Oral minoxidil question

[Pelange]

Hi to our great community,

I talked to several doctors and I have been taking oral minoxidil 2.5mg for 3 months. No side effect but I did not see much growth either. All the doctors told me that I might need to take it for the rest of my life. I found there is test for topical minoxidil https://www.danielalain.com/products/minoxidil-response-test-men

Is there any test to see if we are candidates for Oral ones?  Thanks. 

Even there is no side effect, but if this medicine does not help, why we need to take it for the rest of life, right？

Thanks so much.

Peter

[jfally]

https://gxsciences.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/TrichoTest-Brochure-GX-Providers-v06-digital.pdf

https://gxsciences.com/trichotest/

I don't believe this indicates whether Px needs oral/topical, moreso their issues and recommended solutions on the whole.

[A_4_Archan]

@Pelangeyou cannot judge just in 3 months that its working or not. You need to give more time to it to work...plus it will not grow new hairs but it will make your existing hairs thicker and fuller....give at around 10-12 months and thn reassess your situation and than if you don't see any positives thn you might be a non responder to that drug...

[ThePerseverantWarrior]

I have been on 2.5 mg oral minoxidil daily for 6 months now. No scary side effects fortunately so far, but no major noticeably significant improvement either. The only visually obvious change is that hairs on my hands (arms as well as fingers) have grown longer and perhaps a bit thicker. 

Anyway, since I find it infinitely more convenient than topical minoxidil, I plan on using it for life regardless of improvements, provided of course that I don't get bad side effects 🤞

[Fabio]

Is 2.5mg the standard dosage to start off at? My doctor suggested to put me on 0.5 to start but no pharmacy can provide such a low amount. 2.5 seems to be available though. 

[Gatsby]

I was initially started on 2.5mg of oral minoxidil which I tolerated no problems. Then on my next appointment I was upped to 5mg and have remained on this dose since with nil side effects. My dermatologist is from the Sinclair Clinic in Melbourne and he has a lot of experience in hair loss and medication so I would say this is generally the recommended prescribing of oral minoxidil.

[Gatsby]

On 8/1/2023 at 2:33 AM, ThePerseverantWarrior said:

I have been on 2.5 mg oral minoxidil daily for 6 months now. No scary side effects fortunately so far, but no major noticeably significant improvement either. The only visually obvious change is that hairs on my hands (arms as well as fingers) have grown longer and perhaps a bit thicker. 

Anyway, since I find it infinitely more convenient than topical minoxidil, I plan on using it for life regardless of improvements, provided of course that I don't get bad side effects 🤞

It can take up to one year for the full benefits of oral minoxidil to appear. Perhaps if you are not experiencing any side effects speak with your dermatologist to up the does to 5mg? All the best!

[ThePerseverantWarrior]

3 hours ago, Gatsby said:

It can take up to one year for the full benefits of oral minoxidil to appear. Perhaps if you are not experiencing any side effects speak with your dermatologist to up the does to 5mg? All the best!

Thanks! 

Yeah my plan is to try this 2.5 mg regime for one year, and I'll reassess thereafter. If I don't get any bad sides, I may double the dosage. Let's see 🤞

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@Pelange,

Any non-surgical hair loss treatment that you take will have to be taken as long as you want and expect to continue benefiting from it. In other words, yes, you will have to take oral minoxidil for life unless you want to lose whatever benefit you are acquiring from it.

I will say this however.  In my honest opinion, topical minoxidil is likely far more effective than oral minoxidil.  So unless there is a reason why you don’t want to or can’t use topical minoxidil, I would certainly consider topical over oral.

The reason I feel this way is ultimately, Rogaine/minoxidil is said to “stimulate growth“ of the hair follicles.  Also, one of the cautions of topical minoxidil is to wash your hands and make sure that the minoxidil stays on your scalp as it could facilitate and exacerbate the growth of unwanted hair in other areas that the minoxidil touches.

As a result, I think it goes to demonstrate that minoxidil works best when coming in direct contact with the hair follicles.  When you apply minoxidil topically, it absorbs into the skin directly and into the hair follicle.

But when you take minoxidil orally, it has to go through the digestive system, into the bloodstream and connect with hair follicles on the way through the bloodstream.  In that sense, how does one determine exactly how much minoxidil ingested actually connects with the hair follicles that really need it?

So all that to say, I’m not suggesting that oral minoxidil doesn’t work at all - just that it will likely take more oral minoxidil than topical and that exactly how much connects and interacts with the desired dying hair follicles is unknown.

Anuway, I just wanted to add my two cents. I hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

Edited August 3, 2023 by Rahal Hair Transplant

[Recession1]

Oral minoxidil is way more effective than topical and many prominent doctors have made that known. The percentage of oral minoxidil responders are also way higher than topical. I can speak from my experience…. I have used topical since I was 24…. I am 35 now and switched to oral 1 year ago. My hair now grows longer and thicker than ever. It also grows really fast. Another thing people don’t talk about is your donor hair. Not many people are applying topical monoxidil to their donor hair…. After 6 months on oral minoxidil my donor hair on the back and sides thickened up like crazy. There is no doubt oral minoxidil is more effective than topical.  I also have many friends who started on oral minoxidil than were on topical and it is night and day difference. There are even some surgeons saying that oral minoxidil is  better than finasteride… two different mechanisms but as far as hair growth oral minoxidil is better 

[jfally]

26 minutes ago, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

@Pelange,

Any non-surgical hair loss treatment that you take will have to be taken as long as you want and expect to continue benefiting from it. In other words, yes, you will have to take oral minoxidil for life unless you want to lose whatever benefit you are acquiring from it.

I will say this however.  In my honest opinion, topical minoxidil is likely far more effective than oral minoxidil.  So unless there is a reason why you don’t want to or can’t use topical minoxidil, I would certainly consider topical over oral.

The reason I feel this way is ultimately, Rogaine/minoxidil is said to “stimulate growth“ of the hair follicles.  Also, one of the cautions of topical minoxidil is to wash your hands and make sure that the minoxidil stays on your scalp as it could facilitate and exacerbate the growth of unwanted hair in other areas that the minoxidil touches.

As a result, I think it goes to demonstrate that minoxidil works best when coming in direct contact with the hair follicles.  When you apply minoxidil topically, it absorbs into the skin directly and into the hair follicle.

But when you take minoxidil orally, it has to go through the digestive system, into the bloodstream and connect with hair follicles on the way through the bloodstream.  In that sense, how does one determine exactly how much minoxidil ingested actually connects with the hair follicles that really need it?

So all that to say, I’m not suggesting that oral minoxidil doesn’t work at all - just that it will likely take more oral minoxidil than topical and that exactly how much connects and interacts with the desired dying hair follicles is unknown.

Anuway, I just wanted to add my two cents. I hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

Interesting sentiment from a Dr.

I agree with your thoughts/reasoning, but I've never seen a Dr. share these til this post.

Anecdotally in myself, and in all my research and browsing, Oral wins out over Top, but for reasons you describe, the lack of precision + no real way of knowing how much is actually working where desired... makes like it seem like it shouldn't be as effective as it sure is.

[LeveledUp]

On 8/3/2023 at 5:02 PM, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

@Pelange,

Any non-surgical hair loss treatment that you take will have to be taken as long as you want and expect to continue benefiting from it. In other words, yes, you will have to take oral minoxidil for life unless you want to lose whatever benefit you are acquiring from it.

I will say this however.  In my honest opinion, topical minoxidil is likely far more effective than oral minoxidil.  So unless there is a reason why you don’t want to or can’t use topical minoxidil, I would certainly consider topical over oral.

The reason I feel this way is ultimately, Rogaine/minoxidil is said to “stimulate growth“ of the hair follicles.  Also, one of the cautions of topical minoxidil is to wash your hands and make sure that the minoxidil stays on your scalp as it could facilitate and exacerbate the growth of unwanted hair in other areas that the minoxidil touches.

As a result, I think it goes to demonstrate that minoxidil works best when coming in direct contact with the hair follicles.  When you apply minoxidil topically, it absorbs into the skin directly and into the hair follicle.

But when you take minoxidil orally, it has to go through the digestive system, into the bloodstream and connect with hair follicles on the way through the bloodstream.  In that sense, how does one determine exactly how much minoxidil ingested actually connects with the hair follicles that really need it?

So all that to say, I’m not suggesting that oral minoxidil doesn’t work at all - just that it will likely take more oral minoxidil than topical and that exactly how much connects and interacts with the desired dying hair follicles is unknown.

Anuway, I just wanted to add my two cents. I hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

I’m starting to believe this too.

As someone who switched to oral for convenience despite seeing results on topical.

The results I had on Topical vs the lack of on oral over the last 10 months is night and day. 

Even at 5mg I feel not enough is being absorbed by the scalp compared to when I was using topical.

Seriously considering returning to topical next month.

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by LeveledUp

[Evan42]

On 7/31/2023 at 6:40 AM, Pelange said:

Hi to our great community,

I talked to several doctors and I have been taking oral minoxidil 2.5mg for 3 months. No side effect but I did not see much growth either. All the doctors told me that I might need to take it for the rest of my life. I found there is test for topical minoxidil https://www.danielalain.com/products/minoxidil-response-test-men

Is there any test to see if we are candidates for Oral ones?  Thanks. 

Even there is no side effect, but if this medicine does not help, why we need to take it for the rest of life, right？

Thanks so much.

Peter

I found this on the Daniel Alain website: 

As oral Minoxidil is not prevalently used or FDA-approved for hair loss, our marketing focus has been on topical Minoxidil, however our MRT test can be used to determine the likelihood of response or non-response for either topical or oral Minoxidil.

[BadBeat]

If one switches from topical to oral, is it a big deal to keep doing topical foam a few days a week as well?

[Gatsby]

7 minutes ago, BadBeat said:

If one switches from topical to oral, is it a big deal to keep doing topical foam a few days a week as well?

With oral minoxidil being taken and passing through the liver I don’t think that you would need to add topical Minoxidil. It’s already gone systemic. All the best. 

[Pelange]

8 hours ago, Evan42 said:

As oral Minoxidil is not prevalently used or FDA-approved for hair loss, our marketing focus has been on topical Minoxidil, however our MRT test can be used to determine the likelihood of response or non-response for either topical or oral Minoxidil.

Great to know. Thanks Evan.

[Sunset Dune]

It makes sense for topical to be more effective than oral minoxidil, I honestly wouldn’t recommend taking any form of minoxidil at all unless you have a weak donor. 

In the long term, Minoxidil causes heart problems, early aging, and once you start it you’re in it for life otherwise your hair returns to a worse condition than it was before. 

[manutd4545]

Problem is minoxidil is poorly absorbed through the scalp and if you lack the enzymes then oral is the route to go.

[Evan42]

Does anyone know if the minoxidil response test is worth doing?

[alexmillne]

On 10/27/2023 at 6:20 PM, Sunset Dune said:

It makes sense for topical to be more effective than oral minoxidil, I honestly wouldn’t recommend taking any form of minoxidil at all unless you have a weak donor. 

In the long term, Minoxidil causes heart problems, early aging, and once you start it you’re in it for life otherwise your hair returns to a worse condition than it was before. 

firstly this is not true. Broscience

[alexmillne]

On 8/3/2023 at 6:14 PM, Recession1 said:

Oral minoxidil is way more effective than topical and many prominent doctors have made that known. The percentage of oral minoxidil responders are also way higher than topical. I can speak from my experience…. I have used topical since I was 24…. I am 35 now and switched to oral 1 year ago. My hair now grows longer and thicker than ever. It also grows really fast. Another thing people don’t talk about is your donor hair. Not many people are applying topical monoxidil to their donor hair…. After 6 months on oral minoxidil my donor hair on the back and sides thickened up like crazy. There is no doubt oral minoxidil is more effective than topical.  I also have many friends who started on oral minoxidil than were on topical and it is night and day difference. There are even some surgeons saying that oral minoxidil is  better than finasteride… two different mechanisms but as far as hair growth oral minoxidil is better 

secondly, people are getting this all wrong. If you are a super responder to topical minoxidil, then topical minoxidil will be superior to oral minoxidil, because it actually working on the roots/scalp itself.

if you are a weak or none responder to topical minoxidil (which 60% are), then oral minoxidil will be waay better then topical

My advice: Try topical for a year. If you dont see great results, then switch to oral. 

If you had great results on topical and switch to oral, dont cry if you loose ground

Edited October 28, 2023 by alexmillne

[LeveledUp]

19 hours ago, alexmillne said:

secondly, people are getting this all wrong. If you are a super responder to topical minoxidil, then topical minoxidil will be superior to oral minoxidil, because it actually working on the roots/scalp itself.

if you are a weak or none responder to topical minoxidil (which 60% are), then oral minoxidil will be waay better then topical

My advice: Try topical for a year. If you dont see great results, then switch to oral. 

If you had great results on topical and switch to oral, dont cry if you loose ground

Completely agree with this.

i switched and lost major ground.

Makes complete sense for topical to

more effective, if you’re a responder than oral.

If topical works don’t switch it’s as simple as that 

[alexmillne]

On 10/29/2023 at 5:04 PM, LeveledUp said:

Completely agree with this.

i switched and lost major ground.

Makes complete sense for topical to

more effective, if you’re a responder than oral.

If topical works don’t switch it’s as simple as that 

I just watched a video where a doctor claimed that using topical minoxidil is as effective as taking 0.5mg of oral minoxidil. I found it hard to believe. You can find this claim at the 1 hour and 45-minute mark in the following video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mAW4PmXw4M

[Panamera13]

On 7/31/2023 at 8:40 AM, Pelange said:

Hi to our great community,

I talked to several doctors and I have been taking oral minoxidil 2.5mg for 3 months. No side effect but I did not see much growth either. All the doctors told me that I might need to take it for the rest of my life. I found there is test for topical minoxidil https://www.danielalain.com/products/minoxidil-response-test-men

Is there any test to see if we are candidates for Oral ones?  Thanks. 

Even there is no side effect, but if this medicine does not help, why we need to take it for the rest of life, right？

Thanks so much.

Peter

been taking oral min 2.5mg for 6 months - I'm Norwood 7 - absolutely ZERO benefit. 

Looking at XYON dut as a final try...

[LeveledUp]

9 hours ago, alexmillne said:

I just watched a video where a doctor claimed that using topical minoxidil is as effective as taking 0.5mg of oral minoxidil. I found it hard to believe. You can find this claim at the 1 hour and 45-minute mark in the following video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mAW4PmXw4M

Yeah I don’t buy it at all.

From my own experience and others

if it was me on 5mg I should be a poster boy for oral minoxidil.

For me, if you’re an actual responder applying directly to the follicle vs orally and hoping that it reaches your hair follicles in a sufficient amount.

Edited November 5, 2023 by LeveledUp