A Question (and stern warning) about minoxidil shedding...

[ohlife]

Hey guys,

So about a month ago I took the plunge and decided to try minoxidil (5%); at the time, my hair and scalp were in decent condition - I was only losing about 10 hairs max in the shower each day. Anyway, within two weeks I was shedding hair like crazy and it was irritating my scalp, so I decided to stop. Now, I've been off it for about 3 weeks, and still, my scalp is itchy and dandruffy, and worst of all: I'm shedding about 300-400 hairs a day (perhaps even more). I mean, it's just falling out effortlessly, as if my scalp has become a wasteland where no hair can possibly survive.

This is obviously ****ed up - I mean, I know on the one hand that a shed is common on minoxidil, that these hairs are supposed to grow back after a few months; that is, if the minoxidil works. If you scour the internet though, you'll find multitudes of people for whom that hair never grows back, as they persist with the minoxidil.

My question is this: given that I stopped the minoxidil after just two weeks use, will the hair that has apparently fallen out as a result of it grow back, once my scalp returns to normal and the next phase of growth comes around? Of course, the other question is, why the **** is my scalp still itchy and will it possibly never return to normal?

Honestly, the research on hairloss is poor - there is more to it than just genetics; scalp health plays a vital role. You can go through months of minimal, steady loss, then it just spikes for some reason. Also, how is it that some people react terribly to minoxidil whereas others don't?

Any feedback would be great - please take the time,

cheers.

[Winston]

Using minoxidil is tricky. So many people complain of significant sheds and very irritated scalps. Most doctors say that the shed is a good thing, but I can see how traumatic it can be and personally I do not think it’s worth trying it especially since Spencer Kobren and the American Hair Loss Association only recommend it as a last resort because of all of the issues it can cause.
I do think that your hair should all grow back once your body adjusts. Are you on Propecia?

[ohlife]

Thanks... Yeah, I definitely shouldn't have used it - I don't know why I did.

I'm unfortunately not on propecia.. I tried it for about 7 months, during which time my hair began to shed pretty badly (about 50 hairs in the shower a day I suppose) and I got sides, which is ultimately what caused me to quit.

The annoying thing is that, before I tried minoxidil, my hair was doing relatively well; my scalp felt healthy and the hairloss was slow and steady.

I'm now at the point where I don't even know what to do with my hair, it's just accelerated beyond belief. I don't think they should be able to sell this stuff, at least not without stating the risks..

[ohlife]

Still shedding like MAD. I've never experienced anything like this.. it's just in free fall. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can treat my scalp? its itching like crazy and just feels as though my hair is going to fall out at any second.

[EvilMonkey]

Ohlife,

I am new to this myself, so, I won't be much help, I am trying to learn.

Just wondering, what else are you putting in your head? Such as Shampoo, Conditioner? Are you using Nizoral 1% or 2%? How often do you wash your head?

When you started on Propecia, was it regular or generic? Proscar or Fincar?

Thanks for your time.

[balding23]

Still shedding like MAD. I've never experienced anything like this.. it's just in free fall. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can treat my scalp? its itching like crazy and just feels as though my hair is going to fall out at any second.

If I were you, I'd get checked out by a dermatologist, because to me it looks like you were allergic to something in that minoxidil (maybe the propylene glycol). Also, I'm not sure if this would exactly work, but have you tried a different dosage of propecia? Maybe taking less of it will lessen the sides, lessen the sheds, and hopefully still provide some sort of benefit to your hair.

[ohlife]

If I were you, I'd get checked out by a dermatologist, because to me it looks like you were allergic to something in that minoxidil (maybe the propylene glycol). Also, I'm not sure if this would exactly work, but have you tried a different dosage of propecia? Maybe taking less of it will lessen the sides, lessen the sheds, and hopefully still provide some sort of benefit to your hair.

Thanks for your input man... Might go to a dermo for sure.. With the propecia, I might be keen to try a smaller dose.. only thing is the logic. If its gonna work, it has to be as a result of lowering DHT levels right? well, the lowering of DHT is the problem as far as sides go: DHT keeps estrogen in check, so the amount of DHT reduced to help my hair would still raise the estrogen problem. Unless of course I could avoid lowering my DHT levels TOO low, so the estrogen is kept in check whilst still having a benefit on my hair? maybe worth talking to someone who knows the nitty gritty regarding this kind of thing?

Evil, I just use nizoral like every third day, and non-sulphate based shampoos on the other days.. don't put anything else on my hair.. A while back I used hairspray but that has a similarly bad effect on my scalp so I stopped that. I think keeping your scalp healthy is essential to slowing down hair loss.. so yeah, dermo might be a good idea.

[balding23]

Thanks for your input man... Might go to a dermo for sure.. With the propecia, I might be keen to try a smaller dose.. only thing is the logic. If its gonna work, it has to be as a result of lowering DHT levels right? well, the lowering of DHT is the problem as far as sides go: DHT keeps estrogen in check, so the amount of DHT reduced to help my hair would still raise the estrogen problem. Unless of course I could avoid lowering my DHT levels TOO low, so the estrogen is kept in check whilst still having a benefit on my hair? maybe worth talking to someone who knows the nitty gritty regarding this kind of thing?

Evil, I just use nizoral like every third day, and non-sulphate based shampoos on the other days.. don't put anything else on my hair.. A while back I used hairspray but that has a similarly bad effect on my scalp so I stopped that. I think keeping your scalp healthy is essential to slowing down hair loss.. so yeah, dermo might be a good idea.

Well man, Propecia (just like every drug), can act differently from person to person....what I mean by that is there will be differences in lowered DHT tolerance from person to person. Let's say there was a -3 in DHT (completely hypothetical number) below the baseline #, in person A, his body can tolerate that amount of DHT lowerage, while if this happened to person B, he would get all sorts of sides.

I think this whole hairloss situation is really a learning process, and you need to find the dosage amount that works best for your body with the minimal amount of sides. For me, I've personally found out that I can tolerate 0.125 mg everyday without sides (haven't hit any in the past 2 weeks yet at this dosage anyway). But if you saw my regime over the previous year, I was starting at 1 mg and working my way down until I found the dosage that didn't give me sides. Probably not a good idea to make my body a human experiment, but I want my damn hair!

Anyway, if I were you, 'd start at a low dosage and work your way up when and if the smaller dosage doesn't work. Cheers!

[balding23]

Just to keep everyone up to date, I did start getting sides at 0.125 mg, and I rolled it back to every 3 days, which still wasn't working. After a bunch of research, I've realized the unfortunate thing about propecia is that DHT takes around a week to roll back to its former levels from propecia, so I'm going to have to make some changes in my regime.

[Ak1992]

Ok, so I've been using propecia for about 3+ years with rogaine and what I've noticed over this time is that rogaine makes you shed like crazy. I've gone through a ton of shed cycles due to my lack of responsibility of taking rogaine, such as taking weeks off of it. Everything I start back up, I go through an intense shed and around a month to two months later, my hair grows back a significant amount. Shedding has shown to be really good, but it's painful to thin out that much for so long. Also, make sure you get a hair cut after it thickens up, otherwise it'll be uneven and you'll look like you have mange. Haha