Minoxidil Infested Hair

Can anybody give an answer as to why minoxidil hairs are said to be solely dependent on minoxidil use? Hairs grown with this formula are very similar to normal hairs correct? So why wouldn't the top six be able to treat these strands as well?

I ask because two weeks ago I quit minoxidil cold turkey despite being in better health than ever before, but still it seems as though I am losing these hairs. I didn't even think the drug really ever worked! But it appears as if it did something, considering it is doing a pretty good job of taking it all away.

Also, to anybody else whose had a love/hate relationship with this so called FDA approved "treatment," should I maybe continue to use it once a day, maybe once every other day, just to make sure all my 'dependent' hair doesn't all fall out? I've only been on IH's plan for about a month and a half, so I really jumped the gun on this one.

Serge - Here's what happens with cessation of Minoxidil, one gets a shedding of hair, usually quite significant, however in a relatively short period of time this hair recovers.

the minox shed is actually documented in the literature..



Finasteride Treatment May Not Prevent Telogen Effluvium After Minoxidil Withdrawal

Archives of Dermatology

Oral 1-mg finasteride and 5% topical minoxidil are currently widely used to treat androgenetic alopecia (AGA) in men.1-2 Although the finasteride-minoxidil association has not been widely tested in humans,3 results in animal models suggest that the combination of the 2 treatments may be more effective in inducing hair regrowth than either treatment alone.

Interruption of minoxidil treatment is well known to induce telogen effluvium because the follicles phase simultaneously to telogen, having prolonged their anagen growth under the effect of minoxidil. This often produces severe hair loss with obvious thinning.

There are no data about the capacity of finasteride treatment to prevent aggravation of AGA after minoxidil treatment interruption. Our observations indicate that such benefits may not exist.

Report of Cases

In 1997, a 24-year-old man consulted us because of AGA . He started applying topical 5% minoxidil, 1 mL, twice daily. In October 1999, the patient was given 1 mg of finasteride in addition to topical minoxidil because the latter had produced only moderate regrowth. In May 2001, the patient was satisfied with his hair growth, which had considerably improved, with elongation and thickening of the hair in the temporal and vertex regions, but decided to interrupt minoxidil application for personal reasons. However, in November 2001, he returned to our offices because of a noticeable worsening of his AGA, complaining of severe hair loss for 2 months. Clinical examination revealed evident hair thinning.

Follow-up in February 2002 confirmed the worsening of his AGA compared with the pictures obtained before minoxidil treatment interruption. At follow-up in February 2003, the condition had remained stable.

We have recently observed 2 other patients who developed severe hair loss with evident worsening of AGA after interruption of 5% minoxidil treatment, despite continued finasteride treatment. Acute telogen effluvium started approximately 3 months after minoxidil withdrawal.

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