Consistent shedding since 5% minoxidil

2suun · Dec 6, 2015

Hi there,

I'm 22 years old, and I have thinning hair.

I started minoxidil (2% liquid) about 1.7 years ago. I wasn't really balding back then, but my hair dresser told me my crown was thinning a little bit. Anyway, I had an initial shed, but that halted pretty quickly. 7 months later, I asked my dermatologist for the 5% version (for no reason). I didn't shed, until 3 months in. And it has not stopped since. I've been shedding all summer, and it's only gotten worse from september onwards.

I also shed A LOT more in the front of my scalp, and the hairs all look 'healthy'. As in, the same as the hair on my sides.

Did anyone ever experience this? I have been shedding continuously for 5-6 months now. Could this be related to the minoxidil? It's depressing how my hair has thinned everywhere I applied the minoxidil. This was definitely not the same when I was on the 2% version 10 months ago. My crown actually stayed the same-ish from when the barber first mentioned it. It's just the rest of the top of my scalp that has gotten equally thin all over... I did switch to a foam variant in september, could that be causing the increased shed the last 2-3 months?

Anyway, I'm on finasteride as of 5 weeks ago, so maybe that might help a bit.

Cheers

Adman · Dec 6, 2015

Hi,

When you're talking minoxidil, are you talking Regaine? I've tried the Regaine Foam in the past (I used it twices day for about 18 months), for me, I believe it had no effect. My hair was always shedding the whole time I used it. I don't think the foam was making me shed, I think the foam was actually doing nothing and this was just how my hair was falling out naturally. When I stopped using the foam my hair continued to fall out at about the same rate.

I have also used the 5% Regaine solution. I first used it several years ago for a period of about 4 months (this was before I switched to the foam which I wrongly assumed would work just as well for me). During those four months, I did have an initial brutal shedding period (which last well over six weeks) where tons of hair fell out. However, this was followed by a period of extensive regrowth.

As I mentioned in another thread, I started using the 5% solution again in February this year. Very early on, I did have a brief shedding period but it was much shorter and less servere. After that my hair seemed to stop shedding all together and I had quite a lot of regrowth for a period of about 6 months. But... All of a sudden in mid-September my hair has been shedding again and the area of thin hair on my crown is growing larger and balder again. I haven't changed my routine so I dont know why it so suddenly seem to stop working.