Proscar & minoxidil

[SoonSurgery]

Just wondering,

I have been on Proscar 1/4 tablet a day, Saw Palmetto tablet a day, along with American Crew Revitalze Spray X 2 a day for about three months now.

Two questions:

1) I am going through a shed right now, looking fairly thin on top. Does the hair that has shedded from Proscar get replaced once the old hairs have falled out? Or do you need Minoxidil to get them to grow back?

2) I was using Minoxidil 5% for about a month but had to stop it because I had some sort of allergic reaction to it. My eyes swelled up and I got a rash around my neck. Anyone else have that type of reaction to Minoxidil?

Any advice? Thanks in advance

 

[CCS]

some people get red scalps, others get puffy anckes. the fuffy anckes beaner had went away. sorry to hear you are allergic to it. What kind did you get? Please list the ingredients, as Dr Lee has some with other stuff in it and I want to know if you could be allergic to one of those ingredients. Also please tell if you ever had anything like that happen before, what else might have been on your scalp at the time, how soon after starting it happened, and how soon after quiting it went away.

Finasteride should not cause a shed. If you look at the graph to the left, thousands of men on average gained most of the hair they would regrow in the first 6 months and gained almost as much in the second 6 months. Where are you getting your proscar from?

As for the copper peptides, they are best every other day or maybe every 3rd day, and most people dilute folligen 50-50.

Unless you fear irreversible consequences, try diluting your minoxidil (if it is regular 5% minoxidil) with 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol 50-50 and see if you can tolerate it once a day. If you get any puffiness, you probably should stop. But ask Beaner what he thinks of this, since he continued a month through anckle puffiness and it went away. He now uses 15% minoxidil.

 

[SoonSurgery]

Thanks collegechemistrystudent for your reply,

1) I was using Dr. Lee's 5% minoxidil quick dry (product #500) which has the ethyl alcohol, propylene glycol, purified water, and tocopherol listed on the bottle in the morning (5 sprays) with a buz haircut.

Was also using Dr. Lee's Xandrox 15% (5 sprays) at night during that time. It took a month of use for rash and swelling to occur. Stopped for a week and let the symptoms go away. Then just used the Dr. Lee's 5% minoxidil in the morning and PM. The rash started to occur again within a week. Never had anything like that happen before. The only thing that I was using during that time was American Crew Revitalize spray in the AM each day after 5 minutes of minoxidil application.

2) I am getting my Proscar 5mg from the Albertson's pharmacy. Splitting the tablets in 1/4th. Blue tablet.

What do you think? Thanks in advance

 

[CCS]

minoxidil prescribed orally for high blood pressure back when they used the drug was prescribed between 5 and 100mg per day. Some people tolerated it, some did not. Since your rash was on your head, that means that most of any overdose was local, not systemic (no fast heart beat or puffy anckles, right?). Minoxidil 5% 5 sprays twice a day delivers about 100 mg per day to the scalp, but only 1.7-5% is absorbed through the skin (leaving dried minoxidil, a yellow powder, in sheats on the skin that can be mistooken for skin, though skin might also peel on some people but usually is accompanied by redness).

It is possible your scalp absorbed more than the usual amount. I doubt the AC spray cause the rash, though some people are sensitive to folligen, which is much stronger. AC spray has other stuff in it too.
It is also possible the AC spray reacted with the minoxidil. I never heard of this, but minoxidil does react with spironolactone.

My advice is to stop the AC spray for 1 week and try the minoxidil again for a week or more and see if the rash comes back. This would rule out the AC spray causing the rash, reacting with the minoxidil, or enhancing it's absorption. Actually, we already know it does not cause the rash since you are using it now, unless the minoxidil enhanses the AC spray's absorption. If you don't get a rash in a week or two, I would advise waiting a few hours between AC application and minoxidil applications, and maybe taking the AC to work with you to apply in the bathroom when you arrive.

 

[SoonSurgery]

Thanks for all the advice. I certainly appreciate it.

Do you think it had anything to do with Dr. Lee's brand of minoxidil? I was using 5 sprays which could have been too much or maybe it was an ingredient that I reacted to. I have some Kirkland 5% minoxidil but never used it yet.

I will use the American Crew Spray every other day apart from the minoxidil application. Thanks

 

[CCS]

I think dr lees most basic 5% (501, I think) is the same as the kirkland. read the ingredients. The xandrox has acid in it that increases absorption for about a week. 5 sprays is the normal number.

If it has been two weeks since using xandrox, go ahead and use the copper peptides apart form the minoxidil and see what happens. I don't apply my minoxidil and my prox-N at the same time because I don't know if they need different vehicles. I apply the expensive one at home and then take the cheap minoxidil with me to apply later. I have 4 topical sessions a day, which are a good excuse for me to admire myself in the miror. Soon I will add spironolactone, if Dr Lee's spironolactone every arrives. It was supposed to be mailed this monday, and it is thursday already.

 

[beaner]

some people get red scalps, others get puffy anckes. the fuffy anckes beaner had went away. puffiness and it .

I never said I got puffy ankles from minoxidil. I just stated in another post that it was a sign of systemic absorption...not from experience though. The only side effects I ever got from minoxidil was an occasional itchy scalp (common) and rapid heartbeat on a couple of occasions when I used way too much.