Does anybody think Minoxidil actually made things worse for them???

I'd like to hear from people who stuck the treatment out for at least 8-9 mos. Not those who used it for a couple of weeks and panicked during the "shed" period.

Thanks guys...

Now I don't know if i'm just going thru shedding but 2 months of shedding seems kinda long. I'm wondering now if it is gonna start regrowing again. I'm back to using minox twice a day again.

http://www.regrowth.com/hairloss-forums/viewthread.cfm?f=1&t=17967

Taking minox (Loniten) orally causes sodium retention as a side effect. Especially in the context of magnesium-deficient cells, if you think about what Dr. Watts is saying about mag deficiency and hair loss caused by sodium retention, longer term topical minox use may cause increased sodium retention in the hair follicles, just as it causes sodium retention systemically if you take it orally for hypertension.

Oral minox should be supplemented with a diuretic, so maybe topical use should always be used with a topical diuretic, or maybe high doses of vitamin C or some other internal diuretic.

So it's possible that minox-induced regrowth (caused by a reduction in intracellular calcium through potassium channels) is eventually smothered out by the side effect of excess sodium retention. If that happens, just as happens with magnesium deficiency, magnesium-dependent ATP can't keep up with its job of pumping excess sodium (and calcium) out of the cells. Too much calcium or sodium shuts off the cell's energy and the follicles are basically choked off and the hair is miniaturized. In summary, minox grows hair by reducing intracellular calcium, but eventually leads to excess intracellular sodium.

To possibly resolve this, you should replete magnesium levels long term (mag deficiency causes excess intracellular calcium and sodium) and also use a topical diuretic (spiro maybe) with minox, or possibly supplement with high doses of vitamin C, a natural diuretic. Vitamin C topically may also have a diuretic effect, but I haven't researched that aspect.

About 4 months ago I started taking proscar. I was taking a whole 5mg pill per day for about the first 20 days. Then I started cutting the pills in half after reading that this was more effective and safer.

I was also taking as reccommended by IH: 7HMR 1x day, ALA/ALC/NAC 2x a day each, Grapeseed Extract 2x day, Pomegranate Extract 2x day, Nettle Root 2x day, Chasteberry Fruit Extract 2x day and EGCg 2x day. I shampoo with Nizoral 2% about 4x per week and rotate with Nioxin system 3. After about 2 months into this my hair grew back, it was thick, soft and very nice. Everybody was noticing the change.

In the last two months up until recently I was not as strict and dedicated with rogaine foam. I was using it once a day and sometimes not at all. Other days I would apply it twice a day but that was rarely.

I thought since my hair grew back I didn't have to be as persistant with everything. I had also stopped taking all of IH's reccommended supps because of money problems. The proscar really put a dent in my pocket so I had to choose what was working better.

So in this 4 month period I experienced very amazing regrowth in the first two months and then very very bad shedding and hairloss in the last two months. I have pictures of everything if you guys want to see. Not sure how to post them for this site though. Now where i'm at i'm not happy and it's worrying me.

Am I just in a shedding phase brought on by the minox and the proscar? Or did I experience regrowth and then lost everything that regrew because I wasn't using minox twice everyday and I stopped IH's supps?.

In my opinion I think that minox actually made my hair worse. If I had used everything else listed above except minox i'm conviced my hair would look fantastic right now.

I really am not sure. As for what i'm doing now. Well I am back on IH's supps that I mentioned above, with the proscar 2.5mg a day(cut pills in half) and back to using rogaine foam 2x a day and the same shampoos.

Also all I eat is healthy foods. Fresh fruits and veggies, salads, fish(usually tuna or salmon) and chicken. Breakfast I usually eat the cereal brand Healthy Start.

I try to stay away from breads, rice, pasta, potatoes or other heavy starchy foods. Thats basically it.

minox rogaine worked.