Maintenance with only topicals

[Nevis]

Hey Guys,
Any longer term posters with success maintaining with just topicals? Say, S5 (topical spironolactone), minoxidil, and a dab of Tricomin in there?

Long-term propecia user here who has been scaling back their dosage for a long time, (down to .25mg/day finasteride) with no cosmetic changes. I'm sure a haircount pic would reveal I've thinned some, but no one (including me) notices most of the time. Frankly, perfectly happy but can't rule out some creeping libido issues.

Again, to be clear, I'm really talking about maintenance here. Been using finasteride daily for a long time, with 1x minoxidil (and very sloppy about it). I've been a lucky responder and bought myself a lot of hair-years. See if I can't eek out some more without sides...Thanks!

 

[Nevis]

No takers on this eh? I've read anecdotes here and elsewhere that, at least with finasteride, quitting may lead to a shed but you're not going to drop below baseline (whatever that definition is) for upwards of a year. That is, it takes a few hair cycles to kick everything back into the already-in-progress balding sitcom.

If that's the case, and spironolactone or others could slow that for 2-3 years, that's pretty cool information for us older-balders, in my opinion. My biggest fear now isn't going bald, as I've never been "not balding", even at my peak of regrowth and heaviest regimens, but rather going bald so fast that I'm like a dandelion in the wind. Or, as someone else said, like I took off a toupee.

So, fire away with your hypotheses and supporting arguments: spironolactone+minoxidil+Tricomin and I maintain approx my current level of hair density for....

 

[TheInvincible]

N
spironolactone+minoxidil+Tricomin and I maintain approx my current level of hair density for....

...or just use RU

 

[Nevis]

also a possibility. RU+minoxidil for a few more years of happy follicles?

 

[TheInvincible]

certainly the best possible option ATM

 

[Nevis]

I haven't checked the boards with anything but a cursory glance in a few years. I would never have guessed that in that time, RU would go from being a virtual unused/unattainable treatment to being chatted about more than spironolactone with, apparently, a solid and vocal user base with some veteran experience to boot (>1,2 years). Definitely interesting and worth an email to my nearby neighbors at OC.

Any other advice as I wade through the long thread on experience with RU?

 

[Intellecturall]

I haven't been on here for a while, been using the s5 cream with some success for about 9 months- however, all I see on here now is references to RU. As far as I can tell though, no one actually sells it? Where can I get some, or is it just a myth?

 

[hairhoper]

Nobody sells it as a retail product. You have to buy it from a chemical company and prepare your own solution. Check out the experimental forum.

 

[Nevis]

[...]been using the s5 cream with some success for about 9 months

Care to chat a bit more about s5 experience? I know it's not as powerful as RU, but those who use it speak rather highly of it. Doesn't seem to replace an internal like RU can but I'd still like to know long-term reports with it. Especially as I travel a lot and can see the RU being a bit trickier to take on longer trips, or run into supply problems and forget to order soon enough, I'd like to have some s5 on hand to work in an analogous (if weaker) way if it's of any help at all.

 

[twhacker888]

I'm also curious about your s5 spironolactone cream use.

Where did you buy it from?