Finally almost recovered from Rogaine

K

kehcorpz

Guest
I mentioned in other posts how Rogaine gave me terrible dark circles under my eyes and bad wrinkles. It aged my face 10 years over the course of 1 year treatment. I was so obsessed with my hairline that I ignored the progression. People thought I was sick and had cancer or something! The massive shed it caused also didn't help. Anyways, I've been completely off it for 3 months now and i'm pretty much 90% recovered. My forehead wrinkles have almost disappeared. My under eye wrinkles are gone, the dark circles have faded and the wrinkles around my smile line are gone! My face looks young and skin looks firmer again. I had this saggy look because of Rogaine.

I think that I had a case of pseudoacromelagy or something around those lines. It drastically changed my appearance. I still have tiny hairs that I can see in the right lighting growing on my cheekbones but the ones directly under my eyes have fallen off. The others have shrunk considerably. 3 more months and I take it all of those will fade too. I'm just so relieved that I recovered. So many people were saying that it took them years to recover it freaked me out!

My hairline has also gotten much better. I attribute that to the finasteride which I've been taking for almost 10 months now. I'm starting to see my hairline coming back as well. I think the Rogaine was causing a massive Telogen Effluvium the entire time as my hair had never been worse.

For those affected by Rogaine in much the same way as I was, note that it's completely reversible!
 
W

wstef

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When I started it, I got a slight "pounding" in my temples and I did see my eyes get a tiny big puffier pretty much straight after I applied it. But this happened only the first time, and it was probably because I was tired.

I use the 5% foam and it actually makes my hair look darker and thicker instantly after applying it, which is a pretty good side effect of the 'greasy' kind of residue it leaves on my hair.

What I never got about people experiencing face ageing on minoxidil is that it promotes blood flow, which surely should cause the opposite effect?

I'm glad that coming off it has helped with the negative side effects you had :)
 
K

kehcorpz

Guest
Yah I used to get temple veins popping out while applying it. My theory is that it somehow causes dehydration in people which results in wrinkles. Come to think of it my doctor mentioned my Potassium was a little high but I never linked it to Minoxidil use nor did I tell him about it. It could have maybe been causing an imbalance of electrolytes. My skin was definitely dry and I've always had an oily face for as long as I can remember. I'm also not as thirsty as I used to be now that I think about it. I used to constantly drink water because I always felt like my mouth was dry. There is definitely studies that show it inhibits collagen synthesis:

Effects of minoxidil on cultured human skin fibroblasts.
Pinnell SR, Murad S.
Source
Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.
Abstract
Two important findings related to the effect of minoxidil on human skin fibroblasts in culture are reviewed. Treatment of cells with minoxidil is associated with a specific loss of lysyl hydroxylase activity; this loss occurs gradually and is reversed by removing minoxidil from the culture medium. Experiments with inhibitors of protein and RNA synthesis reveal that minoxidil may inhibit the synthesis of lysyl hydroxylase by acting at the transcriptional level. Treatment of cells with minoxidil is also associated with inhibition of proliferation, without any sign of cytotoxicity. This effect of minoxidil is accompanied by inhibition of DNA synthesis. Since collagen is the major product of fibroblast activity and lysyl hydroxylase catalyzes a crucial reaction in collagen biosynthesis, the combined effects of minoxidil offer the potential for its use as an antifibrotic agent. Thus, minoxidil may prove to be beneficial in treating skin conditions associated with collagen accumulation.
Click to expand...


Whether this would cause wrinkles so rapidly who knows. I think it definitely caused my skin to be thinner. It has thickened up since which is why it looks more supple and the dark circles disappear. But that thickness could be water retention whereas prior to that it had a diuretic like effect.

In any event I believe that I'm a small portion of the population that experiences this. If everyone did it wouldn't be such a money maker. I probably absorbed it systematically at a rapid rate.

I mean there's people who swear Propecia is the devil but I love the stuff!

And it is completely reversible which means that everyone can at least try it and take their chances with side effects which are low.
 
W

wstef

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Indeed. Everyone is different and some people will experience side effects that others won't. That's true of everything, even food.

I think with topical minoxidil it all depends on how much is absorbed into the bloodstream; perhaps some people absorb it quicker and easier into their bodies, meaning it ventures further down than just the scalp?

Was that study referring to topical or ingested minoxidil? Some of the stuff we put on our skin could possibly kill is if we ingested it.

There's theories out there that finasteride may reduce some of the oil in the skin and I've seen that some people (how true it was I don't know) have been prescribed it for acne - afterall, DHT does like to hang around in the hair follicles which produce oil. Again, the internet being the internet has so much conflicting information it's hard to find a reliable source.

I seem to be the opposite of you. No side effects from Regaine but I seem to be getting sexual ones from Propecia, which I didn't want to happen because it can work and the results can be great.
 
K

kehcorpz

Guest
wstef the study looks like it would apply to the topical version and the area directly applied to. I imagine that it would have the same effect if it was in the blood. Other studies show this with oral minoxidil.


Timi, no my face was actually really dry and lacked water. The opposite of the moon face people experience.
 
C

coolfx35

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10 years on Rogaine, my wife keep on saying my face look more puffy by the year, I thought it was just generic and there's nothing I can do about it. my body is skinny and yet my face is huge... It's not proportional to say the least.

I am going to stop Rogaine for a few months and will let you guys know the result.
 
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hofh

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kehcorpz said:
I mentioned in other posts how Rogaine gave me terrible dark circles under my eyes and bad wrinkles. It aged my face 10 years over the course of 1 year treatment. I was so obsessed with my hairline that I ignored the progression. People thought I was sick and had cancer or something! The massive shed it caused also didn't help. Anyways, I've been completely off it for 3 months now and i'm pretty much 90% recovered. My forehead wrinkles have almost disappeared. My under eye wrinkles are gone, the dark circles have faded and the wrinkles around my smile line are gone! My face looks young and skin looks firmer again. I had this saggy look because of Rogaine.

I think that I had a case of pseudoacromelagy or something around those lines. It drastically changed my appearance. I still have tiny hairs that I can see in the right lighting growing on my cheekbones but the ones directly under my eyes have fallen off. The others have shrunk considerably. 3 more months and I take it all of those will fade too. I'm just so relieved that I recovered. So many people were saying that it took them years to recover it freaked me out!

My hairline has also gotten much better. I attribute that to the finasteride which I've been taking for almost 10 months now. I'm starting to see my hairline coming back as well. I think the Rogaine was causing a massive Telogen Effluvium the entire time as my hair had never been worse.

For those affected by Rogaine in much the same way as I was, note that it's completely reversible!
Click to expand...

Did you experience any massive shed (Telogen Effluvium) during the months you stopped Rogaine? I've been using Minoxidil for about 4 months once a day, and have also noticed the facial effects as you described, so I desided to stop as well and just continue the use of finasteride. Been on that as long as minoxidil, have also not seen any regrowth, my hair is still worse than the baseline (before i started minoxidil), but it's better now than 2 months ago. Did you tapper it off or stopped cold turkey? Thanks for any reply :)
 
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Lewis Hamilton

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Rogaine - side effects can get you...

Yes, it can cause effects in people...palpitations, tight chest, dizzyness etc.

A cardiologist friend of mine said it was designed as an oral drug initially to control blood pressure and warned as a topical solution the risk was less, but there would always be some risk of absobtion, particularly if you have just washed your hair and the scalp is nice and clean.

Gave me a puffy face and I had eye spams on it. Took about 6 months to get over the main effects of the drug, but still have palpitations 3 years on having never had them before (but these are nearly gone now).
 
R

RP3X

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I had terrible dark circles as mentioned and seen in my massive dark circle thread.... but I found 6 months afterwards coming off all treatments my hair line went worser I felt, all it took was one hair cut and then I said to myself in the mirror "oh dear lord" went back on all the treatments!

Been trying 5% of each minoxidil (liquid and foam) both mornings and nights just to see if there is any difference and finasteride again, I can see straight away a nice difference in my hair line all my minoxidil hairs came back and those tiny black hairs and newer hairs came back again near my fading hair line. The minoxidil foam really does make the difference between hair that looks like pants to hair that looks lush and thick and "hair" on my head really.

I am using tiny blobs of minoxidil foam and not too much and improvement continues but I dont think I will be quick to quit the big 3, even finasteride makes my body and top hairs appear more thicker so the big 3 treatments of finasteride+minoxidil and nizoral shampoo really do work wonders.

The one thing I really wanted to try to reduce my dark circles or the "minoxidil" bad effects was exercise, apparently a good sweat and work out keeps the blood flowing and reduces symptoms but im too lazy and don't have the time ;)
 
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RP3X

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Jack A said:
I was on regaine for 2 years and quit 2 weeks ago because I was just sick of how bloated my face was, it's looking better already but am hoping I wont start to lose ground now, already seen a few tiny hairs falling out.
Click to expand...

Its like people say always on here, those tiny hairs are minoxidil dependent so they will fall out over the next few weeks. minoxidil is needed if you want those hairs still there or not.

I noticed the same with my tiny hairs, the good news is when I restarted minoxidil treatments after even 6 months those tiny hairs came back and I had the same if not better regrowth of course this may not be the case for others. Quite a few hairs sprouted into normal softer but longer hairs but only some. Other minoxidil tiny hairs are slightly better then before.

I am experimenting however since I seem to have much better performance with liquid over foam, but foam gives a much better style and thicker appearance then liquid so am applying both that way cannot go wrong!

Overall I would say its nice to be off all treatments but its only till afterwards you stop all treatments or come off minoxidil you can REALLY see what the treatments were doing in my case they did visually make a difference if bit a small one, I can see at my hair line there are smaller minoxidil hairs which does help cover up the front baldness overall, so I guess I gotta keep using it shed or not or bad dark circles. I can either look like a cast member from the walking dead or look like zombie with better hair, so no choice lol
 
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Japanfour

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Hey kehcorpz, I'm in the same boat as you ( sudden forehead wrinkles, pockmarks, pseudoactomelagy). I'm taking some collagen supplements but I'm thinking it might be better to just leave it alone and let it heal on its own. Did you stay out of the sun for those 3 months? Did you take anything for your skin problems?
 
B

Bummed

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kehcorpz,

After taking minoxidil, my scalp and forehead became fire red, dry and flaky, and I lost a massive amount of hair. My forhead became wrinkly. Does this sound like the experience you had? How long did the shed last? Did the hair you shed come back?


kehcorpz said:
I mentioned in other posts how Rogaine gave me terrible dark circles under my eyes and bad wrinkles. It aged my face 10 years over the course of 1 year treatment. I was so obsessed with my hairline that I ignored the progression. People thought I was sick and had cancer or something! The massive shed it caused also didn't help. Anyways, I've been completely off it for 3 months now and i'm pretty much 90% recovered. My forehead wrinkles have almost disappeared. My under eye wrinkles are gone, the dark circles have faded and the wrinkles around my smile line are gone! My face looks young and skin looks firmer again. I had this saggy look because of Rogaine.

I think that I had a case of pseudoacromelagy or something around those lines. It drastically changed my appearance. I still have tiny hairs that I can see in the right lighting growing on my cheekbones but the ones directly under my eyes have fallen off. The others have shrunk considerably. 3 more months and I take it all of those will fade too. I'm just so relieved that I recovered. So many people were saying that it took them years to recover it freaked me out!

My hairline has also gotten much better. I attribute that to the finasteride which I've been taking for almost 10 months now. I'm starting to see my hairline coming back as well. I think the Rogaine was causing a massive Telogen Effluvium the entire time as my hair had never been worse.

For those affected by Rogaine in much the same way as I was, note that it's completely reversible!
Click to expand...
 
B

benjt

Experienced Member
Reaction score
100
Any more success stories in terms of recovery? It also took me way too long to realize what minoxidil was doing to my face. I've seen some very minor improvements right when I dropped it 5 weeks ago. However, no more real visible progress ever since... so, anyone who got rid off the wrinkles and dark circles around the eyes? If so, how long did it take?
 
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