I'm a female (66) that has been thinning for over 40 years. I've been using 5% Minoxidil topical for 40 years. I recently started oral minoxidil 2.5 mg and the difference is amazing. I am getting some facial hair, but so far, nothing I can't handle to remove. Like the hair above my lip, my eyebrows, on the sides of my nose and my chin. I'm not talking bushy hair growth, just a little more frequently I will need to remove it. I only hope I'm never in a coma... YIKES! The growth won't be pretty! 😂
Thank you doc. If you want to grow your channel more, you should frequently post videos about hair loss. It's becoming a prominent issue for people in the 20s, 30s, and even for teenagers.
I wish you were my dermatologist. I have Kaiser Permanente and honestly they don’t care if I am losing my hair. They did give me a prescription of Dutasteride 0.5MG and Oral Minoxidil 5MG. I have been on both for over a year and haven’t seen any thickness or new hair growths. I started taking 10MG of oral minoxidil a few weeks ago and now starting to see some tiny thin sprouts.
Oh man I know it can be so frustrating when the results don't come when you've been so diligent with it.. I have to admit your experience is not uncommon. It does take a trial and error sometimes in dermatology. I'm happy you're finally seeing some progress! Keep it up!
@First I'm on 10 mg. Been on minox on off for 3 years with no results. Just took minox oral 3 months, first month 5mg. 2nd and 3rd month 10 mg .Now I'm the hairiest amongst my friend. Just up my dose 15 mg last night.
@@JoanFortnite-jh1oz I was told to go back down to 5mg due to massive shedding. The HT doctor said the higher the dose the more frequent your hair will go through shedding cycles. I don’t know if he was blowing smoke or not but I just went back down to 5mg. I didn’t have any side effects when I was on 10mg. I also take 0.5mg of dutasteride everyday.
I’m so happy that finally someone talks about the effect of dermatitis using topical version I developed dermatitis after 2nd month of use of dermatitis. Definitely I will schedule my allergist to be sure I’m not allergist to check if I’m allergic to minoxidil Thank you so much
One trick u can do is apply a tiny amount to ur underarm in the same spot everyday for 1 to 2 weeks as if ur putting it on ur scalp. It's a quick way to find out if u are allergic to it or if it's irritating ya. Hope this helps!
@@aboutdermtime hey doc I’m not balding but I’m just curious, does oral minoxidil have any side effects like finasteride? Like does it cause erectile dysfunction and lower testosterone/ libido? Or is it safer than finasteride? If so wouldn’t it be better use oral minoxidil and topical finasteride compare to oral finasteride and topical minoxidil?
I love the upbeat positivity of this video..gives me hope for my androgenic alopecia. I'm on 100 mg spironolactone bid and .25mg minoxidil I just started hope it works. I'm excited to try
Thank you for the amazing video. Could you please let me know what the right dosage would be to start with? Also is it safe to take Finasteride with it as well? Thank You
Really helpful information here. It's really nice to get the perspective of a dermatologist that is also a doctor of pharmacy (that's a lot of school lol). Thank you for the video! Subscribed!
Thank you my friend! It was a lot of school! But I think it helped me grow alot as a person and a doctor. A lot of times we focus on the end in sight while glossing over the journey it took to get there. I will admit there were times when I asked wth am I doing haha. But here we are!
I've been using low dose oral minoxidil .64mg qd, for about 6 months. I got increased shedding in the first montht, then very little shedding afterwards. I started noticing little baby hairs growing in at about 3 - 4month and it is only this month in which I can see that my hairline is becoming narrowing. I've had no side effects, including facial hair. I may go up to 1.25 mg sometime this summer. I've tried the topical minoxidil and didn't like how it made my hair feel.
Thanks for the great video! I switched from topical to 2.5mg oral one month ago. I’m going to try it for at least six months but if the results aren’t better than for topical, I may switch back to topical because I don’t love taking pills unless there’s a clear benefit. If I switch back, would you foresee another shedding phase or would my scalp hair just see a continuation of minoxidil? Thanks
@@samsb8781 I’ve been using it for 5 months. My visible hair loss is all in my temples (none on my crown). This is the first product I’ve tried that has caused visible regrowth. Everything else has just slowed down or stopped my hair loss from getting worse. I noticed baby hairs growing quite quickly and they continue to darken and grow stronger and longer. One temple is significantly ahead of the other in terms of regrowth. The weaker side always had slightly worse hair loss though. It’s just starting to show signs it might catch up. Honestly, I’m still in shock that I’m regrowing actual, normal hairs at all in places I thought were long gone. The most I expected was some thickening of existing hair. I’d be very surprised if it fully “fixes” my hair loss but will continue to monitor progress. Maybe it stops regrowing after a certain number of months. I have long hair so it will take time for the new hair to grow long enough to add bulk to my mid lengths and ends. My eyelashes have got very dark and thick and my eyebrows have darkened. I don’t have a lot of body hair but have *maybe* noticed some slight increase in darkness. Not an issue. I think I was shedding for about 4-6 weeks when I first started using but it didn’t affect how I looked to others and some of it was probably me being paranoid. I remember feeling a little bit dizzy for the first 2-3 weeks but it wasn’t anything major. I switched to taking the pill before bed so I could get used to it and now take it in the morning with no issue.
thank you! It's very informative. I have a question. Can we combine oral minoxidil and oral finasteride? Does it make the medication less effective ???
I'm 52, female and 10 years ago started treatment for hair loss and hirsutism. I tried Topical Minoxidle (both strengths separately) for 3 years (never missed a day). Did not work. Spironalactone did not work. Finasteride was beyond awful (messed with "s-desires") and I lost lots of hair on it and kept going for months hoping it would reverse. Nope. I have not been told about oral Minoxidle. I will ask my Dermatologist to try it. Also, hirsutism was not helped with consistent laser and the meds of Spiron. & Finasteride. Vaniqa was able to stop 90% of the growth, but it's very expensive and it isn't covered by insurance and not permanent.
I have used topical minoxidil for 8 years, where i apply 3ml once a day hoping it goes systemic. It seems to be doing so, since I get hair growth on hands and a bit between temples and eyebrows. I guess it would be better just using oral version then, since topical already goes into bloodstream? The things that worrying me about oral is pericardial effusion, angina and maybe drop in thrombcytes.
I sometimes will compound a higher strength for patients who don't want to take it orally and see the same thing happen where they grow hairs on the temples. Once we decreased the frequency, the excess hairs went away but we maintained the hairs on the head. Check with your derm about oral version and see if it's right for you! It's always about striking the right balance of benefit over side effect with any treatment.
Hallo! New subscriber here! Thanks for a great and informative video - I just have a quick question about getting off oral minoxidil. Unfortunately it is not as effective for me and I experienced some bad side effects (on it for 8/9 months) - I’m afraid that if I go off, I will loose my gains and that shedding will get worse? Would it be bad just to abruptly stop using it, or should it be phased out slowly? Also, I’m on 1mg finasteride. Thanks!
@@christiaanburger5651 Hm. Check in with the derm before quitting.. some patients respond more slowly than others because of variability in enzyme activity in the scalp. With that said, if it's been long enough and no results, stopping right away is generally not a problem because the drug has a very short half life anyways. It'll take less than a few days to clear the system. There's no evidence that weaning off slowly is any better than stopping.
Thank you for the informative video. I’m currently taking 3mg oral minoxidil daily. Looking to increase my dose to 5mg gradually as I haven’t had any side effects. Are there any studies with dosages superior to 5mg that you know of doc?
From the ones I've looked at, they all went up to 5mg. I've never tried to go higher than that in real practice but I'm sure there are different ways that every prescriber goes about it
I mean i get it, it gives lots of hair and is easy to take, being a pill and all, but i've heard plenty of stories of people taking way lower doses than 3mg, having ''no side effects'' and then randomly collapsing one day because of fluid build-up around the heart. I get wanting to keep your hair, but cardiovascular health is not something to be toyed with imo.
@@MrConhobar I definitely appreciate your point of view. There's risks and benefits to all treatment so that's why it's important to have a doctor you trust to guide you through all of it! Thanks for your input!
Thank you Dr. You explained this very good. I am a 44 year old woman and my hair started to thin. I am using my savings and getting everything available to treat this issue. I am currently on my second PRP treatment and Is very expensive. I can’t help to wonder if this will be worth it . What do you think about PRP treatments?
So on October 29th per dermatologist I started using Men's Rogaine once a day Viviscal Vitamins and Ketoconazole shampoo. With great results noticed in February that the top of my head and left side had hairs growing! Spiky hairs enough where I literally had to part my top hairs to apply Rogaine! I was beyond impressed with results. On March 25th ALL my new hairs fell out, disappeared from the top of my head and it was back to where I started in October. Dermatologist didn't know why this happened and never mentioned shedding could occur. I stopped Viviscal vitamins and Ketoconazole shampoo immediately and by May I was off Rogaine completely... Scalp biopsy results are Female pattern baldness And te stress induced wondering if Covid caused my condition to worsen or caused condition itself. I have had covid twice. In my 20's I noticed my hair thinning on top. I am now 63 and it looks very thin on top. Any suggestions? Should I give Rogaine another try? I do tent to have blood pressure on the lower end as I did try Spironolactone sent me to the er because my blood pressure was so low.
Thats just a synchronised shed, that happens. hairs are put onto a similar cycle when u start minoxidil so there will be sheds every 6 months - 1 year and eventually the hair sheds will become less and less synchronised and will be less noticeable...
whoa! This is the first I'd heard of this so I had to look it up. So this claim was based on folks trying to extrapolate the results of a study published in 2009 which demonstrated that minoxidil inhibits an enzyme that is involved in making collagen. This was on rats and cultured cells and not in people. The idea was that maybe it could be used in conditions from collagen over production or fibrosis. As far as we know, there's no study that has ever looked into minoxidil and increased skin wrinkling. Collagen is essentially found everywhere in the body, (bones, muscles, tendons, eyes, cartilage) and there's no reports of side effects of minoxidil on weakening those organs. There's a lot of misinformation out there! Be careful!
With lower dosing we use for hair loss, it's really uncommon. As you go up in dosing, there's dose dependent effects on lowering blood pressure because this is what it was initially approved for. So be careful if that's the case! check with your Derm and make sure it's okay based on what was prescribed!
Hi, I use 2.5 mg oral minox, and want to also use topical minox 5, instead of increasing to 5 mg oral, in order to avoid side effects. Is this combination recommended?
brilliant video Doc, can you also do a video on finasteride and its possible benefits and side effects and also how effective it is in the long term? thanks in advance
Thanks I found your channel, very informative, I have a question, do you think it’s better to split the daily dosage to twice will minimise the sides risk and still effective?
Yeah I think you can do that if you'd like! Most people prefer the convenience of once a day. So taking a lower dose at once a day still gets you there while limiting risk of side effects
I've just been prescribed oral minoxidil 2.5mg a day. Should I cease my topical 5% minoxidil tonight and start the oral form tomorrow or should I start the oral minoxidil and slowly reduce and fade out the topical and cease it? Many thanks in advance!
Truthfully I'd check with ur prescriber. See what they'd like you to do. I think there are several ways to go about it. Just remember it's a long term game!
Sir i have been using 5% topical minoxidil for 2 yrs now and this winter i developed heavy dandruff, sort of fungus like. I had to shave my head in December to clean my scalp but then it started happening again after a week or 2 and i had the similar condition in the February and i had to shave my head again. I went to dermatologist yesterday and she prescribed me 2.5mg oral minoxidil once a day after dinner instead of topical. My concern is will my hairs shed again like they did when i started topical minoxidil or the oral minoxidil will resume the effect of topical. i also have been reading on the internet that it is less effective than topical and hairs start to become weaker as the effect of topical minoxidil wears off and you lose your hairs which topical minoxidil saved or made stronger over the course of its use? I don't know why i started to develop dandruff with topical all of a sudden as there has been no change in my daily routine or diet. Topical was working great for me and i am afraid that i will lose my hairs after switching to oral.
I have been using topical minoxidil and taking 1 mg dose of fin everyday for 8 months now... My hair fall has stopped and I thought of leaving minoxidil and continuing with fin and my hair fall started within 10 days so I got back on minoxidil.... Do you think fin doesn't work on me ... I think only the minoxidil is working on me... Should I think about dutasteride?
Did you have hair growth? Finasteride primarily blocks androgenic effect on the hair. We are also presuming that you're experiencing Androgenetic alopecia. If you get off minoxidil, typically you lose the hair you gained.
@@debjyotipaul9799 there are pros and cons to both... but I recommend talking to your prescriber! The decision to switch is not black and white and requires an indepth conversation! I'm very happy you had regrowth. The hair you gained is only kept continent on continued use, unfortunately.
I just started taking together at the same time 2.5 mg of oral minoxidil, 1 mg of finasteride per day -- question: should i take biotin along with them and if so how much biotin should i take? Thank you Doctor.
It's probably safe to take but I don't think it works very well if I'm honest. Especially with a normal regular diet, biotin adds no intrinsic value. It sometimes can also interfere with certain routine labs. I would check with your derm to see if they think it's right for you. Some of my patients use it, and I generally don't discourage it, but I'm not a big endorser of it either.
My Derm just prescribed me oral minoxidil alongside accutane is this safe and a good idea? I’ve experienced a lot of shedding from taking accutane for my acne (2 months).
To a certain extent. Higher isn't necessarily better, but the data suggests that 5 mg was a good dose for men. However, in the end the results will ultimately end up the same in the long term. You will only be able to regrow what you are able to regrow (with help)
New subscriber Doc. Question; I’m a 65 yr old guy with hair loss on top of head. Just started on oral finasteride. Is it too late for me based on my age?
It depends... jsut know if you are far gone, you cant expect to get it back like a chia pet... You could get some regrowth, but if you are completely bald, it may not be cosmetically meaningful.
Finasteride slows down hair loss/halt it. But regrowth is dependent on other intrinsic factors. Try adding minoxidil or microneedling with minoxidil in addition to finasteride@rader
Very good information and thank you. The question I have is that I am a 62 yr old male and taking 20 mg of Olmesatan to control my blood pressure and it does a good job. Can I ad the oral Minoxidil to my daily schedule ?
I take 2.5 mg with minimal growth do you think increasing to 5 mg will greatly increase hair or is there a sweet spot where additional growth doesn’t really happen . I have heard 2.5 mg is the sweet spot and that 5mg will not make that much of a difference .
Doctor , can we still thin massively after having a very good thickness on fin for two n half years all of a sudden ? Dut .5 mg at the weekends also seems insufficient to hold it with 6 days fin 1 mg .. is it advisable ( I know everyone is different) to switch completely to dut .5 mg everyday if I had never any sides on fin ?
@@Jose-xq1gt from my experience, once we decreased the dose, the hypertrichosis did gradually resolve on their own. It takes a few weeks to months, depending how high the dose is.
And do you know how much time does it take to start seeing those hairs and what time does it stop growing, approximately of course. Thanks in advance doctor!
Yes it is a side effect due to its vasodilating property, but if you have side effects, it may be time to talk to your doctor about what to do next. Maybe lowering the dose or an alternative treatment! I can't stand headaches! They are the worst!
Hello. What your gonna put it only to parts that only have few hairs or part no hair at all, like on hair lines? What will happen? Hope you'll notice me.
I'm a 42 year old female with alopecia. I'm thinking I'm just going to go to a dermatologist and ask for the oral minoxidil .I'd rather deal with possible having to wax my face occasionally then making my fine hair look gross with daily minoxidil application.
Please cite a study that shows safety of oral Minox at "low dose" that isnt restrospective and invloves more than 40 people? The review article is a shambles as it is not standardized in any way, compounding different study designs from different countries over very short periods. Also are there other examples of dermatologists prescribing "Black Box Warning" cardio vascular medication without monitoring the effects on the heart?
A lot of them were prospective. There are not other examples of prescribing CV medication without monitoring the effects on the heart. Minoxidil is unique.
As far as you looking for a perfect dose I believe it's individual .I been taking it 1 year 10 months started with 10 MG tab I would cut in three's. Shortly after my second year I stepped down to a 5 MG pill I cut in half and noticed hair on my fore arms getting dense ,plus hair on my shins came back after being gone for years .of my hair on my head is coming in slowly ,I attribute that to being absent for 30 years .I'm making this assumption as to answer about the perfect dose , if a patient is getting hypertrycosis I believe you can split a 5 MG into 3rds .just so excessive body hair don't increase
I just started taking it a week ago.. The first 3 days was ruff..I only took 1.25 and it was like being stabbed with a knife..On day 7 now no more chest pains..Taking half in the morning and other in the evening hopefully it works..
Everyone has some degree of enzyme activity but honestly it's not practical to think about it because we don't check for it anyways. We wouldn't know unless patient had no response after 6 months of optimal use
I talk to a doctor told me not to taka finasteride since i have history of testicular cancer what about minoxidil oral is this safe? If i had history of cancer.?
On month 2 taking 2.5 oral Minoxidil Def noticing hair growth in areas I hardly noticed (back and shoulders) Also noticing the skin under my eyes are thinner and wrinkles have been forming Lowering the dose
I have seen that happen as well! I hope ur getting good results with your scalp as well! I think the wrinkles and skin is a sign of how long it takes for any hair loss treatment to work 😔
It doesn't unfortunately.. you have to keep watering the grass to keep it green =( if you stop, it does slowly regress to what it would have been without treatment
Yes it supposedly overcomes the problem of some people who dont have enough enzyme activity to convert it to active form in the scalp. You are absolutely correct.
@@aboutdermtime Right, but before going to the expense and hassle I'd like to know what my chances are of seeing results that are cosmetically acceptable
@@attila7092to be honest, results definitely vary so I am not entirely sure.. and also you have to consider what is cosmetically acceptable to you as well. As far as cost is concerned.. I'm fairly confident that it is one of the most cost effective options but I understand your concern.
I have a question about fin vs dut. A lot of people start with fin because it's FDA approved. However, some people just don't respond well to fin and switch over to dut later. What I have been seeing online (and myself) is that, if you start with fin then later switch to dut, you get massive shedding and sometimes your hair never grows back. In contrast, people who start with dut from the beginning often do not experience this. Do you know why this is? What's your opinion on this?
If it's massive hair shedding from Telogen Effluvium, it does take sometimes up to a year to get the hair back. This happens with new or changing medication.. but to answer your question specifically, I do not know for sure. Anti-androgens don't really stimulate hair growth more than preventing progression of hair thinning due to androgenic effects. There are some other relative differences with fin vs dut, and that's a topic I have prepared for a future video!
@@markcrisp07 me either. I've been on fin for 18 months now and im still receeding. Around a NW2 currently but ive lost more on fin than I did in the previous years. So i considered Dut but i just cant get onboard nuking all my DHT
Consider doing a combo. Take the Fin. But then swap out Fin for Dut on either a once a week or twice a week schedule. If not results, even 3x a week swap out your Fin pill that day for a Dut one. So you’d end up taking 4 Fin a week and 3 Dut for the week. But again, you could start with just doing 1x or 2x per week. In a study it’s shown to make a nice boost :)
i switched from solution to oral tablet (2.5 mg minoxidil) ,and after 1.5 months of full tablet intake, i had extreme palpitations for 3-4 days ,and my bp fell down to 105/60 for a whole day, and extreme lethargy, also legs nd hands swelling,with face swelling 😢, I am leaving the tab right away
@@kayumochi they got a little better but the hair growth is well worth the eye bags. I now take oral dutasteride as well as minoxidil and the results are very satisfactory. My hair is as dense as it was 25 years ago.
Hi dr... Am using topical minoxidil for the past 10months.. From 9th month onwards am suffering from severe hairfall again(i think 2nd shedding of minoxidil )i dnt know how long it wl last😔😔.. So thinking of switching to oral minoxidil.. Am 33yrs female.. Is it safe to take oral minoxidil?? Can u plz suggest the dosage also.. Thanks in advance🙏😊😊
I would see your dermatologist! Maybe a reason for more hair shedding that you are over looking! Check out my video on Telogen Effluvium.. that may be why?
@@raphaelfernandes5195 there's a study in 2009 that showed minoxidil interfered with an enzyme involved in the production of collagen. So there was speculation on the idea that it blocks collagen in the body/skin. Less collagen would supposedly make the skin wrinkle or look thin and saggy. That is not true.
@@aboutdermtime So the study is not true/ And I have other quest doctor, When I starte use finasteride my beard and eyebrowns started to thinning, why/
Microneedling essentially helps in drug delivery because the barrier to entry is the stratum corneum. Microneedling make little channels for the topical to penetrate better, essentially. In my opinion, the idea that it does anything beyond that is purely theoretical. With that said, it is a little bit better than using minoxidil by itself but theres really not a meaningful difference.
@@boblully5053 I did, but which are u referring to? The ones I remember about during residency and even now, are very small studies and not all of them directly compare minoxidil plus MN vs minoxidil alone in a head to head trial. Also I always approach them with a degree of skepticism because all studies are inherently flawed, no matter the result. Thanks for your comment! I'll make a video on this in the future to break down the data.
@@aboutdermtime watch more plates more dates microneedling, by the way i love your channel, there’s a huge audience to gain in the haircare side of youtube also watch haircafes response about oral minoxidil and you could react to it
@@fhfbjufhwflpkpldxeh6070 I love it! I see a ton of patients who have hair needs and it motivated me to start this channel! I'll be doing more hair care stuff and then broadening to skin and nails too!
I'm transgendered and use topical Minoxidil for beard and body hair growth and it's been growing beard hair but gets flakey. Do you know if switching to oral pills of Minox will continue to grow facial and body hair?
I'm a cisgender male and I use oral Minoxidil to cause growth of more body hair and it has worked. More hair on my forearms, hands, chest, shoulders, back, stomach and legs.
Got it on prescription from doctor in Denmark. Loniten. But the pharmacy has taken the product back. So I really don't know what to do in order to get it.
I have been on 0.625 mg oral minoxidil daily for hair loss. It has been one week since I started, no change in blood pressure, hair fall kinda stopped. However, I feel my erection becoming softer and doesn’t last, also I lost my morning erection. Not sure it’s minoxidil effect since this all happened one day after starting it ?! Or what ?! Any thoughts?!
I'm sorry to hear about that! There are many reasons why that may be happening and it needs a full evaluation by a medical professional. We always think about side effects of medications but there may be more to it. Please go see your doctor!
Just FYI that’s all in your head. There’s absolutely no effect on erections. If anything, it will help it because of the increased blood flow. You are thinking of finasteride, which can have sexual side effects in rare instances
What is the half life of Oral Minoxidil? I hear its only 4 hrs.. Is this true? And if so should i take lets say a 1.25mg dose twice a day or just stick to once a day?
Yes its 4 hours. The studies had patients do once a day and that worked. Plus it's hard enough to to remember to take a pill everyday much less twice a day 😔
great question! it does increase the chances of unwanted facial hair. More often it presents as fine hairs around the forehead and cheeks rather than on the chin and upper lips, though that is still a possibility. We use lower dosages of minoxdil or add spironolactone or another anti-androgen finasteride to reduce the risk of this.
Ye it is fairly safe for most people unless you have heart problems. For young healthy adult, I’d say it’s safe but keep an eye on your BP time to time. I myself take 5mg ED 2.5mg X2
Hi Augustya! So there's no dose limit to how low Minoxidil can be prescribed. In the study I referenced in the video, women got improvement with just 1 mg. There's no perfect dose for any one person so check with your derm and see what they feel you might need!
Hello doctor thank you for very informative video. A question about side effects. The topical one has documented sexual side effects for men. Would a 1.25 mg oral dose per day cause this type of side effects?
@@aboutdermtime thank you doctor that's an important distinction. Actually I just read a PubMed article and which talks about the application of topical minoxidil to the glans of the penis as a treatment for Ed which of course confirms your assessment. I have a male pattern bald spot on the crown and have not yet attempted any sort of treatment. Would you suggest topical or oral treatment for my situation? I am a healthy vigorous 70-year-old. Thank you for your answer! 😀
If it pleases you, kind sir, i'd try the topical route but have it compounded with retinoic acid or tretinoin and finasteride. You can always trial oral minoxidil if it doesn't work as well or if you dont like the application.@@nicholasr5988
Oral minoxidil is the best option for me. I haven't noticed any negative sides. I'm naturally a really hairy guy, and my body hair got fuller. I kinda like it. I used topical for years and it irritated my scalp and I lost hair cos of that. My hair's coming back fuller with just the oral. Finasteride was garbage for me. I got the estrogenic side effects right away. No interest in sex, puffy nipples, mood swings and emotional instability. Nope. I'm shaving my head at this point anyway cos my hair always annoyed me anyway and I only kept it up for women.
Some of the studies included older men! I think efficacy also depends on how long the hair loss has been present too, and not simply age but admittedly, as we age the hair naturally thin and there is really not much we can do at that juncture
@@peterpan125 i havent done it enough because i was finding it hard to schedule around topical. But i plan to. Ive seen a bunch of cases where people documented their progress of success.
I discussed why topical minoxidil may not work. Some people don't have enough enzyme activity in the scalp to convert minoxidil to active form. Taking it orally bypasses this limitation.
Is it ok to take oral Minoxidil if I have high blood pressure? Wasn't one of the side effects that it would lower it? Killing two birds with one stone lol
it will have a blood pressuring lowering effect, but it honestly isn't used for hypertension much anymore, because of its short half life, risk of rebound hypertension and other side effects that I listed, and it doesn't have protective effects in terms of preventing heart failure compared to newer and better agents out there.
I'm sorry if this has happened to you! There is a reason why it requires a prescription and proper counseling on it! BUT you can use it topically if side effects are the concern. Please call your doctor if you are experiencing chest pain or trouble breathing.
This chemicals will give one cancer.for me I avoid chemicals,I prefer dermaroller and rosemary oil saw palmetto oil and pumpkinseed oil.A few hairs regrown by minoxidil is not worth risk of cardiovascular problems.Stay safe,ma people.
I'm a female (66) that has been thinning for over 40 years. I've been using 5% Minoxidil topical for 40 years. I recently started oral minoxidil 2.5 mg and the difference is amazing. I am getting some facial hair, but so far, nothing I can't handle to remove. Like the hair above my lip, my eyebrows, on the sides of my nose and my chin. I'm not talking bushy hair growth, just a little more frequently I will need to remove it. I only hope I'm never in a coma... YIKES! The growth won't be pretty! 😂
what about your body hair
It is worthy to use minoxidil for life?
@@ZA-7 If you want nice hair and don't have too many medical problems
Is it peach fuzz or dark hair?
@@icemeoutlikeelsa I'm not noticing much body hair... only facial.
Thank you doc. If you want to grow your channel more, you should frequently post videos about hair loss.
It's becoming a prominent issue for people in the 20s, 30s, and even for teenagers.
I'm seeing this!
"Becoming?" As if it's somehow a new problem 😄
It's been an issue for younger generations for decades ..
I wish you were my dermatologist. I have Kaiser Permanente and honestly they don’t care if I am losing my hair. They did give me a prescription of Dutasteride 0.5MG and Oral Minoxidil 5MG. I have been on both for over a year and haven’t seen any thickness or new hair growths. I started taking 10MG of oral minoxidil a few weeks ago and now starting to see some tiny thin sprouts.
Oh man I know it can be so frustrating when the results don't come when you've been so diligent with it.. I have to admit your experience is not uncommon. It does take a trial and error sometimes in dermatology. I'm happy you're finally seeing some progress! Keep it up!
Hey how was results 10mg ? Its been 6 months
10mg? Lol! Never heard anyone recommending 10mg for hair growth. Surely risky. Lol!
@First I'm on 10 mg. Been on minox on off for 3 years with no results. Just took minox oral 3 months, first month 5mg. 2nd and 3rd month 10 mg .Now I'm the hairiest amongst my friend. Just up my dose 15 mg last night.
@@JoanFortnite-jh1oz I was told
to go back down to 5mg due to massive shedding. The HT doctor said the higher the dose the more frequent your hair will go through shedding cycles. I don’t know if he was blowing smoke or not but I just went back down to 5mg. I didn’t have any side effects when I was on 10mg. I also take 0.5mg of dutasteride everyday.
I’m so happy that finally someone talks about the effect of dermatitis using topical version
I developed dermatitis after 2nd month of use of dermatitis. Definitely I will schedule my allergist to be sure I’m not allergist to check if I’m allergic to minoxidil
Thank you so much
One trick u can do is apply a tiny amount to ur underarm in the same spot everyday for 1 to 2 weeks as if ur putting it on ur scalp. It's a quick way to find out if u are allergic to it or if it's irritating ya. Hope this helps!
Same for me. That’s why I switched to oral finasteride
@@aboutdermtime hey doc I’m not balding but I’m just curious, does oral minoxidil have any side effects like finasteride? Like does it cause erectile dysfunction and lower testosterone/ libido? Or is it safer than finasteride? If so wouldn’t it be better use oral minoxidil and topical finasteride compare to oral finasteride and topical minoxidil?
That's correct... Most of the people develope Seborric Dermatitis using Minoxidil
I love the upbeat positivity of this video..gives me hope for my androgenic alopecia. I'm on 100 mg spironolactone bid and .25mg minoxidil I just started hope it works. I'm excited to try
Thank you for the amazing video. Could you please let me know what the right dosage would be to start with? Also is it safe to take Finasteride with it as well? Thank You
Really helpful information here. It's really nice to get the perspective of a dermatologist that is also a doctor of pharmacy (that's a lot of school lol). Thank you for the video! Subscribed!
Thank you my friend! It was a lot of school! But I think it helped me grow alot as a person and a doctor. A lot of times we focus on the end in sight while glossing over the journey it took to get there. I will admit there were times when I asked wth am I doing haha. But here we are!
@@aboutdermtime Very true. I am glad you made it throught the journey, looking forward to more uploads! Have a nice weekend doc!
Good content. Good presentation of the subject. Good name of the channel. Hope you grow!
I've been using low dose oral minoxidil .64mg qd, for about 6 months. I got increased shedding in the first montht, then very little shedding afterwards. I started noticing little baby hairs growing in at about 3 - 4month and it is only this month in which I can see that my hairline is becoming narrowing. I've had no side effects, including facial hair. I may go up to 1.25 mg sometime this summer. I've tried the topical minoxidil and didn't like how it made my hair feel.
Update please
Do you have an update?
Love the vid Dr. Pham!
Thanks for the great video! I switched from topical to 2.5mg oral one month ago. I’m going to try it for at least six months but if the results aren’t better than for topical, I may switch back to topical because I don’t love taking pills unless there’s a clear benefit. If I switch back, would you foresee another shedding phase or would my scalp hair just see a continuation of minoxidil? Thanks
I like ur approach. No shedding phase for continuing! Only initiation!
Can u please share your update ?
Update
@@samsb8781 I’ve been using it for 5 months. My visible hair loss is all in my temples (none on my crown). This is the first product I’ve tried that has caused visible regrowth. Everything else has just slowed down or stopped my hair loss from getting worse. I noticed baby hairs growing quite quickly and they continue to darken and grow stronger and longer. One temple is significantly ahead of the other in terms of regrowth. The weaker side always had slightly worse hair loss though. It’s just starting to show signs it might catch up. Honestly, I’m still in shock that I’m regrowing actual, normal hairs at all in places I thought were long gone. The most I expected was some thickening of existing hair. I’d be very surprised if it fully “fixes” my hair loss but will continue to monitor progress. Maybe it stops regrowing after a certain number of months. I have long hair so it will take time for the new hair to grow long enough to add bulk to my mid lengths and ends. My eyelashes have got very dark and thick and my eyebrows have darkened. I don’t have a lot of body hair but have *maybe* noticed some slight increase in darkness. Not an issue. I think I was shedding for about 4-6 weeks when I first started using but it didn’t affect how I looked to others and some of it was probably me being paranoid. I remember feeling a little bit dizzy for the first 2-3 weeks but it wasn’t anything major. I switched to taking the pill before bed so I could get used to it and now take it in the morning with no issue.
@@willianajala5485 just posted one in reply to another comment
thank you! It's very informative. I have a question. Can we combine oral minoxidil and oral finasteride? Does it make the medication less effective ???
Finasteride is a great option for hair loss. It's actually fda approve. It works well when you combine with minoxidil! It shouldn't be less effective
@@aboutdermtime thank you for your response ❤❤❤
Thank you Dr for your generosity with your time. Your helping people tremendously by sharing your expertise.
I appreciate you! 🙏
I'm 52, female and 10 years ago started treatment for hair loss and hirsutism. I tried Topical Minoxidle (both strengths separately) for 3 years (never missed a day). Did not work. Spironalactone did not work. Finasteride was beyond awful (messed with "s-desires") and I lost lots of hair on it and kept going for months hoping it would reverse. Nope. I have not been told about oral Minoxidle. I will ask my Dermatologist to try it. Also, hirsutism was not helped with consistent laser and the meds of Spiron. & Finasteride. Vaniqa was able to stop 90% of the growth, but it's very expensive and it isn't covered by insurance and not permanent.
I have used topical minoxidil for 8 years, where i apply 3ml once a day hoping it goes systemic. It seems to be doing so, since I get hair growth on hands and a bit between temples and eyebrows. I guess it would be better just using oral version then, since topical already goes into bloodstream? The things that worrying me about oral is pericardial effusion, angina and maybe drop in thrombcytes.
I sometimes will compound a higher strength for patients who don't want to take it orally and see the same thing happen where they grow hairs on the temples. Once we decreased the frequency, the excess hairs went away but we maintained the hairs on the head. Check with your derm about oral version and see if it's right for you! It's always about striking the right balance of benefit over side effect with any treatment.
Isn’t a higher concentration not really gonna make a difference? Like 5% vs 10%. I just read that somewhere and I wanted to know from you
I think it does work faster, but the return on investment is diminished long term, similar from going from 2% to 5%
Hallo! New subscriber here! Thanks for a great and informative video - I just have a quick question about getting off oral minoxidil. Unfortunately it is not as effective for me and I experienced some bad side effects (on it for 8/9 months) - I’m afraid that if I go off, I will loose my gains and that shedding will get worse? Would it be bad just to abruptly stop using it, or should it be phased out slowly? Also, I’m on 1mg finasteride. Thanks!
Have you tried the topical version before starting the pill?
@@aboutdermtime yes, also not as effective. I’m fine with staying on finastride, but how would you recommend phasing put minoxidil use? Thanks!
@@christiaanburger5651 Hm. Check in with the derm before quitting.. some patients respond more slowly than others because of variability in enzyme activity in the scalp. With that said, if it's been long enough and no results, stopping right away is generally not a problem because the drug has a very short half life anyways. It'll take less than a few days to clear the system. There's no evidence that weaning off slowly is any better than stopping.
@@aboutdermtime thanks doc!
May I ask what kind of side effects had you experienced with ？
Thank you for the informative video. I’m currently taking 3mg oral minoxidil daily. Looking to increase my dose to 5mg gradually as I haven’t had any side effects. Are there any studies with dosages superior to 5mg that you know of doc?
From the ones I've looked at, they all went up to 5mg. I've never tried to go higher than that in real practice but I'm sure there are different ways that every prescriber goes about it
I mean i get it, it gives lots of hair and is easy to take, being a pill and all, but i've heard plenty of stories of people taking way lower doses than 3mg, having ''no side effects'' and then randomly collapsing one day because of fluid build-up around the heart. I get wanting to keep your hair, but cardiovascular health is not something to be toyed with imo.
@@MrConhobar I definitely appreciate your point of view. There's risks and benefits to all treatment so that's why it's important to have a doctor you trust to guide you through all of it! Thanks for your input!
Thank you Dr. You explained this very good. I am a 44 year old woman and my hair started to thin. I am using my savings and getting everything available to treat this issue. I am currently on my second PRP treatment and Is very expensive. I can’t help to wonder if this will be worth it . What do you think about PRP treatments?
I love PRP as adjunctive treatment (extra) I never do it monotherapy unless patient requests it.
So on October 29th per dermatologist I started using Men's Rogaine once a day Viviscal Vitamins and Ketoconazole shampoo. With great results noticed in February that the top of my head and left side had hairs growing! Spiky hairs enough where I literally had to part my top hairs to apply Rogaine! I was beyond impressed with results.
On March 25th ALL my new hairs fell out, disappeared from the top of my head and it was back to where I started in October.
Dermatologist didn't know why this happened and never mentioned shedding could occur.
I stopped Viviscal vitamins and Ketoconazole shampoo immediately and by May I was off Rogaine completely...
Scalp biopsy results are Female pattern baldness And te stress induced wondering if Covid caused my condition to worsen or caused condition itself.
I have had covid twice.
In my 20's I noticed my hair thinning on top. I am now 63 and it looks very thin on top.
Any suggestions? Should I give Rogaine another try?
I do tent to have blood pressure on the lower end as I did try Spironolactone sent me to the er because my blood pressure was so low.
Ask for spironolactone
Thats just a synchronised shed, that happens. hairs are put onto a similar cycle when u start minoxidil so there will be sheds every 6 months - 1 year and eventually the hair sheds will become less and less synchronised and will be less noticeable...
Hi Doc, is there any truth to minoxidil effecting collagen production and making skin look worse? Thanks.
whoa! This is the first I'd heard of this so I had to look it up. So this claim was based on folks trying to extrapolate the results of a study published in 2009 which demonstrated that minoxidil inhibits an enzyme that is involved in making collagen. This was on rats and cultured cells and not in people. The idea was that maybe it could be used in conditions from collagen over production or fibrosis. As far as we know, there's no study that has ever looked into minoxidil and increased skin wrinkling. Collagen is essentially found everywhere in the body, (bones, muscles, tendons, eyes, cartilage) and there's no reports of side effects of minoxidil on weakening those organs. There's a lot of misinformation out there! Be careful!
Thank you for replying to my query, I really appreciate the advice!
I had bags under my eyes and dark circles and looked a bit older when i was doing Foam minoxidil. When i discontinued it went away .
@@aboutdermtime well I personally have experienced wrinkles
@@jordonwaddel8970 I went through the same thing
does oral min affect sports for healthy 24 yr old male? I lift weights and hard cardio Please answer Doctor Thank you!
With lower dosing we use for hair loss, it's really uncommon. As you go up in dosing, there's dose dependent effects on lowering blood pressure because this is what it was initially approved for. So be careful if that's the case! check with your Derm and make sure it's okay based on what was prescribed!
Hi, I use 2.5 mg oral minox, and want to also use topical minox 5, instead of increasing to 5 mg oral, in order to avoid side effects. Is this combination recommended?
brilliant video Doc, can you also do a video on finasteride and its possible benefits and side effects and also how effective it is in the long term? thanks in advance
For sure!
Finasteride is safe. Oral Minoxidil is dangerous. All the clinical data supports this.
Thanks I found your channel, very informative, I have a question, do you think it’s better to split the daily dosage to twice will minimise the sides risk and still effective?
Yup. I do 2.5mg X2 per day
Yeah I think you can do that if you'd like! Most people prefer the convenience of once a day. So taking a lower dose at once a day still gets you there while limiting risk of side effects
I've just been prescribed oral minoxidil 2.5mg a day. Should I cease my topical 5% minoxidil tonight and start the oral form tomorrow or should I start the oral minoxidil and slowly reduce and fade out the topical and cease it? Many thanks in advance!
Truthfully I'd check with ur prescriber. See what they'd like you to do. I think there are several ways to go about it. Just remember it's a long term game!
@@aboutdermtime thanks for replying!
Loveddddd your videosss congratssss❤❤❤❤❤❤
Dr, what is the longterm likelihood of keeping your hair transplant results in the recession region using finasteride and/or oral minoxidil?
Super good!
Does oral Minoxidil cause premature aging or dark circles under your eyes? I have had mixed answers on this
Never did that to me, or others I know.
Only way to be sure,if it’ll affect you this way, is use & see.
Hi Doc , I am from Dallas, do u take tele visit via zoom or any platform??
Sir i have been using 5% topical minoxidil for 2 yrs now and this winter i developed heavy dandruff, sort of fungus like. I had to shave my head in December to clean my scalp but then it started happening again after a week or 2 and i had the similar condition in the February and i had to shave my head again. I went to dermatologist yesterday and she prescribed me 2.5mg oral minoxidil once a day after dinner instead of topical. My concern is will my hairs shed again like they did when i started topical minoxidil or the oral minoxidil will resume the effect of topical. i also have been reading on the internet that it is less effective than topical and hairs start to become weaker as the effect of topical minoxidil wears off and you lose your hairs which topical minoxidil saved or made stronger over the course of its use?
I don't know why i started to develop dandruff with topical all of a sudden as there has been no change in my daily routine or diet. Topical was working great for me and i am afraid that i will lose my hairs after switching to oral.
I have been using topical minoxidil and taking 1 mg dose of fin everyday for 8 months now...
My hair fall has stopped and I thought of leaving minoxidil and continuing with fin and my hair fall started within 10 days so I got back on minoxidil....
Do you think fin doesn't work on me ...
I think only the minoxidil is working on me...
Should I think about dutasteride?
Did you have hair growth? Finasteride primarily blocks androgenic effect on the hair. We are also presuming that you're experiencing Androgenetic alopecia. If you get off minoxidil, typically you lose the hair you gained.
@@aboutdermtime yes I did have a good amount of hair growth....
I would continue with minoxidil but should replace the fin with dutasteride?
@@debjyotipaul9799 there are pros and cons to both... but I recommend talking to your prescriber! The decision to switch is not black and white and requires an indepth conversation! I'm very happy you had regrowth. The hair you gained is only kept continent on continued use, unfortunately.
@@aboutdermtime thankyou for replying doc...
I will definitely talk to my dermatologist
I just started taking together at the same time 2.5 mg of oral minoxidil, 1 mg of finasteride per day -- question: should i take biotin along with them and if so how much biotin should i take? Thank you Doctor.
It's probably safe to take but I don't think it works very well if I'm honest. Especially with a normal regular diet, biotin adds no intrinsic value. It sometimes can also interfere with certain routine labs. I would check with your derm to see if they think it's right for you. Some of my patients use it, and I generally don't discourage it, but I'm not a big endorser of it either.
@@aboutdermtime Thanks for responding Doctor.
@@justinherbert9146 thank you! Anytime! I'll make a video on biotin and lay out some of the data for you. It's in the queue =)
Ingesting all this chemicals will give you cancer.Just use dermaroller and rosemary oil.A little hair regrowth is not worth risking your health.
Can you provide us with an update of how the minoxidil has worked for you?
Doctor talk about the dermatitis thats can be caused by the topical version ?
And can.we use.its 5.to 4 days instead of 7 days minoxidil
My Derm just prescribed me oral minoxidil alongside accutane is this safe and a good idea? I’ve experienced a lot of shedding from taking accutane for my acne (2 months).
Accutane can sometimes initiate shedding of hair called Telogen Effluvium. I made a whole video on it! Please check it out!
Hi doctor! So oral minoxidil is a dose dependent medicine? Sooo 5 mg per day can cause better results than 2,5mg per day?
Yeh, it’s suppose to. I take 2.5mg x2
To a certain extent. Higher isn't necessarily better, but the data suggests that 5 mg was a good dose for men. However, in the end the results will ultimately end up the same in the long term. You will only be able to regrow what you are able to regrow (with help)
I just got a prescription for OM. I’ll be taking 1.25mg daily. I hope it’s enough!
The good news is you have room to go up! Remember it's a long term game!
How has it worked for you? Can you please provide us with an update?
any updates?
Do you think it might affect Collagen production and therefore acceleraten skin aging?
Hi there doctor can I use low dose of oral minoxidil and 100mg of spirolactone will this help me in not getting hypertrichosis ?
New subscriber Doc. Question; I’m a 65 yr old guy with hair loss on top of head. Just started on oral finasteride. Is it too late for me based on my age?
It's never to late sir
It depends... jsut know if you are far gone, you cant expect to get it back like a chia pet... You could get some regrowth, but if you are completely bald, it may not be cosmetically meaningful.
@@aboutdermtime thanks. Been on it now for over a year and nothing to show for it. Think it’s time to stop.
Finasteride slows down hair loss/halt it. But regrowth is dependent on other intrinsic factors. Try adding minoxidil or microneedling with minoxidil in addition to finasteride@rader
Very good information and thank you. The question I have is that I am a 62 yr old male and taking 20 mg of Olmesatan to control my blood pressure and it does a good job. Can I ad the oral Minoxidil to my daily schedule ?
Does oral minoxidil cause weight gain?
I take 2.5 mg with minimal growth do you think increasing to 5 mg will greatly increase hair or is there a sweet spot where additional growth doesn’t really happen . I have heard 2.5 mg is the sweet spot and that 5mg will not make that much of a difference .
Doctor , can we still thin massively after having a very good thickness on fin for two n half years all of a sudden ? Dut .5 mg at the weekends also seems insufficient to hold it with 6 days fin 1 mg .. is it advisable ( I know everyone is different) to switch completely to dut .5 mg everyday if I had never any sides on fin ?
Hi doctor. The increase in body hair because of oral minoxidil is not reversible if one stop taking it right?
Thanks in advance
It is reversible! It happens when u lower dose or stop all together.
@@aboutdermtime I always heard/read that it is not reversible because the mechanism of growth is different
@@Jose-xq1gt from my experience, once we decreased the dose, the hypertrichosis did gradually resolve on their own. It takes a few weeks to months, depending how high the dose is.
And do you know how much time does it take to start seeing those hairs and what time does it stop growing, approximately of course.
Thanks in advance doctor!
@@Jose-xq1gt this is highly variable! So I can't say for sure
Is it normal to have headaches while using 5mg minoxidil?
Yes it is a side effect due to its vasodilating property, but if you have side effects, it may be time to talk to your doctor about what to do next. Maybe lowering the dose or an alternative treatment! I can't stand headaches! They are the worst!
Why they don't made oral minoxidil only works on head scalp
I know right??
Bhai tm v use krte ho kya oral minoxidil??
Hello. What your gonna put it only to parts that only have few hairs or part no hair at all, like on hair lines? What will happen? Hope you'll notice me.
I recommend to sprinkle on all the affected areas and areas that could potentially fall out as well.
I'm a 42 year old female with alopecia. I'm thinking I'm just going to go to a dermatologist and ask for the oral minoxidil .I'd rather deal with possible having to wax my face occasionally then making my fine hair look gross with daily minoxidil application.
I totally feel ya. Topical isn't for everyone!
Use it at night and also foam do not make hair gross as regular minoxidil unless minoxidil dont work for you at all then oral is way to go
@@BiZii1024 I just want to start oral minoxidil at a lower dose of 1.25 mg per day instead of daily applying it on my scalp ... isn't it a good idea??
I take oral minoxidil for 3 years and no facial hair at all....
Please cite a study that shows safety of oral Minox at "low dose" that isnt restrospective and invloves more than 40 people? The review article is a shambles as it is not standardized in any way, compounding different study designs from different countries over very short periods. Also are there other examples of dermatologists prescribing "Black Box Warning" cardio vascular medication without monitoring the effects on the heart?
A lot of them were prospective. There are not other examples of prescribing CV medication without monitoring the effects on the heart. Minoxidil is unique.
As far as you looking for a perfect dose I believe it's individual .I been taking it 1 year 10 months started with 10 MG tab I would cut in three's. Shortly after my second year I stepped down to a 5 MG pill I cut in half and noticed hair on my fore arms getting dense ,plus hair on my shins came back after being gone for years .of my hair on my head is coming in slowly ,I attribute that to being absent for 30 years .I'm making this assumption as to answer about the perfect dose , if a patient is getting hypertrycosis I believe you can split a 5 MG into 3rds .just so excessive body hair don't increase
You're right! It's all about trial and error to mitigate unwanted effects while maximizing the benefits.
I just started taking it a week ago.. The first 3 days was ruff..I only took 1.25 and it was like being stabbed with a knife..On day 7 now no more chest pains..Taking half in the morning and other in the evening hopefully it works..
@@SpaceRanger187 hey that's not normal my friend! Should go see ur doctor to rule out any other heart issues going on!
@@SpaceRanger187 Jeesus....and you think this is healthy? You think your health long term will be fine with this?
@@SpaceRanger187 How did it work out for you?
AS a treans woman ON Hrt and anti androgen. Will I have the excess hair growth?
Yes it makes you grow hair all over
I've read minoxidil is only truly effective if you have a certain enzyme in your hair follicles, 1/6 only truly have enough of those?
Everyone has some degree of enzyme activity but honestly it's not practical to think about it because we don't check for it anyways. We wouldn't know unless patient had no response after 6 months of optimal use
Great info, thank you!
Great video with great content
Its helps to beard growth?? Patchy beard solution??
Yes, totally. But if you have patchy beard due to Alopecia areata (different type of hair loss) then you need to see a derm
Is 5mg Lonitab oral minoxidil authentic? I am looking to use it.
never heard of it!
Yes it is legit
I talk to a doctor told me not to taka finasteride since i have history of testicular cancer what about minoxidil oral is this safe? If i had history of cancer.?
There isnt a contraindication that I know of, but you should ask your doctor!
On month 2 taking 2.5 oral Minoxidil
Def noticing hair growth in areas I hardly noticed (back and shoulders)
Also noticing the skin under my eyes are thinner and wrinkles have been forming
Lowering the dose
I have seen that happen as well! I hope ur getting good results with your scalp as well! I think the wrinkles and skin is a sign of how long it takes for any hair loss treatment to work 😔
How come it thinning your skin and wrinkling?
@@peterpan125 it’s not he’s aging while looking at his hair
Does oral minoxidil hairs last a lifetime if used everyday? Or does it wear off?
It doesn't unfortunately.. you have to keep watering the grass to keep it green =( if you stop, it does slowly regress to what it would have been without treatment
What brand of oral minoxidil? Thanks
any manufacturer is fine tbh. they all have to be within 5% +/- of the dosage anyway.
Would not adding tretenoin to topical minoxidil offer the same benefits as oral minoxidil?
Yes it supposedly overcomes the problem of some people who dont have enough enzyme activity to convert it to active form in the scalp. You are absolutely correct.
Is there any point in a norwood 6 trying this?
You miss 💯 of the shots you don't take
@@aboutdermtime
Right, but before going to the expense and hassle I'd like to know what my chances are of seeing results that are cosmetically acceptable
@@attila7092to be honest, results definitely vary so I am not entirely sure.. and also you have to consider what is cosmetically acceptable to you as well. As far as cost is concerned.. I'm fairly confident that it is one of the most cost effective options but I understand your concern.
I have a question about fin vs dut. A lot of people start with fin because it's FDA approved.
However, some people just don't respond well to fin and switch over to dut later.
What I have been seeing online (and myself) is that, if you start with fin then later switch to dut,
you get massive shedding and sometimes your hair never grows back.
In contrast, people who start with dut from the beginning often do not experience this.
Do you know why this is? What's your opinion on this?
If it's massive hair shedding from Telogen Effluvium, it does take sometimes up to a year to get the hair back. This happens with new or changing medication.. but to answer your question specifically, I do not know for sure. Anti-androgens don't really stimulate hair growth more than preventing progression of hair thinning due to androgenic effects. There are some other relative differences with fin vs dut, and that's a topic I have prepared for a future video!
I never got any....but i went back to Fint. I am not comfortable with decimating all DHT
@@markcrisp07 me either. I've been on fin for 18 months now and im still receeding. Around a NW2 currently but ive lost more on fin than I did in the previous years. So i considered Dut but i just cant get onboard nuking all my DHT
Consider doing a combo. Take the Fin. But then swap out Fin for Dut on either a once a week or twice a week schedule. If not results, even 3x a week swap out your Fin pill that day for a Dut one. So you’d end up taking 4 Fin a week and 3 Dut for the week. But again, you could start with just doing 1x or 2x per week. In a study it’s shown to make a nice boost :)
Does this stuff work on animals.......my dog keeps shedding like a mad thing! Cheers.
Lol! I am not sure! I think dogs shed purposefully. I'm not good with animals. I still take my dog to the vet for all his medical things
So I take it the dog doesn't have any say 😂😂
I know this thread is old, but Minoxidil is toxic to cats and dogs.
i switched from solution to oral tablet (2.5 mg minoxidil) ,and after 1.5 months of full tablet intake, i had extreme palpitations for 3-4 days ,and my bp fell down to 105/60 for a whole day, and extreme lethargy, also legs nd hands swelling,with face swelling 😢, I am leaving the tab right away
I"m planning to do microneedling and minoxidil. Any advice? and how much it cost.
They are like 10 dollars per roller. So roughly 40 bucks a month?
If u do it at an office I have no idea it just depends
where is this available over the counter ?
only topically. You need prescription for oral
2.5mg twice a day is giving me the worst dark eye bags. 45m. Gonna reduce to 1mg twice a day and see if it helps.’
How did that work out?
@@kayumochi they got a little better but the hair growth is well worth the eye bags. I now take oral dutasteride as well as minoxidil and the results are very satisfactory. My hair is as dense as it was 25 years ago.
@@4g63t8 It is great to hear success stories. Thanks! So much on TH-cam is just pointless bitching and speculation.
Hi dr... Am using topical minoxidil for the past 10months.. From 9th month onwards am suffering from severe hairfall again(i think 2nd shedding of minoxidil )i dnt know how long it wl last😔😔.. So thinking of switching to oral minoxidil.. Am 33yrs female.. Is it safe to take oral minoxidil?? Can u plz suggest the dosage also.. Thanks in advance🙏😊😊
I would see your dermatologist! Maybe a reason for more hair shedding that you are over looking! Check out my video on Telogen Effluvium.. that may be why?
Oral minox causes age skin?
Itdoesn't! I answered a similar question below
@@aboutdermtime I didn't understand your answer. Can u explain, please, sir
@@raphaelfernandes5195 there's a study in 2009 that showed minoxidil interfered with an enzyme involved in the production of collagen. So there was speculation on the idea that it blocks collagen in the body/skin. Less collagen would supposedly make the skin wrinkle or look thin and saggy. That is not true.
@@aboutdermtime So the study is not true/ And I have other quest doctor, When I starte use finasteride my beard and eyebrowns started to thinning, why/
@Raphael Fernandes I'm not a doctor but as I know, finasteride isn't good for facial hair like beard eyebrows eyelashes. Sorry
Where do you practice?
I'm based in Texas!
@@aboutdermtime How do I know you are a real dermatologist? No offense, Just want to make sure before following your channel.
@@AA-jk1es I feel ya! There's a lot of bad information out there! My goal is to put good reliable information for people.
What are your thoughts on microneedling in combination with minoxidil?
Microneedling essentially helps in drug delivery because the barrier to entry is the stratum corneum. Microneedling make little channels for the topical to penetrate better, essentially. In my opinion, the idea that it does anything beyond that is purely theoretical. With that said, it is a little bit better than using minoxidil by itself but theres really not a meaningful difference.
@@aboutdermtime so you clearly haven’t read studies
@@boblully5053 I did, but which are u referring to? The ones I remember about during residency and even now, are very small studies and not all of them directly compare minoxidil plus MN vs minoxidil alone in a head to head trial. Also I always approach them with a degree of skepticism because all studies are inherently flawed, no matter the result. Thanks for your comment! I'll make a video on this in the future to break down the data.
@@aboutdermtime watch more plates more dates microneedling, by the way i love your channel, there’s a huge audience to gain in the haircare side of youtube
also watch haircafes response about oral minoxidil and you could react to it
@@fhfbjufhwflpkpldxeh6070 I love it! I see a ton of patients who have hair needs and it motivated me to start this channel! I'll be doing more hair care stuff and then broadening to skin and nails too!
Can I see the tablet name and packet
I'm transgendered and use topical Minoxidil for beard and body hair growth and it's been growing beard hair but gets flakey. Do you know if switching to oral pills of Minox will continue to grow facial and body hair?
Yes it technically work if you had response with topical. The flakiness may be a sign of a rash so I'd get that checked out..
I'm a cisgender male and I use oral Minoxidil to cause growth of more body hair and it has worked. More hair on my forearms, hands, chest, shoulders, back, stomach and legs.
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y r all the doctors on the youtube are so happy if u know what i mean?
Hahahahahaa
Are we psychos and enjoy others pain ❤😂😂
How much shedding are we talking? I'd hate to lose my long hair
it's brief, and the hairs do come back. You'll still have the appearance of long hair.
Got it on prescription from doctor in Denmark. Loniten. But the pharmacy has taken the product back. So I really don't know what to do in order to get it.
oh?? as in it was recalled? I wonder if there's a pharmacy in Canada you could send it to...
@@aboutdermtime Yes that is the golden question. I wonder if it's possible as well:) Thanks for your content. Always appreciated. Subbed.
What brand to buy for oral minoxidil?
Here in USA you need a prescription. So whatever the pharmacy carries!
Please try quoting the numbers regardless of significance because most people are taking that at face value and have no idea what that actually means.
I'll definitely try to explain the numbers so ppl can understand more easily!
I have been on 0.625 mg oral minoxidil daily for hair loss. It has been one week since I started, no change in blood pressure, hair fall kinda stopped. However, I feel my erection becoming softer and doesn’t last, also I lost my morning erection. Not sure it’s minoxidil effect since this all happened one day after starting it ?! Or what ?! Any thoughts?!
I'm sorry to hear about that! There are many reasons why that may be happening and it needs a full evaluation by a medical professional. We always think about side effects of medications but there may be more to it. Please go see your doctor!
Just FYI that’s all in your head. There’s absolutely no effect on erections. If anything, it will help it because of the increased blood flow. You are thinking of finasteride, which can have sexual side effects in rare instances
What is the half life of Oral Minoxidil? I hear its only 4 hrs.. Is this true? And if so should i take lets say a 1.25mg dose twice a day or just stick to once a day?
Yes its 4 hours. The studies had patients do once a day and that worked. Plus it's hard enough to to remember to take a pill everyday much less twice a day 😔
@@aboutdermtime thanks.. I was on 2.5mg a day but got pedal edema so i cut back to 1.25mg a day.
Where can you buy oral minoxidil ??
You get a prescription from the doctor and then pick it up at the pharmacy
is oral minoxidil more likely to cause unwanted facial hair than the topical version? thanks
great question! it does increase the chances of unwanted facial hair. More often it presents as fine hairs around the forehead and cheeks rather than on the chin and upper lips, though that is still a possibility. We use lower dosages of minoxdil or add spironolactone or another anti-androgen finasteride to reduce the risk of this.
Taking 5 mg of minoxidil daily will be safe?
Ye it is fairly safe for most people unless you have heart problems. For young healthy adult, I’d say it’s safe but keep an eye on your BP time to time. I myself take 5mg ED 2.5mg X2
So Dr is 2.5 MG the safest and the Minimum dose of Oral Minoxidil ?.which despite being low is still effective for scalp hair growth ?
Hi Augustya! So there's no dose limit to how low Minoxidil can be prescribed. In the study I referenced in the video, women got improvement with just 1 mg. There's no perfect dose for any one person so check with your derm and see what they feel you might need!
Oral minoxidil is used for blood pressure
It used to be. It's not used for it much anymore. We have much better medicines now
That was at very high doses. The dose your taking for your hair would have almost no impact on lowering BP.
Hello doctor thank you for very informative video. A question about side effects. The topical one has documented sexual side effects for men. Would a 1.25 mg oral dose per day cause this type of side effects?
No sexual side effects with minoxidil. You may be referring to Finasteride, which the side effect risk is very very very low.
@@aboutdermtime thank you doctor that's an important distinction. Actually I just read a PubMed article and which talks about the application of topical minoxidil to the glans of the penis as a treatment for Ed which of course confirms your assessment. I have a male pattern bald spot on the crown and have not yet attempted any sort of treatment. Would you suggest topical or oral treatment for my situation? I am a healthy vigorous 70-year-old. Thank you for your answer! 😀
If it pleases you, kind sir, i'd try the topical route but have it compounded with retinoic acid or tretinoin and finasteride. You can always trial oral minoxidil if it doesn't work as well or if you dont like the application.@@nicholasr5988
Oral minoxidil is the best option for me.
I haven't noticed any negative sides. I'm naturally a really hairy guy, and my body hair got fuller. I kinda like it.
I used topical for years and it irritated my scalp and I lost hair cos of that. My hair's coming back fuller with just the oral.
Finasteride was garbage for me. I got the estrogenic side effects right away. No interest in sex, puffy nipples, mood swings and emotional instability. Nope.
I'm shaving my head at this point anyway cos my hair always annoyed me anyway and I only kept it up for women.
Your dose? Did you go through a shed?
I have to disagree one thing, oral is more effective. Some people don’t respond to topical like me even after 18 months of using topical.
I mentioned about the enzyme problem, that may have been why there was lack of efficacy!
Has a test done with older men over 50.
Some of the studies included older men! I think efficacy also depends on how long the hair loss has been present too, and not simply age but admittedly, as we age the hair naturally thin and there is really not much we can do at that juncture
The other benefit of oral: is you can microneedle freely on your own schedule. Without worrying about if you already applied the topic
Is micro needling works well?
@@peterpan125 i havent done it enough because i was finding it hard to schedule around topical. But i plan to. Ive seen a bunch of cases where people documented their progress of success.
check out my microneedling video!
what is the typical men's dosing you prescribe?
I tailor it on my patients.. so it just depends on how their hair is and their medical history
Don't agree.... Topical made no difference to me and I had a constant greasy scalp, Oral worked within 6-8 weeks
is it available over the counter for you ? is it expensive ?
thats you not everyone else
Same, I was not responding to topical for 18 months. With oral, I could see results in 2 months
I discussed why topical minoxidil may not work. Some people don't have enough enzyme activity in the scalp to convert minoxidil to active form. Taking it orally bypasses this limitation.
Is it ok to take oral Minoxidil if I have high blood pressure? Wasn't one of the side effects that it would lower it? Killing two birds with one stone lol
it will have a blood pressuring lowering effect, but it honestly isn't used for hypertension much anymore, because of its short half life, risk of rebound hypertension and other side effects that I listed, and it doesn't have protective effects in terms of preventing heart failure compared to newer and better agents out there.
The truth is this shit will give you a heart attack
I'm sorry if this has happened to you! There is a reason why it requires a prescription and proper counseling on it! BUT you can use it topically if side effects are the concern. Please call your doctor if you are experiencing chest pain or trouble breathing.
You have no proof of that so get off of this page clown
how long does oral minoxidil take to work?
4 to 6 months
@@aboutdermtime i develop CVG so i stop i take finasteride only.
$49.99 at Costco.
You’ve got to get a new sound effect. That little pop sound is used about 100 times in this one video
Lol I know.. I'm trying! This is the growing pains of being new to youtube. I have like 4 sounds T.T
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This chemicals will give one cancer.for me I avoid chemicals,I prefer dermaroller and rosemary oil saw palmetto oil and pumpkinseed oil.A few hairs regrown by minoxidil is not worth risk of cardiovascular problems.Stay safe,ma people.
Good luck with that because none of that stuff isn't enough