thinking about starting minoxidil/rogaine...got some questions

[themaniac]

please

i am 17/18, and have been experiencing hairloss for one year, i think it started off as telogen effluvium (massive shedding all over), but is now male pattern baldness

my brother has male pattern baldness, he is 20 and is losing fast
my dad has male pattern baldness

so im 100% sure i have male pattern baldness, and aggressive i think

my hairloss is diffuse but that doesn't really bother me, what bothers me more is the hairline, my right hairline is receding badly, and it makes life very tough for me at this age, very depressing and takes away my concentration from my studies.

last week i started propecia 1mg and nizoral 1%

i have a few questions please answer:

- What exactly do I use, rogaine foam? minoxidil? I am confused as to which one I use

- How much is it, I can get 'Rogaine for men' 1 year supply for £150 from boots, is this it?

- I heard people apply it twice a day, can I apply it once a day? right before bed?

- Where do I rub it on? hairline, everywhere?

- Does it work better in some places than others?

- How well do young people usually react on this? What results can I expect? if any?

- Are there any sides? and if so how common are they?

This is basically it? please help me, thanks

 

[themaniac]

bump

 

[Chris87]

ok here we go i'll see how many i can answer

-many people who are trying to get their hairline to grow or just their crown seem to use the foam. a lot of diffuse thinners seem to use the liquid because i guess its easier to apply for them and spread around. Diffuse thinners sometimes have trouble with minoxidil it seems because they have to use so much to cover the area

-I dont know how much it is over there (im in the states) and rogaine foam is like $30 a can. If i was using the liquid i would go with a generic version which I know you can get for really cheap

-Its recommended twice a day, and I would say that you probably should do it twice a day for the best result. I HAVE heard of people having success on once a day but..i dont see that too often.

-For me personally, I am just concerned about my temples..so i take the foam and apply it to the hairline there, then i rub it in going backwards farther into my temple hair. I'll also rub in a bit in the area i've lost hair on my temples.

-They say it works better at the crown compared to the temples, although i've seen people have really awesome regrowth all around from it

-I think any hair treatment works better the earlier on you get on it. Also, results vary with everyone. Some people use minoxidil/finasteride and still lose their hair..some people use minoxidil/finasteride and stop losing hair all together but dont grow any back...some people use minoxidil/finasteride and grow almost all their hair back

-There are potential sides if the minoxidil somehow gets systematically absorbed into your body (the chance of this happening is heightened if you apply to a wet scalp). Possible sides include dizziness, increased heart rate, etc BUT I hesitate in even telling you this because...youre most likely not going to get any sides from it. Its an over-the-counter product so...its safety has to be pretty good to be over the counter. Also, a lot of people will THINK they have sides in their heads andw ill just be imagining things. For example the first week i used minoxidil i thought it was giving me chest pain. This was all in my head. I've been using it ever since and I'm fine with no sides. Also i think i just had a slightly bruised sternum that week lol. So I would say sides are very uncommon. There are side effects with every type of medication. I mean have you ever read the side effects for Advil or something? If people talked about them all the time, you'd probably be scared to death to take Advil.

 

[themaniac]

are sheds common and how aggressive are they? =/

 

[Chris87]

are sheds common and how aggressive are they? =/

again as with most side effects from hair treatments, it varies with everyone. Some people dont shed at all..some people shed a shitload but have awesome regrowth...some people shed a little...totally depends man. The thing with hair loss is there are no absolutes..everything is subjective...some things work extremely well on one person and not at all on others.

I personally have not seen an increase shed on minoxidil yet

 

[themaniac]

are sheds common and how aggressive are they? =/

again as with most side effects from hair treatments, it varies with everyone. Some people dont shed at all..some people shed a shitload but have awesome regrowth...some people shed a little...totally depends man. The thing with hair loss is there are no absolutes..everything is subjective...some things work extremely well on one person and not at all on others.

I personally have not seen an increase shed on minoxidil yet

thanks, i want to use rogaine foam but all over the top of my head + hairline? is that ok?

 

[themaniac]

also, do you think i should wait until ive been on propecia for like 6 months - 12 months before adding in rogaine?

 

[Spanishlad]

you can use the foam all over your head with no problem. if your using the foam you should have no problem applying it twice a day as it dries really quickly and is then invisible.

A lot of people say its best to wait and see if finasteride can do the job on its own but if your hairloss is aggressive and you want to see results more quickly then you can always jump on the big 3 straight away.
Just remember that once you start you have to keep using it forever if you want to keep your results because you will never know whether any results you get are down to the finasteride or the minoxidil.

 

[themaniac]

you can use the foam all over your head with no problem. if your using the foam you should have no problem applying it twice a day as it dries really quickly and is then invisible.

A lot of people say its best to wait and see if finasteride can do the job on its own but if your hairloss is aggressive and you want to see results more quickly then you can always jump on the big 3 straight away.
Just remember that once you start you have to keep using it forever if you want to keep your results because you will never know whether any results you get are down to the finasteride or the minoxidil.

some people say i should start spironolactone? should i?

 

[Spanishlad]

the big three are the best medications we have at present I would give this a try for a full year first then if your still losing ground think about adding things like spironolactone, just my opinion