Quit Minoxidil

[g0910]

Started a new thread here:

https://www.baldtruthtalk.com/threads/16822-Stopping-Minoxidil-Treatment-after-1-Month-Advice-Needed.?p=178848#post178848

[g0910]

Anyone?

Should I start my own thread? Thx.

[g0910]

To be clear, I've been on Finasteride (1mg) for 10 yrs. My results were pretty good but I noticed some gradual sides: muscle loss, losing or thinning of ALL body hair, maintaining an erection. After the 6-7th year I weaned it down to 3x/week, and now I'm at 2x/week. As a result, my MPB has increased a bit in the recent year, hence starting on Minox a month ago.

If I quit Minox, does anyone think increasing my Finasteride to 3x/week or more help or hurt the Minox post shedding? Thanks so much.

[g0910]

I know this thread is old, but I was wondering the same thing tizzle asked about quitting Minox during the initial dread shed. I started 5% Minoxidil 2x/day slightly over a month ago, applying it to mainly the crown. In the last few days, I applied it 1x/day. I'm 50 years old and I've been also been on Propecia for 10 years and have tapered the dose down to 2x/week because of long term sides.

When I started Minox just a month ago, I was a NV3v/4. I'm going through a SERIOUS and shocking dread shed which is still peaking!! I'm now panicking. I'm losing about 200 follicles a day which is a lot for a NV3v/4. I also have sides of water retention and stinking eyes. I'm seriously thinking of quitting. I was wondering, if I quit now, how much more hair will I loose and for how long? How long will the hair take to grow back? Does it matter if I wean myself off or just stop suddenly? Any input will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.

[WarLord]

Never claimed to be an expert at this...I still don't understand how my mpb can be so slow yet still continue. Doesn't seem logical to me but it is what it is.

And of course what I am saying is based on my own experience-30+ years of slow loss to be exact. But do some reading, I am not the only one who thinks Minox will not stop mpb indefinitely. And if your mpb is aggressive enough, I doubt propecia will ether. That is the best we have right now. Hopefully something better will come out that will prevent or stop it permanently.

If being a 2 or 3v after 30+ years is considered advanced, then yea I guess you are right

Some people believe that nothing will stop MPB indefinitely...based on their personal experience. The people, who post on internet forums, are almost exclusively those, who didn't have success with the therapy. Here they encounter similar unfortunates and conclude that their experience is universal. But the studies say otherwise. Or say something that doesn't allow a definite conclusion.

You also say that you started to lose hair at the age of 17, if I am not wrong. It would be impossible to hold off the process for such a long time. You would be slick bald within 2-3 years. The problem is that internet claims are often untrustworthy. You may not have a true MPB at all.

[mpb47]

You extrapolate from your personal experience. Everybody on this forum does it. But we know that experiences from internet forums are in no way representative, because it is almost exclusively guys with bad results, who go here. Hence it seems that every medication stops working after several years LOL Furthermore, your Norwood stage seems quite advanced to me.

0.25 mg finasteride/every 14 days is totally useless. You should think over if your "sides" were not only in your head. Hair loss is the most serious side effect you can get.

Never claimed to be an expert at this...I still don't understand how my mpb can be so slow yet still continue. Doesn't seem logical to me but it is what it is.

And of course what I am saying is based on my own experience-30+ years of slow loss to be exact. But do some reading, I am not the only one who thinks Minox will not stop mpb indefinitely. And if your mpb is aggressive enough, I doubt propecia will ether. That is the best we have right now. Hopefully something better will come out that will prevent or stop it permanently.

If being a 2 or 3v after 30+ years is considered advanced, then yea I guess you are right

[WarLord]

I seemed to recovery from widespread all over thinning I had but central crown is a little bigger and has spread upwards slightly.

It could be the minox vacation is just a coincidence . I am about the same age when my uncles started to advance and I follow him closely. Also we are older so minox might have only slightly delayed what was going to happen soon anyway.

I think minox can buy you many years if your mpb is very gradual. But eventually it alone can't stop mpb unfortunately.

You extrapolate from your personal experience. Everybody on this forum does it. But we know that experiences from internet forums are in no way representative, because it is almost exclusively guys with bad results, who go here. Hence it seems that every medication stops working after several years LOL Furthermore, your Norwood stage seems quite advanced to me.

0.25 mg finasteride/every 14 days is totally useless. You should think over if your "sides" were not only in your head. Hair loss is the most serious side effect you can get.

[mpb47]

I switched from 10% to 5% minoxidil 9,5 months ago. It's been 5,5 months since the shed stopped, but my hair still isn't back. I would be glad, if this theory worked so well. But perhaps I should wait a bit longer. Someone experienced signs of regrowth 6 months after the end of the shed.

I seemed to recovery from widespread all over thinning I had but central crown is a little bigger and has spread upwards slightly.

It could be the minox vacation is just a coincidence . I am about the same age when my uncles started to advance and I follow him closely. Also we are older so minox might have only slightly delayed what was going to happen soon anyway.

I think minox can buy you many years if your mpb is very gradual. But eventually it alone can't stop mpb unfortunately.

[mpb47]

Your "treatment" is terrible! Where do you want to go with these endless switching of medications - letting aside the fact that 0.25 mg of finasteride every 2 weeks sounds like a joke from Naked Gun 33 1/3.

I didn't switch...I went off propecia like 6 years ago . It was working great but eventually the sides were too much for me. My hairloss slowed down/stoped and I was able to get by on just minox. For whatever reason, mpb has started up again so I was hoping I could gradually get back on it again at a lower dose ..enough to stop my mpb. Might sound crazy but better to give it a try than to just give up.

I know you love Minox...it has done me good too, but right now it is not enough for me.

[WarLord]

Yes and no. Some of the hair around the outer areas of vertex has come back, but at same time vertex area seems more pronounced than before. Back a couple of months ago, i started taking .25mg of fin once every 2 weeks, but had to take a PSA test so I stopped.

Seeing how overall things seem to be slowly getting worse I was thinking about going on FIN again (no PSA test till mid Jan) but now I am going to a new dr in late Nov and will probably have to take yet another PSA test so will wait till then. So hopefully by Dec I will be on a more regulated form of hormones and can start taking Fin again.

Your "treatment" is terrible! Where do you want to go with these endless switching of medications - letting aside the fact that 0.25 mg of finasteride every 2 weeks sounds like a joke from Naked Gun 33 1/3.

[WarLord]

Is this really true? I am interested because I quit minox in april (if I remember correctly) and I have shed like crazy all summer, just like you said, all with white bulbs! I am still shedding now but I think this time it is related to my switch to Avodart from fin. Now I must have decreased the amount of DHT over my scalp by 20% more with Avodart, so do you think I can expect to see some regrowth?

What is your DHT? I bet you haven't done any tests.

[WarLord]

I would suggest tapering off gradually. As I have said before, when I quit for about 3 months , my vertex area expanded noticeably. Now that I am back on, it seems like a tug of war - sometimes it looks like it is getting better, then it seems to expand again, so still not sure if my vertex is getting better, or worse.

I keep having to take these psa tests, but after late Nov that should stop and I will get back on a very low dose of fin to give the minox some help.

Again -taper down..I did that once about maybe 5 years ago and did not get the huge lose like I did this time.
Good luck....

I switched from 10% to 5% minoxidil 9,5 months ago. It's been 5,5 months since the shed stopped, but my hair still isn't back. I would be glad, if this theory worked so well. But perhaps I should wait a bit longer. Someone experienced signs of regrowth 6 months after the end of the shed.

[Tracy C]

Nobody knows how to answer a question on this forum.

Your question has been answered over and over again and again.

[Person]

Nobody knows how to answer a question on this forum.

[konfusion]

Apparently , stopping minoxidil induces acute telogen effluvium. Healthy and non healthy hair sheds from all over the top of the scalp for 4.5 months after quitting. The hairs will all have white bulbs on the end of them (forced into telogen phase). Then new hair comes back in. Regrowth is noticeable 5.5-6.5 months after qutting.

Has this been the case for you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyCM...eature=related

Is this really true? I am interested because I quit minox in april (if I remember correctly) and I have shed like crazy all summer, just like you said, all with white bulbs! I am still shedding now but I think this time it is related to my switch to Avodart from fin. Now I must have decreased the amount of DHT over my scalp by 20% more with Avodart, so do you think I can expect to see some regrowth?