Thinking about Oral Minoxidil (Loniten) 5 mg

[Ests13]

Hey guys,
I’m actually a great responder to topical minoxidil, which is the only thing that has helped me through this hell of a journey against hair loss. Recently, I’ve seen a lot of threads about oral minoxidil which I didn’t even know it actually existed so I wanted to ask you if it would be more effective since I’m a good responder to the topical one.
What dosage should I start off?
(I won’t stop topical minoxidil btw ‘cause I’m scared of the tremendous shed that follows the suspension).
Thank you.

 

[Grim]

Hey guys,
I’m actually a great responder to topical minoxidil, which is the only thing that has helped me through this hell of a journey against hair loss. Recently, I’ve seen a lot of threads about oral minoxidil which I didn’t even know it actually existed so I wanted to ask you if it would be more effective since I’m a good responder to the topical one.
What dosage should I start off?
(I won’t stop topical minoxidil btw ‘cause I’m scared of the tremendous shed that follows the suspension).
Thank you.

I use 10mg which is considered a lot. But anything up to 5mg has shown good results. I've seen most people use 2.5mg or 5mg. You could try oral minoxidil and if you want to keep topical, perhaps just use it once a day.

 

[Ests13]

Thank you sooo much for your response!
I’ll try to split 5mg into two with a pill cutter as I’ve been suggested to.
Anyway, why should I reduce the topical application from 2 to 1 times a day?
And one last question (sorry), as a good responder to the liquid minoxidil, will the systemic one be more effective?
Thank you.

 

[vondoom]

no need to continue topical minoxidil, if you take oral...


apparently topical once a day is enough anyway... 2 times a day is how they tested it and that is why its suggested...
personally, i also use it once a day now (before i used it twice a day for three years) and it doesnt make any difference...

 

[Lurker85]

I used only oral for years. Over the last few months I've wanted to try topical mixed with microneedling. I stopped taking oral and that was a mistake. My hair on top luckily didn't shed, but my sides and back shedded significantly. I forgot how shitty my sides and back were pre oral minoxidil.

I've restarted oral minoxidil, while keeping on topical. I'm using topical twice a day, by itself in the morning with microneedling and mixed with RU58841 at night. I take 2.5mg of oral minoxidil 4 times a day, since I've read that oral has a short half life. Shedding has cut back significantly. I never shed enough to where it would be noticable to anyone else.... but it definitely would hurt my chances at being a transplant candidate in the future if I didn't get back on the oral.

 

[vondoom]

10g a day? isnt that overkill?
i didnt start, yet, waiting for oral min to arrive...
i was thinking more like starting with 2.5 a day for a few weeks and then go to 5g a day and that should be enough... at leats thats what you hear anyway...
worst thing i read was someone who got a puffy face, cut back from 5 to 2.5g, puffy face gone and still has regrowth (just a bit less than on 5g)

 

[Grim]

10g a day? isnt that overkill?
i didnt start, yet, waiting for oral min to arrive...
i was thinking more like starting with 2.5 a day for a few weeks and then go to 5g a day and that should be enough... at leats thats what you hear anyway...
worst thing i read was someone who got a puffy face, cut back from 5 to 2.5g, puffy face gone and still has regrowth (just a bit less than on 5g)

10mg turned me into a werewolf if you've seen my post. I think 5mg is a good dose.

 

[vondoom]

10mg turned me into a werewolf if you've seen my post. I think 5mg is a good dose.

yeah i have seen your post... of course no idea if that is what always happens when you take 10mg, though...
i start with 2,5...if that is enough, even better, saves me some money...
only min i ever took was topical 5% and 7%... it made no difference... i sometimes think that switching brands was a bad idea... on the other hand, didnt get worse, so was okay maybe...
unfortunately, cant do much but trying...

 

[Ests13]

Did you experience shed? I’ve had some good results with the topical one and no shed at all, I’m scared to go through one with loniten

 

[vondoom]

would you even get one when you have been using minoxidil for years and the use some other minoxidil?

 

[Grim]

Did you experience shed? I’ve had some good results with the topical one and no shed at all, I’m scared to go through one with loniten

would you even get one when you have been using minoxidil for years and the use some other minoxidil?

I did have a shed, I believe the areas that topical didn't reach had a shed.

 

[vondoom]

well, cant do anything but try...
actually i never had a real shed (or at least nothing noticable)... no side effects, no nothing, so i am not too concerned...

 

[FluxZ]

I used only oral for years. Over the last few months I've wanted to try topical mixed with microneedling. I stopped taking oral and that was a mistake. My hair on top luckily didn't shed, but my sides and back shedded significantly. I forgot how shitty my sides and back were pre oral minoxidil.

I've restarted oral minoxidil, while keeping on topical. I'm using topical twice a day, by itself in the morning with microneedling and mixed with RU58841 at night. I take 2.5mg of oral minoxidil 4 times a day, since I've read that oral has a short half life. Shedding has cut back significantly. I never shed enough to where it would be noticable to anyone else.... but it definitely would hurt my chances at being a transplant candidate in the future if I didn't get back on the oral.

Do you remember if you experienced shedding when you started oral min?

 

[Lurker85]

Do you remember if you experienced shedding when you started oral min?

Yes I did, but not from top, back and sides shed for 2 or 3 months and then thickened up significantly. If someone isn't a transplant candidate due to weak donor areas, they need to get ln oral minoxidil... it can fix it.

 

[Selb]

Yes I did, but not from top, back and sides shed for 2 or 3 months and then thickened up significantly. If someone isn't a transplant candidate due to weak donor areas, they need to get ln oral minoxidil... it can fix it.

How was the growth on the top? Like from baseline, how much density did you regain percent wise?

 

[Lurker85]

How was the growth on the top? Like from baseline, how much density did you regain percent wise?

It helped with my hairline significantly. Growth on top was mostly insignificant, some (maybe 10%) existing hair thickened up and I had a bunch of miniaturized hair pop up in spots where I thought the follicles were dead, but the new hair never thickened up. Helped significantly for when using concealers, dermmatch and fibers were able to add a lot of density due to thickening up those new hairs, insignificant when going natural because the hair is still blondish when my hair is a medium to dark brown. Using henna helped out a lot to make the new hair look healthier as well.

 

[Selb]

It helped with my hairline significantly. Growth on top was mostly insignificant, some (maybe 10%) existing hair thickened up and I had a bunch of miniaturized hair pop up in spots where I thought the follicles were dead, but the new hair never thickened up. Helped significantly for when using concealers, dermmatch and fibers were able to add a lot of density due to thickening up those new hairs, insignificant when going natural because the hair is still blondish when my hair is a medium to dark brown. Using henna helped out a lot to make the new hair look healthier as well.

Interesting that it didn’t thicken existing hair up even more. I’m guessing they were thin for a long time?

 

[Lurker85]

Interesting that it didn’t thicken existing hair up even more. I’m guessing they were thin for a long time?

Yea, I started treatment late. I first noticed thinning when I was 25 but it wasn't really noticeable until I was 26. At 27 I used topical foam minoxidil. 28 discontuned treatment because I was deployed. At 31 or 32 I started finasteride. I reversed the thinning that occurred between 28 and 32, but never barely gained back what I lost prior to that.

 

[Selb]

Yea, I started treatment late. I first noticed thinning when I was 25 but it wasn't really noticeable until I was 26. At 27 I used topical foam minoxidil. 28 discontuned treatment because I was deployed. At 31 or 32 I started finasteride. I reversed the thinning that occurred between 28 and 32, but never barely gained back what I lost prior to that.

It’s a time game really. I think you can go back at most 3 years with traditional treatments. Beyond that you need more advanced regimens like topical estrogen, microneedling, and anti androgens.

 

[vondoom]

no idea why it is always advised, but microneedling didnt do anything for me, not even remotely...
better stick with drugs...