Can I keep hair regrown by minoxidil using propecia.......

[mon]

but stopping minoxidil altogether? I am not a user of propecia, but letely, I have given thought to quitting the topicals (I use minoxidil and revivogen) because it just takes too long for the hair to dry and makes the hair look crap until it dries. When I get up in the morning i often have great hair until I start applying either the minoxidil or the revivogen. The revivogen isn't so bad but the minoxidil makes the hair look wet. By the way, I ahve been applying minoxfor nearly 2 yaers with some regrowth but alot of thickening.

 

[Deaner]

The theory is that minoxidil grown hairs need minoxidil to continue to survive. I can't find the link to the study off hand, but I remember reading that Propecia will maintain a certain amount of these minoxidil awakened hairs, but not all of them.

Unfortunately, gains from minoxidil can normally only be maintained by continued use.

 

[mon]

Thanks for you answer Deaner, since you are not 100% sure, I would like someone else to confirm what you are saying.

 

[triton2]

It seems that minoxidil provides an extra offset of regrowth, not interfering with the fundamental balding process as finasteride and other treatments. Simply put: minoxidil acts on the CONSEQUENCES of male pattern baldness, not on its causes. So, if I'm not wrong, all the hairs you grow as a result of minoxidil usage will rely 100% on the same minoxidil that made them grow in the first place.
In order to understand this better, you might imagine the floor of a field, with its ups and downs, representing your fundamental balding process, which might remain the same (flatness), might go worse (downhill --> hairloss) or might improve (hair-regrowth --> uphill). Now, imagine you build a long building on that field; if the terrain goes downhill so does the building, if it goes uphill so does the building, etc. The building would represent the hair you regrow as a result of minoxidil, which goes up, down or remains the same depending on the behavior of the surface (your "real" hair) on which is built.

 

[hellohello]

I think all the above posts have hit the nail on the head.

If you are going to quit minoxidil, my reccomendation would be to slowly reduce your dosage, over say a month, until you stop it completely.

Or start slowly reducing the amount of applications you put.

Thorteically you would get less of a bad response than just quitting it all together as some hairs may survive, and you wouldn't go through such a sudden large shed..

ideas on that??

 

[Bryan]

In order to understand this better, you might imagine the floor of a field, with its ups and downs, representing your fundamental balding process, which might remain the same (flatness), might go worse (downhill --> hairloss) or might improve (hair-regrowth --> uphill).

That's a nice analogy, Triton, but I think this is an even better one:

Imagine a fellow with severe osteoporosis, slowly losing height as the years go back. He decides to fight that slow loss by putting 1-inch lifts in his shoes to give himself an "offset" of extra height. That works fine, but it doesn't address the fundamental cause of his problem, which is the osteoporosis. As a result, he still continues to slowly lose height. After a couple of years or so, his condition has advanced enough to where he's shorter than he was at the start, even with the 1-inch lifts still in his shoes.

At this point he starts to get smart, and realizes that the lifts are only a temporary crutch. He starts taking calcium and magnesium supplements, vitamins C and D, and numerous other vitamins and minerals. He starts an excellent program of weight-bearing exercise, stops smoking and drinking, etc. After a while he notices that he's no longer losing height! He has addressed the fundamental cause of his problem. However, he continues using the lifts in his shoes, because he's grateful for that extra inch of height that he gets from them! :wink:

Bryan

 

[Bryan]

Here's a scan of a couple of short articles from a medical journal, the second of which ("Finasteride Treatment May Not Prevent Telogen Effluvium After Minoxidil Withdrawal") shows that you may not be able to hang on to what you regrew with Rogaine by just using Propecia alone. It has before-and-after pics, and everything:

http://www.geocities.com/bryan50001/finasteride-minoxidil.htm

Bryan

 

[chewbaca]

Here's a scan of a couple of short articles from a medical journal, the second of which ("Finasteride Treatment May Not Prevent Telogen Effluvium After Minoxidil Withdrawal") shows that you may not be able to hang on to what you regrew with Rogaine by just using Propecia alone. It has before-and-after pics, and everything:

http://www.geocities.com/bryan50001/finasteride-minoxidil.htm

Bryan

good link thanks for the info! I guess for th rest just play safe, use minoxidil in the temples...since finasteride rarely helps temples.....

 

[Justlooking]

In order to understand this better, you might imagine the floor of a field, with its ups and downs, representing your fundamental balding process, which might remain the same (flatness), might go worse (downhill --> hairloss) or might improve (hair-regrowth --> uphill).

That's a nice analogy, Triton, but I think this is an even better one:

Imagine a fellow with severe osteoporosis, slowly losing height as the years go back. He decides to fight that slow loss by putting 1-inch lifts in his shoes to give himself an "offset" of extra height. That works fine, but it doesn't address the fundamental cause of his problem, which is the osteoporosis. As a result, he still continues to slowly lose height. After a couple of years or so, his condition has advanced enough to where he's shorter than he was at the start, even with the 1-inch lifts still in his shoes.

At this point he starts to get smart, and realizes that the lifts are only a temporary crutch. He starts taking calcium and magnesium supplements, vitamins C and D, and numerous other vitamins and minerals. He starts an excellent program of weight-bearing exercise, stops smoking and drinking, etc. After a while he notices that he's no longer losing height! He has addressed the fundamental cause of his problem. However, he continues using the lifts in his shoes, because he's grateful for that extra inch of height that he gets from them! :wink:

Bryan

great analogy bryan

 

[Britannia]

I think may if you withdrew very gradually from minoxidil you might get away with losing less hair. Maybe spending 3 months using 5% once a day instead of twice. Then switching the 2% for 3 months. Then make some 1% solution up and use that for 3 months.
Maybe I should volunteer to test this method.

 

[Bryan]

I think may if you withdrew very gradually from minoxidil you might get away with losing less hair.

I doubt that you'd lose less hair, I think you'd probably lose the same amount of hair, but at a slower rate. Less traumatic for the user, obviously.

Maybe spending 3 months using 5% once a day instead of twice. Then switching the 2% for 3 months. Then make some 1% solution up and use that for 3 months.

What is it with this "Numbers Game" that obsesses so many people?? Why not just use LESS of the 5% solution, instead of dropping down to 2%, and then to 1%, and so on and so forth? IT'S THE SAME FREAKING THING.

Bryan

 

[triton2]

Looking at the graph from Vera Price's study about quitting minoxidil I think that by tappering down the dosage you might avoid that 6-month-window in which you are left with less hair than if you hadn't taken anything. I believe that by reducing the applications little by little you should be able to sort of create a bridge that allowed to walk across that gap avoiding the less-hair-than-placebo-group state.

 

[Dave001]

That's a nice analogy, Triton, but I think this is an even better one:

Imagine a fellow with severe osteoporosis, slowly losing height as the years go back. He decides to fight that slow loss by putting 1-inch lifts in his shoes to give himself an "offset" of extra height. That works fine, but it doesn't address the fundamental cause of his problem, which is the osteoporosis. As a result, he still continues to slowly lose height. After a couple of years or so, his condition has advanced enough to where he's shorter than he was at the start, even with the 1-inch lifts still in his shoes.

At this point he starts to get smart, and realizes that the lifts are only a temporary crutch. He starts taking calcium and magnesium supplements, vitamins C and D, and numerous other vitamins and minerals. He starts an excellent program of weight-bearing exercise, stops smoking and drinking, etc. After a while he notices that he's no longer losing height! He has addressed the fundamental cause of his problem. However, he continues using the lifts in his shoes, because he's grateful for that extra inch of height that he gets from them! :wink:

Did he regrow his height?