Low dose oral minoxidil - Share your story or opinions

[sunsurfhair]

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

It also has Azaleic acid.

 

Excellent safe 5AR inhibitor

[Johnny129]

Any effect on increased body hair? I have thought about using it but the increased hair growth in other areas put me off. I have enough as it is!

[Fue3361]

I did 2.5mg per day for 6 months straight.  Results are irrelevant, since I didn't have balding in the first place, but I can talk about side effects.  I felt zero difference in terms of anything physically.  And when I stopped, same thing.  No sides for me.

[NARMAK]

Personally i wasn't fully on board with the tablet version of Oral Minoxidil because of the possibility of increased side affects, but it does seem more effective for sure and i figured you could laser hair remove if you get trichosis. 

I still am not planning to take Minoxodil just yet as i feel i am okay with just Dutasteride and then will leave Minoxodil in the back pocket. I think tablets are easier for adherence purposes though vs topical application 2x a day. Plus, i'm pretty sure Microneedling can be just as effective with both topical or oral versions. 

Recently the site i use to buy my Dutasteride has started selling 2.5mg Oral Minoxidil Loniten tablets for like £30, so there's no need to go grey market or the more expensive places like doctors in the UK that were ripping you off £150+.

Overall though, if Finasteride/Dutasteride thinned my body hair out, i have a feeling using Oral Minoxodil would just basically reverse that lol. 

Edited August 31, 2022 by NARMAK

[MissMyLongHair]

12 hours ago, NARMAK said:

Personally i wasn't fully on board with the tablet version of Oral Minoxidil because of the possibility of increased side affects, but it does seem more effective for sure and i figured you could laser hair remove if you get trichosis. 

I still am not planning to take Minoxodil just yet as i feel i am okay with just Dutasteride and then will leave Minoxodil in the back pocket. I think tablets are easier for adherence purposes though vs topical application 2x a day. Plus, i'm pretty sure Microneedling can be just as effective with both topical or oral versions. 

Recently the site i use to buy my Dutasteride has started selling 2.5mg Oral Minoxidil Loniten tablets for like £30, so there's no need to go grey market or the more expensive places like doctors in the UK that were ripping you off £150+.

Overall though, if Finasteride/Dutasteride thinned my body hair out, i have a feeling using Oral Minoxodil would just basically reverse that lol. 

I believe you are talking about Oxford Online Pharmacy, they require you post them a private prescription for Oral Minoxidil - they won't write you one themselves as they do with Dutasteride. Easiest way to obtain it right now is through Manual, they usually charge about £80 for three months however if you look out for their discount codes you can get it for £40.

At the moment I am trying to find the cheapest way to get a private script to get it from Oxford Online Pharmacy.

[NARMAK]

9 minutes ago, MissMyLongHair said:

I believe you are talking about Oxford Online Pharmacy, they require you post them a private prescription for Oral Minoxidil - they won't write you one themselves as they do with Dutasteride. Easiest way to obtain it right now is through Manual, they usually charge about £80 for three months however if you look out for their discount codes you can get it for £40.

At the moment I am trying to find the cheapest way to get a private script to get it from Oxford Online Pharmacy.

Well, that's certainly the place. I use them for my Dutasteride and thought the process would be the same. It's interesting that it isn't. 

If Manual are doing oral Minoxidil for £40 for three months, that would certainly be cheaper than Oxford Pharmacy. That said, i think more and more places will start doing it in the UK soon as its gaining popularity for hair loss purposes in recent years it seems. 

[GaryStruthers]

Hi! Just got mine today. Had a great consultation with my Dermatologist (US GP’s aren’t too favorable in prescribing it) so it was nice to discuss possible sides and a course of action for the next 12 months. I’ll be starting on 1.25mg for a week then settling at 2.5mg. He also mentions applying the topical for the first few days of oral dosing for a seamless transition. He also cited The NY Times article and said all physicians are getting swamped across the States😂 I’ll be watching for sides (as I have higher blood pressure than normal) and will report back. 

Edited September 2, 2022 by GaryStruthers

[Westview]

On 8/31/2022 at 7:36 PM, GaryStruthers said:

Hi! Just got mine today. Had a great consultation with my Dermatologist (US GP’s aren’t too favorable in prescribing it) so it was nice to discuss possible sides and a course of action for the next 12 months. I’ll be starting on 1.25mg for a week then settling at 2.5mg. He also mentions applying the topical for the first few days of oral dosing for a seamless transition. He also cited The NY Times article and said all physicians are getting slammed across the States😂 I’ll be watching for sides (as I have higher blood pressure than normal) and will report back. 

Physicians are getting slammed for what?? 

Or do you mean they are getting swamped for patients requesting MX prescriptions??

[GaryStruthers]

8 hours ago, Westview said:

Physicians are getting slammed for what?? 

Or do you mean they are getting swamped for patients requesting MX prescriptions??

Yes, apologies. They're getting swamped!

[general-etwan]

Is there a way to order it online in the USA?

[sunsurfhair]

I’ve had multiple docs offer it to me. Max dose of 5mg. Costs me $0 at the pharmacy in the US. Been on 2.5mg for 6 months and 1.25 for 3 months prior to that. Got the OK to bump to 5mg (max dose) and have been on this for about 10 days now. Still zero sides except my eyebrows got a bit more filled in too which is a plus! I’m hairy AF already, so no noticeable difference if that increased 😆 Keeping close eye on sides at 5 and if anything weird will just drop right back down to 2.5  

Also - labs all normal, EKG done twice (for safety) both normal. 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by sunsurfhair

[sunsurfhair]

On 9/2/2022 at 3:48 PM, GaryStruthers said:

Yes, apologies. They're getting swamped!

Dermatologists are WAY more comfortable prescribing this vs a 5AR. Now that it’s broadly accepted as “safe” in the medical community, it will be given out readily. Remember, it benefits men and women and a lot of derms are dealing with Covid induced hair loss - TE. 

[general-etwan]

Pshh...ain't nobody got time for that. Where I live it takes 6 months to get a dermatologist appointment, even at my old dermatologist's office at which I am a past patient for teenage acne. Absolutely nutty. Also, not sure about them "being way more comfortable" prescribing oral minox than finasteride. Not where I live. Not yet. Derms around here stick to fin only. Won't even prescribe dutasteride. For now it looks like online ordering for me.

Edited September 3, 2022 by general-etwan

[HelpfulFriend]

I've been in FIN for about 6 years, added oral minoxidil (sublingual) about 3 years ago, the difference is pretty drastic. 

Every section of my scalp increased in density by quite a bit, and my hair is a lot thicker.

I have my pictures professionally taken every year at a dermatologist, and I have my hair analysed under magnification - so I've got an objective measure of how my hair tracks through the years.

Oral min made a big difference, for me, anyway. 

[Viney]

On 9/1/2022 at 9:36 AM, GaryStruthers said:

Hi! Just got mine today. Had a great consultation with my Dermatologist (US GP’s aren’t too favorable in prescribing it) so it was nice to discuss possible sides and a course of action for the next 12 months. I’ll be starting on 1.25mg for a week then settling at 2.5mg. He also mentions applying the topical for the first few days of oral dosing for a seamless transition. He also cited The NY Times article and said all physicians are getting swamped across the States😂 I’ll be watching for sides (as I have higher blood pressure than normal) and will report back. 

Hey @Gatsby, you might find this comment useful (although it could be too late...)?

[GoliGoliGoli]

2 hours ago, HelpfulFriend said:

I've been in FIN for about 6 years, added oral minoxidil (sublingual) about 3 years ago, the difference is pretty drastic. 

Every section of my scalp increased in density by quite a bit, and my hair is a lot thicker.

I have my pictures professionally taken every year at a dermatologist, and I have my hair analysed under magnification - so I've got an objective measure of how my hair tracks through the years.

Oral min made a big difference, for me, anyway. 

And you were on topical prior to switching to oral? 

[HelpfulFriend]

1 hour ago, GoliGoliGoli said:

And you were on topical prior to switching to oral? 

Yeah, although I probably wasn't as diligent as I should have been

[Gatsby]

8 hours ago, Viney said:

Hey @Gatsby, you might find this comment useful (although it could be too late...)?

Many thanks @Viney 🙏

[yesplease]

On 9/17/2022 at 12:54 AM, HelpfulFriend said:

I've been in FIN for about 6 years, added oral minoxidil (sublingual) about 3 years ago, the difference is pretty drastic. 

Every section of my scalp increased in density by quite a bit, and my hair is a lot thicker.

I have my pictures professionally taken every year at a dermatologist, and I have my hair analysed under magnification - so I've got an objective measure of how my hair tracks through the years.

Oral min made a big difference, for me, anyway. 

Having photos taken over the long term by a medical professional with an eye for clinical change (ie hair quality and quantity in this case) is amazing. 
 

Any chance you’d be willing to share your journey/results/photos with these medical therapies? I’d venture to say that not many people have documented as well as you have with regards to multiple medical modalities. Would be very helpful for the community to see. 
 

Thanks for considering. 

[HelpfulFriend]

On 9/18/2022 at 11:57 PM, yesplease said:

Having photos taken over the long term by a medical professional with an eye for clinical change (ie hair quality and quantity in this case) is amazing. 
 

Any chance you’d be willing to share your journey/results/photos with these medical therapies? I’d venture to say that not many people have documented as well as you have with regards to multiple medical modalities. Would be very helpful for the community to see. 
 

Thanks for considering. 

Hey mate, I actually plan on doing this. I've sent my derm a message to ask for all my photos to be sent to me.

Ill do a big post and let you know when I get around to it. 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask

[New_Barnet_Please]

My experience, recently posted in my thread, is that just 2.5mg taken for a year now has had a dramatic effect on not only regrowing hair but actually stabilising my hair loss. I do not take finasteride so I can be sure it's the result of oral minoxidil. I can only speak for the current results of course - it has currently stopped my hair loss and also added a lot to the mid scalp and strengthened my crown back to where it was before. I have had zero side effects and it has had no effect on my blood pressure at all which I checked (as it's a low dose for hair loss). I feel very lucky to have been recommended it by my doctor and to be such a great responder to it, being the only medication I take for hair loss. Sharing in case it helps someone else!

PS - forgot to mention I'm a total non-responder to topical minoxidil!

Edited September 23, 2022 by New_Barnet_Please

[Hairy Henderson]

On 9/16/2022 at 9:54 PM, HelpfulFriend said:

I've been in FIN for about 6 years, added oral minoxidil (sublingual) about 3 years ago, the difference is pretty drastic. 

Every section of my scalp increased in density by quite a bit, and my hair is a lot thicker.

I have my pictures professionally taken every year at a dermatologist, and I have my hair analysed under magnification - so I've got an objective measure of how my hair tracks through the years.

Oral min made a big difference, for me, anyway. 

Hair is thicker or you noticed more hairs growing back?

[Hairy Henderson]

On 9/3/2022 at 1:01 PM, general-etwan said:

Is there a way to order it online in the USA?

Did you find a decent place to order it online in US?

[general-etwan]

9 minutes ago, Calihome1 said:

Did you find a decent place to order it online in US?

I found some online place (alldaychemist) but I think it came internationally. However, I’m holding off on taking it because I further realized that oral minoxidil will increase hair growth across the body, and body hair is not something I want any more of. I have it on hand but plan to stick with topical for now. 

[ljpcarrera]

I am going on a year 2.5 and it made a huge difference. Hair definitely thicker and noticed barely any greys, I am 51.

Crazy this has been available so many years and now it’s being prescribed for hairloss. I always hated the topical just to messy.