Is Minoxidil A Must For Hair Regrowth?

[samantha3333]

I am a 23/F with Androgenetic Alopecia. I was on rogaine 5% for 1.5 years with very little result. It has helped reduce some hair loss but the effect didn't last. It never helped me regrow any hair. And strangely shortly after I stopped rogaine, my hair loss decreased massively back to my normal loss rate. I thought I was recovering but my hair continued to thin.

My derm put me on spironolactone 100 mg for the first month and 200 mg after. I have hormonal acnes too which started a year before my hair loss. I also use Nizoral 2% three times a week. I have been on this regime for about 5 weeks.

A lot of women say anti-androgen pills alone wont regrow any hair (tho I have seen people did). Why wouldn't it be enough if it is treating the root cause of the problem? I can't possibly go back on rogaine. It's really expensive and I really can't possibly go through the dread shed again. Also, it gave me so much facial hair I literally had to wax once every week. I really just hope to maintain my existing hair and maybe regrow a little bit back.


Thank you

 

[Aldrich]

It's not a must for regrowth, but it's an FDA-approved drug and growth stimulant for hairloss. If it doesn't work for you, then there is no point in using it. Minoxidil doesn't work for everyone. Just like all other hairloss treatments, the effectiveness is personal.

 

[GoldenMane]

Reducing DHT can definitely result in hair regrowth, I wouldn't use regained if I was a woman.

 

[samantha3333]

You could if you are 100% sure you don't want kids. Androgenetic Alopecia is the same in woman as it is for men so there is no reason why it wouldn't work. I would honestly look into a more potent anti androgen though.

I want to have kids in the future so I'm not sure any other anti androgen pills will be too much for me.
I see a lot of women use both spironolactone and finasteride. I don't want to use finasteride as bad skin is definitely worse than hair loss

 

[Ilia]

I want to have kids in the future so I'm not sure any other anti androgen pills will be too much for me.
I see a lot of women use both spironolactone and finasteride. I don't want to use finasteride as bad skin is definitely worse than hair loss

try Skin Biology Hair Signals cream/Galderma Qilib lotion for women+ Solgar hair nails skin complex(MCM+copper+vitC)+polyvitamins+microelements+omega-3/6 capsules

 

[hairblues]

hey all..

I tried spironolactone a few years back without birth control pills..i was going to start the BCP next cycle. I was on high dose of spironolactone for 2 weeks and my gynecologist made me go off because it realy messed up my period. (my period was there but was not coming down for 3 months--really weird)..anyway i think if i had started the BCP first this would not have happened....

Currently i went to an endocrinologist who referred me to her friend who is a hair transplant Dr..he diagnosed me as low ferritin...BUT i may also have some Androgenetic Alopecia...Right now i am working to get my ferritin up to 70 but i am thinking of doing PRP Acell...

I am open to minoxidil and spironolactone but I am nervous to do the spironolactone again with BCP because i am 45 and the BCP that don't effect hair negatively are higher risk...*sigh*

Current regimen is hair laser 3x a week. Keto 2% 3x a week and Iron pills Dr prescribed very high dose but they keep me monitored ever few weeks.

I go back to my hair transplant Dr in Sept to talk more about PRP Acell..

To your girls thinking of having kids i don't know if finasteride has long term effects. Maybe their is some research with that?

 

[hairblues]

question about Minos and hair growth

i have been lasered to get rid of hair so the thought of gaining facial or body hair disturbs me...Did the face hair you had to wax was it around your bows and lip area OR was it like all over the face?? ..cause i don't think i can deal with it like on cheeks and stuff. that would be super annoying to wax all the time and most technicians will not laser those areas i forgot why but my friend does the hair removal and its an area they don't like to do for some reason.

 

[buckthorn]

@samantha3333 - I personally think minoxidil is a good additive to any regimen. It helps keep a healthy anagen / telogen ratio and works to keep your hair growing. That is, if you're even a responder to it.

If you really want to try it, You can try generic minoxidil. It's the same thing and cheap as hell.

Now a days, there are a million different versions of minoxidil. Hell, if you're in the US, you can order minoxidil cream w/ finasteride, progesterone, hydrocortisone, azelaic acid, retinoic acid, etc.. I did not respond well to this compounded minoxidil, but have seen reports of some users who did.

Hopefully spironolactone may counter the unwanted facial hair?

 

[samantha3333]

@samantha3333 - I personally think minoxidil is a good additive to any regimen. It helps keep a healthy anagen / telogen ratio and works to keep your hair growing. That is, if you're even a responder to it.

If you really want to try it, You can try generic minoxidil. It's the same thing and cheap as hell.

Now a days, there are a million different versions of minoxidil. Hell, if you're in the US, you can order minoxidil cream w/ finasteride, progesterone, hydrocortisone, azelaic acid, retinoic acid, etc.. I did not respond well to this compounded minoxidil, but have seen reports of some users who did.

Hopefully spironolactone may counter the unwanted facial hair?

Thanks for your reply buckthorn. I tried minoxidil 5% for 1.5 years. The only hair I grew from is were facial hair and peach fuzz on my head. I think my eyelashes thickened up a bit from minoxidil and they stayed that way till now so I guess there's silver lining eh?
That's wy I wonder if anti-androgen pills alone would do anything for me.

Do you know the difference between thickening up existing hair and regrowing hair? They say anti-androgen pills only thicken up existing hair but don't regrow any new hair. I have a lot of miniaturised hair so if all of them are thickened up, I'll be a very happy girl. I don't exect hair follicles that were already dead to produce hair.

 

[buckthorn]

Thanks for your reply buckthorn. I tried minoxidil 5% for 1.5 years. The only hair I grew from is were facial hair and peach fuzz on my head. I think my eyelashes thickened up a bit from minoxidil and they stayed that way till now so I guess there's silver lining eh?
That's wy I wonder if anti-androgen pills alone would do anything for me.

Do you know the difference between thickening up existing hair and regrowing hair? They say anti-androgen pills only thicken up existing hair but don't regrow any new hair. I have a lot of miniaturised hair so if all of them are thickened up, I'll be a very happy girl. I don't exect hair follicles that were already dead to produce hair.

1) you don't really know if minoxidil was helping or not if a) you didn't see net hair loss or b) you didn't see notable regrowth. What I am saying, is you may have been off worst without it. You just didn't notice it was helping maintain your hair.

2) I have seen people regrow LOTS of hair on anti androgens. Especially ones as strong as oral spironolactone. It's possible. Perhaps you will be a lucky one!! It is really IMPOSSIBLE to tell what's going on with hair regrowth unless you have a buzzed head and a distinct pattern. You just can't see it until it becomes cosmetically visible, which, for long hair may be a long time.

3) Yes, you can regrow vellous hair. You are young and I am assuming your follicles are not yet "dead". I have seen people regrow hair on areas that looked almost slick bald, though that is unlikely. You need to catch the follicle before too much damage, such as fibrosis has occurred.

GOOD LUCK and hang in there.

 

[samantha3333]

1) you don't really know if minoxidil was helping or not if a) you didn't see net hair loss or b) you didn't see notable regrowth. What I am saying, is you may have been off worst without it. You just didn't notice it was helping maintain your hair.

2) I have seen people regrow LOTS of hair on anti androgens. Especially ones as strong as oral spironolactone. It's possible. Perhaps you will be a lucky one!! It is really IMPOSSIBLE to tell what's going on with hair regrowth unless you have a buzzed head and a distinct pattern. You just can't see it until it becomes cosmetically visible, which, for long hair may be a long time.

3) Yes, you can regrow vellous hair. You are young and I am assuming your follicles are not yet "dead". I have seen people regrow hair on areas that looked almost slick bald, though that is unlikely. You need to catch the follicle before too much damage, such as fibrosis has occurred.

GOOD LUCK and hang in there.

Thanks a lot. Really appreciate it.

I was showing more scalp while on minoxidil even though the shed was low. And I don't want to grow vellous hair. So I quit.

It's amazing how people on different hair loss forums tailored to different genders can have different take on things.
The general consensus of women in women hair loss forums are:
(1) Anti-androgen pills alone won't do sh*t to grow your hair. It will only keep your hair from thinning faster.
(2) spironolactone is a very weak anti-androgen pills. If it;'s true i don't understand why so many men want to give it a go.
(3) Women Androgenetic Alopecia is different from male pattern baldness. That's why meds work for men but not women.

spironolactone might not work for me but i don't think what they are saying is true.

 

[samantha3333]

I don;t understand why men would try spironolactone if it doesn't work for a lot of women. Maybe it did work for a lot of women, they just don't come back and post it like men do.

 

[buckthorn]

I don;t understand why men would try spironolactone if it doesn't work for a lot of women. Maybe it did work for a lot of women, they just don't come back and post it like men do.

can you source where you read it "doesn't work for a lot of women"?? I would think spironolactone would work well. I just advocate minoxidil use because I have seen it do great things for people. There is a poster on here named @Pavi who had incredible results. But, if you think it didn't work for you, then yeah, I wouldn't use it.

 

[samantha3333]

can you source where you read it "doesn't work for a lot of women"?? I would think spironolactone would work well. I just advocate minoxidil use because I have seen it do great things for people. There is a poster on here named @Pavi who had incredible results. But, if you think it didn't work for you, then yeah, I wouldn't use it.

It's just what a lot of women on hairloss forums believe. I think it's probably because women don't tend to come back and report results. Only ones that never respond to treatments stick around so everyone believes spironolactone doesn't work well. There really isn't as much scientific discussion on female hair loss forums.
Some women with Androgenetic Alopecia and PCOS also claimed that Saw Palmetto helped them regrow hair and cured their acne. It's weird considering that members here found no scientific proof that SP can do anything for hair.

 

[hairblues]

I think spironolactone if you are tolerating it well is a great drug for hair loss. My endo said she sees good results even in women who don't have PCOS or elevated testosterone. I may eventually go on it if I see a worsening or if other things don't work. For me it seems like for now the 2% keto shampoo, the laser comb and my iron pills have at least stabilized my shedding. I do see some very limited regrowth this week but it's not enough at this point to make any cosmetic difference and i can not say if that would have grown on its own. I have been on my regimen for almost 4 months.

I was on spironolactone once and i had some negative side effects right away in regards to my 'time of month'. I really need to be on BCP to be on spironolactone and I am 45 and the BCP i would need to be on are the higher risk ones that are anti androgen (the other types can cause hair loss)..so although i am very healthy I'm a bit wary at my age to go on higher risk BCP just to aid me with another drug i may or may not need. i am lucky at 45 i don't have health issues so i am hesitant to start adding medications until i feel like i have to.

All my hormones are normal level..so I don't really know what caused my hair loss. The hair transplant Dr i went to thinks it's my low ferritin but who knows. I see a lot of debate on woman hair loss sites about ferritin levels. At the very least I think it can make it worse. But I dont know if it's the cause for women.

Hair loss is so confusing nothing is just a straight line without side effects.

 

[samantha3333]

I think spironolactone if you are tolerating it well is a great drug for hair loss. My endo said she sees good results even in women who don't have PCOS or elevated testosterone. I may eventually go on it if I see a worsening or if other things don't work. For me it seems like for now the 2% keto shampoo, the laser comb and my iron pills have at least stabilized my shedding. I do see some very limited regrowth this week but it's not enough at this point to make any cosmetic difference and i can not say if that would have grown on its own. I have been on my regimen for almost 4 months.

I was on spironolactone once and i had some negative side effects right away in regards to my 'time of month'. I really need to be on BCP to be on spironolactone and I am 45 and the BCP i would need to be on are the higher risk ones that are anti androgen (the other types can cause hair loss)..so although i am very healthy I'm a bit wary at my age to go on higher risk BCP just to aid me with another drug i may or may not need. i am lucky at 45 i don't have health issues so i am hesitant to start adding medications until i feel like i have to.

All my hormones are normal level..so I don't really know what caused my hair loss. The hair transplant Dr i went to thinks it's my low ferritin but who knows. I see a lot of debate on woman hair loss sites about ferritin levels. At the very least I think it can make it worse. But I dont know if it's the cause for women.

Hair loss is so confusing nothing is just a straight line without side effects.

But what's your endo's definition for "good results"? A lot of times, what they mean by good results is just really slowing down your hair loss. I don't want to have thin hair
It's great that if iron pills is your answer but don;t count on it. I raised to ferritin from 22 to 107 in just one month. Nothing happened. spironolactone is actually a very safe drug according to my research, doctors and pharmacist. Initially I was hesitant to go on it cos I was scared I would have weight problems (I am skinny). BCP imo is less safe compared to spironolactone. It's strange how many women would go on bcp but not spironolactone.

 

[samantha3333]

I used to think hairloss for women is tricky. But if you are healthy, it's best to just acknowledge that maybe it IS Androgenetic Alopecia and go on a proper treatment. Time is key here.

 

[Dench57]

If you've tried minoxidil for 1.5 years without noticeable improvement i wouldn't bother again. huge % of non/weak responders as response is based on how much of the sulfotransferase enzyme you have.

i'm not well versed on FPB but I understand it's not the same as male pattern baldness. Wider variety of hormones influence the pathogenesis whereas with male pattern baldness it's overwhelmingly DHT. spironolactone/dutasteride won't have the same efficacy for a woman as they will for a man. At least you don't have to worry about gyno or ED though!

 

[hairblues]

@samantha3333 thanks for your opinion. Good luck.

 

[samantha3333]

If you've tried minoxidil for 1.5 years without noticeable improvement i wouldn't bother again. huge % of non/weak responders as response is based on how much of the sulfotransferase enzyme you have.

i'm not well versed on FPB but I understand it's not the same as male pattern baldness. Wider variety of hormones influence the pathogenesis whereas with male pattern baldness it's overwhelmingly DHT. spironolactone/dutasteride won't have the same efficacy for a woman as they will for a man. At least you don't have to worry about gyno or ED though!

If minoxidil didn't thicken up my hair when I wasn't on anti androgen, will it work now I'm on spironolactone? I don't want to go through another dred shed tho. It's horrible