Why I decided not to include minoxidil in my regimen

[Yardbird]

I posted this in another thread, but I want to put it in the open topic so everyone can read....

I decided not to go the minoxidil route because of this article:
http://www.geocities.com/bryan50001/finasteride-minoxidil.htm

If you read it, maybe like me, you'll be surprised by the pictures of the guy who got off the minoxidil. You would think propecia would have made some difference in stopping at least some of that hair from coming out, and the authors seem to imply that if you get off minoxidil, you'll lose some hair that you wouldn't have lost otherwise.
So, I actually decided to mail Dr. Antonella Tosti using the email address provided on the article, and I asked if minoxidil does cause hair to fall out that wouldn't have otherwise (if you quit). She said, "Don't know, but the impression is that it does cause hair to fall out that wouldn't have otherwise."
I really didn't like the sound of that because I just don't think I'll be on this topical for the rest of my life, and I really don't want to make myself eventually worse off than I would have been otherwise. You know?
So I emailed her again, and told her I that I had been on minoxidil for a month. I asked if I should get off, and she said, "Yes, now would be a good time to get off of it. One month should be ok." (I'm really just paraphrasing now.)

I don't fault anyone for using minoxidil because its hair growing properties are beyond question (perhaps beyond compare), and I am of course tempted to get on it for that reason. The main factor that kept me off it was getting an email from Dr. Tosti saying that I might lose hair that I wouldn't have otherwise if I get off the medicine. That makes using minoxidil some sort of marriage, much more so than propecia, since you can quit and probably just lose your hair slowly...not as severely or as fast.

Feel free to post your thoughts or advice on this topic. I hope this helps or was of some interest.

 

[Andrew]

It is well known that minoxidil causes a bitching shed once stopped.

I stopped once and regret it like hell....

minoxidil is like a pact with the devil...

 

[bombscience]

It is well known that minoxidil causes a bitching shed once stopped.

I stopped once and regret it like hell....

minoxidil is like a pact with the devil...

what happens when you quit even though minoxidil DIDN'T slow your hair loss. thats my real question...

 

[ShedMaster]

I posted this in another thread, but I want to put it in the open topic so everyone can read....

I decided not to go the minoxidil route because of this article:
http://www.geocities.com/bryan50001/finasteride-minoxidil.htm

If you read it, maybe like me, you'll be surprised by the pictures of the guy who got off the minoxidil. You would think propecia would have made some difference in stopping at least some of that hair from coming out, and the authors seem to imply that if you get off minoxidil, you'll lose some hair that you wouldn't have lost otherwise.
So, I actually decided to mail Dr. Antonella Tosti using the email address provided on the article, and I asked if minoxidil does cause hair to fall out that wouldn't have otherwise (if you quit). She said, "Don't know, but the impression is that it does cause hair to fall out that wouldn't have otherwise."
I really didn't like the sound of that because I just don't think I'll be on this topical for the rest of my life, and I really don't want to make myself eventually worse off than I would have been otherwise. You know?
So I emailed her again, and told her I that I had been on minoxidil for a month. I asked if I should get off, and she said, "Yes, now would be a good time to get off of it. One month should be ok." (I'm really just paraphrasing now.)

I don't fault anyone for using minoxidil because its hair growing properties are beyond question (perhaps beyond compare), and I am of course tempted to get on it for that reason. The main factor that kept me off it was getting an email from Dr. Tosti saying that I might lose hair that I wouldn't have otherwise if I get off the medicine. That makes using minoxidil some sort of marriage, much more so than propecia, since you can quit and probably just lose your hair slowly...not as severely or as fast.

Feel free to post your thoughts or advice on this topic. I hope this helps or was of some interest.

So you don't think that if you quit propecia or revivogen that you will lost hair that has become 'dependant' on the treatments? This is nothing new to us. We understood this once we started the regimen and I tell you this, using it for life beats the alternative. That shows how important minoxidil is in the fight against hairloss.

To me thats like saying, 'why go on a diet, since once you stop you will probably regain all of the weight back...'

 

[hopewas]

just use finasteride. if it doesn't do the job..add minoxidil later on.

 

[Yardbird]

Shedmaster, I know what you're getting at, and you have a point about minoxidil beating the alternative if your really losing hair quickly and you are willing to commit to being on minoxidil forever. However, for me, I just feel like I won't want to be on minoxidil forever because I'm not losing my hair *that* fast, plus I am only 25 years old. If I decide to get off all medication in my 40's or 50's, I don't want to lose more hair than I would have otherwise.
I've heard the opinion of a prominent expert on the topic, Dr. Tosti, and I just feel like there is real possibility that minoxidil might make me lose hair I wouldn't lose otherwise.
That's different than what you're saying about going on a diet and quitting. When you quit a diet, hopefully your metabolism isn't altered permanently...otherwise, some people would really rethink dieting, right?

Another point is, yes, certainly there's a kind of dependency with hair preserved with propecia or revivogen, but these are a bit more flexible because this hair can be maintained by other means. For example, if I got of propecia, I might be able to maintain that hair with revivogen or topical spironolactone. But minoxidil dependent hair is dependent only on minoxidil. Plus the whole fear of losing hair that I wouldn't have otherwise (if I quit minoxidil) is really discouraging me from adding minoxidil to my regimine.
Phew, that was long....

 

[odb]

what happens when you quit even though minoxidil DIDN'T slow your hair loss. thats my real question...

I wanna know this too, I got an idea.... Bomb..quit the minoxidil right now and then let me know what happend.

 

[Stingray]

I think actual response to minoxidil is closer to 100%, but noticeable results are at the 40% mark. I think everyone will experience some form of shed when they quit minoxidil after a prolonged period of time.

 

[wheresmyhair]

Might have to rethink the minoxidil in my regimen. I put it off for so long because of the dependancy of the hair to its usage.

It did cause a shed, but I am only using it at the front right temple and there are little vellus hairs developing.

Yardbird did you say that you stopped its usage after a month?? What was the general consensus in terms of how long before minoxidil will do its damage?

 

[elguapo]

I think if you don't have any response to minoxidil, and then you quit, absolutely nothing will happen. That is to say, you won't have a huge shed.

I don't have any data to back this, but think about it: if you do respond well, and experience regrowth, those new hairs are dependent on minoxidil. But if you don't respond, your hairs that you still have were never dependent on minoxidil to begin with, so you won't lose them. This last statement is assuming that minoxidil hasn't halted further hair loss. It could be that you experience no REgrowth, but you are sill keeping the hairs that you do have alive with minoxidil, i.e., preventing further hair loss.

That is what bothers me about the minoxidil/rogaine pamphlet. they don't mention even the POSSIBILITY of regrowing hair in the front, because they had to abide by the FDA rules, when people on this site report otherwise. And also, they say flat out that if you experience no regrowth after 6 months on 5% rogaine, to discontinue use. But it could be that the minoxidil is simply halting FURTHER hair loss, right? Doesn't make sense.

Good luck guys.

 

[Bryan]

I decided not to go the minoxidil route because of this article:
http://www.geocities.com/bryan50001/finasteride-minoxidil.htm

If you read it, maybe like me, you'll be surprised by the pictures of the guy who got off the minoxidil. You would think propecia would have made some difference in stopping at least some of that hair from coming out, and the authors seem to imply that if you get off minoxidil, you'll lose some hair that you wouldn't have lost otherwise.

Unfortunately, you haven't bothered to cite the other study by Vera Price which examined that issue in a more convincing way. Here's a scan of a couple of charts and graphs from that study (it's only 32k in size, so it's an easy download):

http://www.geocities.com/bryan50001/quitting-minoxidil.htm

Those are graphs of haircounts and hairweights not just during the course of the topical minoxidil therapy, but also for up to 6 months after discontinuation of the drug. Notice that there was a sharp dip in haircounts and hairweight right after quitting the minoxidil that dropped even LOWER than the placebo group, but after 6 months they had bottomed-out and were sharply rebounding once again back to close to the placebo group.

The obvious strong implication is that you take a hit immediately after quitting topical minoxidil, but things eventually get back to "normal".

Bryan

 

[Yardbird]

Yes, I was on minoxidil for right about one month. I decided to quit in like the middle of October, 2003 and then didn't experience any shedding at all until this month, January, 2004. During December and January I made some important changes in my regimine. In the middle of December I added Revivogen and also the shampoo, and in January, about two weeks ago, I added Nizoral.
It's entirely possible that the Revivogen and Nizoral are causing the shed, and I really don't know what to say....
Another possibility is that it's the minoxidil detox
In the article I posted, I think the guy started to exhibit severe shedding around the 4 month mark off of minoxidil, so if that's the case I'm right on time.
But with all the changes in my regimine, I'm a bad case study on this topic.
Wish I could help you with that question...for your sake and mine.

 

[Yardbird]

Bryan,
You're the man. I really appreciate that post because that gives me a lot of hope.
Perhaps I'll "rebound"
Hm...if so then maybe minoxidil isn't so bad after all.
Thanks

 

[rill]

I had to stop minoxidil due to sideeffects,
started finasteride + nizoral
12 months later my condition is worse then prior to min, and things arent looking good.

 

[Yardbird]

What kind of side effects did you have with minoxidil?
I've been on proscar for about a year and a half, and I've had some side effects such as slightly decreased libido, and difficulty achieving a satisfactory erection. Not fun, let me tell you.
It's kind of hard for me to do the one night stand thing anymore. This kind of thing has to be planned, so I can get off proscar for at least 5 days beforehand. Otherwise, 50% of the time, the sex is not that good for me or her.
I thought of just quitting proscar totally, and hopefully revivogen would kind of make up for the proscar. However, after reading some posts on this site, I thought maybe decreasing my dosage would help out. I've gone from 1.25 mg to 0.5 mg of proscar, but the side effects haven't changed a bit. Damn it.
Maybe I'll try 0.25, but it's hard to split the medicine that small. I know, I know...propecia would be easy to split, but I've got 60 tablet of proscar which I don't just want to throw away. I was thinking of getting on L-arginine. Anyone have any positive results from that in terms of firmer erections?
Hm..maybe I could take 0.5 mg of proscar every other day?

 

[ShedMaster]

I thnk L arginine helped me. Many others have noticed this as well. Definetely worth a try.

 

[Yardbird]

Good to hear, Shedmaster. I have heard good things about L-arginine and also GNC megaman multivitamins. I wasn't sure which one would be best for proscar induced ED.
Have you tried the megaman?

 

[Guest]

What kind of side effects did you have with minoxidil?
I've been on proscar for about a year and a half, and I've had some side effects such as slightly decreased libido, and difficulty achieving a satisfactory erection. Not fun, let me tell you.
It's kind of hard for me to do the one night stand thing anymore. This kind of thing has to be planned, so I can get off proscar for at least 5 days beforehand. Otherwise, 50% of the time, the sex is not that good for me or her.
I thought of just quitting proscar totally, and hopefully revivogen would kind of make up for the proscar. However, after reading some posts on this site, I thought maybe decreasing my dosage would help out. I've gone from 1.25 mg to 0.5 mg of proscar, but the side effects haven't changed a bit. Damn it.
Maybe I'll try 0.25, but it's hard to split the medicine that small. I know, I know...propecia would be easy to split, but I've got 60 tablet of proscar which I don't just want to throw away. I was thinking of getting on L-arginine. Anyone have any positive results from that in terms of firmer erections?
Hm..maybe I could take 0.5 mg of proscar every other day?

Yes on the arginine for erections thing. 2 GMs at bed time.

 

[ShedMaster]

Good to hear, Shedmaster. I have heard good things about L-arginine and also GNC megaman multivitamins. I wasn't sure which one would be best for proscar induced ED.
Have you tried the megaman?
Mik

I have not tried the GNC vits, but I think I will. HairLossTalk.com claims more then one of these per day will make you feel like a 15 year old again.

 

[Yardbird]

That's good to hear, Bruce and Shedmaster. I'll definitely give l-arginine a try! I'd like to try the GNC stuff, but I'd have to order it online since I live in Korea. The shipping might be kind of expensive. I've got a Korean friend checking on the availability of l-arginine in here.
I wonder why the GNC megaman vitamins work so well? What's the active ingredient that gets you all sexually functional, so to speak?
HairLossTalk.com, any comment?
Shedmaster, let me know how the vitamins work for you and also if you experience any shed like HairLossTalk.com mentioned in a previous thread.