Monoxidil

[vicicakes]

I'm on Yasmin and been on it for a year as well as used Nizoral for washing my scalp however I didn't notice any noticeble difference to my hair after using it for a year.

I have decided to try 2% monoxidil solution and been using for three weeks once a day and been very alarmed by the results. Since the second week I have started picking my shedding hair in handfulls especially at times of washing my scalp. Even though I had thinning hair before and for a considerable lenght of time it wasn't that noticeble. Now I have to deal with a bold patch on my crown.

I'm concerned that if I discontinue monoxidil my hair won't grow back or shed even more...I'm confused as to how to react to this. Does it mean that the treatment is really working or it's not suitable for me? Is monoxidil supose to cause a severe shedding?

[Geoffrey Redmond, MD, FACE]

I'm on Yasmin and been on it for a year as well as used Nizoral for washing my scalp however I didn't notice any noticeble difference to my hair after using it for a year.

I have decided to try 2% monoxidil solution and been using for three weeks once a day and been very alarmed by the results. Since the second week I have started picking my shedding hair in handfulls especially at times of washing my scalp. Even though I had thinning hair before and for a considerable lenght of time it wasn't that noticeble. Now I have to deal with a bold patch on my crown.

I'm concerned that if I discontinue monoxidil my hair won't grow back or shed even more...I'm confused as to how to react to this. Does it mean that the treatment is really working or it's not suitable for me? Is monoxidil supose to cause a severe shedding?

I rarely recommend minoxidil (Rogaine). It usually does not work out for women because it is effective only about 10% of the time, is irritating, and is difficult to apply to scalp.

It is not always clear if minoxidil is itself making shedding worse or simply failing to bring the alopecia under control. Treating the hormonal cause generally works out much better. This also is detailed in my book, It's Your Hormones.