Anyone taking 10mg or more daily of oral minoxidil?

Norwoody

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Yes it helps with water retention, im on 100mg morning 100mg night. My crown still isn't the best despite my regimen.
Thanks for that info. That's oral, correct? Any gyno or other sides?

Your regimen is about as strong as it gets without going on HRT. Only other things I would try if I were you would be microneedling, if you already aren't, and a topical antiandrogen or topical E.
 

Derelict

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Thanks for that info. That's oral, correct? Any gyno or other sides?

Your regimen is about as strong as it gets without going on HRT. Only other things I would try if I were you would be microneedling, if you already aren't, and a topical antiandrogen or topical E.

Yes oral spironolactone, i used to needle when i was using topical min, i have been thinking of adding oral estriol but im unsure as to what dosages i should take. Im trying to avoid topicals these days tbh.
 

Norwoody

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Yes oral spironolactone, i used to needle when i was using topical min, i have been thinking of adding oral estriol but im unsure as to what dosages i should take. Im trying to avoid topicals these days tbh.
I've thought about estriol too, but it seems like a lot of users haven't gotten results from it. The problem might be that it can overshadow endogenous estradiol, by potentially reducing the overall antiandrogenicity. I'm not sure if bica would be effective for hair at a low dose. Estradiol might be effective at a low dose, but you will almost certainly have significant side effects. Of course, no one has really tried microdosing this stuff and cycling it conservatively. I don't plan on being the first one to try it either. There's still such a surprisingly big gap between the safer and riskier treatments.
 

Derelict

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I've thought about estriol too, but it seems like a lot of users haven't gotten results from it. The problem might be that it can overshadow endogenous estradiol, by potentially reducing the overall antiandrogenicity. I'm not sure if bica would be effective for hair at a low dose. Estradiol might be effective at a low dose, but you will almost certainly have significant side effects. Of course, no one has really tried microdosing this stuff and cycling it conservatively. I don't plan on being the first one to try it either. There's still such a surprisingly big gap between the safer and riskier treatments.

While my hair is bad, not the temples just the crown i still think estradiol is a bit overkill right now, although probably something i would try if i get desperate enough. I remember reading a user on bridges HRT thread who said monotherapy wise he got better results from spironolactone over bica for his hair. I think Bica is great if you are taking estradiol, if you are not spironolactone seems to be superior hair wise.
 

Norwoody

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does the hypertrichosis side effect mean the drug is working for the hair?
I think that body and facial hair precede hair growth. Similar to how breast growth precedes hair growth with HRT. In non-balding hairs, and hairs that thrive on androgens, minoxidil seems to show results sooner. You have to keep in mind that with scalp hair we're swimming upstream, so it's likely to take some time before you get noticeable results there.
 

vondoom

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I've been back on 10mg for a few weeks, 5mg 2x a day and so far I've got lots of good vellus in the temples. Some up to 1cm. We'll see if they go terminal.
what us your recommendation? just up to 10 and see what happens? what i always read is that you should take 5 every day for three month and then you should see result (actually they somehow always say one box, which would be 100 pills)...
 

Norwoody

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what us your recommendation? just up to 10 and see what happens? what i always read is that you should take 5 every day for three month and then you should see result (actually they somehow always say one box, which would be 100 pills)...
5 will get you results, it's much better than topical, and you might experience a little regrowth, but 10mg will give you a chance at serious regrowth. The wolfman has consistently been taking 10mg.
 

vondoom

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5 will get you results, it's much better than topical, and you might experience a little regrowth, but 10mg will give you a chance at serious regrowth. The wolfman has consistently been taking 10mg.
yeah
but he also became the wolfman^^ i mean im sure that is something you can prevent when you pay attention, though...
 

vondoom

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I'd rather have too much hair than not enough. I'd just trim/wax it.
well same here... i dont even think i would get that much facial/body hair...
ill finish my box first (just on it for like 2 month) and then i will see...
 

michel sapin

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I think that body and facial hair precede hair growth. Similar to how breast growth precedes hair growth with HRT. In non-balding hairs, and hairs that thrive on androgens, minoxidil seems to show results sooner. You have to keep in mind that with scalp hair we're swimming upstream, so it's likely to take some time before you get noticeable results there.
do you think 2mg would cause a lot of hypertrichosis? i guess everybody is a responder to oral min ( because of sulfotransferase). So hypertrichosis a an obligatory step...
 

JaneyElizabeth

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I don't think anything under 5mg is going to cause any level of hypertrichosis but we are all different. I think edema might be the main problem with oral minoxidil but I don't know because I exercised a lot and I hadn't exercised in a while. I am about seven months in with oral min so I am looking for new hair now and not so much just improvement of what I had.
 

michel sapin

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I don't think anything under 5mg is going to cause any level of hypertrichosis but we are all different. I think edema might be the main problem with oral minoxidil but I don't know because I exercised a lot and I hadn't exercised in a while. I am about seven months in with oral min so I am looking for new hair now and not so much just improvement of what I had.
do you think 2 mg is better than huge dosage of topical minoxidil in terms of crown / vertex regrowth? hypertrichosis is correlated with good responde? thx
 

JaneyElizabeth

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do you think 2 mg is better than huge dosage of topical minoxidil in terms of crown / vertex regrowth? hypertrichosis is correlated with good responde? thx
It sounds like you are asking about the curve efficiency of increasing dosages and I don't think that they max out. I have completely restored the crown but I am on a lot of different meds plus derma-rolling which is a long-winded way of saying I don't know the answers but for me, yes, probably the increased hair growth primarily with my beard area let me know that something was happening. Leg hair got harder to shave and I don't have much but I just yank that out. That's why, particularly for a guy, increased beard growth is probably not seen as a side but for me, it's my main one. Safety-wise 10mg daily is probably as high as people want to go.

But I posted a lot of pics from the last three years because a lot of people said that they wanted to see how bad it could get and still be restored for MtF's on HRT. I guess I am saying some things are probably responsible for my amazing crown recovery because all of my HRT meds are geared around hair and they all are effective to some degree. I think HRT plus oral min is a whole different kind of treatment. Even my temples are growing back:

 
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