Dr. Lee's 5% minoxidil (Luv it!)

[BadHairDecade]

I've been using regular Rogaine 5% for like 6 months now and I gotta tell ya the stuff is messy and takes a long time to dry. Especially if you have longish hair and you're a diffuse thinner like me.
I just bought a three pack of Dr. Lee's plain old minoxidil 5% and this stuff is not messy at all and dries quickly. I just used it for the first time a few minutes before writing this. I'm really happy I tried this stuff. This is going to cut my hair ritual time in half.
If anyone has a problem with minoxidil applications in the morning rush I seriously suggest you try this stuff.

BHD

 

[The Gardener]

GOOD! I can't tell you how MANY times I have heard people post here under topic headings like "I can only handle one topical a day" or "Once a day minoxidil is all I can apply, and all I need", etc etc, and HOW MANY times I have told these fools to get on the Dr Lees.

Now, I prefer the holding power of Rogaine, I think the slow absorbtion of it somehow makes me feel like it is providing better absorbtion. However, in the mornings, when rushed to get out the door and faced with the choice of either being late, or skipping the minoxidil, the Doctor Lee's hits the spot.

Although I try to allow enough time for Rogaine, when I'm late in the mornings, I always keep some Doctor Lee's on hand so I can still make it out on time and still keep to my religious twice-a-day minoxidil application regime. I swear, I put the stuff in before leaving the door, and it is dry a half hour later when I arrive at work. Just a last minute check in the restroom lavatory on my way up the stairs to make sure there are no drip marks down the forehead, and I am good to go, good to start my day, minoxidil applied and that's that.

 

[HomerJ]

Hey guys...quick question...I need to get minoxidil 5% (and online to bring into Canada)...

Should I get Dr. Lee's 5% or a generic minoxidil 5% (kirkland) or it really doesn't matter, I should just get one or the other...

Thanks

 

[BadHairDecade]

Hey guys...quick question...I need to get minoxidil 5% (and online to bring into Canada)...

Should I get Dr. Lee's 5% or a generic minoxidil 5% (kirkland) or it really doesn't matter, I should just get one or the other...

Thanks

Well if you have a problem with regular minoxidil being too greasy or taking too long to dry get Dr. Lee's.

If you don't have that problem, buy the cheapest minoxidil you can get.

 

[NilesTilden]

You're in Canada, so you can buy Lee's minoxidil (http://www.minoxidil.com) without the $20 consultation first, you may well find his stuff is worth the extra cost.

If you have no prob with rogaine/generic's slow drying, greasiness, itch and flaking then it's the cheapest option. You can buy a 4 month supply of Kirkland minoxidil on ebay for about 30usd. Check that the seller ships to Canada though.

If you've got about $80 to spend on the minoxidil, it might be good to order the 3 pack of Lee's regular ($50) and a 4 pack of generic. Many use Lee's for the morning (dries fast) and generic at night.

 

[HomerJ]

Thanks - Got a good website to purchase generic minoxidil 5% online that ships to Canada?

 

[HairFreak]

I've been using regular Rogaine 5% for like 6 months now and I gotta tell ya the stuff is messy and takes a long time to dry. Especially if you have longish hair and you're a diffuse thinner like me.
I just bought a three pack of Dr. Lee's plain old minoxidil 5% and this stuff is not messy at all and dries quickly. I just used it for the first time a few minutes before writing this. I'm really happy I tried this stuff. This is going to cut my hair ritual time in half.
If anyone has a problem with minoxidil applications in the morning rush I seriously suggest you try this stuff.

BHD

I will just tell you one thing. Don't be so excited about it.
I believe that absorption of his minoxidil actually sucks big time.
Do you think that Rogaine made their stuff so messy for no reason???
Anyway, I will make a post about it as soon as I figure something out.

 

[HairyN]

yah...the absorption sucks so much it was giving me systemic effects...and had to stop as a result

 

[BadHairDecade]

I will just tell you one thing. Don't be so excited about it.
I believe that absorption of his minoxidil actually sucks big time. .

can you elaborate on this or is it just your opinion? Have you used it?

Do you think that Rogaine made their stuff so messy for no reason???

Sometimes things can be changed and still give the same effect. There's a saying "there's more than one way to skin a cat". Not very scientific, I know but it still holds. I hear where you're coming from though.

Since I've added a second topical (spironolactone)I need something to get me out of the house sooner without greasy looking hair. This is an alternative to my day time application. Only time will tell if it works just as good as rogaine or not.

 

[NilesTilden]

I had the same reservations about Lee's minoxidil in the past. I figured, if minoxidil could work well in 30%PG, why wouldn't rogaine make a more user friendly product? They do use 30%PG in their 2% minoxidil, and I think 30% can pretty well dissolve 5% minoxidil too. I've had some crystalization in a couple of Lee's bottles, but most don't.

I've used Lee's with very good results for 16 months now. Some cosmetically significant fronatl regrowth and major thickening all over. I've no doubts about the effectiveness of his minoxidil.

I think Bryan has said that a 90% ethanol 10% PG minoxidil solution would be best for absorbtion (I think), but not sure if minoxidil would dissolve well in that.

Anyway, if not for Lee's, I couldn't even use minoxidil. Tried rogaine 6 years ago and the flakes, itch and slow drying were WAY more than I could handle. I can use a 50/50 mix of Lee's/kirkland once per day, but that's all the PG I can tolerate.

 

[David Swissy]

morning application

With my morning application, because I dont like to leave the house for work with greasy hair I apply the regaine at about 6.oo am, whilst still in bed... then go back to sleep till 8.00 am.. then get up and shower at 8 and wash my hair clean and style it... that way youve not got yucky greasy hair... I then apply the second application at six pm.. but as long as im not going out it doesnt matter that Im all greasy on top in the evening.. David UK

 

[HairFreak]

OK, Rogaine’s Minoxidil and all generic versions of it are drying slowly for a single reason. To prevent alcohol from evaporating, as alcohol is helping Minoxidil to absorb. The fact that Dr. Lee's Minoxidil dries so quickly means that alcohol evaporates prematurely, therefore decreasing the absorption of minoxidil.
I have never even thought about it but I will tell you my story quickly. I have started using minoxidil in May 2003. A month later I added Propecia. After six months I had so much hair popping up that I was really excited and I thought that by the end of one year of using it I will probably regrow a bunch of new hair. Well, then I completely switched to Dr. Lee's minoxidil, using regular one in the morning and minoxidil + Retin A in the evening. I have been using it until now, that is for seven months. OK I cannot be 100% sure that his minoxidil has caused it, but more than 50% of the regrowth that I had in the first 6-7 months of using generic minoxidil is now gone! I really don’t know what could be the cause of this (I did not change anything else in my regimen) but this week I have completely switched back to generic minoxidil again. Because Minoxidil gives us 1-2 years of possible regrowth I don’t want to mess around with unproven stuff any more!
Did (Dr.) Lee conduct clinical trials to prove that his version of Minoxidil works the same? :roll:

 

[BadHairDecade]

Good points hair freak. Thanks for the input.
Here's another view:
It would probably cost the makers of rogaine too much $$ to change the formula to a more user friendly version. Now that it's dirt cheap and there's so many generic versions in competition with them it wouldn't be cost effective to change it.

Well I'm still going to give it a try and see what happens.
Niles had good results so I'm hoping for the best.

BHD

 

[The Gardener]

For your information... when I asked Dr Lee why Rogaine doesn't copy his PPG/Alcohol formula, he said the reason was because the higher PPG % in Rogaine gave it a much longer shelf life, which is important for a product that they ship to and sell in grocery stores.

 

[Bryan]

I don't know where Dr. Lee gets that idea. I've never seen any mention of propylene glycol used as a preservative, including the authoritative reference book the Merck Index. Neither has it ever been mentioned in any of the numerous studies on topical minoxidil that I've read, or any other studies related to propylene glycol as a vehicle for drugs.

Bryan

 

[Cassin]

I doubt Dr Lee's is as effective as Rogaine due to the drying time, but I bet it is close. His formula has been around way to long with so many patients that it would have been debunked already by countless angry patients and he would be out of business.

I just started Dr Lees. Here is what has happened to me so far.....

About 4 months ago I had to drop to one minoxidil app a day from time to time due to irritation. I got lazy and started using this as an excuse to much and went to roughly 7-9 aps a week of minoxidil. Mainly I would due PM aps because as with us all, I hate having that sh*t on my scalp when I go to work. Well my regrowth went to a crawl during that time. Mainly I just stabalized.

Getting sick of skipping apps, I went ahead and filled out Lee's paperwork, got my email and made my order. I want to use Dr Lee's minoxidil in the AM since it dries so fast and hopefull only using regular Rogaine in the PM will cut down on the irritation.......which so far it is helping.

In such a short time of using minoxidil twice a day again as were supposed to do, I notice a difference again already in terms of re-growth. I can see a nice layer of Vellus hair popping up again and some of my other darker hairs that popped up a long time ago are starting to grow again as well.

Generics are generics for a reason, the quality of ingrediants used are normally not to the standard of the original stuff. Normally. IMO Dr Lee's is probably as good as a normal generic.

For what it's worth.

 

[Bryan]

Well, I don't often take up for Dr. Lee, but I have to do that in this case: everybody should keep in mind that in vitro study they did that tested the passage of minoxidil through mouse skin, using ethanol/propylene glycol vehicles in varying relative concentrations (that study is probably still right here on this site, in full). They found that the most effective ratio in that test was 90% alcohol and 10% propylene glycol, and Dr. Lee's 80/20 ratio is obviously closer to that than either the 2% or 5% versions of Rogaine.

Having said that, I'll emphasize again that it was on mouse skin, not human skin; and perhaps also important is that it didn't measure the effect on HAIR GROWTH per se, just the passage through skin, which isn't the same thing.

Bryan

 

[Cassin]

I always thought it was 70/30. Wow.

Also as a side note......Lee's has Vitamin E in it as well.......good for irritation along with the lower PPG.

 

[Bryan]

You though WHAT was 70/30? The most effective ratio, or Dr. Lee's ratio?

Bryan

 

[Cassin]

I always thought that Dr Lees ratio was 70/30.