Hello to everyone,
I am new to his forum and I would appreciate your opinion to my case.
After 5 years of using Minoxidil which maintained a decent amount of hair on my head I want to switch to finasteride.
I know that Minoxidil and Finasteride work in a different way and I read that when switching from Minoxidil to Finasteride one would probably lose all hair that Minoxidil had maintained. However, I also read in a dermatologist publication that people switching from minoxidil to finasteride should very slowly reduce minoxidil application within 6 months whilst taking finasteride to avoid a heavy hairloss. This gives hope that at least a part of the hair maintained by minoxidil can also be maintained by finasteride.
I would like to know if there is anybody here who has switched from minoxidil to finasteride before and could tell of his experience?
My story and why I want to switch:
With 22 years (2006) I started to recognize my receding hairline. About 1.5 years later in June 2007 I was around a Norwood 1.5 - 2 and started using about 0.5ml Minoxidil 5% on my temples once a day. I didnt experience any shedding nor regrowth. Within the 5 years of use my hair slowly thinned to a Norwood 2 maybe, so I thought the minoxidil actually doesnt work but I kept using it to have the feeling of doing "something" against my hairloss. This year I recognised in a hard way that minoxidil actually did maintain quite a lot of hair.
Why I want to quit: 2-3 months after I started minoxidil I experienced weak errections which got worse with time. I never attributed it to minoxidil, however in the beginning of this year I got suspiciuos and searched in the internet - there were quite some poeple experiencing the same. It seems to be a rare side effect but it happens. I quit minoxidil cold turkey and within 2-4 weeks my erections got hard as rock again and also my libido increased a lot. I was happy to finally have solved this problem that had been troubeling me five years.
However the bad surprise was yet to come. 2.5 months after I quit the biggest shed of my life started at the beginning of last June. Temples got quickly deeper and thinner. And it is still shedding now, 2.5 months after it started. At the beginning of the shed I was very worried and started minoxidil again (5% 1x a day), but the side effects came back quickly so I lowered the dose, right now I am at 2% once a day. Side effects got better with the lower dose but did not go away completely.
The restart of minoxidil brought some (but little) hair in the temples back and somehow stabilised it there. However, I am shedding heavily in the middle front/top of my head. Since some weeks I have a heavy itching in those areas which is of course from the shed. Last week I recognised that under some light, I can see my scalp in those areas which was never like that before. I think minoxidil maintained the hair there all those years, and now I am losing it because I am down to 2%. Right now I became something between Norwood 2 and 3 with things worsening every week.
At the moment I am really worried about my hair which I love and I want to maintain what I can. In the long term I want to switch to finasteride. I started taking 0.5mg/day 2 weeks ago. The itching and shedding has not stopped so far.
Any idea when I can expect the shedding to end? Can it be helpful to go back to 5% minoxidil, sustain the side effects, regrow as much as possible and then very slowly reduce minoxidil application whilst taking finasteride?
Better get on 1mg of finasteride instead of 0.5 right now?
People who have experience in switching from minoxidil to finasteride, in quitting minoxidil or can give any other hint please comment.
I am grateful for any answer.
Tuna
I am new to his forum and I would appreciate your opinion to my case.
After 5 years of using Minoxidil which maintained a decent amount of hair on my head I want to switch to finasteride.
I know that Minoxidil and Finasteride work in a different way and I read that when switching from Minoxidil to Finasteride one would probably lose all hair that Minoxidil had maintained. However, I also read in a dermatologist publication that people switching from minoxidil to finasteride should very slowly reduce minoxidil application within 6 months whilst taking finasteride to avoid a heavy hairloss. This gives hope that at least a part of the hair maintained by minoxidil can also be maintained by finasteride.
I would like to know if there is anybody here who has switched from minoxidil to finasteride before and could tell of his experience?
My story and why I want to switch:
With 22 years (2006) I started to recognize my receding hairline. About 1.5 years later in June 2007 I was around a Norwood 1.5 - 2 and started using about 0.5ml Minoxidil 5% on my temples once a day. I didnt experience any shedding nor regrowth. Within the 5 years of use my hair slowly thinned to a Norwood 2 maybe, so I thought the minoxidil actually doesnt work but I kept using it to have the feeling of doing "something" against my hairloss. This year I recognised in a hard way that minoxidil actually did maintain quite a lot of hair.
Why I want to quit: 2-3 months after I started minoxidil I experienced weak errections which got worse with time. I never attributed it to minoxidil, however in the beginning of this year I got suspiciuos and searched in the internet - there were quite some poeple experiencing the same. It seems to be a rare side effect but it happens. I quit minoxidil cold turkey and within 2-4 weeks my erections got hard as rock again and also my libido increased a lot. I was happy to finally have solved this problem that had been troubeling me five years.
However the bad surprise was yet to come. 2.5 months after I quit the biggest shed of my life started at the beginning of last June. Temples got quickly deeper and thinner. And it is still shedding now, 2.5 months after it started. At the beginning of the shed I was very worried and started minoxidil again (5% 1x a day), but the side effects came back quickly so I lowered the dose, right now I am at 2% once a day. Side effects got better with the lower dose but did not go away completely.
The restart of minoxidil brought some (but little) hair in the temples back and somehow stabilised it there. However, I am shedding heavily in the middle front/top of my head. Since some weeks I have a heavy itching in those areas which is of course from the shed. Last week I recognised that under some light, I can see my scalp in those areas which was never like that before. I think minoxidil maintained the hair there all those years, and now I am losing it because I am down to 2%. Right now I became something between Norwood 2 and 3 with things worsening every week.
At the moment I am really worried about my hair which I love and I want to maintain what I can. In the long term I want to switch to finasteride. I started taking 0.5mg/day 2 weeks ago. The itching and shedding has not stopped so far.
Any idea when I can expect the shedding to end? Can it be helpful to go back to 5% minoxidil, sustain the side effects, regrow as much as possible and then very slowly reduce minoxidil application whilst taking finasteride?
Better get on 1mg of finasteride instead of 0.5 right now?
People who have experience in switching from minoxidil to finasteride, in quitting minoxidil or can give any other hint please comment.
I am grateful for any answer.
Tuna
