Need advice on Minoxidil

[keleko]

Hello!

I felt like my hair was getting thinner and lighter (especially in the front), so I went to see a dermatologist. she confirmed my fears and prescribed me Minoxidil 2% and said that I should apply it once a day.
Now, after reading this forum, the consensus seems to be that in any case one should take the 5% and apply it twice a day. I know that people say that one should take the other medication (proscar?) too, but I prefer to start off with one thing and maybe this Nizoral shampoo. Or is that dead wrong?

Anyway, back to Minoxidil: Should I do what the derm said or can I perhaps use the 5% once a day, because it's a lot cheaper on the internet then in good old Switzerland, but I can't find the 2%. Will the 5% do any harm?

As for now (I'm nearly 19), I'm somewhere between 1 and 2 at the Norwood scale, closer to NW2 then 1. So what would you recommend?

Thanks
Greg

Edit: the main hair loss resides in the temple area...

 

[Hotlegs]

Hello!

I felt like my hair was getting thinner and lighter (especially in the front), so I went to see a dermatologist. she confirmed my fears and prescribed me Minoxidil 2% and said that I should apply it once a day.

I doubt a 2% minoxidil solution applied once a day would have any effect on hair maintenace or regrowth, certainly it would have no 'cosmetic' effect.

Now, after reading this forum, the consensus seems to be that in any case one should take the 5% and apply it twice a day. I know that people say that one should take the other medication (proscar?) too, but I prefer to start off with one thing and maybe this Nizoral shampoo. Or is that dead wrong?

Minoxidil works by extending the growth phase of your hair follicle's natural cycle (growth - rest - shed - growth - rest - shed)

The net effect is an increase in scalp hair in the 'anagen' or growth phase.

The cosmetic effect is 'more hair'

Minoxidil will not address the reasons why you need to start tinkering with you hairs growth cycles to improve it's appearence.

You can minoxidilate (New recently discovered word) your scalp 30 times a day for the rest of your naturallife, this will not save your hair.

Your hair is receding / thinning because the follicles are being negatively effected by dihydrostestosterone (DHT).

Like a patient on Life Support, you may give him drugs to effect the appearence of a pain free healthy person, but unless he eventually gets that heart transplant he's going to die.

Finasteride (Proscar / Propecia / Fincar / Finpecia etc) reduces the formation of DHT in your body, thus there is less to attack your follicles and they can (more or less) florish.

So it would be sensible to attack male pattern baldness from the DHT angle first, give it a year or so, if you are getting good results, great stick with it, if not maybe consider addig minoxidil into your regimen.

Proscar is 5mg of finasteride

Propecia is 1mg of finasteride

1mg a day of finasteride is the recommended dose in the treatment of male pattern baldness, increasing the dose above 1mg is unlikely to yield better results and resonably likely to incease the incidence of side effects.


So if you buy Proscar (to save money) chop the pills into 5 x 1mg parts and take one a day.

 

[Hotlegs]

P.S.


5% minoxidil is a very safe medication with little or no side effects, although if you are very unlucky and experience any side effects, you can simply stop using the medication.

Generic minxidil and Rogaine are horrible to use, greasy with reasonably long drying times (2-4 hours!!!)

Don't expect to apply this stuff, eat your breakfast and leave the house.

For a fast drying convienient minoxidil try Dr Lee's Product 500 standard minoxidil (http://www.Xandrox.com) many here on this forum use this formula.


Good Luck

 

[Hotlegs]

I would start to use Nizoral right away.

Either Finasteride or minoxidil will piss your scalp off for the first few weeks, Nizoral and T/Gel can healp with this.

Also Nizorals active ingredient (Ketoconazole) is a mild anti-androgen (it stops the DHT binding to the receptors on your hair follicle).

 

[keleko]

So starting with minoxidil for around 6 months makes no sense in your opinion? Because I still feel like doing something that the doctor said, i mean, she can't be dead wrong?

She presented me the two possibilites (the pills that attack dht and minoxidil) and said that they do both the same and that none of them will stop hair loss when I put it away.

I thought I could go with minoxidil for six months, see if hair's coming back at the temples and go back to her and then discuss the further solutions... Or would that be 6 months lost?


thanks!

 

[juststarting]

Extremely well said

Hello!

I felt like my hair was getting thinner and lighter (especially in the front), so I went to see a dermatologist. she confirmed my fears and prescribed me Minoxidil 2% and said that I should apply it once a day.

I doubt a 2% minoxidil solution applied once a day would have any effect on hair maintenace or regrowth, certainly it would have no 'cosmetic' effect.

Now, after reading this forum, the consensus seems to be that in any case one should take the 5% and apply it twice a day. I know that people say that one should take the other medication (proscar?) too, but I prefer to start off with one thing and maybe this Nizoral shampoo. Or is that dead wrong?

Minoxidil works by extending the growth phase of your hair follicle's natural cycle (growth - rest - shed - growth - rest - shed)

The net effect is an increase in scalp hair in the 'anagen' or growth phase.

The cosmetic effect is 'more hair'

Minoxidil will not address the reasons why you need to start tinkering with you hairs growth cycles to improve it's appearence.

You can minoxidilate (New recently discovered word) your scalp 30 times a day for the rest of your naturallife, this will not save your hair.

Your hair is receding / thinning because the follicles are being negatively effected by dihydrostestosterone (DHT).

Like a patient on Life Support, you may give him drugs to effect the appearence of a pain free healthy person, but unless he eventually gets that heart transplant he's going to die.

Finasteride (Proscar / Propecia / Fincar / Finpecia etc) reduces the formation of DHT in your body, thus there is less to attack your follicles and they can (more or less) florish.

So it would be sensible to attack male pattern baldness from the DHT angle first, give it a year or so, if you are getting good results, great stick with it, if not maybe consider addig minoxidil into your regimen.

Proscar is 5mg of finasteride

Propecia is 1mg of finasteride

1mg a day of finasteride is the recommended dose in the treatment of male pattern baldness, increasing the dose above 1mg is unlikely to yield better results and resonably likely to incease the incidence of side effects.


So if you buy Proscar (to save money) chop the pills into 5 x 1mg parts and take one a day.

 

[keleko]

thank you guys, but one more question: so 2% is completly useless and I should take the 5%?

 

[Hotlegs]

thank you guys, but one more question: so 2% is completly useless and I should take the 5%?

2% was all we once could lay our hands on, then came a stable 5% solution, rendering 2% all but useless.

Minoxidil is also available in 12.5% (a lotion) and 15% (Xandrox solution, actually now the formula is 16% see Dr Lee's website)

In my opinion a single application of 2% would not be benificial.

I am suprised your dematologist said finasteride (proscar/propecia) and minoxidil (Rogaine) do the same thing?

Yes in one sense they both promote hair growth, but they work in very different ways.

I will repeat what has already been said and what is widely know in the hair loss community:

Finasteride will slow or even stop (if you are an excellent responder) the progression of male pattern baldness, even the slowing of the male pattern baldness proccess will allow your hair to 'recover' somewhat.

Minoxidil is an excellent 'growth stimulator' (the best we currently have), it works well in a large number of users and can be used by women (unlike finasteride) but it will just grow some 'extra' hair on crumbling foundations unless you address the underlying causes of male pattern baldness, namely the genetic predisposition of your hair follicles to atrophy under the influence of dihydrotestosterone.

If you do not address this and use exclusively minoxidil the very predictable outcome will be the usual post of:

"hey guys I have been using Rogaine for two years and now it has stopped working!!! Help!"

The minoxidil has not stopped working, it's just that the balding proccess which has been continuing all the time you have been using minoxidil has been, in effect, masked and will eventually 'win out' or 'over take' minoxidils extra growth.

Think of a plant growing in poisoned soil, looking a bit droppy, give it some extra water, plant perks up, all is good for the time being, but unless you clean the soil the plant will become poisoned and evetually no amount of water will revive it.

Not a highly accurte analogy, but it should give you an idea.

Bottom line, if a building is burning down, you need not only to dowse the flames but at some stage it would be wise to turn the gas off.

These analogies are getting worse.

To save your hair do the following:

Take 1 mg of finasteride a day.

Use 2% Nizoral Shampoo 1 - 2 times a week

If after 1 year you are not happy with the cessation of loss or need additional regrowth add 5% minoxidil twice a day.

 

[Guest]

keleko 2% will do nothing but harm, tell your der to go back to school.

I used 2% for 2 months and payed a big price.

 

[Bismarck]

In my opinion a single application of 2% would not be benificial.

I remember a graph showing 2% and 5% are about equally effective in the long term... :wink:

 

[Hotlegs]

In my opinion a single application of 2% would not be benificial.

I remember a graph showing 2% and 5% are about equally effective in the long term... :wink:

A single application of 2% is eqully effective as two applications of 5% of minoxidil?

Dr Lee, drop the Xandrox 15.

Do you have a copy of this graph?

 

[Bismarck]

In my opinion a single application of 2% would not be benificial.

I remember a graph showing 2% and 5% are about equally effective in the long term... :wink:

A single application of 2% is eqully effective as two applications of 5% of minoxidil?

Dr Lee, drop the Xandrox 15.

Do you have a copy of this graph?

This has been said a thousand times in the forums.
2% : ~25% offset of growth
5% : ~35 % ""

So it's not really fair to say 2% is not beneficial...

 

[Hotlegs]

This has been said a thousand times in the forums.
2% : ~25% offset of growth
5% : ~35 % ""

So it's not really fair to say 2% is not beneficial...

LOL!!!

sorry I was not fair :wink:

ok would you recommend a single 2% application to someone wishing to treat their hairloss ?

 

[Bismarck]

This has been said a thousand times in the forums.
2% : ~25% offset of growth
5% : ~35 % ""

So it's not really fair to say 2% is not beneficial...

LOL!!!

sorry I was not fair :wink:

ok would you recommend a single 2% application to someone wishing to treat their hairloss ?

Of course !

 

[Hotlegs]

Of course !

LOL!

Good, that is that issue solved.

I would think a twice daily application of minoxidil 5% is very much more effective at hair regrowth that a single application of 2%.

And I would think that is the general opinion of the majority of people who take an interest in this kind of thing.

Even 5% twice a day is unlikely to achieve a significant cosmetic result in the majority of users, I hold out much less hope for a single 2% application.

For you Bismarck a large picture of a squirrel

 

[Bismarck]

I tihnk you are one of the guys hoping for the Xandrox 120% ....



:wink:

 

[Hotlegs]

I tihnk you are one of the guys hoping for the Xandrox 120% ....

:wink:

minoxidil is dose dependent ?

yes or no ?

don't make me send you more squirrel pictures

 

[Bismarck]

I tihnk you are one of the guys hoping for the Xandrox 120% ....

:wink:

minoxidil is dose dependent ?

yes or no ?

don't make me send you more squirrel pictures

It is dose dependent - like Finasteride. So stick to 5mg to get wonderful 350% DHT reduction :wink:
Get it ?

 

[Hotlegs]

OK

today I will change to 1% minoxidil once a day.

Thanks for all your helpfull advice and moral guidence.

 

[Bismarck]

OK

today I will change to 1% minoxidil once a day.

Thanks for all your helpfull advice and moral guidence.

You said "2% once a day are useless". That's just wrong. 5% are certainly better (one or twice daily) but 2% are not useless.