Can topical treatments work better than oral for some people?

[jim1973]

I've been on oral Finasteride and topical Minoxidil for roughly 7-8 years.  It maintained for a while but stopped working.  I switched to oral Minoxidil (5mg/day) and oral Dutasteride (.5mg/day) 9 months ago and my hair loss continues to get worse.  Its absolutely doing nothing for me (positive or negative).  My hair continues to become thinner and weaker.  Most people state that oral should always work better than topical but I'm wondering if there have been situations (stomach issues) where topical may work better.  I'm also considering Pyrilutamide or RU58841 as a topical but not sure how effect (or safe) that would be.  If anybody has any thoughts on the matter, I'd love to hear.  Thanks.  

[A_4_Archan]

Oral worked better for me..but as you mentioned there may ne some exceptions where oral may not work as well as topicals and poor absorption of oral may be the case...don't know abt the other drugs you have mentioned ...some doctors here can answer this things better imo...

[Melvin- Admin]

I really doubt a topical would work better than an oral drug. Maybe if you combine oral and a topical it might be better.

[Amiele]

8 hours ago, jim1973 said:

I've been on oral Finasteride and topical Minoxidil for roughly 7-8 years.  It maintained for a while but stopped working.  I switched to oral Minoxidil (5mg/day) and oral Dutasteride (.5mg/day) 9 months ago and my hair loss continues to get worse.  It’s absolutely doing nothing for me (positive or negative).  My hair continues to become thinner and weaker.  Most people state that oral should always work better than topical but I'm wondering if there have been situations (stomach issues) where topical may work better.  I'm also considering Pyrilutamide or RU58841 as a topical but not sure how effect (or safe) that would be.  If anybody has any thoughts on the matter, I'd love to hear.  Thanks.  

Are you certain that DHT and blood flow are the issues? If you’ve been taking oral minoxidil 5mg and oral dutasteride daily for 9 months and your hair loss continues to worsen then perhaps something else is at play such as vitamin deficiency and/or stress. Maybe discuss with your healthcare provider about getting some lab work? 

[jim1973]

I just got my blood tests results back and although most were normal, my Ferritin was very low!  I'm going to supplement my Ferritin levels until they get into the upper, normal ranges.