Low dose oral minoxidil vs topical minoxidil

[Follicle1984]

I just wondered if I could please get people opinions (who have used both topical minoxidil and also low dose oral minoxidil) on the comparison of the two routes of taking this drug please?

In particular...

1) have many people who had previously had to stop using topical minoxidil due to sides been able to tolerate low dose oral min? I had to stop topical minoxidil due to quite bad periorbital oedema. I beleive the rates in the low dose oral min study of periorbital oedema were just 0.3% so 3 in 1000. Have many people noticed swelling under the eyes or face?

2) are the results much better?

3) would love to get people's opinion on the subject as to if minoxidil actually may be stopping progression of the disease (like fin) but just by  a different down stream mechanism (and not just classed as a "growth stimulant")? A bit like I think ciclosporin should not be classed as purely a growth stimulant but likely stops hair loss and encourages new growth by down stream mechanisms. Probably does more to halt downstream inflammatory immune damage than anything else.

Thanks all

Edited May 1, 2023 by Follicle1984

[TheDarkHour]

I didn't experience any sides on the topical and also started using oral about two months ago and didn't experience any sides on it either... not even hypotrichosis. Started at 1.25mg for the first month and then upped my dose to 2.5mg. Haven't noticed much of a difference compared to the topical version, though I'm still going to use it to get as much scalp coverage as possible. 

If you're getting sides on the topical then I imagine the oral version would exacerbate them. Think I read somewhere somewhere 1.25mg is equivalent to putting 5% topical once a day so I guess you could try 0.625mg.  

[Follicle1984]

On 5/9/2023 at 6:39 PM, TheDarkHour said:

I didn't experience any sides on the topical and also started using oral about two months ago and didn't experience any sides on it either... not even hypotrichosis. Started at 1.25mg for the first month and then upped my dose to 2.5mg. Haven't noticed much of a difference compared to the topical version, though I'm still going to use it to get as much scalp coverage as possible. 

If you're getting sides on the topical then I imagine the oral version would exacerbate them. Think I read somewhere somewhere 1.25mg is equivalent to putting 5% topical once a day so I guess you could try 0.625mg.  

Thanks. 

Yes this is my common sense theory too and why I had avoided it really. The oedema isn't worth it for me. We take products and drugs to hopefully improve our hair and look better. When I took topical minoxidil I used to look in the mirror and look like a puffy faced water balloon man under my eyes. I reached the point of thinking WTF is the point in this!!! Literally wondering if I would look better bald than my face being F$%kd up like that. So...I guess I will be avoiding oral min too then.

Thanks for your reply.