oral min + topical used together, how good is this routine?

[zenmu]

my current routine is:

1.25mg finasteride daily

1.25mg oral minoxidil daily

5% minoxidil foam twice a day (on whole head, including donor but not the hairline)

15% minoxidil + 1% finasteride twice a day (only on hairline)

long term, i’m just wanting to maintain what i have and regrow some of my hair. i kind of have been going through hair greed recently and wanted to do dutasteride, 2.5mg oral min daily etc but realized i’m already probably maxed out on minoxidil because of the topical (which some systemic absorption) along with the 1.25mg oral im taking and i don’t want to go up because of safety. along with just not wanting to switch to dutasteride because of sides anymore.

overall, how is my routine and can i just continue w this without having to worry about it? i mainly just want to keep what i have with minimal loss for the next 4-5 years for when i get a transplant 

Edited February 16, 2023 by zenmu

[Gatsby]

Personally I would opt for 1mg finsteride a day and 5mg of oral minoxidil a day. That way there is less mucking around with topicals. I would work up to 5mg oral minoxidil. I also don't see the point of taking minoxidil both orally and topically. Orally it goes systemic through your liver and will benefit all of your hair and beard. I don't see how doubling up with both topical and oral would work any better? All the best!

[zenmu]

1 hour ago, Gatsby said:

Personally I would opt for 1mg finsteride a day and 5mg of oral minoxidil a day. That way there is less mucking around with topicals. I would work up to 5mg oral minoxidil. I also don't see the point of taking minoxidil both orally and topically. Orally it goes systemic through your liver and will benefit all of your hair and beard. I don't see how doubling up with both topical and oral would work any better? All the best!

i forgot the mention this, yeah definitely you’re right but the topicals actually work as really good stylers for my hair and are just part of my hair styling routine. i heard about 1% of topical minoxidil is absorbed so if anything, im atleast getting about 4mg absorbed through that i think. 

but why 1mg of finasteride? 

[Dr. Guncel Ozturk]

Your current routine seems to be quite comprehensive, including both oral and topical medications. The combination of finasteride and minoxidil, both orally and topically, has shown to be effective for many people however, as with any medication, individual results would. In terms of your long-term goals, maintaining your current hair and potentially regrowing some hair with your current routine is a realistic goal for many people. Please see a local professional at least to see if this regimen is appropriate for you. It's bad if there are any interactions or potential side effects with other medications you may be taking.

[zenmu]

5 hours ago, Hairagainn said:

Redundant and exposing yourself to unnecessary side effects. 

This is the same as taking 1.5mg or 2mg finasteride and 5mg minoxidil. It’s not going to do anything for your hairloss but I guess makes you feel you’re doing more

you’re saying the amount of fin/min is too much? i don’t necessarily need this much?

[zenmu]

31 minutes ago, Hairagainn said:

Yes. Finasteride has diminishing returns and minoxidil is bad for heart at high doses

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10495374/

Scalp skin DHT levels declined significantly by 13.0% with placebo and by 14.9%, 61.6%, 56. 5%, 64.1%, and 69.4% with 0.01, 0.05, 0.2, 1, and 5 mg doses of finasteride, respectively. Serum DHT levels declined significantly (P <.001) by 49.5%, 68.6%, 71.4%, and 72.2% in the 0.05, 0.2, 1, and 5 mg finasteride treatment groups, respectively.
 

Either use oral or topical finasteride/minoxidil at any time and it will do as good a job as your current regime.

interesting, thank you. i will take this as an incentive to not increase my dosage anymore. i do plan on continuing this routine however, simply because the oral minoxidil seems to have positive effects on my eyelash/eyebrow growth along with my beard and the topicals are just expensive hair stylers at this point with perhaps some added benefit.

i really do appreciate this though and i will not increase any of my dosages. and perhaps down the road i will stop using the topicals 

[Melvin- Admin]

Actually, I believe topical dutasteride and oral minoxidil is the best route. 

Topical dutasteride has a negligible effect on serum DHT. 


Low dose oral minoxidil is safe, anyone saying otherwise isn’t looking at the data. In a 2021 study consisting of 1,404 participants, only 1.3% suffered from tachycardia.  The most common side effect was hypertrichosis (unwanted hair growth). 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190962221004187