Switching from Topical to Oral - Losing Ground and Efficacy?

[alexmillne]

Switching from Topical to Oral - Losing Ground and Efficacy?

I have two questions:

1. If oral Minoxidil is more effective than topical Minoxidil, should I, a 37-year-old with Norwood 2/3 hair loss, choose oral Finasteride and oral Minoxidil instead of oral Finasteride and topical Minoxidil to better combat hair loss in the long term?

2. If oral Minoxidil is better, why do some people say they lose more hair when they switch from topical Minoxidil to oral?

[TheGreatPretender]

36 minutes ago, alexmillne said:

Switching from Topical to Oral - Losing Ground and Efficacy?

I have two questions:

1. If oral Minoxidil is more effective than topical Minoxidil, should I, a 37-year-old with Norwood 2/3 hair loss, choose oral Finasteride and oral Minoxidil instead of oral Finasteride and topical Minoxidil to better combat hair loss in the long term?

2. If oral Minoxidil is better, why do some people say they lose more hair when they switch from topical Minoxidil to oral?

End of day to me it mostly resumes to sult activity in your folicles. If you have more on your head then topical might be more effective to you, if howeaver like the majority of people you dont have enough in there then its likely oral will be the better option.

I feel that Oral does have the advantage of getting systemic and reaching more easily to the folicles then topical because it essencially goes via the blood after already been converted to minoxidil sulfate starting in the liver which presents the sulfotransferaze enzyme activity that a lot of times is missing in the scalp. In a way it's similar to how oral DHT blockers are better than topical and how they reach the folicles via the bloodstream.

The less bald you are the more likely you are to respond, but this is merely my observation since Minoxidil's full mechanism is unknown right now so it goes on a person by person basis. 

[alexmillne]

10 minutes ago, TheGreatPretender said:

End of day to me it mostly resumes to sult activity in your folicles. If you have more on your head then topical might be more effective to you, if howeaver like the majority of people you dont have enough in there then its likely oral will be the better option.

I feel that Oral does have the advantage of getting systemic and reaching more easily to the folicles then topical because it essencially goes via the blood after already been converted to minoxidil sulfate starting in the liver which presents the sulfotransferaze enzyme activity that a lot of times is missing in the scalp. In a way it's similar to how oral DHT blockers are better than topical and how they reach the folicles via the bloodstream.

The less bald you are the more likely you are to respond, but this is merely my observation since Minoxidil's full mechanism is unknown right now so it goes on a person by person basis. 

thanks man. Oral Minoxidil is difficult to get in Switzerland. Do you know if its safe to buy Lonitab 5 Mg online through Alldaychemist? I think that is an online pharmacy shop in india but from what I heard many people buy their tretinoin for the faces on that webpage and it seems legit. Wondering now if the same goes for the oral minoxidil. 

[TheGreatPretender]

1 minute ago, alexmillne said:

thanks man. Oral Minoxidil is difficult to get in Switzerland. Do you know if its safe to buy Lonitab 5 Mg online through Alldaychemist? I think that is an online pharmacy shop in india but from what I heard many people buy their tretinoin for the faces on that webpage and it seems legit. Wondering now if the same goes for the oral minoxidil. 

I've ordered from them and started their pills last month (after completing mine bought near the clinic in Spain) and thei're legit. I got the 10mg and split them in two since its more economical and you save alot by doing it. 

They also come with a score in the middle so if you get a cheap splitter you can just break them in two, its a bit of a pain in the start but you get used to it. 

[alexmillne]

4 minutes ago, TheGreatPretender said:

I've ordered from them and started their pills last month (after completing mine bought near the clinic in Spain) and thei're legit. I got the 10mg and split them in two since its more economical and you save alot by doing it. 

They also come with a score in the middle so if you get a cheap splitter you can just break them in two, its a bit of a pain in the start but you get used to it. 

thanks! I think im going to order them. How long did it take until you got them after ordering? I just got a hairtransplant like 4 weeks ago and was thinking of using topical minoxidil. But maybe i should just buy the oral version and use it, but dont want to wait that long for it as id like to start as soon as possible. Have you been using topical Minoxidil beforehand? If yes, for how long? 

[TheGreatPretender]

8 minutes ago, alexmillne said:

thanks! I think im going to order them. How long did it take until you got them after ordering? I just got a hairtransplant like 4 weeks ago and was thinking of using topical minoxidil. But maybe i should just buy the oral version and use it, but dont want to wait that long for it as id like to start as soon as possible. Have you been using topical Minoxidil beforehand? If yes, for how long? 

Well its a bit different from me because I got as soon as I had my HT from a nearby local pharmacy near the clinic (De Freitas) in Spain as they were happy to prescribe me. So I started 3 days post op.

I had a 90 days pill box worth of capsules then I ordered from ADC so I think it may have taken over 2 to 3 weeks max to reach home and have enough supplies till feb/march but I will likely reorder earlier when the time comes.

[WoundedWolf]

For me I switched from topical to oral in 3 months I had heavy shedding like hell (topical was working great for me  )  now i started topical again along with oral lets see how it goes the problem is i started oral minox 5 months after my transplant so results also got delayed because of this mass shedding, I think if topical works then better to continue topical only , I thought that after taking oral shedding will stop in 2-2.5 months but it was getting very aggresive don't know why   

[alexmillne]

20 minutes ago, WoundedWolf said:

For me I switched from topical to oral in 3 months I had heavy shedding like hell (topical was working great for me  )  now i started topical again along with oral lets see how it goes the problem is i started oral minox 5 months after my transplant so results also got delayed because of this mass shedding, I think if topical works then better to continue topical only , I thought that after taking oral shedding will stop in 2-2.5 months but it was getting very aggresive don't know why   

How long had you been using oral minoxidil before? Is it possible that the shedding isn't related to discontinuing topical minoxidil, but rather a common shedding occurrence when starting oral minoxidil?

[WoundedWolf]

23 hours ago, alexmillne said:

How long had you been using oral minoxidil before? Is it possible that the shedding isn't related to discontinuing topical minoxidil, but rather a common shedding occurrence when starting oral minoxidil?

Before i never used oral minoxidil just started in august 2023 (3 months now), yes the shedding can be due to oral minoxidil only but i was expecting it to be for 2 -2.5 months then stop but it didnt stopped for 3 months so I lost patience as well because i lost a lot in crown and mid-scalp also i think it was affecting my transplanted hairs in hairline and temples as i m in my 9th month after my repair procedure 

Edited November 6, 2023 by WoundedWolf

[LeveledUp]

Im one of those where topical seems way more effective than topical.

Year on oral minoxidil - 2.5 then 5mg, and 4 months of topical gave me more regrowth than a year on oral.

I think if you’re a responder topical directly to the follicles will work better imo

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@alexmillne,

Instead of answering your questions, I have to ask you… who told you that oral minoxidil is more effective than topical minoxidil? In my opinion, this is not true. Why? Because the actual mechanism behind minoxidil is unknown, however, minoxidil is said to stimulate hair regrowth upon contact. In fact, one of the side effects of minoxidil in women, for example is unwanted facial or body hair growth, if the minoxidil comes in contact with certain parts of the face or body. This is why people are told to wash their hands after applying minoxidil.

This shows that the minoxidil is affective when directly applied to the area where you want hair regrowth to occur.  Thus, if you take it orally, then you are assuming that the minoxidil will make its way through the bloodstream and find the particular areas you want to target and then stimulate regrowth there? If anything, taking minoxidil orally would potentially cause thicker hair regrowth in all areas of the body, face and scalp that is, assuming you take enough of it. But if you don’t take enough of it, it likely won’t do anything for any part of the scalp, face or body.

Personally, I feel that if topical minoxidil is working for you, don’t switch to oral minoxidil. The only reason why I think somebody should consider switching would be if they were experiencing side effects by taking it topically.

This, of course, is just my opinion, but I haven’t seen any actual research or evidence, suggesting that oral minoxidil is more effective or potent than topical minoxidil.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

Edited November 7, 2023 by Rahal Hair Transplant

[Melvin- Admin]

@alexmillne

 I will ask you to please stop creating duplicate threads. If you have further questions about oral minoxidil. Please use one of the various threads you’ve created to bump with your new question. 

[HairLossHero]

I started oral recently but still continuing with topical. I havent noticed a difference yet

[DermMD]

On 11/7/2023 at 10:48 AM, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

@alexmillne,

Instead of answering your questions, I have to ask you… who told you that oral minoxidil is more effective than topical minoxidil? In my opinion, this is not true. Why? Because the actual mechanism behind minoxidil is unknown, however, minoxidil is said to stimulate hair regrowth upon contact. In fact, one of the side effects of minoxidil in women, for example is unwanted facial or body hair growth, if the minoxidil comes in contact with certain parts of the face or body. This is why people are told to wash their hands after applying minoxidil.

This shows that the minoxidil is affective when directly applied to the area where you want hair regrowth to occur.  Thus, if you take it orally, then you are assuming that the minoxidil will make its way through the bloodstream and find the particular areas you want to target and then stimulate regrowth there? If anything, taking minoxidil orally would potentially cause thicker hair regrowth in all areas of the body, face and scalp that is, assuming you take enough of it. But if you don’t take enough of it, it likely won’t do anything for any part of the scalp, face or body.

Personally, I feel that if topical minoxidil is working for you, don’t switch to oral minoxidil. The only reason why I think somebody should consider switching would be if they were experiencing side effects by taking it topically.

This, of course, is just my opinion, but I haven’t seen any actual research or evidence, suggesting that oral minoxidil is more effective or potent than topical minoxidil.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

So, this comment needs a little clarity. what is the most common side effect with topical minoxidil (link below)? Its not hypertrichosis (thats with oral minoxidil, see that study 27% compared to 4%). The common reason topical is d/c is it change to hair texture, pruritus and perceived lack of efficacy. I am a board-certified dermatologist, just trying to point out some facts.

cheers,

https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(19)32666-0/fulltext#:~:text=Premature discontinuation of treatment commonly,to be effective for FPHL.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10149432/