Three Questions About the Foam

[Vic_Vega]

Okay, if you haven't read some of my other posts... I switched from the liquid to the foam just over a week ago, but I've been using the foam in the morning and the liquid at night to use up my supply. Since starting on the foam I have noticed intense itching and it almost burns now when I apply the foam. The scalp is becoming more and more red. Now here are my three questions concerning this:

1) Do the medical ingredients differ between the foam and the liquid? Because I used the liquid for about 2 months and no itching/redness.

2) Would the fact that I'm using both the foam and the liquid at this point cause the severe itching?

3) Would there be any effects (negative or positive) if I switched back to the liquid after using the foam for a short period of time?

 

[otis]

it is best for you to see a docter while you are useing it.
It is nice to come th these message boards but no on her can take the place of a doctor

 

[nuttyrich]

try this take a few days off from it all won't hurt you.. by reading this now you've either a) continued treament and have irritated your scalp even more or b) dropped the foam my advice is stop all rogaine for 2-3 days until it subsides,also I'm pretty sure you use the foam in the AM because you can style your hair with it.. w/o it looking greasy.. please stop the rogaine liquid and foam for a few days.. use a gentle hair shampoo and conditoner (I use progaine) that's just me.. I would suggest once the scalp is better use the foam 2 X a day .. NO liquid.. see if the redness and irritation comes back,maybe the foam in the am you then apply the liquid w/o washing it? I don't know.. I know the liquid has PPG also make sure you wait at least 8-12 hours is seperated between applications especially when first starting on the foam... you will only get worse if you continue this way w/o letting the scalp heal from the irritation,best to give the foam a chance by itself once the scalp is fully better because then you can say "It's clearly the foam" and nothing else,and you can mark it as an X on the not apply list.. better than switching back and forth and never knowing... got to find out by removing one,you already know you CAN use the liquid so let's see if you can use the foam 2X and see what happens... some mild irrtation is okay but not what you're describing!

 

[xodcbox]

Yes rogain alone !! FOAM ! It works! I had never even heard or used any of the pills, medications that so many people on this site use . I saw the rogain foam ad on tv. Bought it. and Bam! 7 months later I got hair on my head!!! Yes lots and lots of shedding. A month in half of shedding sacrifice.Very awfull I was scared as hell ! Thanx to rogain I gotta girlfriend she loves my hair! Im 34 yrs old.

 

[Vic_Vega]

Yeah buddy, I get it. I saw your other post. Thanks to rogaine you have a girlfriend.

Nuttyrich, thanks for the advice. You're right, I was using the foam in the morning and the liquid in the evening. Sometimes I only leave a 4 or 5 hour gap between applications without washing. This could definitely be the problem. I was going to switch back to the liquid and keep that going for a few more months before trying the foam again because I hate interupting the cycle. But maybe I will do what you suggest; take 2 or 3 days off then try again. Lots of people are saying the foam gives better results so if I can get my body adjusted to it that would be ideal.

Thanks.

 

[nuttyrich]

Please wash the scalp either choose the day or night,I would choose day because you want to have a nice fresh scalp and then ... apply the foam.. and the night apply the foam again,I say don't apply anything until the redness and itching disappears .. I can't stress this enough,give the foam a good shot I'm sure you will like it,but regardless you will know your answer if you can tolerate it very shortly. I know why you applied the liquid that way only way to apply the liquid is when you won't be seen so I'm sure you applied it early so it can absorb therefore actually using foam and minoxidil w/o washing all in a 12-15 hour span or so,thats too much minoxidil again ebay is a good method to get the foam I know it can get expensive but you CAN get it cheaply as I posted before I got mine in bulk $10 a can I use double the amount... stated so $160 for an 8 months supply isn't bad at all in my opinion for some it would be good for 16 months but for me $20 a month isn't bad for using the foam 2X a day and styling and using it .. no reason not to use the foam 2X a day,liquid I know if you have any life you either have to carefully wake up and apply and let dry for 4 hours and then try that at evening.. really sometimes limits you to 1X a day but with the foam .. 2X is easy. Please let the scalp rest,have you been using Nizoral 2%? I think that will aid in small growth and ease the itching immensely!

Good luck,
Rich

 

[Vic_Vega]

Hmmm, now I'm starting to have second thoughts. First of all, yes I've been using Nizoral 3 times a week and it has done very little to stop this onslaught of itchiness the foam has brought about.

I have stopped using minoxodil altogether now for 2 days and my scalp is starting to look/feel better. What I've noticed over the past few days however, is that the itching has spread throughout my body. I'm itchy all over now and I'm 90% sure it was caused by the foam. In my experience, I never have bad reactions to substances, and the itchiness/irritation began almost immediately after starting on the foam. The foam has to be the culprit.

I was going to take your advice and give the foam another chance, but now I've decided otherwise. I have a very good feeling that I will just have the same reaction to the foam. My plan now is to go back to the liquid twice a day for the next 4 months or so, see what kind of results I get, and then give the foam another try. I'm 2 months on minoxidil now and I think I'm going through a shed, and I don't want the foam setting me back any further and messing things up. If I get some decent regrowth over the next few months, then I have some leeway to change things up a bit. The fact that the liquid is greasy does not bother me. I keep my hair buzzed so there's very little hair for it to get too greasy. I find it dries nicely within an hour.

 

[Guest]

I had really bad itching as well about 2-3 weeks into the foam and it lasted for about 3 weeks total.

I was starting to get a bit concerned but did some research here and on HLH and learned that it would eventually subside, and it DID (Thank GOD!) for me.

I did some things to mitigate the itch though as it was really bad sometimes. Scalpicin will help, and I used Jason Natural Aloe Vera 84% shampoo/conditioner a couple of times a day as well to soothe it. The essential oil carrier base of jojoba oil and grapeseed also probably helped soothe the scalp as well.

Try some of the above, and try to stick through with it as long as you can as it should go away.

I would also NOT do the foam 5 hours apart from eachother. You supposedly can go up to about 16-18 hours (can't remember exactly from the older posts) between minoxidil applications and it doesn' thave to be exactly 12 hours. Sometimes, when I can, I'll spread out my applications a little further than 12 hours but it's mainly to help cut down on the costs since it lasts longer this way

 

[Vic_Vega]

Hmmm, I'm getting some good information here. Thanks for the advice guys. I still have a full month's worth of liquid so I'm going to use that up for now. Like I states above, it was more than just itching. My scalp became red and inflamed. It seriously got to the point where I had to stop using it. This could've been caused by scratching the scalp (I tried not to but found it almost impossible). It's been 3 days now since I've stopped applying minoxidil altogether and my scalp looks and feels normal again. I will apply the liquid this evening. I really want to switch over to the foam because of all the praise I am hearing, so I will think about giving it another shot in a month, but this time I will force myself to refrain from scratching.

Like mentioned above, my body became itchy all over. I am almost sure it was caused by the switch to foam. Is this a normal side effect?

 

[Guest]

I had a red rash in addition to the itch as well, but for the most part I was able to refrain from scratching because that just made it worse.

I do not recall having itching all over the body, but if I did it wasn't nearly as bad as it was on the scalp.

As I mentioned though, the things I did helped reduce the itchiness and it just simply passed as I expected. I've since experienced some decent growth so I'm glad I pushed through the itching phase.