HELP...minoxidil Question

[Peanut33]

I started using Minoxidil 5% from Wal-Mart about a month ago. I did so because I was going to get on a regimine for minoxidil, finasteride, and nizoral...I have the nizoral and minoxidil, but am still waiting for finasteride...About a week and a half ago I started shedding tremendously, I went from about 15 hairs in the shower to now around 50. I know shedding is part of it, but is it really going to be worth it? What do you guys think? I dont want to go bald as a result of shedding, so do I keep up with it or drop it? Im applying it only in the temples, and so far its doing nothing but making my receding hairline worse. Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[incubusor]

Have you read the sticky (top) threads in the shedding forum?

We all want more hair, and thicker hair right? We cannot achieve this without shedding my friend. The hairs that shed will regrow, and the point in getting on treatments is to have thicker regrowth after each shed.

15% of your hairs are always in the shedding phase, which means they are just waiting to fall out (this can take up to 3 months). Propecia or Rogaine will force these hairs to fall out - instead of letting them linger. It has to do with the follicle being stimulated and needing to expand, so it sheds the hair earlier than it would if you weren't on treatment. This happens inititally within the first few months, for some it happens later on. Everyone responds differently. After a few cycles (a years worth of treatment for example) shedding should stabalize.

Think of it this way, if you're shedding more - you are responding to treatment. Ride it out for a few months and expect another shed down the road when you are on propecia.

 

[The Gardener]

It's quite normal to experience shedding upon the start of minoxidil.

ALL hair is shed at one time or another, in a continuous cycle of shed, rest, and regrowth phases. Minoxidil tends to accelerate the shedding of hairs that are in resting phase and were already due to be shed. But, the good news is that the hair that replaces the shed hair will be one that is grown in a rich bath of minoxidil, and according to statistics, chances are it will be slightly thicker than the one it replaced.

If enough of your hair "cycles through" while using minoxidil, and is affected in the same way, then you can count yourself among "the responders" and you'll start noticing cosmetic improvements!