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Just curious - you said you're not worried about ED because you're gay... How does that work? I mean, I'd imagine it still matters, unless you're the "catcher" 100% of the time, always?

Some people persist and their bodies adjust. So you could try that. I got sides within a week, too. I didn't want to risk my sex life, plus I had a girlfriend who was soon leaving for overseas (permanently) so I quit immediately. If you're single and don't get action all that often, I suppose you could try to ride it out. I'd actually be interested to know your results. If it works, I might go back on it and try to ride it out. Was it trademark Propecia? Or Finasteride?

I would guess that it's a hangover from the effects of the finasteride and your body still hasn't normalised, simply because some people take a while/never fully recover, and it is more known for causing ED than Rogaine it. But everyone is different, it could be the Rogaine.

I think the alopecia would be caused by the irritation and aggravation to the skin? You might want to try it on a different part of your scalp (like the back/sides) and see if it causes irritation.

I was totally off it for about 3 weeks before I was normal again. It can be anywhere from 3 weeks to 45 days. Since the body's hormone cycles are a daily thing, maybe you'd be better taking a tiny fraction daily rather than a larger than prescribed dose once a week?

I had side effects too. I find it a little offensive when people dismiss it as psychological. If I even thought there was a tiny chance I'd have been in the affected group, I wouldn't have taken it. I was sure I'd be fine, and I wasn't even the one to first notice the effects. Another reason I don't want them trivialised or dismissed is that it's something that could benefit everyone - if the proper research is done, it might be possible to improve or change the drug in a way that it will be even less likely to have side effects. Which would be a better drug, even for the guys who haven't experienced side effects.

I think this is the wrong section - should be Hairloss drugs. Anyway, I'm into my second month of Minoxidil-only treatment. I had side effects from Finasteride in the first week, too. I'm delighted with the Minoxidil results. Like you, I'm young and I have very mild recession, mainly at the temples. I'm a Norwood 2, barely. But I can see that it's starting to thin ever so slightly on the whole top of the head. I shaved my dome and I've been applying the standard Rogaine branded 5% liquid solution of minoxidil twice daily, irregular timing, not 12 hours apart, and I do miss applications from time to time. The temples have noticably improved (sorry, I don't have viable before and after shots, you'll have to just believe me). Right now the new hairs are quite fine, but they are definitely visible, maybe because my hair is naturally thick and black anyway, and my hairline is looking slightly better. To be honest, it's working better than I had expected so I'm happy about that. The very front middle (widow's peak?) has some regrowth, but not as much as the temples, but it was not as thinning/receding either, so perhaps there weren't as many dormant follicles to fire up. I have experienced 0 side effects so far, no itching or flaking of my scalp or dizziness or anything. I'm in Shanghai, so I'm using a local Chinese brand of medicated hairloss shampoo (recommended for use 2-3 times a week) and in between that I'm using another deep scalp cleanser with menthol that just feels nice. I also have a spiky scalp massager brush that I sometimes use when shampooing my hair, but I don't actually like how it feels very much. I'm planning to buy a ketaconazole shampoo soon (but the hairloss one I'm using now one might possibly contain it - I can't read Chinese!) My only concern or worry is that Minoxidil is said to have a time limit on how long it will remain effective. In 3 years it might stop working. Hopefully it doesn't, or they at least come up with some other, better, hairloss solution by then. I am considering taking saw palmetto, too. Maybe the dose of Fin was just too high for my body.

mmhce, are you saying fin is fin no matter how low the dosage? I got sides, but was thinking about restarting on a much smaller dose, like cutting a proscar into 8ths. Is that not going to help?

That's a lot of speculation. I guess it comes down to whether you think it's better to be safe than sorry. (On either side of the fence.)

I'm using Rogaine solution, just into the second month and I'm pretty happy with the results so far. The hairs are still soft vellus hairs, but they are there, and having black hair, they do add to the overall appearance of my hair. I'm hoping they will eventually become terminal hairs... But a bit saddened about the thought of the effects of Rogaine wearing off eventually. I actually don't have a big problem with the solution... it doesn't seem to be that greasy to me (obviously I wash my hands after) and my head seems to absorb it fairly fast. I was thinking of switching to the foam for convenience, although I don't really have any complaints about the liquid. The price of the foam is actually lower, from the retailer I use. I guess I shouldn't mess with something I'm satisfied with, but the idea of foam seems a bit simpler to use.

Well if it's new research, it could be a while to actually reach the market with a properly developed and tested (and PATENTED) product that is manufacturable at a viable price.

I don't want to link to other forums on here, but basically it seems like the finasteride permanently altered the endocrine systems of a few of the guys. Like their testosterone levels are wrecked and out of whack and they've been off Fin for ages. I guess that's what's being investigated by those Swedish(?) scientists now.

I don't think Proscar is really related to bloodflow, but if you want to be sure, I think it's OK to miss a few days of Finasteride. Some of the guys here take a month off it now and then to let their bodies take a break.

Yeah, I've been to propeciahelp and heard the horror stories. I took it, got some sides. I didn't wait around to see if I could ride it out, but I recovered just fine. I could give it another shot at a lower dose. What I'm most concerned about, really is the cases I've read about of guys who were on it for 8 years with no sides and awesome hair, then their junk just stopped working completely. I guess you could question whether it was the finasteride after such a long time, but if they're getting bloodwork done and know that fin DOES affect hormones and stuff, it makes me reluctant to mess around with it. I might try saw palmetto, too. I know it has the same effects, but I understand that it's a lot weaker.

Just curious, is this your own personal experience, or is the Minox effective lifespan stuff universal and unavoidable? Because I know some people grow resistant to Propecia, too. That doesn't mean that it's only a temporary fix. I guess I'll give the fin another shot. I'm just a little concerned because my H levels have always been on the lower end of normal to begin with. About the milk - my father is on about 8 different medicines for a number of conditions (he has parkinsons and a bunch of complications, and had cancer, too) and his doctor was telling me that milk drastically reduces the effectiveness of almost all kinds of medication.

Thanks. But those links say that EATING???apples doesn't really help...

If I felt that Minoxidil effects were lessening, would it help to increase the strength to 15%? So what did you do in the end if you got Finasteride sides? I'm starting to reconsider and thinking about taking Finasteride again. I went straight into 1.25gm Proscar last time, so maybe I'll try to halve them again into .6gm pieces or something and see how that goes. Or maybe take them with milk to dull the effects...?

Seriously? Can you elaborate? I'm a Rogaine-only user, just started. That would be pretty disheartening to know. I got sides from Proscar so I really don't want to try it again, but I guess I might have to.

The mixed results from user reviews makes me want to give it a try, but the price is really a bit high. I guess they have to cover R&D, but the cost of actually producing something like the lasercomb shouldn't be more than $50. What does everyone think about generic imitation laser hairbrushes?

Thanks again. Much respect for all the advice you give out here and good luck with the dutasteride.

Great info. One more thing, though. Mechanical abrasion doesn't help absorption, but surely it helps spread the solution more evenly over the scalp? But I also understood that Minoxidil enters the bloodstream, and oral treatments had some effect, so a drip in one spot is likely to be at least helping nearby areas that weren't actually in contact with the solution, right? I've just started on the 5% so I'm not planning to jump up to the 15% anytime soon, I was just worried that maybe 5% wasn't generally all that effective or something.

Cheers for the reply, mmhce. I was mainly looking at the foam for mornings because of the supposed ease of application.

Dark chocolate is the place to look for polyphenols, but it seems you should avoid taking milk or chocolate containing milk. Still, maybe not the right polyphenols? http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00513344 Dark chocolate is one of the richest sources of polyphenols, for example, a standard 40g portion of dark chocolate contains 400-800 mg of polyphenols, compared to red wine (170 mg /100ml) or an apple (200 mg/piece). Cocoa polyphenols, most notably the catechins, can exist in both lipid and water-based environments (amphipathic), meaning they can spare both lipophilic and hydrophilic vitamins. There have been a number of human trials conducted using chocolate or cocoa and measuring various endpoints. Most have been conducted with dark chocolate. An article in Nature found that the bioavailability of epicatechin from milk chocolate was substantially reduced compared to dark, and even dark taken with a glass of milk (Serafini et al 2003). The hypothesis was that the milk proteins bind to polyphenols, making them unavailable. Subsequent studies have not been able to reproduce this, but none have been conducted using solid chocolate as the first study, all have been done using a drink matrix, which may completely alter the binding interactions of the polyphenols and protein. To this end, this study is designed to compare solid chocolates as a source of polyphenols for improving a risk biomarker for vascular disease.

So I'm on Rogaine 5% solution now, but I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. 1.) Is it a problem if I'm not applying it perfectly 12 hours apart? My lifestyle is irregular. I work at my job 2 days a week, and have my own business with spontaneous and irregular hours the rest of the time. I generally use it after my shower and before I go to bed, or 12 hours after my morning shower, if possible. 2.) Is it OK if I use a combo of foam and solution? 3.) Is 5% inadequate or a waste of time? 4.) I'm not using Nizoral yet. I have a Japanese brand of deep-scalp cleansing shampoo, but I don't believe it contains Ketoconazole. Would another anti-dandruff shampoo that contains 2% Ketoconazole be an acceptable replacement for Nizoral? Nizoral isn't easy for me to find in China. 5.) Drips run down my head, I'm concerned that I'm not getting the 1ml I need. Also, should I be massaging it in?

So is 5% not worthwhile or effective? I've been thinking about switching to the foam, but some people say it's LESS effective, which surprised me. Would it be a bad idea to do foam in the morning and dropper at night? I have a shaved head buzzcut, by the way.