Using Minoxidil alone

[jd_uk]

Has anyone had decent and sustainable results using Minoxidil alone? Can the hair ever look thicker using minoxidil or does it just produce whispy soft hairs which will eventually just fall out anyway?

Tough question about sustainability I suppose because how do you ever know what it would have been like had you not used the drug,

But I'm for now against using finasteride so am going to upgrade from the 2% to the 5% and see if it makes any difference. I'm scared in a way that maybe the 2% has made things worse because any hair in areas I've used it looks very unhealthy. I hope the 5% doesn't make anything worse as up until now I haven't gone near my crown with it but because of thinning there I feel I should start - I'd be devastated if it accelerated thinning on top too.

cheers

 

[Hate2LoseIt]

Been using for 6 and a half month's..

It has thickened my hair and hairline up...also a new regrown hairline slightly below my current one although not as thick as the rest...

The thickening of my current hairline was good enough for me

 

[pawelg]

min can be pretty powerful but there is no way it will stop hairloss. it helps energize what you have and might stimulate some follicles to produce terminal hair again, however dht will keep going as minoxidil doesnt protect you from it. for that you HAVE to take finasteride, otherwise all that nice hair will go down the tubes at some point.

 

[Tom1985]

I think if you have very slow recession/thinning then minoxidil and nizoral alone can be extremely beneficial.

I've been using minoxidil and nizoral to maintain and strengthen my hair line and crown for about 3 years. I've had similar results to Hate2LoseIt.

Rogaine is meant to be effective for as long as you use it. The propecia fan club on this website stick very closely to their theories about having to stop DHT but my advice would be to try minoxidil and nizoral and see how they help you.

Remember, although minoxidil is a pain in the *** to apply twice a day, it's sooo much safer than finasteride.

 

[pawelg]

tom, what you describe may be accurate for people with slow recession.
the problem is that if you dont get on finasteride and start losing ground, you might not be able to get it back. but sure, mileage can vary int:

 

[Rawtashk]

minoxidil will not, I repeat....NOT, stop your hair loss. If you have sloooooow balding going on, then it could be a giant help cosmetically. However, just remember that it's about 100x easier to MAINTAIN your hair than it is to regrow it. If you have slow balding, then I would guess that .25mg of finasteride would do a good job with that, it would have a smaller (ie: almost non-existent) chance for sides, and you'd have something to step up to (.5 or 1mg) in the future if your hairloss became more agressive.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Tom1985]

Well personally I'm stickin with minoxidil and nizoral for as long as it's working. To be honest I think the nizoral is a major part of the results I'm getting. No shedding or itchy scalp since I've used it.

I know you guys are saying min isn't the cure for male pattern baldness but guess what....neither is finasteride. As DHT levels rise as you get older it will lose it's effectiveness. It can only prevent hair loss for a period of time which varies depending on the individual.

All I know is min is helping stimulate by hair to grow and the nizoral is working as a mild anti-androgen.

I will only EVER consider finasteride if some day the min and nizoral stop working and I can't with going bald naturally.

 

[pawelg]

Well personally I'm stickin with minoxidil and nizoral for as long as it's working. To be honest I think the nizoral is a major part of the results I'm getting. No shedding or itchy scalp since I've used it.

.

you seem to respond well to nizoral, which is blocking DHT, which is what we are saying. you need to block DHT and min wont do it. if youre responding well to nizoral you dont need finasteride, because youre already blocking DHT well apparently.

 

[jd_uk]

To the guys who say that minoxidil and nizoral alone is working - how often are using th nizoral and at what strength? Also, what strength is the minoxidil and do you apply it all over as prevention or just on affected areas?

One other thing - are any of you concerned with the claims that prolonged nizoral use can damage the liver? After all, this is a medicine which isn't supposed to be used frequently or for extended periods of time.

 

[jd_uk]

minoxidil will not, I repeat....NOT, stop your hair loss. If you have sloooooow balding going on, then it could be a giant help cosmetically. However, just remember that it's about 100x easier to MAINTAIN your hair than it is to regrow it. If you have slow balding, then I would guess that .25mg of finasteride would do a good job with that, it would have a smaller (ie: almost non-existent) chance for sides, and you'd have something to step up to (.5 or 1mg) in the future if your hairloss became more agressive.

Just my 2 cents.

Doesn't taking very small amounts of finasteride have pretty much the same effects on DHT as much higher doses though? Let's face it, the 'side effects' from finasteride are just a sign that it is working properly - it is reducing your most powerful sex hormone. Messing with hormones like that is never going a good idea unless treating a serious illness.

 

[pawelg]

what people tend to overlook when it comes to sides:

A small number of men had sexual side effects, with each occurring in less than 2% of men. These include less desire for sex, difficulty in achieving an erection, and a decrease in the amount of semen. These side effects went away in men who stopped taking PROPECIA because of them. In addition, these side effects decreased to 0.3% of men or less by the fifth year of treatment.

In 3 controlled clinical trials for PROPECIA of 12-month duration, 1.4% of patients who took PROPECIA (n=945) were discontinued due to adverse experiences that were considered to be possibly, probably, or definitely drug related. 1.6% of patients who took a sugar pill (placebo; n=934) were discontinued due to adverse experiences.


which means that almost nobody will experience sides.

 

[jd_uk]

what people tend to overlook when it comes to sides:

A small number of men had sexual side effects, with each occurring in less than 2% of men. These include less desire for sex, difficulty in achieving an erection, and a decrease in the amount of semen. These side effects went away in men who stopped taking PROPECIA because of them. In addition, these side effects decreased to 0.3% of men or less by the fifth year of treatment.

In 3 controlled clinical trials for PROPECIA of 12-month duration, 1.4% of patients who took PROPECIA (n=945) were discontinued due to adverse experiences that were considered to be possibly, probably, or definitely drug related. 1.6% of patients who took a sugar pill (placebo; n=934) were discontinued due to adverse experiences.


which means that almost nobody will experience sides.

However, there is now evidence - which my GP confirmed the other day - that some people have taken this drug even for a short period of time and experienced sexual side effects which persist even after stopping the drug. I read on Propecia help that even the manufacturers have been made to acknowledge this risk in the booklet now too.

Even if the 'side effects' are rare, usually when you keep questioning someone who says 'I have no sides', they usually admit that there was ball ache or reduced semen volume but just don't consider these enough of an issue to label them as significant. To me, those things are an issue as it scares the hell out of me what the long term effects may be - nobody knows for sure as it hasn't been used for a great length of time to treat hair loss. usually, it is also used by younger men too...in twenty years time it may be proven that many of these guys who took Propecia since they were 20-30 have been damaged by it. I've read mixed reviews of fertility doctors saying it is basically like4 poison to the sperm and i don't think sperm quality was even assessed by the manufacturers when considering if this drug was safe.

It would be stupid to completely ignore so many people who claim that Propecia basically ruined their lives, especially when it makes logical sense that reducing the powerful sex hormone in the body could have an effect on the sexual functions of the body.

Lastly, with Propecia - if you did have to come off it at some point (I wouldn't want to be on it from the age of 27 for the rest of my life), apparently it is very likely that the user would experience 'catch up baldness' where basically all the hair maintained or grown will fall out within a year. If you look at baldingblog.com then the doctors there says they have seen grown men cry because the catch up baldness is so aggressive. I think the fear of being so dependent on a drug like Propecia is also something which puts me off.

 

[Tom1985]

jd_uk, I use 5% Kirkland Minoxidil twice a day. It's really cheap from the minoxidil direct website but it's a lot greasier than the more expensive Rogaine brand.
In the morning I apply it to my hairline and crown and at night I rub it pretty much all over the top of my scalp.

I use the standard Nizoral that is available in chemists here in Belfast.
I use it every 3 days and on the other days I use L'Oreal thickening shampoo.
Given the amount of alcohol I consume it would be pretty retarded of me to worry about the effects a shampoo is having on my liver.

I personally think the 2% of the people getting side effects from finasteride statistic is complete bullshit.

 

[jd_uk]

jd_uk, I use 5% Kirkland Minoxidil twice a day. It's really cheap from the minoxidil direct website but it's a lot greasier than the more expensive Rogaine brand.
In the morning I apply it to my hairline and crown and at night I rub it pretty much all over the top of my scalp.

I use the standard Nizoral that is available in chemists here in Belfast.
I use it every 3 days and on the other days I use L'Oreal thickening shampoo.
Given the amount of alcohol I consume it would be pretty retarded of me to worry about the effects a shampoo is having on my liver.

Is that 1 or 2% Nizoral? Yeah maybe there isn't much risk to the liver but I was still surprised to read about it and think it's worth finding out about especially as it is only meant to be used short term.

Are you balding on the scalp and crown too? My concern with putting minoxidil all over my scalp is that I don't want my hair to become dependent on it. I'm still not convinced taht the 2% stuff did anything for my temples (which now look even thinner) but obviously i now have no way of telling.

 

[StoptheMadness]

what people tend to overlook when it comes to sides:

A small number of men had sexual side effects, with each occurring in less than 2% of men. These include less desire for sex, difficulty in achieving an erection, and a decrease in the amount of semen. These side effects went away in men who stopped taking PROPECIA because of them. In addition, these side effects decreased to 0.3% of men or less by the fifth year of treatment.

In 3 controlled clinical trials for PROPECIA of 12-month duration, 1.4% of patients who took PROPECIA (n=945) were discontinued due to adverse experiences that were considered to be possibly, probably, or definitely drug related. 1.6% of patients who took a sugar pill (placebo; n=934) were discontinued due to adverse experiences.


which means that almost nobody will experience sides.

while my endo (and urologist) didn't think Propecia was the cause of my episode of ED, she would never recommend this drug for hairloss ("nature wouldn't give us anything that we wouldn't need").

Clinical controlled studies mean nothing until a generation of men have run the gauntlet. The 1st generation are still on the drug and therefore the years beyond the clinical controlled studies are indeterminate as far as side effects go.

If you read the tea leaves what with all the new updates to Propecia's pamphlet and PFS getting investigative reports on major newscasts, well the writing appears to be on the wall as far as the beginning of the end for finasteride.

 

[Tom1985]

Jd-uk, any hair that minoxidil helps you grow or maintain will start disappearing once you stop using.
Same with finasteride, any hair it helps you maintain will be lost once you stop taking it.
However, the hair you already have that isn't thinning will not become minoxidil dependent.

I have no idea if the nizoral I use is 1 or 2%, it just says 20mg on the label.

 

[terrapin12]

Been using exclusively Rogaine for about 20 months now, with good results on my hairline and crown (though I added Nizoral about 2.5 months ago). My dermatologist said he can't notice any difference from where I was exactly two years ago, so that's a good sign. I'm not going to add Propecia, and just going to delay the loss. Going bald is just an unfortunate part of getting older for me, but not something I want to deal with at 20.

 

[setala]

Eventually you will need AA and 5AR inhibitor..
Save your time, dude.. :innocent:

 

[Rawtashk]

"nature wouldn't give us anything that we wouldn't need" sounds pretty ignorant. Does your Doctor take advil or day-quil?

And, to the person that said "Personally I believe the 2% side effects stat is BS"...do you mean it's less than 2, or a much greater percentage?

 

[jd_uk]

Been using exclusively Rogaine for about 20 months now, with good results on my hairline and crown (though I added Nizoral about 2.5 months ago). My dermatologist said he can't notice any difference from where I was exactly two years ago, so that's a good sign. I'm not going to add Propecia, and just going to delay the loss. Going bald is just an unfortunate part of getting older for me, but not something I want to deal with at 20.

Can i ask...how did you go about seeing a dermatologist for check ups on your hair? Is that something you pay for privately? Where are you from?