lost all my gains after stopping minoxidil!!! :(

[eire_245]

so been on minoxidil for a number or years, started on finasteride for about a year now and stopped with the minoxidil! big mistake, i seem to have lost all my gains in the 6 month period i came off the minoxidil. I have started back with minoxidil twice per day and im praying i can halt the loss and potentially grow back what i lost! wondering if anyone has had similar experience?? can i gain back what i lost? It has gotten to the point now that its really noticeable

 

[Toms]

It was expected that the hairs gained by minoxidil are likely to fall out after stopping the medication. I don't know about the getting back tho, haven't had any experience, but I think you'll be good, dude! Just some patience now.

 

[rcom440]

There is nothing strange about loosing all minoxidil gains after you stopped using it. After all you regrow those hair with minoxidil and they were minoxidil dependent. finasteride won't save them on its own.

I think you can get some of those hair back but not everything. I remember reading about members of this forum who quit minoxidil, lost their gains and then they started using minoxidil again but they couldnt regain all their hair that they lost after dropping minoxidil.

 

[abovedagame]

You cannot retain minoxidil results with finasteride as they work through different mechanisms.

take a look at the recent success stories And check out Warrenx's thread. he had good regrowth, slipped up on minoxidil and lost ground but got back on track and is making good progress. He has some good pics documenting everything

goodluck

 

[p4badsha]

On this note had a question. How many days does minoxidil last? Meaning if I skip a few days due to health issues, will all the gains be lost? I am also on finasteride 1.25mg (Proscar cut into 4 pieces). Not sure if I am making gains.

 

[rcom440]

A few days should be totally fine. It takes longer than that. From what I read 3 (+) weeks may be risky.

 

[eire_245]

thanks for the advise guys much appreciated! if only i had known i never would have stopped! the only positive im taking is that i have always been a very strong responder to minoxidil, and my shedding seems to have stopped in the last 2 days (ie when i put the mino in there isnt tons of hairs coming away)...and might just be in my head but maybe looks slightly thicker.....so im praying it was a bad shed ive been having since starting back on the minoxidil!

i always just assumed the finasteride would hold onto anything the minoxidil had gained, how foolish was i! hopefully i can continue to strengthen it, but retaining what i have now is all i want really as much more shedding like i had and id have to think about shaving my head!

 

[yid_1984]

It was expected that the hairs gained by minoxidil are likely to fall out after stopping the medication. I don't know about the getting back tho, haven't had any experience, but I think you'll be good, dude! Just some patience now.

But why though ? Isn;t minoxidil suppbosed to be just a growth stimulator..while finasteride protects the hair from the evil DHT by stopping its formation ?

 

[rcom440]

Because those hair are dependent on minoxidil, you stop applying it and you will loose those hair.
Yes, finasteride lowers DHT but they are still dependent on minoxidil.
That's how it works. I don't know what else can be said.

 

[Theedge]

Had my bold spot down to the size of a half dollar . That was with using the foam and laser comb together for a year and NEVER missed a day . I got lazy was tired of
using the comb and foam . But I paid the price bald spot is the size of my palm now and front got thinner ugh I just got on a 3 month cycle of foams and using my laser every other day will never stop after this . so will see if the army comes back. I have done the up and down prior and it comes back but man its slow real slow .

 

[eire_245]

Because those hair are dependent on minoxidil, you stop applying it and you will loose those hair.
Yes, finasteride lowers DHT but they are still dependent on minoxidil.
That's how it works. I don't know what else can be said.

since i lost my gains solely due to stopping minoxidil, then these hairs are totally minoxidil dependent. However i never noticed any difference with finasteride, could it be that finasteride dosent work for me or that finasteride is helping hold onto other hairs? its slightly confusing...if finasteride isnt doing much i wouldnt mind coming off it altogether

 

[rcom440]

It's hard to say. How do you know how your hairloss would progress if you didn't take finasteride, it's hard to say. finasteride slows down hairloss and it can also thicken hair. it works pretty well with minoxidil so who knows if you would get nice regrow if you didn't take finasteride.

But if you take minoxidil out of equation and may expect big loss. Hair that are depended on minoxidil will be lost unless you jump on minoxidil again and continue using it. You will probably regrow those hair, maybe not all but still.

 

[eire_245]

my shedding has stopped hallelujah! and also starting to see new little hairs sprouting along the edges so hopefully its the start of a recovery, but tbh holding onto what i have would be enough

 

[rcom440]

Great. I'm sure you will regrow hair you lost. It's good you started using minoxidil shortly after you noticed how much you lost. That way minoxidil will kick in and will regrow those hair.
Timing is everything in this case. You don't want to wait too long.
Good luck.

 

[eire_245]

yea it has definately developed along the edge of my hairline and hopefully i can improve density where it was lost, ill update with some pics as its pretty evident to see where they are growing again and any one reading this most definately never stop the minoxidil!!!

 

[Wolf Pack]

I always wondered if finasteride can keep minoxidil gains but in a different way. I know minoxidil hairs will fall off as they were dependent on that mechanism...BUT can finasteride bring them back as technically they weren't dormant follicles all this time?

 

[eire_245]

I always wondered if finasteride can keep minoxidil gains but in a different way. I know minoxidil hairs will fall off as they were dependent on that mechanism...BUT can finasteride bring them back as technically they weren't dormant follicles all this time?

id hate to put it to the test, and tbh going by how fast my hair shed the minoxidil dependent hair in my case its safe to say finasteride failed to maintain them so i cant see how it would bring them back.

the only positive is that minoxidil had kept them from being minaturised further all these years so hopefully once they grow back they wont have lost much ground....but i most certainly will never come off minoxidil again

 

[eire_245]

quick update, so my hair has returned with a vengence...shedding has completely stopped (nothing comes out in shower or when towel drying etc.) and id say ive gained back about 75% of what i lost previously maybe even more....its actually insane how fast it has filled out going from being not far off needing to shave it to it being barely noticeable with a little creative styling

 

[rcom440]

..BUT can finasteride bring them back as technically they weren't dormant follicles all this time?

No.

 

[eire_245]

No.

this is the case, and id majorly recommend everyone not to stop with their minx use! im not sure if finasteride is doing anything for me but i know for certain that minoxidil is essentially stopping me from having to shave my head! the difference between being on it and off it was unbelievable....ive gotten 2 comments from family members who noticed a difference in my hair who dont know i use anything