I'm confused - Could use some advise - Is Minox worth the effort?

[AC120]

I could really use some advice guys -

(I posted a thread a couple of days ago, but this one goes in enough of a different direction. I believe it is sufficiently different. I hope this is OK - I don't want to break forum Terms)

I was gung-ho a couple of days ago, and thought I wanted to try minox and deramrolling, especially after reading "the study" (you know the one) and the "community trial" based on that study, here on the forum -

But the deeper I dug into that thread, as well as others, the more I came across posts of quite a number of guys giving up on minox, because they were getting minimal results, and going through some rather radical bouts of shedding, or multiple bouts of shedding - it's a little scary - and I'm having second thoughts.

Shedding, I understand is part of the game, but without knowing if the shedded hair will return - that's even scarier

I've been using Nutri-ox for about 5 years with moderate results - it definitely has helped - but with 5a on the NW scale, I need to try something that might give me better results. If I did shed when I first starting using nutri-ox, I never noticed it. I stopped it two days ago, and started minoxidil 5%

I'm now wondering if minox is the right approach...

If one sticks with it - will you at least get all the shedded hair back? (talk about scary!)

And does that very "shedding process," in and of itself, in a sense "guarantee" that you will not only get the shedded hair back, but in fact one will get some degree of new follicle growth as well? Or, if nothing else, will you get your "shed back?"

It seems like that's why a lot of guys quit - no "biological" guarantee, if you will.....

I mean, if I don't know whether or not I will even get my shedded hair back, it seems like one might consider hedging their bet, and quit while they're ahead (at least they won't be out the "shedded hair")...

If I stick with minoxidil, I would stick with it for the long term ...

I'm vexed!

I could use some advice right about now, as I just started the minox, and I'm wondering if it is really worth it?

I'm like a big scared rabbit - But ugly looking!

[rdawg]

minox is such a small addition to a regime, there's nothing to be scared about.

it's a very cheap solution(probably costs me 60-70 bucks a year).

I never 'shedded' on Minoxidil, it just kind of maintained what I had, it's not that powerful of a drug at all(it came out in the 80's!) Finasteride is when I shed a little bit and regrew I tiny bit but then continued to regress very slowly.

[JimboArizona]

Minox doesn't do much if anything, and are you going to put that stuff on you head for the rest of your life? Use products that have natural ingredients. It might not work, but if it does you'll be way better off.

[youngin]

I am about a NW5A or NW6 and I have been using Rogaine liquid for almost 4 months now. I have been rolling most of that time also. Have seen noticeable thickening at the places where I last lost my hair. I think that Minox is really a long term thing though. Most people who have success stick with it for years.

[lepke]

i think you need to add few other things in your regime to.

[AC120]

Thanks guys - appreciate the feedback - With no job, finances are on the skids


Had I known how cheap generic minox was I probably would have stopped nutri-ox years ago

I have an interesting update ;

I noticed a couple of changes to my hair - 2 days into starting minox (obviously not caused by minox), so I stopped the minox, since it wasn't responsible for the changes.

When I created the two threads on this forum July 15th and the 17th (approx 2 weeks ago) I thought my hair hadn't changed much lately (last few years), hence deciding to stop nutri-ox and start minoxidil/dermrolling instead - or, so I thought. My rationale was that after 5 years on nutri-ox, I assumed that I had plateaued and "maxed- out" on the benefit of the product - with the exception of some initial regrowth, I hadn't actually noticed much of a change in the last 3 years (give or take) of using it. When your hair isn't thick enough to hide the scalp, from vertex to front hairline, it takes a lot to notice changes. Of course, changes are slow to avail themselves - hence right when I decide to start minox, it suddenly donned on me that I was noticing a change. It may not be much, or it may not be worthy of mention to many, but still, if it is an improvement it seems worthy of mention nonetheless.

In the last month or two, (I didn't write down the date I started these three things - I have to guess-timate) from maybe around May (could be a little less) until around July 17th, I did three things differently that seemed to cause a bit of a change in my hair growth.

1) I increased the number of "pumps" from (nutri-ox) from 7 to between 10-14 pumps (I tried to save $$ by only using 7 pumps)

2) I started a "scalp scatching" finger tip/nails (from some site on older Eastern methods)

3) I had started to drag a heavily bristled brush over my scalp, to augment the finger nail scratching (although I did stop this brush thing, since I'm not sure what caused the benefit, I should pick it up again)

I thought the scalp scratching was a "cheap" easy thing to do. Being a "returning student" going back to my local CC in my mid fifties, most students would rather spit at you than look at you. At least if I could do something to get a little more "grass" growing on top of my head, maybe I wouldn't feel like such a damn freak! And, if the scratching thing turns out to be nothing in the long run, years from now, by time I finally figure that out, maybe I would have scratched my way down through to India, and then I could pick up some more free "Eastern hair growing tips!" (Nothing against Indians of course.)(Glad to know they're moving up the economic ladder.)


I haven't thrown the minox away. I hadn't got around to ordering the dermaroller.

So, where the F does that leave me? I still don't know what the crap to do? start minox again .....?


I know guys hate how thick and gluey the liquid is, and the itching. For me, once the minox dried (during the two days I used it), it really had an immediate thickening effect on my hair - If it didn't want to use it to regrow hair, and if there was an inert version, I'd buy the crap just for the thickening effect!


Question guys - If I do give minox another spin, as far as the shedding, which hairs, in terms of what phase they are in, or location, which hairs will go through the initial shed?