For those of you who've tried oral minoxidil

[LeveledUp]

Switched from topical last October, which had worked for me, but switched wanting better results and convenience.

Been on 2.5mg since then.

0 sides.

No heart issues

No hypotrichosis

And no results on oral, lost what I gained on topical sadly. 
I seem to be a non responder.

Shame YMMV

If you start oral Min don’t jump to 5mg, start slow and titrate up. If you can get a  lower dose works for you then that’s what you want, as there’s less risk of sides

 

[TheGreatPretender]

17 minutes ago, LeveledUp said:

Switched from topical last October, which had worked for me, but switched wanting better results and convenience.

Been on 2.5mg since then.

0 sides.

No heart issues

No hypotrichosis

And no results on oral, lost what I gained on topical sadly. 
I seem to be a non responder.

Shame YMMV

If you start oral Min don’t jump to 5mg, start slow and titrate up. If you can get a  lower dose works for you then that’s what you want, as there’s less risk of sides

 

Could possibly up it to 5mg if you havent had any results. 
I am thinking about going full force after my HT and start on 5MG. I will ask my surgeon his stance on it though, maybe throw the whole kitchen sink and use both Topical/Oral while switching to Dutasteride. 

Edited May 23, 2023 by TheGreatPretender

[LeveledUp]

1 minute ago, TheGreatPretender said:

Could possibly up it to 5mg if you havent had any results. 
I am thinking about going full force after my HT and start on 5MG. I will ask my surgeon his stance on it though, maybe throw the whole kitchen sink and use both Topical/Oral while switching to Dutasteride. 

Considered it I’m just thinking long term is 5mg sustainable should my health changes.

But 5mg is probably next logical step tbh, would’ve preferred to stay on 2.5mg and got results lol.

Maybe my hair feels underdosed now it’s not getting Minoxidl directly applied I have no idea on the science.

Mate I wouldn’t go straight in with 5mg, some see great results with just 2.5mg. I’d start there and titrate up if necessary, gives you room for manoeuvre and lower the dose less chances of sides.

Especially if you’re planning to combine with topical Min.

[TheGreatPretender]

5 minutes ago, LeveledUp said:

Considered it I’m just thinking long term is 5mg sustainable should my health changes.

But 5mg is probably next logical step tbh, would’ve preferred to stay on 2.5mg and got results lol.

Maybe my hair feels underdosed now it’s not getting Minoxidl directly applied I have no idea on the science.

Mate I wouldn’t go straight in with 5mg, some see great results with just 2.5mg. I’d start there and titrate up if necessary, gives you room for manoeuvre and lower the dose less chances of sides.

Especially if you’re planning to combine with topical Min.

I think i'm just really aiming to get maximum efficieny as possible without having the sides in regards. I just want to make sure the transplant really kicks off so i'm willing to go through the "pain" if necessary.

I still think 5MG should be still within a tolerable range since most people apparently do respond well to it. 

[LeveledUp]

16 hours ago, TheGreatPretender said:

I think i'm just really aiming to get maximum efficieny as possible without having the sides in regards. I just want to make sure the transplant really kicks off so i'm willing to go through the "pain" if necessary.

I still think 5MG should be still within a tolerable range since most people apparently do respond well to it. 

Yeah get you.

Decided to try 5MG and see how I react in terms of sides and progress.

I’ve started doubling up on what Minoxidil I have left.

Which would be about a month or so worth if I took 5MG.

See if any signs of regrowth start to appear, if not topical it is for sure.

Just feel like I’ve wasted my time last 7 months, hopefully upping dose does the trick.

definitely given 2.5mg enough time

[jim1973]

I started at 1.25mg.  I noticed chest tight within first week or two (only once or twice).  I thought about stopping due to the potential heart risks but I pushed through.  Those chest pains went away.  After 2 months, I titrated up to 2.5mg and had no sides.  I stayed on that dose for 6 months before moving up to 5mg/day (2.5 in am and then 2.5 in pm).  No negative sides other than water retention around mid-section.  Body hair and beard hair see the most benefit as that all grows very fast now.  Unfortunately even though my scalp hair is growing faster, I'm not seeing any positive results (no new hair and no thickening that I can tell).  I'm actually still losing hair.  

[A_4_Archan]

26 minutes ago, jim1973 said:

I started at 1.25mg.  I noticed chest tight within first week or two (only once or twice).  I thought about stopping due to the potential heart risks but I pushed through.  Those chest pains went away.  After 2 months, I titrated up to 2.5mg and had no sides.  I stayed on that dose for 6 months before moving up to 5mg/day (2.5 in am and then 2.5 in pm).  No negative sides other than water retention around mid-section.  Body hair and beard hair see the most benefit as that all grows very fast now.  Unfortunately even though my scalp hair is growing faster, I'm not seeing any positive results (no new hair and no thickening that I can tell).  I'm actually still losing hair.  

Minoxidil will not grow new hairs..it will help to make the existing ones more fuller and thicker and you already seeing that..so its working on you but will not work more thn this...

[jim1973]

7 minutes ago, A_4_Archan said:

Minoxidil will not grow new hairs..it will help to make the existing ones more fuller and thicker and you already seeing that..so its working on you but will not work more thn this...

Unfortunately only my body hair is becoming thicker.  My scalp hairs are all miniaturizing still.  Every day, I lose more hair and even the hair on my head have become noticeably thinner over the last year.  

[A_4_Archan]

3 minutes ago, jim1973 said:

Unfortunately only my body hair is becoming thicker.  My scalp hairs are all miniaturizing still.  Every day, I lose more hair and even the hair on my head have become noticeably thinner over the last year.  

Are you on Finasteride ? Actually minoxidil won't help you in that but finasteride helps in slowing down /halting hairloss progression and will not let them get miniaturized 

[TheDarkHour]

On 5/21/2023 at 10:22 PM, djkillab said:

I'm just over 6 months in to taking 2.5mg oral Minoxidil daily. Shedding lasted quite a while and no sign of improvement yet

When did your shed begin?

[Odysseus]

On 5/17/2023 at 8:17 AM, Westview said:

 

RU58841 has not been approved by FDA for hair loss, and comes with even worse side-effects then oral MX.

 

This was my reaction to the post, as well. I can understand some people having concerns about oral minoxidil (although I haven't had any negative side effects so far), but RU58841 is more dangerous, in my opinion.

[jim1973]

4 hours ago, A_4_Archan said:

Are you on Finasteride ? Actually minoxidil won't help you in that but finasteride helps in slowing down /halting hairloss progression and will not let them get miniaturized 

I'm on oral Dutasteride (.5mg/day) and oral Minoxidil (5mg/day).  Hair is still falling more rapidly than the previous year.

[ThePerseverantWarrior]

19 hours ago, jim1973 said:

Unfortunately only my body hair is becoming thicker.  My scalp hairs are all miniaturizing still.  Every day, I lose more hair and even the hair on my head have become noticeably thinner over the last year.  

Six months on 2.5 mg daily oral minoxidil and I have broadly similar results. Biggest visual boost has come in my arm hairs (not even beard). 

My hair shedding hasn't properly stabilised either. But idk why, my scalp hasn't started to look thin yet (fortunately). Hope it stays that way

[ThePerseverantWarrior]

14 hours ago, jim1973 said:

I'm on oral Dutasteride (.5mg/day) and oral Minoxidil (5mg/day).  Hair is still falling more rapidly than the previous year.

How long have you been on oral dutasteride? And have you got your vital vitamin levels checked? 

[jim1973]

1 minute ago, ThePerseverantWarrior said:

How long have you been on oral dutasteride? And have you got your vital vitamin levels checked? 

I started oral Dut (1.25mg) in Aug 2022, moved up to 2.5mg in Dec and onto 5mg in April of this year.  I get my blood tests done every 6 months and I was low on Ferritin in 2021 so I began taking a Ferritin supplement to bring that into normal range since then.  Everything else has been normal.  I feel like I'm a non-responder to oral Dutasteride for some reason.  My libido is much higher on Dut than it was in Fin many years ago.  I'm now in a position where I may need to try a topical anti-androgen such as Breezula or Pyralutamide.  The only downside is that these products are not yet FDA approved so I'd need to obtain from a grey market if I proceed, which is not ideal.  

[MisterBreakfast]

Just going to note, I was one of the few that had side effects.  It took a few months to kick in, but it gave me extreme bloating in the stomach area.  It's listed as a very uncommon side effect. 

I actually had been on OM so long that I didn't even consider it as a possibility, that it could cause bloating, but sure enough.  I went to doctors, had ultrasounds bloodwork ect ect.  After exhausting all options, I dropped OM for 1 month, and all my problems went away.  I also lost about 8 lbs of what I presume must have been water weight. 

At this point I was just curious so I tried to start back up on OM, but sure as day, about a week later my symptoms started to come back.

Fortunately for me OM provided almost 0 benefit.  I'll just stick to Dutasteride, since that has made a night and day difference and I have no side effects from that.

 

[ThePerseverantWarrior]

6 minutes ago, jim1973 said:

I started oral Dut (1.25mg) in Aug 2022, moved up to 2.5mg in Dec and onto 5mg in April of this year.  I get my blood tests done every 6 months and I was low on Ferritin in 2021 so I began taking a Ferritin supplement to bring that into normal range since then.  Everything else has been normal.  I feel like I'm a non-responder to oral Dutasteride for some reason.  My libido is much higher on Dut than it was in Fin many years ago.  I'm now in a position where I may need to try a topical anti-androgen such as Breezula or Pyralutamide.  The only downside is that these products are not yet FDA approved so I'd need to obtain from a grey market if I proceed, which is not ideal.  

5 mg dutasteride daily or oral minoxidil? And for exactly how long have you been on dutasteride? And what's your baldness grade?

[jim1973]

34 minutes ago, ThePerseverantWarrior said:

5 mg dutasteride daily or oral minoxidil? And for exactly how long have you been on dutasteride? And what's your baldness grade?

Current: .5mg oral Dutasteride daily (never took topically) and 5mg oral Minoxidil daily.  When I started each one is in my last thread.  I started losing hair at 18.  I'm now 50.  My hair loss stopped in my late 20s, early 30s then picked up so I began oral Finasteride and topical Minoxidil.  That combo worked for me for roughly 7 years before it no longer worked (from 2020-2022 I thought it was temporary but that combo really did stop working), which is why I started the new regimen in 2022.  I'm prob a NW4a right now but quickly moving to 5 category.

[LeveledUp]

I think I’m going back to topical.

just not convinced oral minoxidil is working for me.

seems my hair prefers topical directly to scalp vs having to share it with the rest of the body and hoping it gets enough.

[djkillab]

Hey guys. Sorry for the delay in replying.

So I'm about 9 months in to taking 2.5mg of oral Minoxidil. 

The shedding started at about 3 weeks and I'm still shedding at a worrying rate, probably worse over the last few months than ever.

Now I'm not sure if this is down to the oral Minoxidil, or because I got my last batch of finasteride from a different company (can't remember my previous one but this last lot came from Dr Fox)

Due to the continued loss its hard to see if theres any improvement in thickness but I'm doubtful. So I'm going to take 5mg daily with next 3 months worth bottle as a final check, but will probably stop it once I've run out. I've had no noticeable side effects.

I take 1mg finasteride every other day and will order my next lot from my original company.

Edited August 18, 2023 by djkillab

[djkillab]

The only other difference to my routine during this time is taking Saw Palmetto

[Logan_P]

I notice an increase in anxiety for a couple of hours after I take oral Min, but nothing else.

[Melvin- Admin]

I’ve noticed my body hair is longer. My leg hair looks like I can braid it 🤢 not a good thing, but it could be worse.

[Joseph James]

1 hour ago, Logan_P said:

I notice an increase in anxiety for a couple of hours after I take oral Min, but nothing else.

That makes me not want to try it.

[Joseph James]

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

I’ve noticed my body hair is longer. My leg hair looks like I can braid it 🤢 not a good thing, but it could be worse.

Sounds like you're turning into the Wolfman.