Quit minoxidil after a year without regrowth

[RobertF]

I've been using minoxidil (Rogaine foam) since January 2014. Haven't seen any regrowth. If anything, my previously pretty mild case of MPB has picked up the pace considerably. May or may not be a coincidence (I saw quite a few reports of minoxidil only accelerating hair loss instead of helping), but I decided to quit it. So I have been off min for about two weeks, and it seems that the dreaded shed is starting. Losing a lot of hair all day long, can pull 2-3 hairs from anywhere on my head any given time. Also, my scalp is itching as crazy.

But it doesn't make sense - what hair am I shedding since I haven't regrown any in the first place?! Could it be that my hair has become "minoxidil-dependent"? If it has, then that's real bad news to me, since I've been using it all over my scalp (my hair thinned out all over due to hypothyroidism, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to thicken it up a little).

Is there anyone on this board who had a similar experience with quitting min? Any and all advice would be welcome.

[FFS]

Your wasting your time taking minoxidil if you don't use it in conjunction with a DHT blocker such as Fin or Dut. Rogaine does nothing to stop the route cause of hair loss DHT, so results on this regimen alone will be limited as you still have dht attacking your hair follicles

[RobertF]

Your wasting your time taking minoxidil if you don't use it in conjunction with a DHT blocker such as Fin or Dut. Rogaine does nothing to stop the route cause of hair loss DHT, so results on this regimen alone will be limited as you still have dht attacking your hair follicles

I know. But it seems that if your MPB is not very aggressive (my case certainly wasn't), minoxidil can help regrow or at least maintain what you have. What I'm interested in is, why am I shedding now? I haven't regrown anything.

[TotallyScrewed]

I know. But it seems that if your MPB is not very aggressive (my case certainly wasn't), minoxidil can help regrow or at least maintain what you have. What I'm interested in is, why am I shedding now? I haven't regrown anything.

Most people are going to tell you that it was preventing you from losing the hair you otherwise would have lost. While I can't tell you this isn't potentially the case, my experience with minox (an absolute disaster) was that I went from can't-tell-by-looking-at-it-even-under-harsh-light to to can-tell-easily-if-you-pull-back-my hair to now where I can't even hide my hair loss. It's been less than two years since I started miniox, and less than one since I stopped. I've been on fin for nearly a year and dut for about two months. Nothing has worked. I think in some men it might start some sort of autoimmune/inflammation type deal. This is just my own personal cogitations, keep in mind, AFAIK there's no empirical evidence to support the theory I'm espousing.

[RobertF]

I think the shedding episode that I described in my OG post was some freak accident or something (I actually haven't washed my hair for 4 or 5 days by that time, which is very uncommon for me; perhaps my scalp was irritated?).

Now I've been off minox for a little over a month, and I don't see much shedding at all. Certainly not worse than usual, either with minoxidil or before I started it. I can pull 2 or 3 hairs at most, and I notice a couple hairs on the table or in the sink every now and again, but nothing dramatic. I was away on a vacation for a week in the beginning of January and stayed in a hotel room with very white sheets, which I inspected for shed hairs every morning - never found more than 2 or 3 hairs.

So I guess this means that I made it out safe? Or is it still too early to tell?

[35YrsAfter]

I've been using minoxidil (Rogaine foam) since January 2014. Haven't seen any regrowth. If anything, my previously pretty mild case of MPB has picked up the pace considerably. May or may not be a coincidence (I saw quite a few reports of minoxidil only accelerating hair loss instead of helping), but I decided to quit it. So I have been off min for about two weeks, and it seems that the dreaded shed is starting. Losing a lot of hair all day long, can pull 2-3 hairs from anywhere on my head any given time. Also, my scalp is itching as crazy.

But it doesn't make sense - what hair am I shedding since I haven't regrown any in the first place?! Could it be that my hair has become "minoxidil-dependent"? If it has, then that's real bad news to me, since I've been using it all over my scalp (my hair thinned out all over due to hypothyroidism, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to thicken it up a little).

Is there anyone on this board who had a similar experience with quitting min? Any and all advice would be welcome.

Keep in mind that Rogaine (minoxidil) commonly only helps a little bit. To put this in perspective, I believe it was Dr. Merritt who plucked hair from a full head of hair to determine how much hair a man could lose before he appeared to be thinning. It turns out that a man with an average full head of hair can lose approximately 50% of his existing hair before there is an appearance of thinning. I say this to bring to light, the difficulty in determining a subtle improvement in hair growth/density/caliber just by eyeballing and comparing with a past impression according to memory.

We had a patient in last week who began using Rogaine several months ago. He wasn't sure if it was doing any good. I had his high resolution photos on screen in front of me that were taken at a time before he began using Rogaine. Just looking at him, I couldn't see a difference. I took a photo of the top of his head with the same lighting and at the same angle. His hair was the same length. We were both surprised at how much better his hair looked in the recent photo when compared side by side to the older photo.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office - forhair.com - Cole Hair Transplant, 1045 Powers Place, Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 - Phone 678-566-1011 - email 35YrsAfter at chuck@forhair.com
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Ask for Chuck

[RobertF]

Keep in mind that Rogaine (minoxidil) commonly only helps a little bit. To put this in perspective, I believe it was Dr. Merritt who plucked hair from a full head of hair to determine how much hair a man could lose before he appeared to be thinning. It turns out that a man with an average full head of hair can lose approximately 50% of his existing hair before there is an appearance of thinning. I say this to bring to light, the difficulty in determining a subtle improvement in hair growth/density/caliber just by eyeballing and comparing with a past impression according to memory.

We had a patient in last week who began using Rogaine several months ago. He wasn't sure if it was doing any good. I had his high resolution photos on screen in front of me that were taken at a time before he began using Rogaine. Just looking at him, I couldn't see a difference. I took a photo of the top of his head with the same lighting and at the same angle. His hair was the same length. We were both surprised at how much better his hair looked in the recent photo when compared side by side to the older photo.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office - forhair.com - Cole Hair Transplant, 1045 Powers Place, Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 - Phone 678-566-1011 - email 35YrsAfter at chuck@forhair.com
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Ask for Chuck

I admit, I am sort of paranoid that I might lose in the overall density. But my hairline recession has definitely picked up the pace aggressively when I started minoxidil. I'll never know whether this was a coincidence, but right now I am willing to bet at not using minoxidil any more. I gained a tremendous amount of weight (a listed side effect), despite working out regularly, though this might be (also) related to my thyroid issues. I might start minoxidil again once I attempt a second stint with finasteride (trying to get in shape at the moment, hoping this will help me avoid side effects this time).

[RobertF]

Also, shouldn't shedding indicate that minoxidil works/stops working? I was of the impression that there should be at least one shed at the beginning of treatment, when you hair is "synchronizing", and at least one after you stop the treatment - when your hair is no longer supported by whatever effect minoxidil had on it. Is this true? Because I am positive that as of now, I am not experiencing any shedding, at least nothing massive.

[Alex88]

i did a transplant and used minox and finasteride religiously,i swear,for almost two years
after 4 to 6 months of regrowth i lost ALL the density i gained with my transplant
i kept on using them for a long time....but i didnt regained the density i had. you can see it in one my topics
when i stopped them both i steadily lost hair from that point onward until now

minoxidil,in liquid form,give more problems to the scalp than solutions - i discovered just recently that one solvent used (PPG) can be really Dangerous for your scalp. Causing dandruff,oily scalp and the like - i'm trying a generic minoxidil in foam solution + nizoral and a bunch of vitamins.

Save your money for the foam man and give it a try - i dont even have pimples and dandruff on my head anymore and this IS A BIG improvement. Healthier the scalp,healthier the hair

[RobertF]

i did a transplant and used minox and finasteride religiously,i swear,for almost two years
after 4 to 6 months of regrowth i lost ALL the density i gained with my transplant
i kept on using them for a long time....but i didnt regained the density i had. you can see it in one my topics
when i stopped them both i steadily lost hair from that point onward until now

minoxidil,in liquid form,give more problems to the scalp than solutions - i discovered just recently that one solvent used (PPG) can be really Dangerous for your scalp. Causing dandruff,oily scalp and the like - i'm trying a generic minoxidil in foam solution + nizoral and a bunch of vitamins.

Save your money for the foam man and give it a try - i dont even have pimples and dandruff on my head anymore and this IS A BIG improvement. Healthier the scalp,healthier the hair

Rogaine foam was what I was using. Yeah, it was a real joy to apply, made my hair look fuller overall and became a styling product of sorts for me. I started off on the liquid. It made my face bloated and gave me very noticeable wrinkles. When it started very obviously messing with my blood pressure, I swapped it for the foam which I have been using up to this past December. The only suspected side effect from the foam was the rapid weight gain (due to water retention?) I mentioned above. I don't it caused inflammation for me. But I strongly suspect it accelerated my hair loss. Having stayed off minoxidil for about 6-7 weeks, I am still not seeing any more shedding than usual. Like I said, hopefully this means I'm not headed for the "dread shed".

As for your post-transplant experience, are you saying that minoxidil make you lose your transplanted hair (by the way, how is that possible? isn't your donor hair supposed to be immune to MPB?), then you quit it AND lost some more hair? You still haven't regrown the donor hair lost due to minoxidil?

[Alex88]

Rogaine foam was what I was using. Yeah, it was a real joy to apply, made my hair look fuller overall and became a styling product of sorts for me. I started off on the liquid. It made my face bloated and gave me very noticeable wrinkles. When it started very obviously messing with my blood pressure, I swapped it for the foam which I have been using up to this past December. The only suspected side effect from the foam was the rapid weight gain (due to water retention?) I mentioned above. I don't it caused inflammation for me. But I strongly suspect it accelerated my hair loss. Having stayed off minoxidil for about 6-7 weeks, I am still not seeing any more shedding than usual. Like I said, hopefully this means I'm not headed for the "dread shed".

As for your post-transplant experience, are you saying that minoxidil make you lose your transplanted hair (by the way, how is that possible? isn't your donor hair supposed to be immune to MPB?), then you quit it AND lost some more hair? You still haven't regrown the donor hair lost due to minoxidil?

YES
i don't know how this is possible but my few hair i had before the hair transplant have grown really well when i first started propecia/minox

sadly i NEVER to this day recovered from the shed, which means i have FEW hair from my transplant still, pretty much nothing left from my native hair but i see small dots within scalp that have in fact hair....but they just don't grow.
They're blocked but i have them and this is strange and stressful.

I don't know if this is being due to being minox-addicted but is now has been a week since i started the foam and i can see already other hair getting weaker and weaker :/ i'm adding nizoral to prevent this but may be as well being MPB
reacting like you said - accelerating hair loss from areas where i don't have it and regrowing something where i don't have shit left.
it doesn't make any sense

transplanted hair are supposed to stay in forever but it pretty much depends on the subject i guess. The doc that operated me said in this regard "they will stay if you cure them but you can't prevent them for falling out,because if you expose your follicles to the hormones that destroy other hair they might develop the same reaction as those you were trying to replace"

My father has done the minoxidil only treatment and for years he had his hair on top,he was in fact a Norwood 3 until he reached his late 40s and called it quits. He steadily lost his hair to this day not only on top but sides as well.
Now he looks like me (and i'm 26) but i don't have lost hair from my sides....yet
He never took finasteride once and he was doing really fine.
His dad died with his head full of hair at 91, my grandpa for my mother side lost his hair this year at 75.

Maybe we're simply doomed :/ sucks

[RobertF]

Big time, man. But honestly, that sounds like a bad transplant. Or a bad doctor? What your doc said doesn't make sense to me. Transplanted follicles shouldn't miniaturize, I think that's the whole point. It's the rest of the DHT-sensitive hair you have to worry about after you undergo the operation. Say, you restored your hairline to an extent, but your hair is thinning beyond that region - that thinning hair should be the focus or your treatment from then on.

Did you do FUE? Is the clinic well-known or certified or something? I would try to get back at them somehow.

[Alex88]

I would say both. When his own equipe (his sons and daughters.duh!) was operating me i had the feeling that something was wrong.
I have still a small patch of hair,a circle of native hair,that didnt fell out and they have the original density - meanwhile i was being transplanted hair from my sides,one of these "medicians" actually plucked out from that isle a crop of hair and tried to pretty much move them from their natural position to my temples. This was Beyond stupid but i was sedated and one of them said this was a normal thing :/ :/

yes i did FUE.
& noi didnt restore my hairline in full,i have both temples damaged right now,with little to no regrowth and hair keeping on thinning from my top to back

[Alex88]

one more thing - in the first six months i almost regained all the hair in my crown area : but after that they just vanished.
And i was still on finasteride and minoxidil. Did minoxidil triggered some strange reaction? i dont ****ing know

the clinic is well known and the replies i got from them was what i told you
"you were SUPPOSED to lose some of the hair" the guy running the company actually tried to convince me to send my own picture for doing his ads because according to him "You may have lost your hair,but the first months were a complete success"
what the **** does it mean?? i lost them! how can you say this is a success??

[RobertF]

Really sounds like a shitty clinic. They didn't give you any guarantees, did they? (By the way, can you post/PM the name of the clinic?)

How long have you been off minoxidil before you started again, with the foam?