Any Experience With Very Low Dose Oral Minoxidil (less Than 5 Mg)

[lawyeah]

Thats interesting. I have been thinking about that. I think i saw you say something about it before.

Someone always suggested to me oral pumpkin seed oil. Have you tried this?

oral pumpkin seed oil does nothing, i tried it alongside oral min for nearly 6 months and i saw no changes

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

I added 5 mg oral minoxidil to my regimen 6 weeks ago and just very recently noticed a huge improvement in hair thickness AND some regrowth along the hairline. I was thrilled, considering I have had nothing but loss and recession for 9 straight months.

Unfortunately, I started getting heart palpitations and edema right around the time I noticed regrowth . I'm going to take a few days off, supplement with topical minoxidil in the meantime (which never really worked for me in the past), then restart at a lower dose.

Has anyone had success with very low doses of oral minoxidil?
Has anyone supplemented their oral minoxidil with topical minoxidil?

Look at the female dosages. You are on a regime that might be giving you the scalp characteristics of a female and thus, you would need far less oral minoxidi. The dose recommendations for females are far lower, with 0.25 mg! being the starting dosage recommended and then maxing out at 2.5 mg. For females, this is often called low dose oral minoxidil and it seems to have been a thing before many guys started using or drinking oral minoxidil:

Low-Dose Oral Minoxidil for Female Pattern Hair Loss: A Unicenter Descriptive Study of 148 Women

Dear Editor,Female pattern hair loss (FPHL) affects more than 50% of women by the age of 80 years [1] and may produce a negative impact on quality of life [2]. Treatment is challenging, as topical minoxidil is the only approved therapy by the Food and Drug Administration and European Medicine...

www.karger.com

 

[Hairbuhbyetears]

I’m a female with Androgenetic Alopecia using oral minoxidil up to 1.875 mg per day w 5%topical foam and I’m still not seeing any results. Been on the oral for 8 months. Did foam alone for 1.5 years w no noticeable results hair loss is worse. Anyone have a similar experience?

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

I’m a female with Androgenetic Alopecia using oral minoxidil up to 1.875 mg per day w 5%topical foam and I’m still not seeing any results. Been on the oral for 8 months. Did foam alone for 1.5 years w no noticeable results hair loss is worse. Anyone have a similar experience?

Female hair grows in a subtly different pattern for white females so I am assume the issue is overall thinness and not a bald spot. If you haven't responded to minoxidil either type, then you could consider hormonal supplementation of estradiol and something like spironolactone. Female pattern loss is both easier and harder than addressing male pattern baldness. Many/most make full recoveries but for some it's just a mystery. We did with estrogen and AA's here:

https://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/threads/exploring-the-hormonal-route-hair-life.109288/page-637#post-1933605

I and others will try to help you by throwing out some possible solutions if you relate more your personal history regarding age that this happened and how long it's been and try to determine whether it is due to higher than normale testosterone levels. At the least, we will help you narrow down some solutions.

Janey

 

[Hairbuhbyetears]

Female hair grows in a subtly different pattern for white females so I am assume the issue is overall thinness and not a bald spot. If you haven't responded to minoxidil either type, then you could consider hormonal supplementation of estradiol and something like spironolactone. Female pattern loss is both easier and harder than addressing male pattern baldness. Many/most make full recoveries but for some it's just a mystery. We did with estrogen and AA's here:

https://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/threads/exploring-the-hormonal-route-hair-life.109288/page-637#post-1933605

I and others will try to help you by throwing out some possible solutions if you relate more your personal history regarding age that this happened and how long it's been and try to determine whether it is due to higher than normale testosterone levels. At the least, we will help you narrow down some solutions.

Janey

Thanks Janey, sorry if this is a long post. I’m 35 F. 11 months after my son (who’s now 3.5 yrs) was born i started experiencing diffuse shedding and some change in hair texture. I chalked it up to post part in hair loss and stress from my husband losing his well-paying job a few months prior. He was the main income earner and hadn’t got another job. About three months after I noticed shedding I got a patch of Alopecia Areata that spread over the center part of my head. The steroid shots cured that, but the diffuse loss continued. I’ve been to five different derms over the last few years, including a hair loss specialist at a major research uni, none of which diagnosed me with androgenetic Alopecia -Androgenetic Alopecia” and kept telling me my hair loss would stabilize. Hormone other labs always come back normal with slightly low iron and b vitamins. I’ve had two biopsies (Oct 19/Dec 19). Oct 19. - Telogen Effluvium and recovering Alopecia Areata, dec 19 - no Telogen Effluvium and early Androgenetic Alopecia. I’ve been to a trichologist who sees signs of Androgenetic Alopecia and I’ve had a virtual visit with dr. Donovan who thinks I have Androgenetic Alopecia with a mild component of seborrheic dermatitis. He recommended the oral minoxidil in Apr 20. Thinning has continued. I have another appt with him this June. Hair continues to thin diffusely, but is worse at the temple, sides, and edges. Frustrated because I’ve yet seen a derm locally who agrees with Androgenetic Alopecia diagnosis. Almost feels like a waiting game until my hair looks bad. I had an amazing head of hair to start with! If you’ve made it here thanks for reading!

 

[Derelict]

Thanks Janey, sorry if this is a long post. I’m 35 F. 11 months after my son (who’s now 3.5 yrs) was born i started experiencing diffuse shedding and some change in hair texture. I chalked it up to post part in hair loss and stress from my husband losing his well-paying job a few months prior. He was the main income earner and hadn’t got another job. About three months after I noticed shedding I got a patch of Alopecia Areata that spread over the center part of my head. The steroid shots cured that, but the diffuse loss continued. I’ve been to five different derms over the last few years, including a hair loss specialist at a major research uni, none of which diagnosed me with androgenetic Alopecia -Androgenetic Alopecia” and kept telling me my hair loss would stabilize. I’ve had two biopsies (Oct 19/Dec 19). Oct 19. - Telogen Effluvium and recovering Alopecia Areata, dec 19 - no Telogen Effluvium and early Androgenetic Alopecia. I’ve been to a trichologist who sees signs of Androgenetic Alopecia and I’ve had a virtual visit with dr. Donovan who thinks I have Androgenetic Alopecia with a mild component of seborrheic dermatitis. He recommended the oral minoxidil in Apr 20. Thinning has continued. I have another appt with him this June. Hair continues to thin diffusely, but is worse at the temple, sides, and edges. Frustrated because I’ve yet seen a derm locally who agrees with Androgenetic Alopecia diagnosis. Almost feels like a waiting game until my hair looks bad. I had an amazing head of hair to start with! If you’ve made it here thanks for reading!

Have you thought about maybe trying bicalutamide along with your oral minoxidil? this woman had good results on it https://www.heralopecia.com/interact/threads/bicalutamide-casodex-my-experience.18611/

 

[Selb]

Thanks Janey, sorry if this is a long post. I’m 35 F. 11 months after my son (who’s now 3.5 yrs) was born i started experiencing diffuse shedding and some change in hair texture. I chalked it up to post part in hair loss and stress from my husband losing his well-paying job a few months prior. He was the main income earner and hadn’t got another job. About three months after I noticed shedding I got a patch of Alopecia Areata that spread over the center part of my head. The steroid shots cured that, but the diffuse loss continued. I’ve been to five different derms over the last few years, including a hair loss specialist at a major research uni, none of which diagnosed me with androgenetic Alopecia -Androgenetic Alopecia” and kept telling me my hair loss would stabilize. I’ve had two biopsies (Oct 19/Dec 19). Oct 19. - Telogen Effluvium and recovering Alopecia Areata, dec 19 - no Telogen Effluvium and early Androgenetic Alopecia. I’ve been to a trichologist who sees signs of Androgenetic Alopecia and I’ve had a virtual visit with dr. Donovan who thinks I have Androgenetic Alopecia with a mild component of seborrheic dermatitis. He recommended the oral minoxidil in Apr 20. Thinning has continued. I have another appt with him this June. Hair continues to thin diffusely, but is worse at the temple, sides, and edges. Frustrated because I’ve yet seen a derm locally who agrees with Androgenetic Alopecia diagnosis. Almost feels like a waiting game until my hair looks bad. I had an amazing head of hair to start with! If you’ve made it here thanks for reading!

I would trust Doctor Donovan on this. If you can, also share your biopsy results with him.

 

[Hairbuhbyetears]

Have you thought about maybe trying bicalutamide along with your oral minoxidil? this woman had good results on it https://www.heralopecia.com/interact/threads/bicalutamide-casodex-my-experience.18611/

Haven’t heard of that. I’ll look into it. This far the only prescription I’ve tried is oral minoxidil because I haven’t had a local dr take me seriously yet. Although I haven’t been to the derm in 6 months. Maybe it’s bad enough to finally get some attention.

 

[Hairbuhbyetears]

I would trust Doctor Donovan on this. If you can, also share your biopsy results with him.

Thanks, he did review my biopsy results and labs as part of the initial consultation. He was super thorough.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Thanks Janey, sorry if this is a long post. I’m 35 F. 11 months after my son (who’s now 3.5 yrs) was born i started experiencing diffuse shedding and some change in hair texture. I chalked it up to post part in hair loss and stress from my husband losing his well-paying job a few months prior. He was the main income earner and hadn’t got another job. About three months after I noticed shedding I got a patch of Alopecia Areata that spread over the center part of my head. The steroid shots cured that, but the diffuse loss continued. I’ve been to five different derms over the last few years, including a hair loss specialist at a major research uni, none of which diagnosed me with androgenetic Alopecia -Androgenetic Alopecia” and kept telling me my hair loss would stabilize. Hormone other labs always come back normal with slightly low iron and b vitamins. I’ve had two biopsies (Oct 19/Dec 19). Oct 19. - Telogen Effluvium and recovering Alopecia Areata, dec 19 - no Telogen Effluvium and early Androgenetic Alopecia. I’ve been to a trichologist who sees signs of Androgenetic Alopecia and I’ve had a virtual visit with dr. Donovan who thinks I have Androgenetic Alopecia with a mild component of seborrheic dermatitis. He recommended the oral minoxidil in Apr 20. Thinning has continued. I have another appt with him this June. Hair continues to thin diffusely, but is worse at the temple, sides, and edges. Frustrated because I’ve yet seen a derm locally who agrees with Androgenetic Alopecia diagnosis. Almost feels like a waiting game until my hair looks bad. I had an amazing head of hair to start with! If you’ve made it here thanks for reading!

You have done all the right things. The one thing that seems strange is that no doctor even thought about taking a hormonal approach. Someone mentioned bicalutamide which is similar to spironolactone, which has traditionally been used in female hair loss. I am not certain why supplementing estrogen would not be the start but estrogen with bicalutamide or estrogen alone seems like a can't hurt sort of thing. You can find estrogen on Amazon. It comes in a cream and you can rub it into your scalp and if it helps, then there would seem to indeed be an androgenic basis. Life Flo Biestro is usually what I recommend and I have bought it scores of time.

Other things might require a prescription like bicalutamide or oral estrogen. Premarin comes in very low dosages so that might be a med to think about. Many with androgenic hair loss are derma-rolling but I am not certain if it works as well for female pattern loss but I suspect it should since it works for me. If the oral minoxidil hasn't kicked in in three months, you might add sulfurtransferase which is an enzyme that many of us lack. Oral minoxidil unlike topical, usually produces this enzyme but maybe there is a lack.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

25 ml daily here. The sides are both apparent and tolerable.

 

[Derelict]

25 ml daily here. The sides are both apparent and tolerable.

Damn, 25mg is a really high dosage to be taking over the long term for your heart.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Damn, 25mg is a really high dosage to be taking over the long term for your heart.

It's 12.5 mg and 25 ml. Yeah, I wouldn't advise anything over 20mg daily to anyone. I am going to taper down soon anyway because females don't need nearly as much and it should lessen some of the extraneous hair growth.

 

[Obsessive]

Look at the female dosages. You are on a regime that might be giving you the scalp characteristics of a female and thus, you would need far less oral minoxidi. The dose recommendations for females are far lower, with 0.25 mg! being the starting dosage recommended and then maxing out at 2.5 mg. For females, this is often called low dose oral minoxidil and it seems to have been a thing before many guys started using or drinking oral minoxidil:

Low-Dose Oral Minoxidil for Female Pattern Hair Loss: A Unicenter Descriptive Study of 148 Women

Dear Editor,Female pattern hair loss (FPHL) affects more than 50% of women by the age of 80 years [1] and may produce a negative impact on quality of life [2]. Treatment is challenging, as topical minoxidil is the only approved therapy by the Food and Drug Administration and European Medicine...

www.karger.com

I have bitter sweet memories from the time when I wrote this post-I thought I might have 'cured' my Androgenetic Alopecia lol

 

[Hairbuhbyetears]

You have done all the right things. The one thing that seems strange is that no doctor even thought about taking a hormonal approach. Someone mentioned bicalutamide which is similar to spironolactone, which has traditionally been used in female hair loss. I am not certain why supplementing estrogen would not be the start but estrogen with bicalutamide or estrogen alone seems like a can't hurt sort of thing. You can find estrogen on Amazon. It comes in a cream and you can rub it into your scalp and if it helps, then there would seem to indeed be an androgenic basis. Life Flo Biestro is usually what I recommend and I have bought it scores of time.

Other things might require a prescription like bicalutamide or oral estrogen. Premarin comes in very low dosages so that might be a med to think about. Many with androgenic hair loss are derma-rolling but I am not certain if it works as well for female pattern loss but I suspect it should since it works for me. If the oral minoxidil hasn't kicked in in three months, you might add sulfurtransferase which is an enzyme that many of us lack. Oral minoxidil unlike topical, usually produces this enzyme but maybe there is a lack.

Are there any side effects to topical estrogen? Like is it a no no if you still want to reproduce? Donovan wanted me to try the oral minoxidil for a bit longer before putting me on any hormonal treatments. Again my labs have been all normal

 

[Rysteve93]

Starting to think oral minoxidil does nothing for me. Nearly a year now and very little results. Anyone else experiencing some good results?

@Rysteve93 how you going with it? Did you up the dosage to 20mg?

hi mate, happy new year.
I don’t really come on this anymore bro my hairloss is cured lol.

anyway.. I pushed this drug hard.. I got up to 40mg everyday for 2 weeks (not recommended)

20mg is my sweet spot.
Hair is thick as when I was teenager, hairline took a while but it’s filled in mate.

I recommend trying it at 10-20mg if your healthy maybe get checked first by doctor see everything all Good.

this will be my last post mate hopefully I’m not back on this anytime soon lol.

drugs work slow man, give everything a year to evaluate its effectiveness.

cheers

 

[UnknownT]

hi mate, happy new year.
I don’t really come on this anymore bro my hairloss is cured lol.

anyway.. I pushed this drug hard.. I got up to 40mg everyday for 2 weeks (not recommended)

20mg is my sweet spot.
Hair is thick as when I was teenager, hairline took a while but it’s filled in mate.

I recommend trying it at 10-20mg if your healthy maybe get checked first by doctor see everything all Good.

this will be my last post mate hopefully I’m not back on this anytime soon lol.

drugs work slow man, give everything a year to evaluate its effectiveness.

cheers

Haha was wondering where youd gone. Assumed everything was working well. Thats good news.

What is your routine now? Its positive to hear you got some regrowth on the hairline, thats exactly what in trying to achieve.

 

[UnknownT]

hi mate, happy new year.
I don’t really come on this anymore bro my hairloss is cured lol.

anyway.. I pushed this drug hard.. I got up to 40mg everyday for 2 weeks (not recommended)

20mg is my sweet spot.
Hair is thick as when I was teenager, hairline took a while but it’s filled in mate.

I recommend trying it at 10-20mg if your healthy maybe get checked first by doctor see everything all Good.

this will be my last post mate hopefully I’m not back on this anytime soon lol.

drugs work slow man, give everything a year to evaluate its effectiveness.

cheers

Can you send a recent photo as well if you dont mind bro

 

[PhantomSurgeon]

Thanks Rysteve93 for posting your experience with 10-20mg Oral Minoxidil.

I'm a new member. 2 FUE hair transplants (1,600 units AUG 2019, 1,500 units DEC 2020). Thinning on top/crown with retention of normal age appropriate hairline. Currently on oral Minoxidil 1.25mg daily (since DEC 2020) and Propecia 1 mg daily. Switched from topical Minoxidil to oral 1 month ago. No side effects at such a low dose - so far. Will have to wait to see the result of the 2nd hair transplant. I take my Minoxidil after my morning run, and no palpitations noted. Also, using up what's left of my topical Minoxidil at night - no sense in throwing it out.

My experience with oral Minoxidil would have been more informative if I had been not started it so close to my FUE transplant.

I'll check in if I begin to see side effects or if I start increasing my dosage.

 

[Isneezedsohard]

You don't feel any sides from 1mg oral minoxidil daily? I'm on same dose.

How well is it working for you at 1 mg?