I wish I had never started using minoxidil.

[wastingpenguins]

minoxidil hasn't really hurt my hair.

But it sure seems to have screwed up my scalp pretty good. Flaky, scabby and discolored. It is truly unbelievable.

And it's making my hair shed after being on it for almost a year.

I wish I could quit, but I've heard way too many horror stories where people regret quitting and end up back on the stuff after losing a lot of ground.

I'm already using nizoral, T/Sal and a moisturizing conditioner (though I just started the latter two a few days ago).

My scalp might be a bit better if I cut the minoxidil down to once a day instead of twice. I'm using nizoral and finasteride and my hair isn't THAT bad yet, so I'm not worried about losing minoxidil's regrowth effectiveness.

The only reason I ever started it was because my doctor recommended it before I found sites like this to do some research.

1. Has anyone ever quit minoxidil WITHOUT completely ruining your hair?

2. What would happen if I cut my minoxidil down to once per day?

PLEASE, help. I'm a sad, desperate 17 year old.

Today was the first day of my senior year of High School. Two different girls commented that I had 'flakes or something' in my hair, while another (close friend) commented that my hair was looking thinner...

*sigh*

EDIT: Sorry I keep posting stuff about my scalp problems. It was just those comments at school today that got me feeling kind of down and prompted this post. I'm currently waiting to hear back from Dr. Lee about my minoxidil order, so maybe that will help. Thanks to anyone who can answer my questions.

 

[Guest]

Man, you’ve started it now. Don’t stop, a shed would be inevitable.

17, damn, I wish Doctors would think before putting 17 year old kids on life long treatments. Did he mention it was a life time commitment to you? I bet he was oblivious to it anyway.

Just use it carefully. You’ve been on it a year, keep going.

Shave your head down slightly maybe? For people your age, this is the in hair-cut. Maybe a 2 guard.

You mention about the flakes. What about Emu oil? This stuff works great for me for getting rid of the regaine flakes. When you apply the stuff do you have to get up early? I know it's a pain, but if you haven’t got a shaved head, then the only way you can use the stuff is to apply it hours before you go to school surely.

All the best.

 

[Grandpa]

Sorry man, that really does suck to be 17 years old and losing your hair. I always find it humbling to curse my own bad luck at 21, only to see teenagers posting. Anyway I read an article once by some apparent female hair expert, which I wish I could have found to post for you, where she said that the FDA trials for minoxodil are misleading. That the only reason they say it's purely effective for vertex use, and has to be used twice a day is because that's how the trials were conducted and that FDA trials are supposed to be a huge ordeal, so they just ran with the results of their really narrow study. She was of the opinion that minoxidil. would most likely work on other parts of the scalp and probably be just as efficient if only used once daily.

Having said that, I personally would just stick with it though. Even after reading that I'm still too scared to just quit. I've only been on it 2 months now, but even if it doesn't work I think I'm going to just stick it out. I don't think any official studies on the subject exist and it seems like a really risky move with everything to lose. That's just my opinion of course, I could be wrong.

 

[LiveHair]

Hi!

I think maybe this thread might be of some help:
http://www.hairlosstalk.com/discussions ... php?t=6602

Good luck!

LiveHair

 

[too bald too furious]

Its true that you will lose all the hair WHICH minoxidil was saving from male pattern baldness or regrew. But you will eventually not be worse off than what you would had been if you had not started at all.
Here is a link to bryan's website
http://www.geocities.com/bryan50001/quitting-minoxidil.htm
Dont worry. If u decide to quit minoxidil dont go cold turkey. Discuss with your doctor how to stop it gradually. Even if you drop minoxidil at once, you will lose some more than usual amount of hair but you wont get completely bald.
Refer to the studies. I have read posts of atleast 3-4 people on this forum, who have been using minoxidil just once a day and having good results. One of them is Mrlestat. You can search for his posts.
I suggest dont drop minoxidil, shampoo your hair daily using nizoral, t-gel/t-sal and prograine in rotation. That will take care of the flakes and help minoxidil to penetrate through the skin better.
Hope this helps.

 

[Guest]

wastingpenguins,
Drop the minoxidil applications to 1x per day. Are you a diffuse thinner and using the stuff all over the top of your head? I use minoxidil on my temples only and have had good results with once a day applications. Once and a while a put it on twice a day. You should drop your minoxidil applications to once a day, and when it is possible, apply it two times a day. You should be fine.

 

[Kevin fretwell]

I'm also very regretfull of starting minoxidil because it causes soooo much skin problems that I want to say f*** minoxidil . I apply it once a day and use denorex medicated shampoo every day !!! But even then I still have f*****g peeling skin legions .The sh*t f*****g blows big time . I think I'll use it on the vertex only because its working wonders there but not so in front . Nizoral f*****g blows ! It doesn't do jack sh*t for my scalp

 

[Cassin]

I'm currently waiting to hear back from Dr. Lee about my minoxidil order, so maybe that will help. Thanks to anyone who can answer my questions.

His product will help like you don't believe. Give it a shot and keep an open mind.

My suggestion after dealing with this for a year is to.

1. Drop nizoral and T/SAL for the time being. You can add this back later.

2. Use minoxidil once a day till you get Dr Lees. Using it twice a day is going backwards if you are having irritation. Regular 5% minoxidil is very harsh on the scalp.

3. Use a moisturizing conditioner EVERY day to get the dried out hair/scalp back into shape from nizoral & T/SAL.

4. Look into American Crew(can be found at any salon) or maybe Tricomin.

5. Relax. You still have many options out there to get your scalp back into shape. It is indeed depressing, trust me I know.

 

[Jaygee]

I started minoxidil 5% last May, a full year before I started finasteride and Nizoral. minoxidil has never appeared to work for me, and that is the chief reason I have become sloppy about applying it lately. Whereas I used to religously apply it twice a day, now I do it only once and sometimes not at all. I have experienced no shed whatsoever from doing this, and I just can't know if this is because the difference in application does not matter, or because minoxidil wasn't ever helping me in the first place.

Regardless, I won't drop it altogether, since I feel I need to stick to the Big 3 for the recommended 12 months.

I would have thought minoxidil would work for me since I got a shed from it for exactly three weeks at first (like the bottle says will happen), but ever since then nothing has happened, good or bad. I can't know if it's having a maintanence effect or not, since I refuse to stop it comepletely.

However, some people have said that they didn't think it was working for them either, only to discover upon dropping it and getting a huge shed, that it was indeed maintaining.

How long have you been on the Nizoral? I was on it for three months before I realized that it had helped my scalp. Others say it took one month for them. As is always stated, everyone is different.

 

[wastingpenguins]

First of all, I'd just like to thank Cassin. You're a really helpful guy.

Alright, I've been doing a lot of thinking about my whole situation.

Here's how I see what's happened--

1. Start minoxidil for 6-7ish months. Notice nothing over all this time. Hair not really getting worse, no irritation or flaking or ANYTHING whatsoever. Hair still a bit thin, I decide to take action.

2. Start Propecia along with Nizoral. After 1 month, I think I was seeing a bit of an initial finasteride shed. Wasn't too bad. Freaked out, though. I see most of this hair in the shower. I notice that my hair looks better in the morning if I just get out of bed and style, still has some oils in it and whatnot. So I stop showering then, and begin showering only once a day, before bed. Hair shedding only a bit at this point.

But I keep hearing all this stuff about letting shampoos sit for a while on your scalp and hair. So I start letting Nizoral sit on my head for about seven or eight minutes every three days while I wash my body, then rinse off. After a while, I develop this habit of just leaning in enough under the water to rinse the stuff off my hair instead of standing under the water. I then get out and immediately blowdry.

Eventually, this is how I am showering every day, no matter what shampoo. Once a day, and not letting my scalp soak at all. I am still using minoxidil twice a day.

3. After maybe two months on finasteride, the strangest thing starts happening. My scalp goes out of control. I let it go for a while, thinking it's just part of the natural cycle and I'll 'ride it out'. It keeps getting worse, and I am noticing increased shedding and thinning.

I initially think it must be the nizoral, so I discontinue it for a few weeks. Scalp is still F'ed. I wonder if it might be the finasteride, but people tell me that finasteride just doesn't do that.

I go for quite a while more, and things just keep getting worse.

4. With the aid of mirrors, I noticed a VERY thin patch around the my vertex, but more so to the right of the vertex, a few weeks ago. Upon further inspection and help from my mother, I realize that this area of my scalp is encrusted in a good coat of horrible dry, dead skin. No wonder it's so thin.

In hindsight, it seems pretty clear to me suddenly-- I have been applying minoxidil to my head, and not properly washing it from my head or wetting my scalp for weeks on end. I mean, I shampooed plenty... but I'm starting to think that my showering habits may have a lot to do with my scalp problems. After all... other than finasteride, they are the ONLY thing that has changed since I started getting all these dead flakes in my hair.

I have started to shower twice a day again, letting my head soak under the water for at least five minutes each time. I will also start Dr. Lee's in a few days when it gets here.

Does my shower theory make any sense to you guys...?

Thanks.

 

[Cassin]

Your welcome, and I seriously appreciate the comment!

Does my shower theory make any sense to you guys...?

Your theory and what you are doing to take care of it actually makes pretty good sense.

This reminds me of a post by gunner (I think) and some other guy....

They commented that someone has taken a thick bristle brush and literally scraped their scalp back and forth rather harshly to rid their scalp of buildup and dead skin. That sounds like a really good idea in your case. You might even want to email Gunner and ask him if he doesn't see my post. If I remember right this helped his scalp out a bit as he had severe residue.

Residue is just another reason, IMO, why regular minoxidil 5% is a poor product and why Dr Lee's is the way to go without question.

As far as my other post goes above, I still think you should think about suggestion 1 2 & 5. Except keep the T/SAL in the rotation as it will break through that buildup.

Scalp problems are serious issues and you need to do whatever it takes to solve it ASAP. I think you have already figured out the problem though and things should be back in order in a month or so. Good luck!

 

[teqeeler]

dude i wouldnt blow dry your hair after you get out of the shower, instead you should pat it down with a towel gently.

I would recomend you stay on your routine, maybe cut it down a bit, but dont go cold turkey like i did. I wasnt seeeing any reults from what i was doing and i was on minoxidil/ proscar for about a year, but i decided to drop since my head would itch so bad and would have these huge flakes and when the flakes would fall out they have hairs in them, so i got worried that i was losing more hair. I used tgel/ tsal/ nizoral, folligen shampoos nothing really stopped the flakking for me or the itching. But since ive gone cold turkey i have lost alot more hair. I just like you wished i had never started the big 3, as i feel i would have been able to keep my hair a little longer.

question should i go back on my this stuff, or will i lose more hair ahhhh.

 

[de Gaulle]

1. Has anyone ever quit minoxidil WITHOUT completely ruining your hair?

Yes I have and successfuly: Check my "de Gaulle's Story" section for more detail.

de Gaulle.

 

[wastingpenguins]

Wow.

I almost feel silly.

After a mere week of regular showering and whatnot twice a day (along with a lot of scraping and peeling of my crusty scalp), my scalp has gone from abysmal to pretty good. Still got a little way to go, but the change is pretty excellent. Crappy Rogaine still gives me a bit of irritation, but my Dr. Lee's just arrived...

I'm also looking forward to see what finasteride can do for my scalp when it's NOT in hellish condition.

Have yet to see any real results at five months. I'll keep my fingers crossed.