overdosing on minoxidil!

[stjimmy]

hi everyone, i have a problem, basically i am gonna start taking minoxidil 5% in a few weeks to treat my hairloss but the problem is that i have a rare sort of alopecia which makes your entire scalp hair turn thin which will require more dosage to cover the whole scalp, will i be in danger?

and secondly is taking 15% minoxidil like taking 3 doses of 5% minoxidil at once?

 

[follicle84]

No real danger, but you are more likelly to be prone to side effects. Secondly 3 drops of 5% minoxidil is not the same as 15% because the concentration of 15% minoxidil is more potent. The 5% minoxidil has been watered down so no matter how many drops you take each dose has been watered down and will never make the same concentration as 15%.

I do have some tips for you however to make your minoxidil more effective. Put a hot flannel over your head where you are losing hair then take it off and put the minoxidil on were the flannel was. This will open up the pores in your skin and enable the minoxidil to reach the hair follicles more easilly and supposivelly give you greater results, since minoxidil can have trouble absorbing properly.

 

[stjimmy]

thanks but aren't hot flannels wet? i was thinking more along the lines of a head massage.

 

[ali777]

Generic minoxidil being cheap and easily available, I used to apply more than 2ml at a time, 1ml to the front and 1ml to the crown. I've cut down and I use 1ml now.

I don't know if it was finasteride or minoxidil causing it, but I had dark circles around my eyes. I quit finasteride and only 1ml of minoxidil seems to have had a positive effect and my dark circles are much better.

I'm just making a point that 2+ml of minoxidil didn't really have any major side effects. However, I'm somehow certain my dark circles were minoxidil induced.

 

[Bryan]

Secondly 3 drops of 5% minoxidil is not the same as 15% because the concentration of 15% minoxidil is more potent. The 5% minoxidil has been watered down so no matter how many drops you take each dose has been watered down and will never make the same concentration as 15%.

What if you put pure powdered minoxidil on your scalp? Since that would be literally 100% minoxidil, do you think THAT would be the most effective of all?

 

[stjimmy]

Secondly 3 drops of 5% minoxidil is not the same as 15% because the concentration of 15% minoxidil is more potent. The 5% minoxidil has been watered down so no matter how many drops you take each dose has been watered down and will never make the same concentration as 15%.

What if you put pure powdered minoxidil on your scalp? Since that would be literally 100% minoxidil, do you think THAT would be the most effective of all?

lol well that would not absorb that well at all

 

[Bryan]

Exactly. Which is why I always poke fun at people who play the "Numbers Game" with topical minoxidil solutions!

I think there are too many other variables with topical minoxidil which can affect its overall performance; I personally would never make the sweeping generality that it's the concentration percentage of minoxidil which is the main factor, or that three times as much of a 5% solution can't equal the smaller amount of a 15% solution.

 

[follicle84]

What if you put pure powdered minoxidil on your scalp? Since that would be literally 100% minoxidil, do you think THAT would be the most effective of all?

Not as effective as swallowing it that would really absorb well lol . Three times 5% minoxidil will still just be 5% minoxidil but in greater quantity whilst 15% minoxidil will always be 15% minoxidil thats all i was trying state.

 

[Bryan]

Three times 5% minoxidil will still just be 5% minoxidil but in greater quantity whilst 15% minoxidil will always be 15% minoxidil thats all i was trying state.

While there _may_ be certain elements of truth to that in the specific case of 5% minoxidil and 15% minoxidil (although there are certain complicating factors even in that, which I'm too lazy to go into at the moment), do you understand that it's NOT the case with the standard 2% and 5% versions of Rogaine? When you apply either one of those to your scalp, they BOTH turn into concentrated solutions of minoxidil in propylene glycol after a short period of time. The quantitiy of that concentrated solution will differ between the two versions, of course, but they are indeed the same thing.

So I want people to be smart whenever they use topical minoxidil that's based on standard PG/alcohol/water carrier vehicles: they all turn into the same thing (concentrated minoxidil in PG) after you apply them, although the quantity of that concentrated solution will vary from one product to another, depending on the concentration of the starting solution, and how much you apply.

 

[stjimmy]

okay guys thanks for the information, do you think i should start exercising as rogaine lowers your blood pressure?

 

[follicle84]

While there _may_ be certain elements of truth to that in the specific case of 5% minoxidil and 15% minoxidil (although there are certain complicating factors even in that, which I'm too lazy to go into at the moment), do you understand that it's NOT the case with the standard 2% and 5% versions of Rogaine? When you apply either one of those to your scalp, they BOTH turn into concentrated solutions of minoxidil in propylene glycol after a short period of time. The quantitiy of that concentrated solution will differ between the two versions, of course, but they are indeed the same thing.

So I want people to be smart whenever they use topical minoxidil that's based on standard PG/alcohol/water carrier vehicles: they all turn into the same thing (concentrated minoxidil in PG) after you apply them, although the quantity of that concentrated solution will vary from one product to another, depending on the concentration of the starting solution, and how much you apply.

True true, I was trying to make logic between the solutions, i didnt consider that. Theres also things like how effective the alcohol/propenel glycol is in penetrating the scalp to enable the minoxidil to reach the hair follicles. Not to mention the exact amount of minoxidil that gets through to reach the hair follicles is unknown. I can see were your coming from in the sense that theres too many variables to consider.

The flannel idea wasnt my own by the way. Theres a few people who claim this works. There's even people talking about accupuncture and using needles to open up the pores in their scalp to enable ppg minoxidil to penetrate more easilly. I thought since the skin in the pores is less dense than the surrounding skin round the pores. PPG minoxidil would have more success in penetrating the skin to reach the hair follicles if these pore were more open. I was just open to this possibility.

 

[follicle84]

okay guys thanks for the information, do you think i should start exercising as rogaine lowers your blood pressure?

You shouldnt have to resort to having to exercise when on minoxidil. Its FDA approved which means its safe, i wouldnt worry about it unless of course your taking oral minoxidil. Then you might have a problem.

 

[Bryan]

BTW, follicle84, I just now read your two recent responses in this thread and I happened to glance again at what I myself had written previously, since you quoted that in one of your responses. I noticed that I had used a word which makes what I said somewhat ambiguous: I said that after applying either 2% or 5% Rogaine, they both turn into concentrated solutions of minoxidil in propylene glycol. What I SHOULD have said is that they both turn into saturated solutions of minoxidil in propylene glycol!

The difference may be subtle, but it emphasizes that regardless of which version of Rogaine you use (2% or 5%), shortly after applying them to your scalp they both turn into maximally saturated solutions of minoxidil. Once the alcohol and water evaporate from the vehicles, they become the same thing, although the quantities will differ.

Sorry for my poor wording, and I hope I've now satisfactorily clarified what I attempted to say before.