Minoxidil dilemma!

[Fred88]

I am planning to do my hair transplant and I have been on fin since 8 years ago (31 years old now). I can say that being on fin had saved me from fast baldness but my hair thinning was continued. My feelings are that the majority of the hair loss is gone by now and it does not have its previous exponential speed. However, I never used minoxidil because it was a huge burden for me to apply something on my hair and stay the rest of the day with unclean-looking hair.

So now, after my HT I'm planning to stay on fin forever but I am not keen on applying any minoxidil. After finding out there's an oral version of minoxidil I was excited by finding out I'd probably end up being very hairy all over my body I was down again. So oral minoxidil out of mind if that is gonna be the consequence.

Could it be sufficient to stay on the fin and maybe add Dutasteride and never use minoxidil and be happy not losing hair or thinning? What do you think and what is your experience?

[Raphael84]

Its a personal choice of course @Fred88. Finasteride is quite the commitment long term and that will undoubtedly prove to be a positive decision in slowing further loss.

Taking oral minoxidil won't make you a wolf overnight. If that is your only concern, you could always give it a try, and see how you respond.

[gillenator]

IMHO, most doctors would not advise using both finasteride and dutasteride at the same time...it's one or the other.

And trying oral minoxidil is worth a try...have you considered using the foam version?...it's not as messy as the liquid form.

Edited November 22, 2019 by gillenator

[Fred88]

1 hour ago, gillenator said:

IMHO, most doctors would not advise using both finasteride and dutasteride at the same time...it's one or the other.

And trying oral minoxidil is worth a try...have you considered using the foam version?...it's not as messy as the liquid form.

No I didn't know that. The only downside of trying minoxidil would be that stopping might have a drastic effect on shedding all the hair.

[Fred88]

If a doc suggests both fin and minoxidil, would it be reasonable just to stay on fin and don't apply minoxidil? Would it a HT result in a satisfying state without that? Has anyone tried to be on fin only?

Edited November 22, 2019 by Fred88

[Raphael84]

Almost every Dr will recommend a both finasteride and minoxidil as they are the two proven studied methods of preventing/slowing down the process of male pattern baldness. Whether you decide to follow that is your decision. As long as your donor shows no sign of miniaturisation, it would not effect your result in a strange way. Check out my results and I used minoxidil for a few weeks post op, that was all.

Rather than the medication having an effect on your result, it will most likely have an effect on maintaining your native hair, which would compliment your result and definitely assist long term.

[Thisisnotatest333]

Do minoxidil only before sleep, its probably going to be enough. When you wake up you wash your hair and get rid of "dandruff" that causes minox. You have nothing to lose if you do it once before sleep instead of twice a day. Half life of drug is 23 hrs so why bother doing it twice and having issues with scalp? That will eliminate your issues with greasy hair

[Fred88]

On 11/24/2019 at 11:49 PM, Thisisnotatest333 said:

Do minoxidil only before sleep, its probably going to be enough. When you wake up you wash your hair and get rid of "dandruff" that causes minox. You have nothing to lose if you do it once before sleep instead of twice a day. Half life of drug is 23 hrs so why bother doing it twice and having issues with scalp? That will eliminate your issues with greasy hair

So one application per day, at might before going to bed would be sufficient?! That's promising

[Fred88]

After finding out oral minox could have a lot of side effects I'm actually afraid of taking the oral one, although it's more convenient. Now the question is that does tropical minox has the same side effects as well? Like heart problem? Or is it just for the oral version?

I just want to be informed which one should I start with, knowing that I'd be probably staying on that for the lifetime?

[LaserCap]

A few things to consider.....

You've been on Fin for a long time and but you feel you're still losing hair.  I'm guessing you are referring to the ("visual") hair you see in the tub, sink, floor? Let's address that issue.

There are two types of loss, the one you see and the one you don't. The one you see is shedding.  Most believe 100 hairs a day is the norm.  The follicle gets tired of producing hair and it takes a vacation.  3-4 months later the hair returns.  This will happen randomly to every hair in your head - throughout your life.  Hair loss is the hair you don't see.

Go under a bright light and notice the hair in your hairline, particularly the temporal areas.  Notice some strands are nice and thick and others are very fine.  That's miniaturization.  Eventually the hair dissipates and withers away.  Once gone, that hair does not return.  That's hair loss.

Based on your assessment, I believe you are experiencing retention, otherwise you would have nothing by now.  Is it a good idea to add other modalities? Of course!  The mechanism of action of each is totally different and thus, there is synergism when used simultaneously.

With regards to Rogaine.....I suggest the foam.  Using it 2X per day you get 100% of the medication.  1X per day you get 90%.  Typically most will do it once a day as it is labor intensive.  Most people don't have the time to do it twice.  Do it at night as per the recommendation you've been given so far. This way you don't have to worry about it during the day.  Why foam?  It is not greasy like the liquid and the application is simple.  The medication is systemic.  By putting it on any one place, it is working your whole head.  Take a cap full, but it on your palm.  Press down in the crown area, for example and press down.  They massage.  Should take you no more than 15 seconds to do this.

It is believed Rogaine can help with blood pressure as it's a vasodilator. Lots of misinformation out there. Soon we'll read it will grow a third head.

Laser and PRP are the other modalities you should consider.

Give all of this a good year as it does take that time period to confirm what exactly the meds will do.  Based on the results you can then decide if transplants are for you.

Do meds for as long as you want to keep your hair. 

[gillenator]

And we are talking about maintain your native hair for as long as possible with both finasteride and minoxidil.

I used to do both but currently I only use finasteride....I just did not notice any meaningful difference using minoxidil.

[Fred88]

Being on fin, I have noticed that thinning had been going on but with a very low speed. I feel fin has just slowed down the shedding process. I could lose a lot more if I wasn't using fin. But then when I look at my pictures from 2 years ago, I see that nasty thinning (and eventually shedding) has not ended and the difference is visible when I compare in the pictures. So fin did not preserve my thick hair forever thick. It just expanded the lifetime of my hair a bit more. I see a lot of thin and miniaturized hair on top of my head. Based on what you said that a hair shed starts with thinning, I feel I will eventually lose those thin hair if I don't take care of them. And from what I have concluded, minox is thickening (correct me if I'm wrong). So it seems I have to use minox along with fin. I kinda feel the most important in my hair situation is not getting a HT, but thickening the existing hair on top. That's why I decided to go to a HT clinic that does prp too.

This thinning process is the nastiest thing I have experienced. Maybe my body need a higher dose of fin (I'm on 1mg). Don't know why I continue thinning...

Edited November 27, 2019 by Fred88

[gillenator]

The thing to remember is that we all respond differently to these hair loss meds.  It is not unusual for some to experience shedding and thinning of their hair when starting finasteride but after roughly 12-15 months, things should start improving.

And minoxidil has been clinically shown to improve hair shaft diameter (caliber) of native hair and also helps to hold hair follicles in the growing phase for longer periods of time.