Can Min actually make your hair loss worse?

[Funkymonk1]

Can anyone shed some light on this as I'm seeing so much conflicting info. I know there are shedding phases with Min and possibly some people are mistaking shedding for hair loss but I've also read about people who insist that Min cause permanent hair loss and even after a year on Min they saw no regrowth and their hair was actually worse.

 

[Thespain]

Minoxidil can't speed up hairloss. What can happen though, is that someone doesn't respond to it and their male pattern baldness progresses. These people think that minoxidil caused it, but in reality they just didn't respond at all to it and they would have lost that hair whether or not they used minoxidil.

 

[Hairloss23]

Yes in my opinion it can. I have seen reports of guys who've taken it for well past 6 months and have just continued to lose hair even more aggressively than before. In my case I took Minoxidil (admittedly only) for 4.5 months but in that time my hair loss increased substantially, my density dropped a lot and I went from barely a NW1.5 to a NW2, my crown, which previously was not that thin, started to lose a lot of ground as well. The hair in the shower went from barely 30 to 100+. During those 4.5 months I saw absolutely 0 signs of regrowth. The box said to stop if no results are seen after 6 months but realistically I knew I was not going to see results. After quitting Minoxidil I decided to go on Dutasteride and the SwissTemples PG protocol, which I feel is showing decent results so far just over 2 months in. The bonus being that I won't be tied down to the treatments for life unlike with Minoxidil and I won't have to deal with the aging skin and heart problems caused by minoxidil.

There are loads of reports of Minoxidil making things worse, if you check the Wikipedia it says under side effects that it can exacerbate hair loss in some people. I know it's not reliable but unfortunately you will not find any studies about it as the treatment has been around for decades (and still is the only commercial growth stimulant. such bull****). It's kinda like PFS in that sense I suppose as there are no studies on it because it effects so few of the people that use it. If you use minoxidil the chances are it will not make things worse for you, more likely you just won't see any results as minoxidil has a pathetic responder rate anyway, I think it "works" to some degree in like half the people who try it and I use the word "works" loosely, a lot of people grow a slight bit of peach fuzz and maybe get some hairline thickening at best. Very crap treatment.

I'm not sure if I would even go on minoxidil over a hair transplant if I had to pick one. Both are very poor options at trying to regrow/replace hair.

 

[yetti]

Yes in my opinion it can. I have seen reports of guys who've taken it for well past 6 months and have just continued to lose hair even more aggressively than before. In my case I took Minoxidil (admittedly only) for 4.5 months but in that time my hair loss increased substantially, my density dropped a lot and I went from barely a NW1.5 to a NW2, my crown, which previously was not that thin, started to lose a lot of ground as well. The hair in the shower went from barely 30 to 100+. During those 4.5 months I saw absolutely 0 signs of regrowth. The box said to stop if no results are seen after 6 months but realistically I knew I was not going to see results. After quitting Minoxidil I decided to go on Dutasteride and the SwissTemples PG protocol, which I feel is showing decent results so far just over 2 months in. The bonus being that I won't be tied down to the treatments for life unlike with Minoxidil and I won't have to deal with the aging skin and heart problems caused by minoxidil.

There are loads of reports of Minoxidil making things worse, if you check the Wikipedia it says under side effects that it can exacerbate hair loss in some people. I know it's not reliable but unfortunately you will not find any studies about it as the treatment has been around for decades (and still is the only commercial growth stimulant. such bull****). It's kinda like PFS in that sense I suppose as there are no studies on it because it effects so few of the people that use it. If you use minoxidil the chances are it will not make things worse for you, more likely you just won't see any results as minoxidil has a pathetic responder rate anyway, I think it "works" to some degree in like half the people who try it and I use the word "works" loosely, a lot of people grow a slight bit of peach fuzz and maybe get some hairline thickening at best. Very crap treatment.

I'm not sure if I would even go on minoxidil over a hair transplant if I had to pick one. Both are very poor options at trying to regrow/replace hair.

When one first reads your posts, one thinks, "Poor frog-man. He must have had a very traumatic experience with minoxidil to rant about it like this, again and again. And he also must be extremely health-conscious to believe that it's such a dangerous drug." And then one looks at your "view my regimen" tab, is reminded of the entire drugstore's worth of chemicals you are taking, complete with their own lists of side effects, class-action lawsuits, and forums full of former users making post after miserable post just like yours and worse, and is simply confused......

 

[Hairloss23]

When one first reads your posts, one thinks, "Poor frog-man. He must have had a very traumatic experience with minoxidil to rant about it like this, again and again. And he also must be extremely health-conscious to believe that it's such a dangerous drug." And then one looks at your "view my regimen" tab, is reminded of the entire drugstore's worth of chemicals you are taking, complete with their own lists of side effects, class-action lawsuits, and forums full of former users making post after miserable post just like yours and worse, and is simply confused......

What are you talking about? It is FDA approved, I know it is safe for use, I am just saying that there is a chance of nasty heart related side effects and an awful lot of people can develop ageing skin overtime. Yeah it's safe, just like finasteride. Although you get a lot more scaremongers of that than you do of minoxidil. I am always critical of Minoxidil because I think it is a poor excuse of a treatment. A topical which must be used at least once daily across large sections of your head, it can cause nasty initial sheds in almost all users and in some cases those "sheds" do not cease unless minoxidil is discontinued. It actually has side effects that IMO are nastier than those of Finasteride (but this is the internet so mention anything about sexual function and the "muh dik" beta male crowd are out in force) and if you do use it you are tied down to it for life unless you wish to lose all of the lovely peach fuzz you've grown.

My regimen is built off of studies and convincing results, and guess what? It's working. Please name the side effects of castor oil, the side effects of Stemoxydine, the side effects of Setipiprant, a drug that has gone through its safety trials already and was found to be safer than Finasteride. Please name the side effects of a green tea pill and Adenogen (which I hardly use anymore anyway lol). Am i going to bleed to death due to the 1.5mm incisions into my scalp from wounding? Don't worry I will spare you from having to tell me the side effects of Dutasteride, you're probably a member of the "muh dik" crowd so will give some skewered version of the truth to fit your agenda. Such a moron.

 

[yetti]

Ya Hairloss is offended and perhaps unnerved that so many people are scared of the stuff he's ingesting and putting on his head (dutasteride, setipiprant, valproic acid... no I'm not going to post possible side effects but anyone can google and see) so he's decided to rail in thread after thread against the one major hairloss drug that he doesn't take. But he should realize that his sad experience with it does not apply to everyone.

Hairloss, the problem is that you are constantly talking about how glad you are that you aren't taking minoxidil because it has the most dire side effects - and you state them not as a possibility but as if they are a virtual certainty - and then you recommend finasteride like it's candy... a drug that alters your hormones and many people have had a harder time with than minoxidil. So you aren't being objective at all, it's just misinformation. You refer to people who complain about harsh experiences with finasteride as the "muh dik beta male crowd", discounting and mocking what they say, and then complain about minoxidil with the same level of scaremongering and whining. But you know, you aren't the only person in the world and your experience cannot be extrapolated to everyone. minoxidil is appropriate for some people, finasteride is appropriate for some people, and for many people using both simultaneously seems to be the best and most effective solution.

 

[Hairloss23]

No I don't? If it makes you feel any better I think PFS is real although I believe given enough time the body will recover on its own, in some cases this could be months, maybe even a year, but beyond that and you have to question the psychological effect on the sufferer. His sexual function likely won't recover if he doesn't believe it will. Also I don't say take finasteride like it's candy, I have actually been very critical of finasteride as well as minoxidil, both are sub-par treatments for 2016 with a nasty range of side effects and both lose effectiveness over time. Don't try and pass off my questions by saying "anyone can google the side effects" it basically translates as "I don't know of any serious side effects worth warranting/I realized the sides weren't anywhere near as dangerous as I was pretending they were". The only dangers from my Regimen come from Dutasteride which may cause sexual dysfunction in some men, LiCL which, if used in the quantity listed once a week is completely safe, and Valproic acid which, again, if used in the quantity listed is perfectly safe.

minoxidil is crap, so is finasteride, they are the best we've got commercially at the moment but that doesn't meant they are exempt from criticism. If people want to use minoxidil go ahead, I'm just warning that a few years from now, when there will likely be better growth stimulants available, any gains made from that Minoxidil will have to be kept up. With Minoxidil. If you quit it you are not only back to square 1 but likely much worse off than before baseline.

 

[yetti]

It has been great for me too. And, well... everyone in this thread but Hairloss.

>Don't try and pass off my questions by saying "anyone can google the side effects" it basically translates as "I don't know of any serious side effects worth warranting/I realized the sides weren't anywhere near as dangerous as I was pretending they were".

?? So you are demanding that I cut and paste the extensive lists of possible side effects for all your medications? Anyone can use google.

But OK, here's dutasteride

valproic acid



etc...as I said, anyone can use google to go through your list of medications and figure it out

 

[Hairloss23]

It has been great for me too. And, well... everyone in this thread but Hairloss.

>Don't try and pass off my questions by saying "anyone can google the side effects" it basically translates as "I don't know of any serious side effects worth warranting/I realized the sides weren't anywhere near as dangerous as I was pretending they were".

?? So you are demanding that I cut and paste the extensive lists of side effects for dutasteride, valproic acid etc. ? Anyone can use google. But OK, here's valproic acid
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/valproic-acid-side-effects.html

dutasteride
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/avodart-side-effects.html

etc.

as I said, anyone can use google to go through your list of medications and figure it out

Those are almost entirely Oral sides, I am taking it topically. Actually one of the side effects of oral Vaproic acid is hair loss trolololol.

 

[yetti]

Ironically, that is exactly what k9gatton said about some of your claims regarding minoxidil, that they refer to oral sides, not topical use.

The point I was making is not that minoxidil is good, while finasteride or whatever else is bad... simply that these meds most definitely have their good and bad points, and what was a disaster for you may well be an effective and side effect-free medication for someone else (as it has been for no less than 3 people posting in this thread), just as what has been effective you could be a disaster for someone else. Your more recent posts in this thread are much more reasonable than the first so I think you got it.

 

[Hairloss23]

Not really, I maintain my stance on Minoxidil and believe that if you wish to keep your hair not only is it not enough on it's own, but it is also a treatment you will most likely regret if they come out with something better in the near future, even if they don't you may regret it if you go for a Hair Transplant. What happens when the minoxidil hair behind the hair transplant begins to thin as minoxidil loses it's effectiveness over time?

I also stand by my statement that Minoxidil CAN make your hair worse, which is what the original question OP was asking.

 

[yetti]

Not really, I maintain my stance on Minoxidil and believe that if you wish to keep your hair not only is it not enough on it's own, but it is also a treatment you will most likely regret if they come out with something better in the near future, even if they don't you may regret it if you go for a Hair Transplant. What happens when the minoxidil hair behind the hair transplant begins to thin as minoxidil loses it's effectiveness over time?

I also stand by my statement that Minoxidil CAN make your hair worse, which is what the original question OP was asking.

This is far from what you wrote in the first post in this thread, regarding sides. Read it again.

As for it being a treatment that people will regret "if they come out with something better in the near future"... well what I see in these forums are a whole lot of people, both those taking finasteride and not, saying that they started minoxidil and it really helped, they stopped or started to do it less often for whatever reason, and THAT'S what they regret. And they go back on it. Not everyone, not you, but others. So your hypothetical regret about how people will feel when "something better" comes out is duly noted. But meanwhile it's one of the 2 effective drugs for hair loss, finasteride is not a miracle drug for everyone - for some it's ineffective, for some it causes difficult sides - and losing hair is something people seem to regret a whole lot. And if you look through the history of this forum you'll see a lot of people speculating about that day "in the near future" when something better will come out.

By the way, as an objective commenter, I will also note that plenty of people also seem to go on finasteride, stop it for whatever reason (including sides of course), regret it, and start again. Same deal.

 

[Pavi]

Yes in my opinion it can. I have seen reports of guys who've taken it for well past 6 months and have just continued to lose hair even more aggressively than before. In my case I took Minoxidil (admittedly only) for 4.5 months but in that time my hair loss increased substantially, my density dropped a lot and I went from barely a NW1.5 to a NW2, my crown, which previously was not that thin, started to lose a lot of ground as well. The hair in the shower went from barely 30 to 100+. During those 4.5 months I saw absolutely 0 signs of regrowth. The box said to stop if no results are seen after 6 months but realistically I knew I was not going to see results. After quitting Minoxidil I decided to go on Dutasteride and the SwissTemples PG protocol, which I feel is showing decent results so far just over 2 months in. The bonus being that I won't be tied down to the treatments for life unlike with Minoxidil and I won't have to deal with the aging skin and heart problems caused by minoxidil.

There are loads of reports of Minoxidil making things worse, if you check the Wikipedia it says under side effects that it can exacerbate hair loss in some people. I know it's not reliable but unfortunately you will not find any studies about it as the treatment has been around for decades (and still is the only commercial growth stimulant. such bull****). It's kinda like PFS in that sense I suppose as there are no studies on it because it effects so few of the people that use it. If you use minoxidil the chances are it will not make things worse for you, more likely you just won't see any results as minoxidil has a pathetic responder rate anyway, I think it "works" to some degree in like half the people who try it and I use the word "works" loosely, a lot of people grow a slight bit of peach fuzz and maybe get some hairline thickening at best. Very crap treatment.

I'm not sure if I would even go on minoxidil over a hair transplant if I had to pick one. Both are very poor options at trying to regrow/replace hair.

This just PROVES to me that you don't know anything about minoxidil. Minoxidil cannot, I repeat, CANNOT speed up the hair loss problem. 1 of 2 things may happen. 1) you don't respond to the drug and continue losing hair as if you never took it or 2) you TEMPORARILY SHED. I went through a tremendous shed for 3 months but kept at it and it all came back thicker. 4 months is a pathetic excuse to claim something doesn't work. You need to use it for at least year. The response rate for minoxidil depends on whether or not you have a certain enzyme in your scalp that takes minoxidil and puts it in its active form. Hairloss23 has no idea. Don't listen to this guy. Try minoxidil.

 

[Hairloss23]

Lmao, you have no idea Pavi. Everywhere I go you seem to turn up to preach your love for minoxidil. I don't really care what you say but don't tell me Minoxidil cannot make hair worse, it is as naive as someone saying PFS does not exist in some shape or form. I know you are **** scared of finasteride, what if I was to tell you right here right now that the main reason you're scared of it (Persistent side effects after quitting) was BS? You'd be triggered af, just like you are with this.

 

[yetti]

Everywhere I go you seem to turn up to preach your love for minoxidil.

There are a lot of people preaching love, or at least serious like, for minoxidil. Including several in this very thread. If you were objective at all that would tell you something.

 

[Hairloss23]

Oh so 3 or 4 guys who say minoxidil works for them is evidence minoxidil is the greatest thing since sliced bread?

 

[Pavi]

Oh so 3 or 4 guys who say minoxidil works for them is evidence minoxidil is the greatest thing since sliced bread?

Or the multiple, placebo controlled double blind studies that prove its efficacy

- - - Updated - - -

Lmao, you have no idea Pavi. Everywhere I go you seem to turn up to preach your love for minoxidil. I don't really care what you say but don't tell me Minoxidil cannot make hair worse, it is as naive as someone saying PFS does not exist in some shape or form. I know you are **** scared of finasteride, what if I was to tell you right here right now that the main reason you're scared of it (Persistent side effects after quitting) was BS? You'd be triggered af, just like you are with this.

Not really. I'm just going to treat my hair loss without manipulating my hormones. It is working for me so far. Until that day when or if it loses efficacy I will have to goose between no hair or take propecia

 

[Pavi]

I totally second this opinion. I'm amazed by how some people take finasteride and dutasteride as if they are candy.

Exactly. And if minoxidil can keep me above baseline and return me there in 5 years I would be beyond happy because I think we will have much better treatments in years 2017-2020

 

[yetti]

Oh so 3 or 4 guys who say minoxidil works for them is evidence minoxidil is the greatest thing since sliced bread?

In some other universe, in some other forum, in some other thread where some guy made a claim that minoxidil is the greatest thing since sliced bread, maybe your comment would make sense. In this conversation, here on earth, where some guy (you) made a claim that minoxidil causes really horrible sides and is a crap treatment, and several people immediately respond that it's been very effective and without those sides and they are very glad to be taking it, then sure the input is absolutely meaningful.

Sorry that it didn't work for you and now you have to take all those other chemicals. But you shouldn't vent by bashing it constantly as if your experience is universal. You aren't the only person in the world, and by misleading people who read these forums, you may well lead someone into taking the extensive list of chemicals you take for no good reason. I wish you the best and hope your "regimen" works out for you. And it might, as people have various reactions to various substances and medications. The same obviously applies to minoxidil - as is evidenced by this thread.

 

[yetti]

FWIW I have no problem with anything you wrote.

Really, the only point I wanted to make is that I think we should be careful about speaking in absolutes, saying THIS medication is crap and WILL cause sides, while THIS medication is great...when there are others who have had exactly the opposite experience. In reality these drugs can all cause sides, some of those sides may be serious for some people. Some people may respond well to one drug and not another, or to both, or neither. And many reasons why we may or may not like a medication are entirely personal and subjective. For example you would feel like a loser putting minoxidil on your head, I'd be uncomfortable (I won't say feel like a loser, but...) taking a pill. You don't want to take it to your girlfriend's place, I'm married and there's no issue there. Etc... both entirely valid, and opposite, opinions. It's all good.