Restarting Rogaine

[shortbackandsides]

Hello all.

So I've stopped using Rogaine for several years now as it no longer seemed to have any effect. I had some good results prior to that.

I remember once reading that the effect wears off after a few years. So my question is: if I started using Rogaine again after quitting for three years, how likely is it to regrow hair?

Has anyone tried this?

Thanks!

[hairlineman]

I’m in the same situation. I do believe once you start back up with Rogaine that you should start to regrow some hairs, or at least help miniaturizing hairs become stronger, etc. You should also look into adding in a Derma rolling session once a week or so. Best of luck! 

[shortbackandsides]

Hi there, thanks for the suggestion. I'm surprised there's not more information about effects of stopping and then restarting Rogaine. Guess there's only one way to find out!

[LaserCap]

Most believe Rogaine helps retain...towards the crown, for about 7 years.  The effect does decline somewhat, but you are still experiencing retention.  Getting off the med can lead to the loss you would have experienced had you not been on the medication.  My suggestion is to combine this with the other modalities available to you.  Rogaine, Propecia, PRP and laser are the modalities we typically discussed when dealing with hair loss.  The mechanism of action is totally different for each and thus, there is synergism with used at the same time.  I would encourage you to talk to your doctor about continuing the use of Rogaine and combining this with something else.

[shortbackandsides]

Hi LaserCap,  thanks for your suggestions! I've stopped Rogaine about two or three years ago already. I had about 7 years of reasonable success, then lost ground. I jumped on Dutasteride and this has done a decent job of maintaining, then phased out Rogaine. I'm very sure that it was having very little effect by the end, so I've no regrets about dropping it. But that's just me, maybe other people might see improvements in combination with different treatments.

However, I'm curious to know what would happen if I now restarted Rogaine after not using it for several years. I'm not sure if this is scientifically accurate, but I've read the effects wear off as the body builds up an immunity to it. So, after three years, would you lose that immunity? Would it start to work again like new?

I've seen a few threads discussing stopping and starting Rogaine after prematurely quitting for whatever reason. But this is a different situation to the one I'm interested in. Would be interested to hear from anyone with a similar experience.