Does Oral Minoxidil lose effectiveness?

[HairEnthusiast101]

I don’t know if it has even been studied but if someone took oral minox for 20 years would the hair start to thin again even if they were on fin/Dut? Basically do any of these drugs lose effectiveness 20-30 years down the line? Just curious to hear from people who have taken either for that long or Doctor input!

[TorontoMan]

Yes definitely, everything we have available to us are "treatments" not "cures". You are staving off hair loss and falling from grace slowly rather than rapidly with medications. There is a finasteride study that was done in Asia that showed after 10 years a good number of men on treatment after that many years held on to a good amount of hair, so my assumption is it will do well enough for most men long term. 

[HairEnthusiast101]

2 hours ago, TorontoMan said:

Yes definitely, everything we have available to us are "treatments" not "cures". You are staving off hair loss and falling from grace slowly rather than rapidly with medications. There is a finasteride study that was done in Asia that showed after 10 years a good number of men on treatment after that many years held on to a good amount of hair, so my assumption is it will do well enough for most men long term. 

Interesting! Thank you for the input. Yes I really was just curious from person insight or research if dutasteride over a period of time may need switched or higher dosage as well as oral minox. Nothing is truly permanent but if they work for 20-30 years I guess that’s all you can ask from them. But also maybe with time from ages 40-80 your dht isn’t as high so those are not needed as much as hair loss in 20s? Who knows 

[A_4_Archan]

7 hours ago, JoDimaggio22 said:

Interesting! Thank you for the input. Yes I really was just curious from person insight or research if dutasteride over a period of time may need switched or higher dosage as well as oral minox. Nothing is truly permanent but if they work for 20-30 years I guess that’s all you can ask from them. But also maybe with time from ages 40-80 your dht isn’t as high so those are not needed as much as hair loss in 20s? Who knows 

Meds will work till you take them...as u stop them the negative effects will start...bt after a certain age the dosage may have to be altered considering the amount of dht produced by the body and other factors i.e. age and other medical condition at tht age...

[HairEnthusiast101]

1 hour ago, Archan said:

Meds will work till you take them...as u stop them the negative effects will start...bt after a certain age the dosage may have to be altered considering the amount of dht produced by the body and other factors i.e. age and other medical condition at tht age...

Thanks archan. Would disagree need to be upped?

[A_4_Archan]

39 minutes ago, JoDimaggio22 said:

Thanks archan. Would disagree need to be upped?

Suppose if someone is on oral minoxidil thn the dosage may be altered according to the physical condition at the given age ....bt still i feel only a concerned doctor would have enough knowledge to decide on dosages after doing reports of the patients ...

[Mike10]

the truth is there is no study which proves long term efficiacity of minox oral.We do know that the topical version generally loses efficacity after a few years.The jury is still out there for the oral version.

[HairEnthusiast101]

2 hours ago, Mike10 said:

the truth is there is no study which proves long term efficiacity of minox oral.We do know that the topical version generally loses efficacity after a few years.The jury is still out there for the oral version.

With topical losing effectiveness is another treatments recommended or just stay the course with topical minox?

[Mike10]

16 hours ago, JoDimaggio22 said:

With topical losing effectiveness is another treatments recommended or just stay the course with topical minox?

I am not a Dr. But if you drop the topical, significant shedding might occur. better keep going IMO.but speak with your Dr

Edited February 26, 2023 by Mike10

[arthurSam]

Oral minox will certainly work for about  2 years like topical 

Edited March 6, 2023 by arthurSam

[HairEnthusiast101]

7 hours ago, arthurSam said:

Oral minox work for about  2 years like topical 

And then what? Up the dose or just come off and lose everything?

[Mike10]

8 hours ago, arthurSam said:

Oral minox work for about  2 years like topical 

 Very disappointing if true.The medication has been hyped a lot

[Hawaiian1961]

On 2/26/2023 at 10:41 AM, arthurSam said:

Oral minox work for about  2 years like topical 

How do you know this?  Have you been on for 2 years?  I am reading your post history and I do not see that you have ever been on oral minox.

[Jayson1361]

On 2/24/2023 at 6:35 PM, JoDimaggio22 said:

I don’t know if it has even been studied but if someone took oral minox for 20 years would the hair start to thin again even if they were on fin/Dut? Basically do any of these drugs lose effectiveness 20-30 years down the line? Just curious to hear from people who have taken either for that long or Doctor input!

I think the general consensus is that oral minoxidil is dose dependent just like fin or dut. Typically if minoxidil is effective then it peaks around a year with maintenance of terminal hairs for even over 5 years +.  The probability of see new regrowth and increased thickness over the year to two year mark would be very uncommon, but maintenance, that is exactly why minoxidil was prescribed. I can only assume that oral minoxidil would be the same. If indeed effectiveness started to decrease obviously a higher dose could be considered with in the range of safety. Oral minoxidil however is very effective and obviously people have slowly increased dosage and frequency over time. The most common side effects being water retention, slight dizziness…etc.  It seems usually those symptoms come or go based on your health. If your a heavy drinker or otherwise unhealthy then those symptoms will seem more prevalent. Basically these drugs work over time and buy time and dosage can be increased but side effects may increase in probability. I’m sure 10mg of oral minoxidil is more effective than 5 or 2.5, but side effects are def more probable. 

[hairman22]

I use topical minox for my crown & oral minox 2.5mg for the last 3 months.

Really good results in my crown.

I done research into the drug. 

I started the drug at 1.25mg, after 9-10 days when it reaches it highest level in the blood I noticed some small fluid retention in my face it felt very uncomfortable.

I stopped the drug for 2 days & started again then no issues at 1.25 for the next 2 months. Then I started at 2.5mg in November & had no issues.

 

The lesson here is if I started at 5mg I very likely would have had  very bad fluid retention in my face when it reaches it highest level in the blood at around 9-10 days.

My body obviously adjusted & I have had no issues. But it really is best to start at a low dose to let your body adjust or see what does suits you best,

 

Top 10 Things You Need to Know about Oral Minoxidil for Hair Loss — Donovan Hair Clinic (donovanmedical.com)

[arthurSam]

 

On 2/28/2023 at 5:16 AM, Hawaiian1961 said:

How do you know this?  Have you been on for 2 years?  I am reading your post history and I do not see that you have ever been on oral minox.

 

Hello,

You can see here that after 2 years minoxidil is no more effective. However, this is for 5% topical minoxidil so perhaps it is better (or worser) with oral minox... nobody knows ! 

Edited March 6, 2023 by arthurSam

[Mike10]

On 2/28/2023 at 6:22 AM, Jayson1361 said:

I think the general consensus is that oral minoxidil is dose dependent just like fin or dut. Typically if minoxidil is effective then it peaks around a year with maintenance of terminal hairs for even over 5 years +.  The probability of see new regrowth and increased thickness over the year to two year mark would be very uncommon, but maintenance, that is exactly why minoxidil was prescribed. I can only assume that oral minoxidil would be the same. If indeed effectiveness started to decrease obviously a higher dose could be considered with in the range of safety. Oral minoxidil however is very effective and obviously people have slowly increased dosage and frequency over time. The most common side effects being water retention, slight dizziness…etc.  It seems usually those symptoms come or go based on your health. If your a heavy drinker or otherwise unhealthy then those symptoms will seem more prevalent. Basically these drugs work over time and buy time and dosage can be increased but side effects may increase in probability. I’m sure 10mg of oral minoxidil is more effective than 5 or 2.5, but side effects are def more probable. 

but why are you comparing oral minox to fin/dut rather than to topical minox? 

[Jayson1361]

3 hours ago, Mike10 said:

but why are you comparing oral minox to fin/dut rather than to topical minox? 

Oral minoxidil like fin and dut is dose dependent from what I’ve read. The higher the dose the higher the probability it does something for you, good or bad. The rest of what I wrote was in regard to minoxidil vs oral minoxidil. By minoxidil I mean topical vs oral minoxidil. Sorry for any confusion. 
 

Also, I’m not a medical professional. I only know what I’ve read on forums and the internet. I also have experience taking oral Min as I’m 4.5 months in. Shedding has decreased no doubt, but I’ve seen no regrowth. My hair does feel a bit thicker but I don’t really perceive a noticeable increase in density. I’m going to use it for 12 months then assess a maintenance protocol for continued use. Currently I’m doing 2.5mg every day. M-W-F I take 2.5mg in the morning then 2.5mg at night. 

Edited March 6, 2023 by Jayson1361

[Hawaiian1961]

On 2/24/2023 at 3:47 PM, TorontoMan said:

Yes definitely, everything we have available to us are "treatments" not "cures". You are staving off hair loss and falling from grace slowly rather than rapidly with medications. There is a finasteride study that was done in Asia that showed after 10 years a good number of men on treatment after that many years held on to a good amount of hair, so my assumption is it will do well enough for most men long term. 

 

13 hours ago, arthurSam said:

 

 

Hello,

You can see here that after 2 years minoxidil is no more effective. However, this is for 5% topical minoxidil so perhaps it is better (or worser) with oral minox... nobody knows ! 

Interesting.  Thank you for the chart.  Can you please cite your source?

[arthurSam]

On 2/28/2023 at 5:16 AM, Hawaiian1961 said:

How do you know this?  Have you been on for 2 years?  I am reading your post history and I do not see that you have ever been on oral minox.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S019096229970006X

[arthurSam]

13 hours ago, Hawaiian1961 said:

 

Interesting.  Thank you for the chart.  Can you please cite your source?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S019096229970006X

Edited March 7, 2023 by arthurSam