- Reaction score
- 38
I have been using minoxidil for a year and a half. I also have been having some serious sleep problems during that time frame as well.
I have identified the cause of the sleep problems. I have enlarged turbinates in my nose. They are necessary structures in your nose but are sensitive and can become swollen. When they become swollen they block your nose. My nose is often partially blocked during the day but at night time it is much worse when I am lying down and the blood rushes to my head.
I have had nose issues for a long time, many years. But it seems to have gotten worse in the last year and a half to 2 years. I forget exactly when it started to get really bad at night, but I think it essentially heavily coincides with my minoxidil use period.
The enlarged turbinates is really bad is it makes me sleep with my mouth open. This in turn makes me wake up through the night due to a really sore dry mouth, dry lips or sore throat. It also makes me snore and get some apneas due to reduced airflow at night. Its also really bad for your teeth.
Turbinates rarely enlarge on their own. It is usually due to some stimuli. Like an allergy or something irritating them.
I previously trialled things by not using minoxidil for a while. It didn't make any noticeable difference. But the time periods were short. Like for about 4 or 5 days.
I have started looking online more. And it looks like minoxidil widens your blood vessels. This is supposed to help hair grow more. But I wonder if it has this action wider than the area of application. The nose is not far from the temples where I apply it. I wonder if widening of blood vessels is worse for nasal turbinates. I think it is. Because a nasal decongestant works by narrowing blood vessels. This causes the turbinates to shrink. Everyone reading this will be familiar with their turbinates being swollen. When you have a cold most of the congestion is from swollen turbinates not from mucus. When you use a decongestant like pseudoephedrine, or otrivin nasal spray it works by narrowing blood vessels to shrink the turbinates inside your nose. Then you can breathe and blow the snot out.
So I am starting to become very suspicious about this connection. I am going to trial not using minoxidil for a longer time. Like maybe a week or more. To see if it improves my sleep and turbinates at night.
Its kind of a shame as I don't really want to discontinue minoxidil. I am not sure whether it is working to be honest. But I am often more confident with my hair now. But that might just be a confidence rather than any actual change in my hair.
Has anyone else gotten to the bottom of this issue before?
I have identified the cause of the sleep problems. I have enlarged turbinates in my nose. They are necessary structures in your nose but are sensitive and can become swollen. When they become swollen they block your nose. My nose is often partially blocked during the day but at night time it is much worse when I am lying down and the blood rushes to my head.
I have had nose issues for a long time, many years. But it seems to have gotten worse in the last year and a half to 2 years. I forget exactly when it started to get really bad at night, but I think it essentially heavily coincides with my minoxidil use period.
The enlarged turbinates is really bad is it makes me sleep with my mouth open. This in turn makes me wake up through the night due to a really sore dry mouth, dry lips or sore throat. It also makes me snore and get some apneas due to reduced airflow at night. Its also really bad for your teeth.
Turbinates rarely enlarge on their own. It is usually due to some stimuli. Like an allergy or something irritating them.
I previously trialled things by not using minoxidil for a while. It didn't make any noticeable difference. But the time periods were short. Like for about 4 or 5 days.
I have started looking online more. And it looks like minoxidil widens your blood vessels. This is supposed to help hair grow more. But I wonder if it has this action wider than the area of application. The nose is not far from the temples where I apply it. I wonder if widening of blood vessels is worse for nasal turbinates. I think it is. Because a nasal decongestant works by narrowing blood vessels. This causes the turbinates to shrink. Everyone reading this will be familiar with their turbinates being swollen. When you have a cold most of the congestion is from swollen turbinates not from mucus. When you use a decongestant like pseudoephedrine, or otrivin nasal spray it works by narrowing blood vessels to shrink the turbinates inside your nose. Then you can breathe and blow the snot out.
So I am starting to become very suspicious about this connection. I am going to trial not using minoxidil for a longer time. Like maybe a week or more. To see if it improves my sleep and turbinates at night.
Its kind of a shame as I don't really want to discontinue minoxidil. I am not sure whether it is working to be honest. But I am often more confident with my hair now. But that might just be a confidence rather than any actual change in my hair.
Has anyone else gotten to the bottom of this issue before?