- Reaction score
- 2,721
This is a longish post, but please bear with me. This could be useful for anyone else with shitty reactions to regular minoxidil.
I’ve posted about this before, and spoken about it a fair bit, but given that I’ve not found anything yet which seems to help the situation, I’m on a mission to test new theories to see if I can un-f*** this fucked cycle.
A bit of info:
I began using topical and oral minoxidil in June-July 2015. Got the mega shed, then saw some regrowth 3-4 months later. A few months after that, I noticed that my hairline was receding again, that my hair density everywhere was still getting worse, that my lashes and brows were getting thinner etc. By Feb 2016 I’d had enough and shaved my hair off. I had been taking spironolactone 200mg with the minoxidil up to that point and dropped it because it was making me sick. I had also been taking the pill Diane35, neither of which seemed to halt shedding or loss. Fast forward to June-July 2016. My hair had grown out a bit and my hairline seemed incredibly abundant once more. I thought maybe I’d just gone through a shedding phase and everything was fine. Well, by November-December 2016, I realised once again that my hairline was receding and density was going down, the eyelash/brow thing etc. I told myself maybe it was just another little shed. I kept up with 2mg oral minoxidil/2 x a day 5% topical and Diane. Then comes June 2017. I had been in blissful denial for months. I knew that my hairline was less, but I chose to ignore it. Then June 2017 came around and it was too obvious to ignore. The recession was at its worst again. This continued until August. I was relieved when I saw my hairline growing back, and thought “well maybe that’s the final time that will happen”. Blissful ignorance again until November 2017, when after 3 months of growth, recession began again. All the while, even through the “growth” periods, my hair all over has thinned, particularly on top. So the issue? Oral minoxidil only grows my hair for 3 months out of the year, then like a switch gets turned off, it stops growing hair for 9 months. In this period, hairs rapidly become miniturised, then fall out, leading to fast retrograde (entire hairline) recession, patchy, fine body hair regrowth, and loss of density on my scalp. I’ve thought about how maybe DHT effects the cycle of hair growth even with minoxidil, so I began avodart 0.5mg in November 2017. Almost at the end of Feb 2018, and the rate of hairline recession is no different. I have also been consistently taking estrogen, and recently (almost a month ago) added topical darolutamide, stemoxydine, and a few extra supplements.
I have considered that it might be anaemia. I had a blood infusion some months ago with never made an ounce of diference.
I’ve had every test you can believe. I’ve come to the conclusion that, for whatever reason, minoxidil just doesn’t work the way it should for me.
Additionally, I feel like the topical actually does nothing, because I’ve tested patches on my eyebrows and body for months and months and it makes no difference.
Here’s what I propose:
I cannot come off minoxidil because it could totally f*** things up badly. My hairloss without minoxidil Is basically the 9 months when it stops working - that is, I literally do not grow any hair. It miniturises then falls out, and my hairline recedes FAST. Before treatment, it only took me a year to go from normal to my hairline being almost behind my ears (and yes, I’ve been biopsied, it’s Androgenetic Alopecia). So if I drop it, I lose my hair and it doesn’t grow. End of story. So, given that the oral minoxidil works SOME of the time, and the topical doesn’t work ANY of the time, I wonder if adding minoxidil sulfate topical would counter the “non growing” periods of the oral minoxidil. I know that it can work if I take it by mouth, but I clearly hair low sulfotransferase follicle activity, so perhaps stimulating the follicles locally with the already metabolised enzyme will give consistent regrowth when my liver isn’t metabolising the oral drug.
SO. My questions:
- Has anyone got experience with topical minoxidil sulfate?
- Can I buy premixed solutions anymore? I have seen threads that talking about “liquid” forms, but that was a few years ago. Maybe that isn’t sold anymore.
- if I can’t get a premade, any ideas about good powder suppliers?
- If I were to create a topical from the powder, does anyone have any idea how to go about it?
- Best vehicle/carrier?
- How to make a 5% solution?
I have read that it can be unstable and separates after short periods in any solution, so I may just make a new batch daily or every few days.
Guys, I’m f*****g desperate here. Yes, I have considered dropping minoxidil, but I feel like the fallout from that would be absolutely disasterous, and I would not cope with that. I’m alreast barely coping. I would rather exhaust every option that I have before I give up on it. I have underlying hormonal issues which are and have been addressed in basically every way possible. It’s not autoimmune hairloss. I know WHY I have hairloss, but I can’t understany why I am the only one with this reaction to minoxidil. So I need more. If there’s a “switch” somehwere in my hair follicles, I need to turn that on and keep it on.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
I’ve posted about this before, and spoken about it a fair bit, but given that I’ve not found anything yet which seems to help the situation, I’m on a mission to test new theories to see if I can un-f*** this fucked cycle.
A bit of info:
I began using topical and oral minoxidil in June-July 2015. Got the mega shed, then saw some regrowth 3-4 months later. A few months after that, I noticed that my hairline was receding again, that my hair density everywhere was still getting worse, that my lashes and brows were getting thinner etc. By Feb 2016 I’d had enough and shaved my hair off. I had been taking spironolactone 200mg with the minoxidil up to that point and dropped it because it was making me sick. I had also been taking the pill Diane35, neither of which seemed to halt shedding or loss. Fast forward to June-July 2016. My hair had grown out a bit and my hairline seemed incredibly abundant once more. I thought maybe I’d just gone through a shedding phase and everything was fine. Well, by November-December 2016, I realised once again that my hairline was receding and density was going down, the eyelash/brow thing etc. I told myself maybe it was just another little shed. I kept up with 2mg oral minoxidil/2 x a day 5% topical and Diane. Then comes June 2017. I had been in blissful denial for months. I knew that my hairline was less, but I chose to ignore it. Then June 2017 came around and it was too obvious to ignore. The recession was at its worst again. This continued until August. I was relieved when I saw my hairline growing back, and thought “well maybe that’s the final time that will happen”. Blissful ignorance again until November 2017, when after 3 months of growth, recession began again. All the while, even through the “growth” periods, my hair all over has thinned, particularly on top. So the issue? Oral minoxidil only grows my hair for 3 months out of the year, then like a switch gets turned off, it stops growing hair for 9 months. In this period, hairs rapidly become miniturised, then fall out, leading to fast retrograde (entire hairline) recession, patchy, fine body hair regrowth, and loss of density on my scalp. I’ve thought about how maybe DHT effects the cycle of hair growth even with minoxidil, so I began avodart 0.5mg in November 2017. Almost at the end of Feb 2018, and the rate of hairline recession is no different. I have also been consistently taking estrogen, and recently (almost a month ago) added topical darolutamide, stemoxydine, and a few extra supplements.
I have considered that it might be anaemia. I had a blood infusion some months ago with never made an ounce of diference.
I’ve had every test you can believe. I’ve come to the conclusion that, for whatever reason, minoxidil just doesn’t work the way it should for me.
Additionally, I feel like the topical actually does nothing, because I’ve tested patches on my eyebrows and body for months and months and it makes no difference.
Here’s what I propose:
I cannot come off minoxidil because it could totally f*** things up badly. My hairloss without minoxidil Is basically the 9 months when it stops working - that is, I literally do not grow any hair. It miniturises then falls out, and my hairline recedes FAST. Before treatment, it only took me a year to go from normal to my hairline being almost behind my ears (and yes, I’ve been biopsied, it’s Androgenetic Alopecia). So if I drop it, I lose my hair and it doesn’t grow. End of story. So, given that the oral minoxidil works SOME of the time, and the topical doesn’t work ANY of the time, I wonder if adding minoxidil sulfate topical would counter the “non growing” periods of the oral minoxidil. I know that it can work if I take it by mouth, but I clearly hair low sulfotransferase follicle activity, so perhaps stimulating the follicles locally with the already metabolised enzyme will give consistent regrowth when my liver isn’t metabolising the oral drug.
SO. My questions:
- Has anyone got experience with topical minoxidil sulfate?
- Can I buy premixed solutions anymore? I have seen threads that talking about “liquid” forms, but that was a few years ago. Maybe that isn’t sold anymore.
- if I can’t get a premade, any ideas about good powder suppliers?
- If I were to create a topical from the powder, does anyone have any idea how to go about it?
- Best vehicle/carrier?
- How to make a 5% solution?
I have read that it can be unstable and separates after short periods in any solution, so I may just make a new batch daily or every few days.
Guys, I’m f*****g desperate here. Yes, I have considered dropping minoxidil, but I feel like the fallout from that would be absolutely disasterous, and I would not cope with that. I’m alreast barely coping. I would rather exhaust every option that I have before I give up on it. I have underlying hormonal issues which are and have been addressed in basically every way possible. It’s not autoimmune hairloss. I know WHY I have hairloss, but I can’t understany why I am the only one with this reaction to minoxidil. So I need more. If there’s a “switch” somehwere in my hair follicles, I need to turn that on and keep it on.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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