when to stop minoxidil

[person_123]

i've been using minoxidil for about 4 months, and i want to stop.

i've started with finasteride for a week. and assuming i respond well to finasteride, i'm going to stop minoxidil.

my question is this: when should i stop minoxidil. i have about another 3 months worth of supply. should i stop now, should i stop then, or should i ease it off between now and then?

i have noticed some benefit (but not much at all) from minoxidil, but i find it messy and annoying to have to apply twice daily (it gets in the way of what i want to do everyday).

has anybody gone through what i'm doing now? (starting minoxidil, starting finasteride, then stopping minoxidil). if you have, what were your results like?

thanks in advance for the input.

 

[person_123]

also: what i've heard is that i will lose many hairs "gained" from minoxidil.

will these hairs be regrown from finasteride? or are they lost forever? and will hair that i had "before" starting minoxidil, will that fall out too? (can those become dependent on minoxidil).

basically, how much hair am i looking at losing, and how much is recoverable from finasteride.

and what is my best course of action. drop minoxidil now, later, or ease off it?

 

[gtorres]

Hello, i'm new here but everything i have read says that "all" hairs that have become dependent of minoxidil which meens all hair that Minor has grown will fall out.
They depend on minoxidil. no minoxidil = minoxidil grown hair falls out.

 

[Aker]

I'm no expert, but from what I understand, you will lose all hair that minoxidil had grown for you. Finasteride won't keep that minoxidil-dependent hair from falling out, it will only keep your natural hair from doing so. I don't believe that other hair can become dependent on minoxidil, but that question may be better left to the experts here.

I know your frustration, I'm also frustrated by minoxidil use. I would suggest that if minoxidil is working for you, you should try another type of it to see if it's less bothersome. Many people are reporting that the new Rogaine Foam is worlds better than even the previous best minoxidil formulations.

 

[person_123]

well, right now, i haven't regrown "much" hair from minoxidil. so i am going to stop and see how bad it gets. hopefully it wont get too bad, because it didn't get too good anyway (not much change as i've stated). temples SEEM to have changed, but again, when i look at pictures, they don't look different.

wish me luck on just finasteride guys.

thanks.

hopefully i won't lose too much hair. but then again, if i respond well to finasteride, then any hair lost should be regained eventually through finasteride anyway right?

(i have three months left of minoxidil, what should i do with it? does it expire? should i put it in the fridge? should i just leave it on the shelf?)

 

[person_123]

ok, now i'm kind of scared based on what people are saying (somebody said they lost 20% of hair after stopping minoxidil).

i'm still going to stop and see what happens though.

but should i really expect horrible results?

 

[BEHMESH]

minoxidil might be maintaining some of your hair tho.

 

[person_123]

well, i certainly hope finasteride will maintain it from now on. i know the minoxidil grown hairs might go, but the hair that was already there should stay there and be strengthened by finasteride.

 

[I_Hate_DHT]

Hello person_123,

judging by my experience, stoping minoxidil is not a good idea, if you have regrow some hair. Of course each body reacts in a different way.

But I will tell you my case, since I don't have a "my story" page:

I have been using minoxidil from April to June (a little more than 2 months) And also in that time I was using Propecia. I had some very good regorw, and I thought it was from Propecia, so I stopped using minoxidil until August. Unfortunately, I went back to baseline, and lost all what I gained. So, i was totally wrong and what I gained was due of minoxidil.

Now Im back into minoxidil since August and hope to regain what I lost.

The reason because I stooped using it in June, was because it was a pain in the *** to apply it twice a day and deal with all the dried up minoxidil that looks like dandruff. But I must say nowadays that it's worth it to deal with that pain.

And it depends on your case, I don't know what norwood you are, but I personally am not in a position to be off minoxidil nowadays. I need more hair so I will keep on it, no matter how hard it is to stick with it, I will do it. But if you already have some good coverage, you can keep out of it, I guess.

Good luck man!

 

[person_123]

i don't think i fit onto the norwood scale yet.

i've stoped minoxidil for 2 days.

right now, since starting pro, i've found that i've got really good coverage.

still some parts look a bit thin. minoxidil didn't really help me that much (I think, unless it's effects are starting to manifest now, i hope not, i hope this is propecia doing something). i regrew "some" hair i think, but not alot.

i hope i'm different from you, because you had "very good regrowth".

I don't want to go back to baseline, but we'll see.

I especially agree with you on the dandruff part. Minoxidil gave my hair a weird colour to it. I also had to go out of my way to use it, because there wasn't enough time to dry my hair in morning, then apply it, so i had to run around everywhere... it was just a hassle.

thanks for your input though. so far 2 days without minoxidil. how long were you off minoxidil before it started to go bad?

 

[I_Hate_DHT]

I stopped it in June and at the beginning of August I started seeing thin hair everywhere again. So, I think about 1.5 months. And I was using it for 2 months.

But man, you are not even in the norwood scale??? Wow!! so, not even a Norwood 1?? If that is true, I would not even use any treatment if I were you!!

Cheers.

 

[Bryan]

But man, you are not even in the norwood scale??? Wow!! so, not even a Norwood 1??

A Norwood 1 is a full head of hair, dude.

 

[person_123]

i'm quite dissapointed. in showers now, i've noticed a bit of hair coming out. i'm not sure if this is finasteride shed, or minoxidil hair dying, or both.

either way, i'msticking with stopping minoxidil for now. and i have thinning hair on top, which under normal light still looks like a full head of hair, and my temples have only "slight" recession, i guess that makes me norwood 2?

 

[I_Hate_DHT]

But man, you are not even in the norwood scale??? Wow!! so, not even a Norwood 1??

A Norwood 1 is a full head of hair, dude.

No no.. don't take it out of context.. he said he is not in the norwood scale... so, that's why i asked if not even a norwood 1..

 

[person_123]

it's my fault, i was the one who did not know about the norwood scale at all. blame it on me.