is there any point toapplying minoxidil twice daily?

[nagual]

I don't get it. the half life of the drug is 22 hours, so using it twice daily doesn't make any sense.
Is it just a marketing shtick?

 

[Reciprocity]

It's not, the idea of applying it twice daily stems from the fact that the half life of oral minoxidil is roughly 12hrs on which the studies originally were done so they just extrapolated that you need to do the same thing with topical minoxidil.

 

[nagual]

It's not, the idea of applying it twice daily stems from the fact that the half life of oral minoxidil is roughly 12hrs on which the studies originally were done so they just extrapolated that you need to do the same thing with topical minoxidil.

so they are wrong, correct?
there would b no point in applying something twice a day which has a 22 hours half life, right?

 

[Reciprocity]

I mean, there is some benefit obviously but it's a diminishing-returns kinda thing. You can get away with applying it once daily for all intents and purposes.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

so they are wrong, correct?
there would b no point in applying something twice a day which has a 22 hours half life, right?

I comb min in all over, copiously and then I massage it in. I only use it once now and I massage anyway but for those not doing massage, five minutes of massaging min in twice a day might be beneficial plus there are times when min might be less well absorbed so using twice a day is beneficial but not necessary. It's not that much of a hassle to use twice a day though, and topical is dirt cheap when buying generic.

 

[Norwoody]

You can look at it this way. 5% twice a day is practically the same amount as 10% once a day. So there is definitely a benefit to it.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

You can look at it this way. 5% twice a day is practically the same amount as 10% once a day. So there is definitely a benefit to it.

Now Norwoody, as my breasts keep filling in to massive 38D cups, I just keep losing my mind for math. So are you saying twice 5% is !0% once? <bats eyes>

 

[Norwoody]

Now Norwoody, as my breasts keep filling in to massive 38D cups, I just keep losing my mind for math. So are you saying twice 5% is !0% once? <bats eyes>

So let's say you're applying 1mL of 5% twice a day. That's (0.05*2) 0.10mL of the medication. Or, it would be the same amount as 1mL of 10% once a day, 0.10mL. Since the half life is almost 22h, you will accumulate almost double the steady-state levels of the drug in your system over time.

 

[nagual]

You can look at it this way. 5% twice a day is practically the same amount as 10% once a day. So there is definitely a benefit to it.

doesnt make any sense. the half life of the 5% is 22 hours. why do you guys keep neglecting this?! If the half life of the drug is that long, doing it 12 hours later does absolutely nothing since the drug is already in your body and the effect of it has not been reduced to any degree.
plus there is no scientific data that says 10% is any better than 5%. If you have found this type of data, please share it with me.

 

[nagual]

if your theory is that its effect on hair is from vasodilation, do you have some vehicle that evenly disperses it through the skin to the blood vessels for 22h? i certainly can't get 22h vasodilation (i wish) from minoxidil sulphate, more like 2-4hr. unfortunately my scalp doesn't care about the systematic elimination time.

The half-life is approximately 3 hr, regardless of whether the dose is given singly or on a multiple-dose basis... the principal site of action, that is, the vascular smooth-muscle receptor site.

so is all minoxidil supposed to do is vasodilation?
also, how do you know how long would vasodilation last? If you think the effect of it lasts 4 hours, why won't you apply it 6 times a day?
so what if doesn't get distributed evenly on your scalp skin, you are still getting benefit from it right?

 

[BetaBoy]

It's not, the idea of applying it twice daily stems from the fact that the half life of oral minoxidil is roughly 12hrs on which the studies originally were done so they just extrapolated that you need to do the same thing with topical minoxidil.

Pretty sure the idea comes from trial data which showed better efficacy in the twice daily group vs once daily group

 

[Norwoody]

I'm not going to try to convince you guys otherwise. I've always said from day 1 on this forum that all of my contentions are based on practical standpoints. If you actually try it twice a day then you'll notice the difference.

 

[nagual]

Pretty sure the idea comes from trial data which showed better efficacy in the twice daily group vs once daily group

please share the data with us if you can. I have not found such thing in any scientific literature going back.. It would be very useful if this data actually had existed rather than being mere speculation.

 

[Norwoody]

Agree. Keyboard warriors add nothing to these discussions.

The studies are not infallible. They provide a guide. If we had the answers to hair loss in doctors offices, I wouldn't be here anyway.

For example, the abortion drug mifeprestone. 600mg was recommended, now 200mg standard. 100mg shown to be good. 5mg good for 5 days after. Possibly 5mg works for up to 12 weeks also.

(And I have a very good relationship with my doctor. Whilst I get a bunch of stuff from China, if I need something locally, I tell him what I need and the reason to write, and he writes the script/referral. Sometimes he tells me what I need. Saves a lot of messing around.)

Yeah a lot more people would be bald if they waited for a study to validate everything before they did it lol. Self-experimentation is key and is how we learn about this issue. Some guys get hair back in very different ways.

 

[nagual]

dudes! just because I look for scientific confirmation I am a keyboard warrior?! come on. you guys haven't even share any anecdotes!