Minoxidil Shedding For Three Months. Is This Normal? What Will Happen If I Stop Now?

[TomC]

Hi guys
It's my first post in the forum so let me introduced my situation.
I had a 100/100 type of hair growing up. After attending college in Upstate NY, the water here, which is high in minerals or whatever, combined with my not so healthy daily routine. Had caused my hair to fall to like 85/100 over the last three years or so. But nothing too bad happened. I still got nice thick hair.
Things had changed when I purchased minoxidil, thinking that maybe this can bring me back to like 95/100 or something. I don't know it had a shedding phase, and it continued from this September until now. Although the shedding had been lessened recently, I still lose a more than normal amount of hair per day. especially when i shower. And my hair had decreased dramatically into like only a 55/100 situation.
I thought about stopping it many times. But just not sure what will happen after it. Some said that it will cause your hair to go back to before when you first start minoxidil. Well dam that's pretty awesome for me rn!
But I am not sure about it. and what I should expect from minoxidil. And that's why I am writing this to seek advice from you guys. I mean for me right now i will be so grateful if I can get that 85/100 back!
Anyway, thank you guys for reading my story. Hope to hear from you guys

 

[reuters]

you need finasteride to keep your existing hair and minoxidil to regrow lost hair. start with finasteride ..

 

[TomC]

you need finasteride to keep your existing hair and minoxidil to regrow lost hair. start with finasteride ..

So what do you think I should do now? I mean I don't really need to "keep my hair" if minoxidil had not caused me to lose them. What will happen if I stop Minoxidil now? Will it grow back to before I take it?
Thx

 

[AnxiousAndy]

If you stop minoxidil you will shed again, probably even worse than you are now. Do you have longer hair? I think when people complain of constant sheds on topical minoxidil its due to much of the solution getting stuck in your hair, which causes an inconsistent amount actually penetrating the scalp. minoxidil is a sensitive drug and its important to make sure you are getting the same amount absorbed into you scalp or it can cause a shed. For this reason I prefer oral minoxidil.

 

[TomC]

If you stop minoxidil you will shed again, probably even worse than you are now. Do you have longer hair? I think when people complain of constant sheds on topical minoxidil its due to much of the solution getting stuck in your hair, which causes an inconsistent amount actually penetrating the scalp. minoxidil is a sensitive drug and its important to make sure you are getting the same amount absorbed into you scalp or it can cause a shed. For this reason I prefer oral minoxidil.

Hi. Andy
Yeah, I do intentionally rub it in my hair when I apply the medication. I do had longer hairs but when I apply it I will grab my hair up and apply it directly to the scalp. Tho some may inevitably be put on my hair it wasn't too much I think. I think the main concern for me is that the shedding phase is just too long. Three months. Is this normal?
Thx

 

[AnxiousAndy]

Hi. Andy
Yeah, I do intentionally rub it in my hair when I apply the medication. I do had longer hairs but when I apply it I will grab my hair up and apply it directly to the scalp. Tho some may inevitably be put on my hair it wasn't too much I think. I think the main concern for me is that the shedding phase is just too long. Three months. Is this normal?
Thx

I went through 300+ shed hairs per day for 8 months every single day due to minoxidil. To be fair though I was taking presumably dodgy Thai Loniten pills which just didn't do the job like the last ones did.. Lost a lot of density in that shed not to mention my hairline was fucked worse than it already was. I don't say this lightly but genuine oral minoxidil is the best hair regrowth treatment available today. Slowly I'm regaining what I lost.

 

[TomC]

I went through 300+ shed hairs per day for 8 months every single day due to minoxidil. To be fair though I was taking presumably dodgy Thai Loniten pills which just didn't do the job like the last ones did.. Lost a lot of density in that shed not to mention my hairline was fucked worse than it already was. I don't say this lightly but genuine oral minoxidil is the best hair regrowth treatment available today. Slowly I'm regaining what I lost.

Thanks for your story Andy I do appreciate you can share my feelings. Since I got nice hair before I start and are only 3 months into it. Also I've seen posts that said your hair can recover to the state before you start it if you quit. Do you think quitting and let it slowly grow back will be possible? I really just don't think I will see the day when minoxidil can let my hair back to before I start. Dam.
BTW, have you ever saw a doctor for your situation? What did he/she say about this?

 

[reuters]

do you have any before and after pictures ?

we get extremely aware of our hairloss once we start medication and we might believe that we lose much more than before just by actually looking for shedding a lot more.

ride out your shedding, stay on your medication , add finasteride oroal or topical and you will see improvement in 4-8 months.

 

[TomC]

do you have any before and after pictures ?

we get extremely aware of our hairloss once we start medication and we might believe that we lose much more than before just by actually looking for shedding a lot more.

ride out your shedding, stay on your medication , add finasteride oroal or topical and you will see improvement in 4-8 months.

I didn't really "have" a picture that's illustrative tho. Only because I have a lot of hair before, so I had a lot to lose. No scalp had been showed yet but it's thinning. The reason I noticed the shed is mainly because when I shower, I always check how many hair will be in my hand after massaging and applying shampoo. Before minoxidil I was getting at most 5. But until now i still get like tens of them.
The thing I am considering is that whether the my hair will go back to before i start if I stop Minoxidil. I mean I will be happy enough if that happened. I am taking pictures of my scalp throughout the treatment. Thinking if the shed goes on I might just quit.

 

[AnxiousAndy]

Thanks for your story Andy I do appreciate you can share my feelings. Since I got nice hair before I start and are only 3 months into it. Also I've seen posts that said your hair can recover to the state before you start it if you quit. Do you think quitting and let it slowly grow back will be possible? I really just don't think I will see the day when minoxidil can let my hair back to before I start. Dam.
BTW, have you ever saw a doctor for your situation? What did he/she say about this?

Quitting will cause another big shed, but eventually your hair will grow back, not as good as when you first started but as good as it would have been had you not taken anything at all. I did see a doctor but he dismissed my complaint entirely and told me to stop taking it. Most doctors are useless in these situations and won't give you the advice you're looking for, they're just trying to save their medical license