Unorthodox use of Minoxidil. Opinions welcomed!

[socks]

I have went 2yrs without resorting to minoxidil as the thought of my hair getting hooked on it is unsettling to me. Recently I bought some 2% generic minoxidil for women (cheapest brand) to test my spironolactone tabs I bought.

Anyhow, my front hairline (middle and left side) has seen better days... I dont know if I'm just going through some sort of cycle (been on Finasteride for 2yrs now) or if my hairloss is accelerating... At any rate I wanted to try a little experiment and wanted to see if anyone here had any input.


My plan has been to apply the 2% to my hairline/temple areas 2x a day for a month. I would then take a 2 - 4 week break and then repeat.

Since no one knows the exact mechanism in which minoxidil works I dont know if such a minoxidil rotating routine would yield any benefits... I'm on a fairly potent anti-androgen routine (finasteride for the 5ar inhibitor, spironolactone both orally and topically for the AR blocker, Nizoral 2%) and I just re-added Folligen for the SOD element.

I wouldnt mind using minoxidil in such a way as to help give my hair growth little "extra bursts of energy"... Is this idea just crazy or is it worth experimenting with?


PS
While I havent been overly active on HairLossTalk.com, I have been an active member on other hairloss sites for the last 2yrs. So, I dont need any basic explanations here (IE quotes from Rogaine's website :wink: ).

 

[SE-freak]

This is an interesting idea, i doubt it will eventually have an impact on your hair but you could try it.

What do you have to earn by it though? Economy? Convenience? or the feeling that you are not using minoxidil, the "ultimate defeat" for a hairloss sufferer?

 

[socks]

I dont want my hair hooked on minoxidil. My main goal has always been to maintain what I have (Finasteride and now spironolactone) and use a hair transplant to replace what I cant. While you must keep your 5ar levels and/or AR inhibited/block to slow/halt hairloss your body itself isnt "hooked" on the the drugs themselves (IE you can switch to any 5ar/AR inhibitor/blocker and, as long as it is just as effective, results should be maintained). This gives me flexibility and "freedom". Minoxidil however creates hair dependent on it specifically and even if you switched to a better and more effective hair growth stimulator, if you quit minoxidil, you'll probably go through a major shed. Also, if I do opt for a hair transplant for my thinning areas in the future and can more or less fix my hair via that method I wouldnt want to continue any more treatments then I had to (IE keep the finasteride/spironolactone drop the minoxidil).


So, long story short, I dont want to deal with minoxidil dependent hair but wouldnt mind giving the DP a little boost