etc, I now take dutasteride and am yet to report even a tiny drop in libido.
 

Quantum Cat

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I didn't see the thread until now. That's scary and yeah that's what I'm talking about. There's a reason the FDA wouldn't approve testing for finasteride (let alone dutasteride) on teenagers under 18 and the reality is that we finish development much later than that.

I don't this kid wanted to hear the advice I gave him, so he's ignored me.

oh well... he may reap what he sows
 

Masakage

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Hey Tinsoldier, did you experience any other side-effects while using this medication? You could try to lower the dosage if you wish to continue using it, it would maintain the hairs that you have at least. I had a very similar experience to yours, When I used the 5% I knew it was something that caused allergic reactions of my skin, the itchiness was annoying, I experienced dried skin even though my scalp is very oily, I experienced a lot of other side effects like bloatedness, increased heart rate, flaky scalp (which was prolly the dried minx). At one point I developed a rash with small red-like bumps on my forehead.

Here's what I did, I first stopped using it to confirm that it was from minoxidil for about a week, which returned everything to normal (except the wrinkles, still there but reduced to mere expression lines thanks to Retinol). I then returned on it for two months, no increased side effects, it just gets itchy. I kept doing this for about 2 months now, no significant hair growth, just a bit of peach fuzz on the temples (which is a good sign) and very minor hair loss, like 4-5 hairs fall out when I wash my hair. 10 hairs max fall out when I blow dry it.

I went to a dermatologist the other day, he prescribed for me 10% minoxidil lol, which is a gel like material (to me it's very weird because I thought it only came in as liquid or foam). I've been using it for 4 days, it only caused a VERY minor itchiness. No other sides to report so far. It may not be from the minoxidil itself but the delivery vehicle, so you could try other alternative brands to find out which one fits you.

Worst case scenario: You could greatly lower your dosage to the point where it only maintains it (if you have this medication working greatly for you, you could do that like I did). Eventually you'll recover your skin, it takes about 3-12 months to regenerate your collagen depending on your recovery, lifestyle, etc.

And now, to address 90% of the people in this forum who derailed the topic. I don't understand why you people get so defensive when it comes to minoxidil side effects. If loads and loads of people are reporting this side-effect, it should have some sort of credibility into it. I don't give two shyts if it isn't reported in clinical trials, doctors and scientists fukk up all the time. This guy came here, to ask for assistance and help, and you go on criticizing him and claiming that he's bullshytting? The picture he posted does show how his skin became less firm, despite the colors, it shows that his eyes are more sucked in, it shows that his skin became thinner. On those remarks, did you lose weight? Seriously, help out our fellow balding mate here.
 

TinSoldier

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Hey Tinsoldier, did you experience any other side-effects while using this medication? You could try to lower the dosage if you wish to continue using it, it would maintain the hairs that you have at least. I had a very similar experience to yours, When I used the 5% I knew it was something that caused allergic reactions of my skin, the itchiness was annoying, I experienced dried skin even though my scalp is very oily, I experienced a lot of other side effects like bloatedness, increased heart rate, flaky scalp (which was prolly the dried minx). At one point I developed a rash with small red-like bumps on my forehead.

Here's what I did, I first stopped using it to confirm that it was from minoxidil for about a week, which returned everything to normal (except the wrinkles, still there but reduced to mere expression lines thanks to Retinol). I then returned on it for two months, no increased side effects, it just gets itchy. I kept doing this for about 2 months now, no significant hair growth, just a bit of peach fuzz on the temples (which is a good sign) and very minor hair loss, like 4-5 hairs fall out when I wash my hair. 10 hairs max fall out when I blow dry it.

I went to a dermatologist the other day, he prescribed for me 10% minoxidil lol, which is a gel like material (to me it's very weird because I thought it only came in as liquid or foam). I've been using it for 4 days, it only caused a VERY minor itchiness. No other sides to report so far. It may not be from the minoxidil itself but the delivery vehicle, so you could try other alternative brands to find out which one fits you.

Worst case scenario: You could greatly lower your dosage to the point where it only maintains it (if you have this medication working greatly for you, you could do that like I did). Eventually you'll recover your skin, it takes about 3-12 months to regenerate your collagen depending on your recovery, lifestyle, etc.

And now, to address 90% of the people in this forum who derailed the topic. I don't understand why you people get so defensive when it comes to minoxidil side effects. If loads and loads of people are reporting this side-effect, it should have some sort of credibility into it. I don't give two shyts if it isn't reported in clinical trials, doctors and scientists fukk up all the time. This guy came here, to ask for assistance and help, and you go on criticizing him and claiming that he's bullshytting? The picture he posted does show how his skin became less firm, despite the colors, it shows that his eyes are more sucked in, it shows that his skin became thinner. On those remarks, did you lose weight? Seriously, help out our fellow balding mate here.

Great reply, really appreciate it thanks. My reaction was certainly not as allergic like that.. I had some itching to begin which subsided then its just been a gradual degradation process. No weight loss or any other sides. At this stage Im going to just lower my dose to once every two days and see if i notice the puffiness subside.

Im curious, what brand of retinol did you use and have you had success with any other skin care products?
 

skip2mylou

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Min actually had an effect on my face as well. I stopped right away though.

Someone actually posted up some useful information explaining, that lowering your dose should help with all this. The amount recommended on the bottle seemed a bit too much anyway, I was leaking minoxidil all over my face,
 

Masakage

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You're welcome mate :)

Yes you should definitely lower the dose and see how it goes, I'm assuming a lot of the applied minoxidil was systematically absorbed into your system hence collagen depleted.

I'm using Rexsol USA Retinol + C Anti-wrinkle Treatment Cream, been using it for two weeks now, the wrinkles became less visible on my forehead. It definitely helped me out, so you may as well try something like it. I'm honestly a noob when it comes to skin care products, I used Himalaya Herbals Revitalizing Night Cream before, it was quite nice as it made my face smoother.

Skip2myLou and Zoupa, I think it varies from person to person. I think, people who have this medication working for them greatly suffer the most side effects from it, especially peeps who have their hair regrown, a lot.
 

resu

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You need to go to a derm and ask for a prescription of retin-a, not retinol because it is too weak and won't do a thing. Don't use retin-a on your own without researching thoroughly.
 

unplugged88

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Are there any decent over-the-counter Retinol products that can help with the minoxidil side effects:confused:

I have an appointment with my derm in over a month and want to find a decent product until then.
 

Secretlybatman

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Fred you know that minoxidil reduces collegen synthesis, So your claim here seems to be relying on not mentioning that. You've often stated things along the lines of because it didn't happen to you therefore it happens to no one but face it man that's idiotic. I by no means think that his photos are evidence of anything, they're under different light after all but I for one have noticed I'm developing something similar to this http://img.medscape.com/fullsize/migrated/editorial/casecme/2007/6557/images/gilliam.fig1.gif, Do i think minoxidil is the sole reason for this? No because there is a depression under my skin there but it has got a lot worse in the last year. The same time period I've been on minoxidil which I think may have something to do with the collegen. I've also noticed a worsening (yes i had them before) of undereye circles. I've brought a derma roller, eye cream and reduced my minoxidil application to once a day to try combat these and no, this isn't just a scaremonger post, I suffered finasteride sides for the first month, Yet only posted 1 thing from memory in the my story second that even mentioned them. They're gone now like I expected them to be. Some posts on these minoxidil sides from you have not been flash and sadly they're not rare.
 

unplugged88

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No one cares about your so-called sides if you can't back them up with scientific evidence.

We are not scientists, we are consumers. These people are merely stating their experiences while using Minoxidil (with an overwhelming amount of them suggesting Minoxidil increased facial aging, wrinkles, etc)
.
Stop writing it off. This outcry is real and worrisome. Maybe more studies should be conducted by PROFESSIONALS in this area.
 
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