Hey all - first a quick intro as this is my first post.
I have been reading through these helpful forums for some time now and finally thought I would get some direct second opinions as I have not seen many people post regarding my current situation.
I am 25, and started my 5% liquid minoxidil with nizoral treatment about 9 months ago. I immediately saw great results, with no shed, and things were absolutely great. About the 5 month mark my head grew insanely itchy all the time, mind boggling so, then the 6 month mark the great dreaded real shed came on. I never panicked and never missed a single application of twice a day (and still haven't!). Hair recovered well, almost to as thick as it was at the four month mark, but then began the flaking of doom which up until this point, there was never a single flake.
I have read all about the flaking, and know it is dried minoxidil and not my skin. At first it wasn't too bad, however, at about this most recent 8-9 month mark it was absolutely bonkers. I even was doing tests - the exact spots I would drop minoxidil on my scalp would be the exact spot the huge flakes would appear. It just wasn't absorbing! Additionally, my hair seems to have gotten thinner since the 7 month mark.
Below is the best information I found regarding the subject here on these forums (apologies for this lengthy post) but perhaps this information is useful to others who have not seen it:
QUOTE:
According to what I could gather, it is very likely that skin side effects only show when your minoxidil dose already reached "maximum local effect" due to the tissue where you apply it reaches maximum saturation with minoxidil's bioactive metabolite, minoxidil sulfate. If maximum saturation is reached, any additional minoxidil sulfate will spread out to the surroundings.
The amount of local minoxidil sulfate is determined by the concentration of available minoxidil sulfotransferase. The higher it is, the more bioactive minoxidil sulfate is produced from the minoxidil you apply. This is also the reason why minoxidil doesn't work at all for some people: they have almost no minoxidil sulfotransferase or even none at all, meaning no bioactive minoxidil sulfate for them. People with side effects are at the other extreme of the spectrum, having way more minoxidil sulfotransferase and thus minoxidil sulfate than the average person.
As a consequence from saturation, you can safely reduce the dose without losing any hair-saving effect - the tissue is already saturated anyway, nothing more can be added.
Now the difficult task is to find the right dose for you, as it is dependent on your level of minoxidil sulfotransferase. I for myself found out that 1 ml per day is perfect, i.e. one application per day (which also fits in better with my lifestyle). Problem is that the half-life of minoxidil means that if I miss applications I lose a lot of effect, so I'm thinking about splitting into two applications of 0.5 ml per application twice a day.
Long story short: Reduce your dose and find the perfect one for you. It's not easy to find, but if you don't want the side effects to become more severe (which they did in my case over time with grave consequences on my looks... I looked like drug-addict with additional 10 years over my biological age. It took many months till I recovered from that.), you should do it.
END QUOTE
So with all that said, I would just love to hear some opinions. Does the above information sound correct? Has anyone else had issues with minoxidil not absorbing? Is my head truly too saturated with minoxidil and that is affecting the thickness and health of my hair? I have indeed decreased my dosage and the flakes decrease, however I am curious - have any of you found you could grow healthier and thicker hair with lower dosages of minoxidil? Just seems so bizarre I never had flakes until about the 8 month mark as my hair also became slightly thinner again.
Thanks for reading and for any input. I am aware there is always some loss of hair for those of us not on finasteride - that's not the subject here. More so on quality of hair and scalp in relation to minoxidil levels. Thanks!
I have been reading through these helpful forums for some time now and finally thought I would get some direct second opinions as I have not seen many people post regarding my current situation.
I am 25, and started my 5% liquid minoxidil with nizoral treatment about 9 months ago. I immediately saw great results, with no shed, and things were absolutely great. About the 5 month mark my head grew insanely itchy all the time, mind boggling so, then the 6 month mark the great dreaded real shed came on. I never panicked and never missed a single application of twice a day (and still haven't!). Hair recovered well, almost to as thick as it was at the four month mark, but then began the flaking of doom which up until this point, there was never a single flake.
I have read all about the flaking, and know it is dried minoxidil and not my skin. At first it wasn't too bad, however, at about this most recent 8-9 month mark it was absolutely bonkers. I even was doing tests - the exact spots I would drop minoxidil on my scalp would be the exact spot the huge flakes would appear. It just wasn't absorbing! Additionally, my hair seems to have gotten thinner since the 7 month mark.
Below is the best information I found regarding the subject here on these forums (apologies for this lengthy post) but perhaps this information is useful to others who have not seen it:
QUOTE:
According to what I could gather, it is very likely that skin side effects only show when your minoxidil dose already reached "maximum local effect" due to the tissue where you apply it reaches maximum saturation with minoxidil's bioactive metabolite, minoxidil sulfate. If maximum saturation is reached, any additional minoxidil sulfate will spread out to the surroundings.
The amount of local minoxidil sulfate is determined by the concentration of available minoxidil sulfotransferase. The higher it is, the more bioactive minoxidil sulfate is produced from the minoxidil you apply. This is also the reason why minoxidil doesn't work at all for some people: they have almost no minoxidil sulfotransferase or even none at all, meaning no bioactive minoxidil sulfate for them. People with side effects are at the other extreme of the spectrum, having way more minoxidil sulfotransferase and thus minoxidil sulfate than the average person.
As a consequence from saturation, you can safely reduce the dose without losing any hair-saving effect - the tissue is already saturated anyway, nothing more can be added.
Now the difficult task is to find the right dose for you, as it is dependent on your level of minoxidil sulfotransferase. I for myself found out that 1 ml per day is perfect, i.e. one application per day (which also fits in better with my lifestyle). Problem is that the half-life of minoxidil means that if I miss applications I lose a lot of effect, so I'm thinking about splitting into two applications of 0.5 ml per application twice a day.
Long story short: Reduce your dose and find the perfect one for you. It's not easy to find, but if you don't want the side effects to become more severe (which they did in my case over time with grave consequences on my looks... I looked like drug-addict with additional 10 years over my biological age. It took many months till I recovered from that.), you should do it.
END QUOTE
So with all that said, I would just love to hear some opinions. Does the above information sound correct? Has anyone else had issues with minoxidil not absorbing? Is my head truly too saturated with minoxidil and that is affecting the thickness and health of my hair? I have indeed decreased my dosage and the flakes decrease, however I am curious - have any of you found you could grow healthier and thicker hair with lower dosages of minoxidil? Just seems so bizarre I never had flakes until about the 8 month mark as my hair also became slightly thinner again.
Thanks for reading and for any input. I am aware there is always some loss of hair for those of us not on finasteride - that's not the subject here. More so on quality of hair and scalp in relation to minoxidil levels. Thanks!