Dark circles under eyes from Minoxidil?

[SDK]

Hey all,

I've been using Minoxidil once a day in the mornings after I shower, once my head is dry. I've shed just a bit of hair and it's only been about a month so I doubt stopping now would do much damage, but I think I may be experiencing sides.

The problem I'm noticing is that there are very faint (but more noticeable to me than everyone else) grey rings forming around my eyes and almost towards my cheekbones. I started noticing them about a week ago. They definitely were not there before Minoxidil and just from doing some homework it appears that it can indeed cause bad eye circles if use is continued. But I'm only using it once a day and not even twice...so I have no idea why this would be happening after just a month. I have started using Olay Regenerist to try and get the circles looking normal again but the damage is not that extensive yet. Obviously any regrowth I would get from minoxidil is not worth looking like a zombie junkie at the ripe old age of 22 (aren't genetics great?)

So my question is this: should I stop Minoxidil altogether or maybe drop my dosage to once every other day to see if the sides diminish? I'm using Topical spironolactone in addition to Minoxidil so I'd still be fighting it even if I dropped minoxidil. Don't really want to try Finasteride if I'm getting bad sides from everything else (allergic to liquid minoxidil and now this from the foam) but the S5 doesn't appear to be causing any harm and there aren't many reports of sides (unlike minoxidil and finasteride.) I'd be fine with trying the S5 twice a day instead of once in addition to using minoxidil once.

And has anyone else suffered similar sides?

 

[Jrthomas85]

Don't really want to try Finasteride if I'm getting bad sides from everything else (allergic to liquid minoxidil and now this from the foam)

If I were you, I wouldn't assume that just because you react negatively to minoxidil that Finasteride would give you any trouble. They are two completely different active ingredients and work through wholly different mechanisms.

I use minoxidil and occasionally notice some dark circles. What I really find helps me is getting a little bit of sun (not excessive amounts, but maybe spend 30 minutes outside with some light sunscreen once per week). I also use a face moisturizer every day. This combination (along with getting good rest of course) seems to minimize my dark circles. I've been on minoxidil liquid for about a year. So far, the dark circles seem to "come and go" more than anything, and are hardly ever noticeable even to me. Good luck!