Xandrox15 ...Is it worth it ?

[hairhaircomeagain]

Xandrox is kindaa expensive. Well 88 bucks for 125 ml....I will say pretty expensive.

I am already on Dr. L's 5% minoxidil. Thinking to add the Xandrox. But worried whether the results are worth the price ?

what are your experiences with it...Good? Bad? Neutral ??

 

[techprof]

hairhair,
xandrox 15 might work better because of its higher concentration (AA is a waste imo).
I used xandrox 15 for higher concentration, higher alcohol content (minoxidil absorption peaks at 90% alcohol).
I used and still use xandrox 15. If you are having good results with minoxidil 5% dont switch to xandrox 15. It is probably a waste of money.
Use more of the cheaper minoxidil instead. I was not aware of the fact that xandrox 15 might be worser than regular minoxidil. I am afraid to stop it now as I think some hairs might be dependent on it. If you need additional results or if you have a part of the scalp that won't respond to 5% minoxidil only then you should use xandrox 15.

(I plan to replace the second application with the cheap Sam's club minoxidil).

 

[StoptheMadness]

techprof,
How come you say that Xandrox, in terms of effectiveness I presume, might be worse than 5% minoxidil?

 

[hairhaircomeagain]

Thanks techprof, that was sound advice...although completely contradictory to Dr. Lee's advice.

I think I will wait and see what minoxidil does for me. Its been only 2 months.

In the same thread...Any thoughts on the liquid spironolactone. I have been using the 5% lotion for 2 months now and havent noticed any difference. I know its too early but I have any good reviewes on spironolactone.

Liquid spironolactone is much more expensive compared to the lotion

 

[CCS]

"minoxidil absorption peaks at 90% alcohol"---
I'm sure that is true with the other factors kept constant. wouldn't a 90% alcohol solution evaporate so fast that less minoxidil is absorbed? I'm sure that second for second, it might be absorbed faster, but I don't know about total absorption until evaporation.

Unfortunately, since ethanol can only hold 2.9% minoxidil, and PPG can only hold 7.5% minoxdil, I think you'd need glycerol as the other part of the solution if you wanted a high concentration of minoxdil in 90% alcohol. And what about water? I'd like to see some studies that use less ambiguous language. I know that all minoxdil we absorb probably goes systemic eventually. My question is how long it stays in the scalp to give the scalp a higher concentration than if you took it orally, before it goes systemic. I've read that "1.7-5% of minoxdil is absorbed systemically." They don't say how much enters the skin or if is metabolised there or if it sweats back out or how long it stays in the skin.

I even read that 4% minoxidil, available at some specialty places, is better than 5%. Sounds like a lie to me.

I don't know what the best vehicle is, but I know 5% is better than 2%, that I don't want acid on my head, and that the quicker something evaporates, the more likely either less goes in or the amount that goes it enters the system at a higher rate. If the skin won't hold to much, then I think it is better to have a sticky scalp deliver it slowly to the follicles. Until I see some studies with some informative results, that say more than "1mL xandrox grows more hair than 1mL minoxidil 5%", I'll just be more liberal with my minoxdil 5%.

If the acid must makes your skin move permeable, does it only do this for the minoxdil, or every other chemical applied, and maybe chemicals not applied and chemicals in your skin escaping to the surface? I'd add some copper peptides to the minoxidil before adding acid.

 

[techprof]

stopthemadness,
I am not sure how can one say xandrox 15 is better than regular minoxidil (considering vehicle etc).
I was a fool to start xandrox 15. Now I am afraid to stop it. Since I got my hair transplant, I might take the risk and drop it. Unless there are studies that show 1ml of xandrox 15 is better than 3 ml of 5% minoxidil, we will never know. That is why I recommended not to start with xandrox 15. Use it on areas not responsive to regular minoxidil. Perhaps there are some follicles which will come out only at higher concentration minoxidil.


Hairhair, 2 months is too early. Don't use xandrox 15 now (you are making the right decision imo). Dr. Lee is a businessman and makes more money by selling xandrox 15.
Regarding spironolactone I don't have high hopes for it in topical form. IMHO it is a lousy treatment (for Bryan it is a mediocore treatment ) for an anti androgen.

I would use it only if I am not using finasteride or dutasteride (I am using dutasteride, but started it too late). Use the money on SODs (copper peptides, proxiphen-N or tricomin instead).

collegechemistry, not only glycerol, AA is also needed to make a higher concn. minoxidil. (Dr. Lee's attempt to make 12.5% minoxidil without AA is still not successful).

 

[CCS]

tech professor,

you are not a fool for trying xandrox, except for the money you may have parted with. maybe it was worth finding out if it works.

you will not be worse off switching back to generic minoxidil from xandrox than you would have been just staying on minoxidil from the beginning. you might loose hairs, but they would only be hairs that you never would have had on the 5% stuff, and i'm not convinced xandrox is better than a lot of 5%.

it is better to buy copper peptides and SOD's than an overpriced minoxidil from a business man. his plan minoxidil is $20/month.

I think everyone on this site, maybe bryan included, has a big misconception about hair loss. You see, hair loss is a progressive condition, and no one fully understands what causes it. we know minoxidil and SODs and copper peptides and other stuff help fight it from different angles after it starts, and we know that DHT plays a big role in starting it and that reducing it helps a lot, but we don't know much more than that.
But whatever the causes are, they are progressive whether you protect your hair or not. Hair loss is like being stuck in a room with a 400 degree oven and fan blowing hot air at you and your family, and propecia and other treatments are like an AC unit blowing normal cool air at you. The stronger the AC unit blows, the longer you live. But because of genetics and time and even the attack of DHT, your hairs become more vulnerable to attack, which is like turning that oven up over time, and the longer it has been on, the weaker you feel and more vulnerable you are to the heat. Not all hairs are as strong as others, and perhaps some of your kids would be the first to give into the heat. If the air conditioner blows really hard, your kids my perk up a bit and live fine for a while. But if the oven keeps getting hotter and the AC does not improve, eventually some will not be able to handle it, which is why propecia users and all people lose hair as they get older. If you turned the AC off when the oven was not that hot, everyone would get worse so slowly you might not notice it right away. But if you have that AC going so strong that even the kids with heat stroke all perk up, then those kids are now "dependent" on the AC, and if the oven is hot enough, you will see a bit shed when you turn off the AC. That is what happens when you get off rogaine or propecia for a while after use. But you know that if you had not had the AC on at all the whole time, the kid who was killed in minutes by the oven would have died a long time ago. So if you get off Xandrox, you won't loose any hairs that you would have had on minoxidil 5%. In fact, if you do loose them, they will just fall out and you can grow them back by getting back on Xandrox.
http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/430/2006 ... _chart.gif

when those men switched from propecia to placebo after a year on propecia, and got back on, they caught back up with the people who were always on propecia. The people who started a year late never caught up, because once your weakest hair is dead, it is dead, whereas if you let the oven blow hot air at a healthy person for a minute, they may faint, but they don't die right away, and you can save them with the AC.

It is like this with all treatments. some cool the room by 30 degrees, others only 2. you just have to use your budget and get the best combination you can fit into your schedule. and if you switch and loose some hairs, you can grow them back if you get on it soon enough. if your genetics turn that oven up to 1000 degrees, it won't matter what treatment you use. I suspect that even if hairs are alive when you start treatment, the ones that were attacked the most are probably more sensitive to DHT than they would have been if you had protected them sooner. So everyone should get on minoxidil now and stop believing that they will become dependent.

And no treatment stops working. it just stays the same, and genetics gets stronger and overpowers it. spironolactone by itself is not strong, but it has a local effect and will reduce DHT's effect locally which is good when combined with propecia. It is like taking avodart for your scalp but subjecting your body to propecia. and it blocks testosterone as well, which avodart does not.

 

[CCS]

the only reason i don't take xandrox is the price, the acid, and the risk of systemic effects. also I'm not sure if megadoses of one drug are good. I'd rather get a variety of drugs. use regular minoxidil and spironolactone instead of xandrox, but apply them at least a few hours a part, or there will be a chemical reaction between the two and it will stink. spironolactone is best twice a day, and hard to apply to thick hair, but I'll apply mine just to my thinnest areas on the hair line and just use it at night. i'll save money that way too.

 

[Bryan]

"minoxidil absorption peaks at 90% alcohol"---
I'm sure that is true with the other factors kept constant. wouldn't a 90% alcohol solution evaporate so fast that less minoxidil is absorbed? I'm sure that second for second, it might be absorbed faster, but I don't know about total absorption until evaporation.

In the study that did that testing, the "total absorption until evaporation" WAS IN FACT what was tested and found to be highest when the alcohol level was 90%. It wasn't just a "second for second" type of thing like you implied above.

I don't know what the best vehicle is, but I know 5% is better than 2%...

At the same dose, sure. But there's nothing to stop you from applying a larger dose of the 2%.

Bryan

 

[Guest]

the only reason i don't take xandrox is the price, the acid, and the risk of systemic effects. also I'm not sure if megadoses of one drug are good. I'd rather get a variety of drugs. use regular minoxidil and spironolactone instead of xandrox, but apply them at least a few hours a part, or there will be a chemical reaction between the two and it will stink. spironolactone is best twice a day, and hard to apply to thick hair, but I'll apply mine just to my thinnest areas on the hair line and just use it at night. i'll save money that way too.

how can i find time to apply spironolactone a few hours after minoxidil at night? you're saying that it will definitely smell if I apply spironolactone 10 minutes after minoxidil?

 

[CCS]

Dr lee says it will not smell because the reaction takes too long. others says it smells a bit with a two hour break. my advice is to do it once and find out. i don't wait until bed to apply my minoxidil. when i'm at work, i just go back to the sink away from the sales floor, apply it in 20 seconds, and come back. then when i go home a apply some more topicals. same in the morning. i apply prox-n after my shower, take my minoxidil with me, and apply it in the bathroom at school. when my spironolactone finally arrives from Dr Lee, i'll apply it after my prox-N, before I go to bed.

people say it takes long, but it is faster than brushing your teeth, and many people wear hair gell anyway.

i'm going to see if i got a tracking number. if dr lee is not out of country, that shipping is pathetic.

 

[Felk]

Well it takes me a little while, but Im very frugal with how much I use.

If i was able to use a large amount of my topicals, I would take less time.

 

[CCS]

yeah, since i make $7 per hour, and can work as many as I want, I don't spend time with topicals, or at least not $6 minoxidil. I'm more frugal with the prox-n.