Anyone ever REGRET starting minoxidil?

[Red Rose]

The regimen I'm on now - I don't think its necessary - who wants to put that stuff on their heads for the rest of their lives?!

Also minoxidil is, as far as I'm concerned, the least user-friendly topical there is in terms of shedding, itchiness, flakes, dependency etc

Also I don't like the fact that you are told on this board and others "take minoxidil for at least 4 months to gauge effectiveness" and then you got the same guys telling you that you shouldn't ever stop taking minoxidil because after just 2 months use they stopped and almost lost all their hair... :freaked2:

Anyway my question is has anyone ever compared the effectiveness of their regimen with/without minoxidil because I dont want to become dependent on this stuff and am thinking about dropping it.

 

[ShedMaster]

I've been on minoxidil for 11 months now and have no regrets about starting. I'm seeing good results that would not have happened without minoxidil. Unfortunately minoxidil and propecia are still, today, the best weapons we have to fight male pattern baldness along with a good shampoo (t/gel, nizoral). Starting minoxidil all depends on what condition your hair is in now and how fast you are losing currently. I was in situation critical so I started full force against hairloss. I'm happy that I did.

 

[Bryan]

Also I don't like the fact that you are told on this board and others "take minoxidil for at least 4 months to gauge effectiveness" and then you got the same guys telling you that you shouldn't ever stop taking minoxidil because after just 2 months use they stopped and almost lost all their hair... :freaked2:

The bad effects of stopping minoxidil are only temporary, according to the best available evidence.

Anyway my question is has anyone ever compared the effectiveness of their regimen with/without minoxidil because I dont want to become dependent on this stuff and am thinking about dropping it.

You become "dependent" on ANY hairloss treatment, not just minoxidil!! For example, do you really think that you could stop taking Propecia after a year or two, with no negative effects on your hair?? :wink:

Bryan

 

[Red Rose]

Well, Bryan, yes, if we're going to split hairs, I guess you could say you could become dependent on any hairloss treatment - although not to the same degree as minoxidil. If we are going to assess dependency in terms of the hit you take after stopping treatment the conjecture seems to be that you shed on a much greater scale after stopping minoxidil than any other treatment.

I appreciate Minoxidil isn't an exact science but I don't like the fact that I have to take a product for >4 months to determine its effectiveness and then have to prepare myself for an incredible shed after 4 months IF in the event I decide that the product is not working i.e. I am in a no-win situation.

Anyway Bryan would you be kind enough to tell me why you don't use minoxidil?

 

[Bryan]

Well, Bryan, yes, if we're going to split hairs, I guess you could say you could become dependent on any hairloss treatment - although not to the same degree as minoxidil.

What do you think is that difference in degree?

If we are going to assess dependency in terms of the hit you take after stopping treatment the conjecture seems to be that you shed on a much greater scale after stopping minoxidil than any other treatment.

As I indicated in my previous post, the best available evidence indicates that it's only temporary. After a while, haircounts and hairweights get back to where they would have been, had you never used the minoxidil at all.

I appreciate Minoxidil isn't an exact science but I don't like the fact that I have to take a product for >4 months to determine its effectiveness and then have to prepare myself for an incredible shed after 4 months IF in the event I decide that the product is not working i.e. I am in a no-win situation.

It's not a "no-win"' situation at all. See above.

Anyway Bryan would you be kind enough to tell me why you don't use minoxidil?

I _do_ use minoxidil. What made you think I didn't?

Bryan

 

[Guest]

Red Rose, don't use minoxidil

 

[Red Rose]

Well Bryan I thought you used Proctor's product. Must be mistaken.

Anyway can you taper minoxidil use to 3-4 times a week once you've got your hair in some sort of acceptable position (like revivogen)?

NO - you can't (f*** it) because inevitably this will cause you to lose all the hair you have grown as well.

I just don't want to be like the other countless guys on this forum who have to stick with minoxidil 10 yrs down the road even though it's done sweet FA because they are in a position now where they *can't* give it up.

With minoxidil there are no compromises.

Raaah :lol:

Guinness?

 

[Guest]

 

[Red Rose]

yeah very amusing :lol:

 

[Cassin]

yeah very amusing :lol:

Actually thats a legit chart. TynanW made it and a few people from the forum contributed to tweek it. You will not find another chart like it anywhere as it compares various treatments alone or combined. There is not much science backing the chart as it is speculation beyond the stand alone minoxidil and finasteride levels. It will start popping up on various websites and become a common reference chart.

Ty you need to put your sig on it.

 

[Bryan]

Well Bryan I thought you used Proctor's product. Must be mistaken.

I _do_ use Dr. Proctor's products. I also use several other things.

Anyway can you taper minoxidil use to 3-4 times a week once you've got your hair in some sort of acceptable position (like revivogen)?

NO - you can't (f*** it) because inevitably this will cause you to lose all the hair you have grown as well.

Really? How do you know THAT??

I just don't want to be like the other countless guys on this forum who have to stick with minoxidil 10 yrs down the road even though it's done sweet FA because they are in a position now where they *can't* give it up.

With minoxidil there are no compromises.

Have you heard a single word I've said to you?? For the THIRD TIME: the available evidence suggests that a few months after you stop minoxidil, you get back to where you would have been had you never started it in the first place.

Bryan

 

[blue]

Bryan is right on this one....i was on minoxidil for about 3 months...actually a little longer and i went through a huge shed and i stopped taking it (not cause of the shed but due to me wanting to leave minoxidil for later)....about a month later my hair had gone back to normal...or atleast as normal as i had it before the minoxidil treatment.

 

[Bryan]

There is not much science backing the chart as it is speculation beyond the stand alone minoxidil and finasteride levels.

Actually, that appraisal seems a little harsh to me. The graph seems to me to be the result of a quite reasonable set of inferences drawn from numerous minoxidil and finasteride studies.

It will start popping up on various websites and become a common reference chart.

I hope so! IMHO, it rather neatly sums-up what should be expected from minoxidil and finasteride. Everything's right there at a glance!

Bryan

 

[Cassin]

There is not much science backing the chart as it is speculation beyond the stand alone minoxidil and finasteride levels.

Actually, that appraisal seems a little harsh to me. The graph seems to me to be the result of a quite reasonable set of inferences drawn from numerous minoxidil and finasteride studies.

Yes! We don't have many studies to go by in dual use am I correct? So we have to use inferences.

I think we are in agreement here, I perhaps could have chose a better way of putting it eh?

 

[Guest]

....I don't like the fact that I have to take a product for >4 months to determine its effectiveness and then have to prepare myself for an incredible shed after 4 months IF in the event I decide that the product is not working i.e. I am in a no-win situation.

red rose,

if minoxidil is not working for you, that is not stimulating hair growth, then when you stop there shall be no 'minoxidil influenced' hairs to lose.

if minoxidil is working for you, and it is stimulating hair growth, yes you are now in a position where stopping treatment would result in a shed taking you temporarily below your base line hair count, but if this is the case and minoxidil is working why would you stop?

 

[Guest]

Ty you need to put your sig on it.

cheers cassin, I might just shrink it down and stick it in my signature, do you this that would piss people off?

 

[Cassin]

Ty you need to put your sig on it.

cheers cassin, I might just shrink it down and stick it in my signature, do you this that would piss people off?

Yes I do. But it will give you credit when other sites steal it. :lol:

Just simple TY perhaps in the bottom of the graph for anyone who steal the graph from this point onwards. A male pattern baldness immortal you shall be.

 

[Guest]

Ty? yeah he's the bastard who drew the graph that made me lose my hair.

 

[Red Rose]

What about this old chesnut - does anyone care to comment?

"...It appears that Rogaine...causes a tremendous amount of shedding in all patients upon stoppage. Of real concern is that this shedding is typically above and beyond what one would have normally gained through any treatment response. This phenomena is clinically termed loss of “minoxidil dependent hairâ€

 

[Petchsky]

Where is your source from?