Sunken Cheeks?

tpaul

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I just noticed my left cheek just below the cheekbone looks concave, and the skin is wrinkled.

I've been using minoxidil foam since it came out, and s5 (spironolactone) for maybe a year. Just recently I added Revivogen. I'm wondering whether this is the cause. If you google "sunken cheeks" you'll find a lot of guys using Propecia have complained of sunken cheeks and eyes; apparently DHT inhibitors can have this side effect.

Has anyone else noticed this using s5 and Revivogen?
 

boobyinspector

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I had that with minoxidil. I quit it took 10 months to recover. I stayed on finasteride and look fine now. It's the minoxidil for sure. There's no science behind 5-ar-2 blockade having this effect. The sebaceous glands in the face use 5-ar-1 to begin with. Minoxidil on the other hand has science behind wrinkling and affecting the skin via the lysyl hydroxylase.
 

Fanjeera

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Inhibiting lysyl hydroxylase isn't science behind wrinkling. Only 1,7% of the 50 mg you apply to your skin gets to your system. Is that enough to really inhibit the fibroblasts?
In the same time minoxidil promotes elastin synthesis, which means it makes us younger. Elastin is even more important for the youthful apperance.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7625861
 

boobyinspector

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Inhibiting lysyl hydroxylase isn't science behind wrinkling. Only 1,7% of the 50 mg you apply to your skin gets to your system. Is that enough to really inhibit the fibroblasts?
In the same time minoxidil promotes elastin synthesis, which means it makes us younger. Elastin is even more important for the youthful apperance.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7625861
No that is not true, some people can absorb a lot more, this is why the warnings exist on the bottles that it can cause issues with heart palpitations among other things. Don't be so ignorant. Stimulating elastin synthesis in some regions and not others could be the cause of the pseudoacromegaly like symptoms some have gotten. Anyways, I no longer have wrinkles after quitting minoxidil, so figure that one out. I even saw a friend I haven't seen after quitting minoxidil and he told me I look way younger. There are some that absorb a lot more and are impacted differently. Given our unique biology you can't even argue this. It's like finasteride causing side effects for some, I don't argue it because I know it's quite possible, but it doesn't happen to me.
 

Fanjeera

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In vitro evidence is very weak for me. There's not even one single rat study saying that minoxidil wrinkles the skin. And it's been used for a very long time and by a lot more people than for example finasteride. We all age, that's normal. What's even more unbelievable is that you got rid of your wrinkles after using it. I think once they've formed, they're forever. So you probably just looked in the mirror too much and read stories on the internet.
http://www.jbc.org/content/262/25/11973.long

You need the cells in like 0,1-0,2 mM concentration to see the effect. How much minoxidil did you put in yourself each time? For me it would be like 20 mg-s. From that only 1,7% absorbs (http://www.pharmcom.com/rogaine_data.html), so only 0,34 mg-s in the system. 0,34 mg can no way achieve a concentration high enough. 0,34 mg-s is 0,0016 mmol-s for minoxidil (its mass is 209 g/mol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoxidil)). From the scalp it first gets into the heart and then all over the body which is large enough for such a small amount to become totally meaningless for a solitary fibroblast.
Correct me, if I made any mistakes in my calculations!
 

boobyinspector

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Dude they are gone, I don't care if you believe me. Wrinkles caused by age cannot be changed because obviously your skin regenerates much slower once you age, but if you are young and you get wrinkles caused by either dryness or some drug it can be reversed. Anyways, like I said it was very apparent wrinkles under my eyes and now it is extremely smoothed out. I never got the wrinkles with the regular rogaine liquid it wasn't till I used foam that I aged rapidly. My skin was completely sunken, dark circles around eyes, wrinkles, people thought I had cancer it was so drastic. My own brother was surprised when he came for the holidays after only a few months of not seeing me. I was using maybe a bit more than a ml day and night. I also would apply it on wet scalp so i'm sure more of it got absorbed. I have huge pores on my scalp, so big that you can actually see them from up close which could account for higher absorption rate. My guess is that certain people who absorb too much are victims of this. This is quite a common complaint on the internet, even though it's minority it does exist and isn't some 1 off.. And commonly people reverse it with time. It took me a good year to reverse it as skin cell regeneration cycles are slow. I imagine the older you are the longer it will take.
 

Fanjeera

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Perhaps only if you absorbed 100% of the minoxidil you applied. 1 ml contains 50 mg. Maybe that would be enough for such effect. Still, absolutely no doctor has said it's possible after many decades on the market, while it has always been known that in vitro it does inhibit collagen synthesis in high concentrations. Certainly the manufacturer thouhgt about it ruled out such side effect, as it's very known that collagen is essential for the appearance of skin.
 

boobyinspector

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Well it could have been a combo of absorption and residue on pillow, who knows, but all I know is that after quitting I reversed the wreck it made of my face, so i'm happy. I'm only on finasteride and it's working amazingly with no side effects.
 

evasoo

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After 3 years using minoxidil 2% in the hairline My face have losted most of it subcutaneous face fat. I barely recongnize myself in the mirrow. Before minoxidil I had a Lot o baby fat , great cheeck bones , no 11 lines, no nasolabials , because my face was full of volume and nice baby fat. Now I just have big nasolabials folds, big eleven lines, sunken eyes, and pores . I got dark circles as well but this recovered after 8 months of discontinue the drug. You were very lucky boobyinspector, there´s one year I quit minoxidil and I didn´t recover.
 

tonyashe

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I just noticed my left cheek just below the cheekbone looks concave, and the skin is wrinkled.

I've been using minoxidil foam since it came out, and s5 (spironolactone) for maybe a year. Just recently I added Revivogen. I'm wondering whether this is the cause. If you google "sunken cheeks" you'll find a lot of guys using Propecia have complained of sunken cheeks and eyes; apparently DHT inhibitors can have this side effect.

Has anyone else noticed this using s5 and Revivogen?


I just noticed my left cheek just below the cheekbone looks concave, and the skin is wrinkled.

I've been using minoxidil foam since it came out, and s5 (spironolactone) for maybe a year. Just recently I added Revivogen. I'm wondering whether this is the cause. If you google "sunken cheeks" you'll find a lot of guys using Propecia have complained of sunken cheeks and eyes; apparently DHT inhibitors can have this side effect.

Has anyone else noticed this using s5 and Revivogen?
I just noticed my left cheek just below the cheekbone looks concave, and the skin is wrinkled.

I've been using minoxidil foam since it came out, and s5 (spironolactone) for maybe a year. Just recently I added Revivogen. I'm wondering whether this is the cause. If you google "sunken cheeks" you'll find a lot of guys using Propecia have complained of sunken cheeks and eyes; apparently DHT inhibitors can have this side effect.

Has anyone else noticed this using s5 and Revivogen?
Omg, I know this is old, but I just came across it when searching google.

I too have been exp the same exact problem as you, so I feel it can’t be a coincidence. I noticed about 3 wks ago, my left cheek is sunken (it looks dehydrated) and wrinkles are forming. It’s very upsetting and strange it’s only one side. I’m female and have been taking spironolactone 100 mg for just over a year & 5% Rogaine (once a day in the morning) for approx 6 mths. I’ve taken spironolactone for acne before with no side effects. My part has started filling in after st Rogaine so it does work but....

I purchased Weleda Skin Food & Aloe Vera juice and gel. I hope it works, I’ll give it a couple of mths, If not I think I’ll stop Rogaine too & maybe try a Naturopath and hopefully my skin goes back to normal or I will have to get fillers on one side. :(
 
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nathael

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I too have been exp the same exact problem as you, so I feel it can’t be a coincidence. I noticed about 3 wks ago, my left cheek is sunken (it looks dehydrated) and wrinkles are forming. It’s very upsetting and strange it’s only one side. I’m female and have been taking spironolactone 100 mg for just over a year & 5% Rogaine (once a day in the morning) for approx 6 mths. I’ve taken spironolactone for acne before with no side effects. My part has started filling in after st Rogaine so it does work but....

I purchased Weleda Skin Food & Aloe Vera juice and gel. I hope it works, I’ll give it a couple of mths, If not I think I’ll stop Rogaine too & maybe try a Naturopath and hopefully my skin goes back to normal or I will have to get fillers on one side. :(
Did it recover? Did you stop using Rogaine?
 

nathael

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After 3 years using minoxidil 2% in the hairline My face have losted most of it subcutaneous face fat. I barely recongnize myself in the mirrow. Before minoxidil I had a Lot o baby fat , great cheeck bones , no 11 lines, no nasolabials , because my face was full of volume and nice baby fat. Now I just have big nasolabials folds, big eleven lines, sunken eyes, and pores . I got dark circles as well but this recovered after 8 months of discontinue the drug. You were very lucky boobyinspector, there´s one year I quit minoxidil and I didn´t recover.
Did your face ever recover?

My cheeks are still sunken it has been 9 months after quitting. I'm losing hope.
When I tilt my face 90° sideways and look in the mirror I recognize my face like how it used to look before minoxidil, with plump firm cheeks, but when I rotate back again the minoxidil face is there with hollowed out cheeks and mouth corners pointing slightly down.
 
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