Did minoxidil Kill My Hairline? Maintained Hair On finasteride, Added Min And My Hair Has Never Been Worse.

[BaldingGuy]

The general opinion is that if minoxidil did nothing or caused an adverse reaction, stopping will do nothing. It may in fact even stop the excessive shedding (if it's causing some sort of Telogen Effluvium or bad reaction). One thing I can assure you, I used to apply it all over my head and then stopped putting it on the mid scalp (to see what happens) and it didn't get thinner than the rest or shed anything. The areas where I continued to apply are actually thinner than my mid scalp... maybe a coincidence?

Telogen Effluvium does affect the entire scalp (my sides and back got hit too) but remember that normally your top is already in worse shape than the sides and if Telogen Effluvium hits it will be more visible there. After that who knows if all of the hair will grow back... or any of it for that matter..

Since you started fina and don't have any scalp problems or bad dandruff it can be the missing link for your success. But If you really truly feel minoxidil is messing your hair then stop it!! I can assure you that where I stopped applying it (5months ago) is where I shed less.

Hope so too! I really hope your outcome is better than mine because nothing is more frustrating than doing everything you can, spending money, energy and time and feel it's getting worse a lot faster then when you were doing nothing.....

 

[Perah]

I cant tell you how much i appreciate you taking the time to answer me.

If feel really doomed by the whole situation, just as you say or as i read too often, i wish i would have never touch that fuckin foam. Im 29, so a lot of people would say that i should consider myself blessed to still have hair, and the perspective of being bald doesn't bother me that much: it's the perspective of being bald in 1 year that is soul wrecking.

I think i will follow your advice and progressively quit foam. 2 applications a day to 1 a day for a few weeks, then one every other day and so on.
I'll udpate on my progress or lack of it.

Again, thanks.

 

[BaldingGuy]

No problem at all.. I think we can learn from each others experiences with this disease so i will also keep updating!!

Yeah, I'm 26 and started with a minor recession and just wanting maintenance , now 9 months later im struggling to hide my scalp from normal light. I would kill to have the hair i had 6 months ago... Sh%#T!

I too could live with going bald slowly or deal with it in my mid 30's! But not having to buzz my head under a year! Looking at photos from June just feels like a kick in the nuts..
And this itch/crawling/burning feeling on my scalp is like a little devil reminding me of my baldness and taking me to the verge of downing some dutasteride and spironolactone to try to end it..

Thanks for listening, keep me updated please!

 

[DoctorHouse]

@DoctorHouse Could use your expert opinion too.
If minoxidil induce telogen effluvium, should i stop or keep going with minoxidil foam?

Tough question to answer. If it is a telegenic effluvium, your hair will grow back possibly even stronger. Don't forget the facts and proof you have seen on forum thru the age of time. Minoxidil combined with finasteride in mostly all cases does better than when either is used alone. Think about that. I understand your concern but most likely you have an induced shed that is scaring the heck out of you. I have been there. All I can say is in most cases minoxidil does not increase the balding process when you are using finasteride at the same time. Most allergic reactions are obvious like redness, swelling, itching, and dandruff. The foam is less likely to cause any of those reactions versus liquid versions which have propylene glycol in it. If I were in your shoes, actually have been there, I would most likely keep at it( only the foam) for another six months but maybe just use it once per day.

 

[BaldingGuy]

What's your status OP and @Perah ?????

 

[Perah]

f*** it s not looking good man. i stopped gradually minoxidil foam 2 months ago, i m still putting some like once a week. will stop totally next week. my shedding, thinning, miniaturization hasnt accelerated, still the same, which is pretty high. i hope the post minoxidil shedding will not hit, but i dont think so (fingerscrossed). at least, i dont have to go twice a day in front of the mirror and check the disaster anymore. 5 month finasteride and nothing but it s probably too early to say.

I can see on pictures that it is worse then 3 month ago. even my gf agrees. I still have decent hair, but at this rate, i ll need to go chrome dome in a year or so. thinking of how my hair were a year ago makes me wanna cry. the amount of hair i lost in the last 7 month is ridiculous, but i would feel blessed if it only stopped for a couple a month.

anyways, planning on staying on fina for one whole year and start facing the fact that im going to be bald. and accept. it's gonna tough, it s gonna be a process, but we ll make it bro. bye bye youth.

you what's up?

sorry for my bad english, im french.

 

[Perah]

@BaldingGuy

see message above.

 

[BaldingGuy]

Well if you didn't benefit from minoxidil you shouldn't have a post shed... But in my opinion there's nothing good on using minoxidil once a week so you should just stop using it... Do you experience any itching and/or more flakiness now or when you were applying it everyday??
It may take awhile for the shedding to stop when you stop using minoxidil even if it's caused by it... So be patient and don't hop back on minoxidil for at least 6 months after stopping it..

I can relate totally with you bro! The amount of hair i've lost in the last 11 months is soul crushing.... Last year by this time i wasn't even thinking i was balding... I've lost a lot, and i mean A LOT of density! It feels like my hair falls and doesn't grow back... I even feel my sides and back thinner .. It's not normal!! I really hate to see pics from 6 months ago because my hair looks nothing alike now... How is this possible??

As for my treatment i'm still on minoxidil because it did regrow some baby hairs in the temples so it must be working to some extent.. I haven't figured out if it's also the cause of my SD or not ... If it is, then probably the harm it's doing is superior to the benefit..
Also, I've stopped finasteride and started Duta for almost 2 months now and just started spironolactone 3 days ago! If the itching etc is androgen related it has to get better soon ... If it doesn't i'll just say f*** it start oral minoxidil and drop the topical one to see ..

I can't accept baldness man ... I just can't.. Anyway, keep taking photos and keep me updated bro!

 

[Perah]

@BaldingGuy, bro you can accept, i assure you. It fuckin tough i agree, but i m sure in 10 years time when we ll be used to see our balding face in the mirror, we ll look back on those days and realise how much time we lost thinking about the issue, and getting crazy about something we can t do sh*t about.When you think about it, it is not a bigdeal on a scale of what could-will probably happen to us in our life time (accident, disease...). But it s soul crushing, as you said...

I uploaded 2 pictures, one at the end of october, when i started to get really anxious about my hair situation, 1 month propecia in.
The other one a few days ago. To me, the difference is pretty obvious, but the worse part-thinning is at the center of the front part of my head, i can definetly see the rapid creation of the "island"... it f*****g ugly.

Tell me honestly what you think, i take so many pictures it s hard to be objective. But my gf agrees, it s worse than a few month ago.
You are right, i m gonna stop minoxidil now and pray for fina to finally work, but im still loosing at leat 100 hairs every time i wash them. Not good...

Stay strong brother,

 

[BaldingGuy]

I've looked to the pics and even though they're in slight different angles and light i can see it did get slightly worse yes. Not a huge difference (to my eyes) but yeah, there is some density loss in the frontal region... If its because of minoxidil, hopefully it will bounce back in some months..

That seems to be a lot of hair, do you know how much you were shedding before? But hey, even though i lose a less hair in the shower my hair gets worse by the week so I feel your pain...

Keep your head up bro!

 

[MorningGlory]

The concept of patience, long term treatments and riding out sheds is lost on this hedonistic generation who demand instant gratification.

 

[BaldingGuy]

There's a difference between riding out "sheds" and a non stop "shed" that starts in the first month and goes on for 10 months. Minoxidil sheds are to be expected but they start for awhile, then drastically slow down or stop and then hopefully the hair lost during the shed grows back thicker a few months later.. But 10 months of non stop shedding and worsening of the hair isn't a good sign nor a normal minoxidil shed and has been proven and proven again that there is only a small percentage of people that shed for a straight year and then all of the sudden get better..
It's not instant gratification, if you are on a treatment without adding or removing anything for 10 months and your shedding doesn't even slow down to the numbers before starting it it's pretty obvious that you need to stop or change something.

I can understand that fina results may take at least a year to start showing, but we're talking about minoxidil. Even the box says that if you don't see anything by the 4th or 6th month (can't remember) to discontinue the drug .. The only reason I still use it is because i know i'm a responder to some extent. But i'm also almost certain it's causing irritation and dermatitis so I don't know if the positive effects outweigh the negative... I'll know soon enough though...

 

[Georgie]

Here’s a horror story for you:

I began using minoxidil topical 5% twice daily and 2mg orally in June 2015. Got the mother of all sheds in July, left my hair much much thinner. Now I have retrograde/Dupa/female pattern loss. So diffuse thinning everywhere with emphasis on my entire hairline (full circumference recession) and the tonsure. The worst part before minoxidil was my whole hairline which receded to a freakish point In only a year and a half. So anyway, I got my diagnosis of Androgenetic Alopecia and took the minoxidil, after maybe 3 months, around September 2015 my hairline really began growing back. I noticed that it actually OVERgrew. Weirdly, my overall hair density seemed to be getting worse though. I decided that since I say regrowth, it was just a matter of time before my hair felt denser again.
By the way, this whole time I was also using Diane35 the pill and 200mg spironolactone. Around jan-feb 2016 things were actually still not getting better density-wise, and I noticed that my hairline was receding again. I also noticed that the hair everywhere was growing back more and more miniturised until they became totally vellus and fell out. So I shaved my head. I quit spironolactone because I’d been on it almost a year without improvement and it was making me sick. My hair grew back pretty well and I realised my hairline was also growing back. I thought maybe I just went through a second shed.
Nope.
November 2016 I once again noticed the recession process. My hair still thinning everywhere, even on my body. This lasted until August 2017, and the hairline regrew again. I got 3 months of growth, and now since November I have been receding again with miniturisation.
So I thought maybe I hadn’t been using the right dht blocker or anti androgen. I started using avodart 0.5mg daily in early December, no halt in recession, hair shedding or miniturisation. I began using darolutamide (which has turned out to be enzalutamide) 6 weeks ago. I also began using stemoxydine. The recession continues, the miniturisation is still happening and my hair density goes down by the day. Before minoxidil, I had hair shedding which was maybe 30-40 in the shower. On minoxidil, it’s anywhere from 60-120 hairs in the shower alone.

So to sum up, being on minoxidil has synchronised my hair growth. I get 3 months of growth, then it simply stops working and all the hairs regrown miniturise and fall out. I’m left without any hair growth and/or miniturised growth for 7-12 months. I have been on dht blockers and anti androgens, and it doesn’t stop the process. minoxidil has essentially hijacked my hair growth, and I believe even despite hormonal medication, determines whether the hair grows terminal or miniturised. My issue is, it’s currently the only thing to have grown ANY hair for me, and stopping likely means huge shedding and hairline recession. I also find that it causes quite bad facial bloating at doses any higher than 2.5mg orally. So I’m stuck, and I’m screwed. It’s annoying because it SHOULDNT do this, but some of us are just that unlucky. I think about stopping it all the time but god only knows what damage could be done. I truly hope that the rest of you have better luck with other medications. I am beginning to think my war is lost.

 

[Xander94]

Here’s a horror story for you:

I began using minoxidil topical 5% twice daily and 2mg orally in June 2015. Got the mother of all sheds in July, left my hair much much thinner. Now I have retrograde/Dupa/female pattern loss. So diffuse thinning everywhere with emphasis on my entire hairline (full circumference recession) and the tonsure. The worst part before minoxidil was my whole hairline which receded to a freakish point In only a year and a half. So anyway, I got my diagnosis of Androgenetic Alopecia and took the minoxidil, after maybe 3 months, around September 2015 my hairline really began growing back. I noticed that it actually OVERgrew. Weirdly, my overall hair density seemed to be getting worse though. I decided that since I say regrowth, it was just a matter of time before my hair felt denser again.
By the way, this whole time I was also using Diane35 the pill and 200mg spironolactone. Around jan-feb 2016 things were actually still not getting better density-wise, and I noticed that my hairline was receding again. I also noticed that the hair everywhere was growing back more and more miniturised until they became totally vellus and fell out. So I shaved my head. I quit spironolactone because I’d been on it almost a year without improvement and it was making me sick. My hair grew back pretty well and I realised my hairline was also growing back. I thought maybe I just went through a second shed.
Nope.
November 2016 I once again noticed the recession process. My hair still thinning everywhere, even on my body. This lasted until August 2017, and the hairline regrew again. I got 3 months of growth, and now since November I have been receding again with miniturisation.
So I thought maybe I hadn’t been using the right dht blocker or anti androgen. I started using avodart 0.5mg daily in early December, no halt in recession, hair shedding or miniturisation. I began using darolutamide (which has turned out to be enzalutamide) 6 weeks ago. I also began using stemoxydine. The recession continues, the miniturisation is still happening and my hair density goes down by the day. Before minoxidil, I had hair shedding which was maybe 30-40 in the shower. On minoxidil, it’s anywhere from 60-120 hairs in the shower alone.

So to sum up, being on minoxidil has synchronised my hair growth. I get 3 months of growth, then it simply stops working and all the hairs regrown miniturise and fall out. I’m left without any hair growth and/or miniturised growth for 7-12 months. I have been on dht blockers and anti androgens, and it doesn’t stop the process. minoxidil has essentially hijacked my hair growth, and I believe even despite hormonal medication, determines whether the hair grows terminal or miniturised. My issue is, it’s currently the only thing to have grown ANY hair for me, and stopping likely means huge shedding and hairline recession. I also find that it causes quite bad facial bloating at doses any higher than 2.5mg orally. So I’m stuck, and I’m screwed. It’s annoying because it SHOULDNT do this, but some of us are just that unlucky. I think about stopping it all the time but god only knows what damage could be done. I truly hope that the rest of you have better luck with other medications. I am beginning to think my war is lost.

ITS OVER


@sunchyme1

 

[Georgie]

ITS OVER


@sunchyme1

Yep

 

[Xander94]

Yep

Nite my fellow creepy friend

 

[sunchyme1]

Nite my fellow creepy friend

not out clubbing tonight man?

 

[Calchas]

Here’s a horror story for you:

I began using minoxidil topical 5% twice daily and 2mg orally in June 2015. Got the mother of all sheds in July, left my hair much much thinner. Now I have retrograde/Dupa/female pattern loss. So diffuse thinning everywhere with emphasis on my entire hairline (full circumference recession) and the tonsure. The worst part before minoxidil was my whole hairline which receded to a freakish point In only a year and a half. So anyway, I got my diagnosis of Androgenetic Alopecia and took the minoxidil, after maybe 3 months, around September 2015 my hairline really began growing back. I noticed that it actually OVERgrew. Weirdly, my overall hair density seemed to be getting worse though. I decided that since I say regrowth, it was just a matter of time before my hair felt denser again.
By the way, this whole time I was also using Diane35 the pill and 200mg spironolactone. Around jan-feb 2016 things were actually still not getting better density-wise, and I noticed that my hairline was receding again. I also noticed that the hair everywhere was growing back more and more miniturised until they became totally vellus and fell out. So I shaved my head. I quit spironolactone because I’d been on it almost a year without improvement and it was making me sick. My hair grew back pretty well and I realised my hairline was also growing back. I thought maybe I just went through a second shed.
Nope.
November 2016 I once again noticed the recession process. My hair still thinning everywhere, even on my body. This lasted until August 2017, and the hairline regrew again. I got 3 months of growth, and now since November I have been receding again with miniturisation.
So I thought maybe I hadn’t been using the right dht blocker or anti androgen. I started using avodart 0.5mg daily in early December, no halt in recession, hair shedding or miniturisation. I began using darolutamide (which has turned out to be enzalutamide) 6 weeks ago. I also began using stemoxydine. The recession continues, the miniturisation is still happening and my hair density goes down by the day. Before minoxidil, I had hair shedding which was maybe 30-40 in the shower. On minoxidil, it’s anywhere from 60-120 hairs in the shower alone.

So to sum up, being on minoxidil has synchronised my hair growth. I get 3 months of growth, then it simply stops working and all the hairs regrown miniturise and fall out. I’m left without any hair growth and/or miniturised growth for 7-12 months. I have been on dht blockers and anti androgens, and it doesn’t stop the process. minoxidil has essentially hijacked my hair growth, and I believe even despite hormonal medication, determines whether the hair grows terminal or miniturised. My issue is, it’s currently the only thing to have grown ANY hair for me, and stopping likely means huge shedding and hairline recession. I also find that it causes quite bad facial bloating at doses any higher than 2.5mg orally. So I’m stuck, and I’m screwed. It’s annoying because it SHOULDNT do this, but some of us are just that unlucky. I think about stopping it all the time but god only knows what damage could be done. I truly hope that the rest of you have better luck with other medications. I am beginning to think my war is lost.

Are you bipolar Georgie?Manic phase now?

 

[sunchyme1]

Are you bipolar Georgie?Manic phase now?

cal are you growing back your sexy quiff?

 

[sunchyme1]

@Calchas