Was that topical or oral and what dose?
Two 2.5 mg pills for a 5mg total for 5 months – now maintaining with just one pill a day 2.5 mg ankles back to normal.
Also one pill every other day of finasteride 5 mg.
My hair tonic with ECGC and Resveratrol keeps my grey light brown.
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I wonder how that compares to topical as one would expect topical to concentrate particularly in the area it is applied to.
Here is an article on the best thing for hair loss is 5mg minoxidil. Also, a dropper of 3-4 drops under the tongue is the equivalent of the 5 mg pills. Can use the WalMart Equate liquid Minoxidil.5%. If you don’t want to get a prescription. I know a friend who did it with topical drops… no adverse reaction… up to you.
HAIRLICIOUSLY - DRINKING TOPICAL MINOXIDIL FOR HAIR GROWTH…HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED.
Youtube link: DRINKING TOPICAL MINOXIDIL FOR HAIR GROWTH..HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED. - YouTube
National Library of Medicine - Efficacy and Safety of Oral Minoxidil 5 mg Once Daily in the Treatment of Male Patients with Androgenetic Alopecia: An Open-Label and Global Photographic Assessment
New research:
Based on these results, the team prepared MnPS3 microneedle patches and treated androgenic alopecia-affected mouse models with them. Within 13 days, the animals regenerated thicker hair strands that more densely covered their previously bald backsides than mice treated with testosterone or minoxidil. The researchers say that their study both produced a nanozyme treatment for regenerating hair, and indicated the potential for computer-based methods for use in the design of future nanozyme therapeutics.
Paper:
Machine Learning Guided Discovery of Superoxide Dismutase Nanozymes for Androgenetic Alopecia
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I have been taking the 2.5mg minox tablet daily for about a month. After reading your post, I tried 2 drops under the tongue. I do take BP med Telmisartan nightly and tested my BP after the oral tablet and drops this morning. It was was 115/75 so that’s good. Maybe I’ll try 1 drop with the 2.5 tablet as I now read the drop is about 1.4mg of minox.
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I’ve used oral and topical finasteride and minoxidil.
Started with a full pill of finasteride. 1mg if I’m not mistaken. This made lots of hair fall out initially, as expected, then lots more filled in over 3-6 months.
Around 3 months I began to notice that orgasms were oddly numb. Like I’d get there but then nothing. Almost like my prostate was frozen and no muscle spasms. This was unpleasant to me. Again this was 1mg oral. Switching to half pill helped some but not enough. Switching to quarter pull helped a little more to make it okay.
I then changed to a solution of once a day spray from Hims that was finasteride and minoxidil. This worked very well. More hair regrowth. But $50 a month felt steep compared to the cheaper pills. Plus the spray got old.
I went back to the quarter pill finasteride plus topical foam minoxidil. This was fine too. Then I read the article in nytimes about oral minoxidil having good effects.
At this point I was 1 year in. I figured I had all the major regrowth I would get. So I switched to once daily pills of 0.25mg finasteride and 1.25mg Minoxidil. Plus I use a shampoo with, what is it? Saw Palmetto, or whatever the best DHT-blocking ingredient is for shampoo, also from Hims. I figure this may add a little to the finasteride, since that dose is lower than ideal.
I have had no side effects from 1.25 minoxidil pills. Also no dark hair growing around my body as some say. I think it may have helped my beard be a little thicker, not sure. It’s been 3 months on the pills.
My body is not a fan of finasteride. I’m jealous of people who have no side effects. Right now I’m at an easy pill regimen that I’ll continue. Hoping the regrowth isn’t compromised.
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There are 2.5 minoxidil tablets. I get them at Walmart Pharmacy but I just reread your post and you wanted .25mg Maybe you could use the liquid and dilute it.
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When each of you @Agetron, @dgennetten, and @Danlalane add your powders to 1oz of DMSO, do you end up with a thick, translucent paste? I expected something more fluid than gooey.
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Yes and to that paste you then you add 3 fluid ounces of 5% Minoxidil. So to the 25 % paste you add Minoxidil solution 75 %
It dilutes the DMSO - which can be hot on the skin if greater than 25 %. It still is warm . Lol
Want rid of the grey hair… add 4 capsules of Green Tea EGCG and 4 capsules of Resveratrol.
Puncture capsules with the end of a paperclip or thick needle… squeeze out the juice.
Grey gone… looks like my old hair color. No roots. And even after a sweaty workout at the gym no color transfer drips or anything.
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Nice! Are you staining your pillow cases/towels/clothes with the orange paste?
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Hahaha.
I use a special towel to dry after I let it set a few minutes. The tea is strong… so a little spray cologne and it is good.
It actually is absorbed into the hair so it doesn’t rub off… must be the DMSO… that makes it part of the hair… but no roots. If you get caught in the rain… it doesn’t leech or run down your face and neck… it is permanent.
Is softer… healthier… rich…
Been doing since May. Nobody thinks my hair is dyed because it retains my natural streaks.
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Ok so I followed @Agetron’s original protocol tonight, with some added ingredients that come from a Strut Health custom Minoxidil formulation and calcium alpha ketoglutarate (Ca-aKG).
Process:
Crushed the pills in a stainless steel mortar and pestle. Transferred the powder to a Pyrex measuring cup, added 30mL of DMSO. Mixed the powder and DMSO plus 3000mg of Ca-aKG into a really thick, translucent paste, and stirred it 5 times over the course of an hour. Added 90 mL of the Minoxidil liquid, but it wouldn’t naturally mix with the DMSO goop, so I threw the separated mix into a cylindrical container and whipped it with a hand blender. I then transferred the resulting mix into a 120mL glass bottle and applied some to my scalp.
Ingredients:
• 6mg Zydus rapamycin
• 2500mg generic metformin
• 30mL DMSO
• 90 mL Strut Health Minoxidil (7.5% minoxidil, dutasteride 0.1%, tretinoin 0.0125%, and biotin)
• 3000mG Ca a-KG
Notes/questions:
• The DMSO mix seems too thick. Would appreciate thoughts on how to thin it and still maintain a 20-25% concentration in the final solution.
• Because the DMSO mix is so thick, it’s not possible to strain out material the DMSO doesn’t dissolve and so there’s a meaningful amount of sediment in the final solution that can’t be separated or strained out.
• Skipped the EGCG for now because of coloration concerns. With @Agetron’s reply above, I may try in the next batch for the potential to promote growth, although with my very dark hair and no meaningful number of grays at 49, I’ll need to see how well the red staining does in my hair.
• @RapAdmin recently posted a pair of studies indicating that lower rapamycin doses outperformed higher doses for hair regrowing. Thoughts on the 6mg in this protocol and how to potentially better tune to be in line with those studies?
Some details on me:
49yo, hair started thinning at 26. Have been on and off minoxidil since. Took oral finasteride for years but found that it killed my libido and stopped a few years in. A hair doc recently described me as a Norwood ~5 with a strong front tuft who has used Minoxidil for years and years with only slowed progression to show for it. I’ve been using this same Strut formula for maybe 18 months with no improvement and continued hair loss. I’ve also been on oral metformin 1g/day for ~36 mos and oral rapamycin 6mg/wk for ~14 mos. As an n=1, I’d be confident in saying that if I were to experience any new growth going forward that it’s likely the result of this change in formula.
Will report back with any changes I see.
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Sediment is typical… it will slowly dissolve… as it sits… Just shake before using…
Not sure wht your DMSO is thick? The liquid Equatev Walmart minoxidil 5% should thin it?
Also I am taking 2.5 Meg minoxidil nightly from a pill prescription, but you could also just take that liquid Equate Walmart minoxidil 5% and put 2 to 3 drops under your tongue and it will do the same According to others I’ve even tried it… no negative effects
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Yeah here’s what the DMSO paste looked like in the minoxidil:
I’ll increase the absolute amount of DMSO next time around.
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I am not sure what went wrong… I don’t use collagen… ummm usually you have all crushed…powdered pills… and add about 1/4 fluid ounce of DMSO… Let it sit 20 minutes… stirring occasionally.
Then add a 2 fluid ounce bottle o 5% Minoxidil and a half of one.
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Guys, just a little information I saw recently in a book on cosmetic dermatology that covered the excipients like transcutol and DMSO. See the bold comment on DMSO below. Here is an excerpt:
“Penetration enhancers
In this section, the influence of PEs on the diffusion coefficient and solubility of the active in the stratum corneum is evaluated. The use of topically applied chemical agents (surfactants, solvents, emollients) is a well‐known technique to modify the stratum corneum and also modify the chemical potential of selected actives. Collectively, these materials can be referred to as PEs. Based on the chemical structure, PEs can be categorized into several groups such as fatty acids, fatty alcohols, terpene fatty acid esters, and pyrrolidone derivatives [13]. PEs commonly used in skin care products have well‐known safety profiles but their ability to enhance penetration of an active is challenging because of the manifold ingredients used in many formulations.
Chemical enhancers
They are also known as absorption promoters and accelerants which are “pharmacological inert, nontoxic, nonirritating, nonallergic, rapid onset of action, and suitable duration of action, inexpensive and cosmetically acceptable [14].” A number of solvents (e.g. ethanol, propylene glycol, Transcutol® [Gattefossé, Saint‐Priest, France], and N‐methyl pyrrolidone) increase permeant partitioning into and solubility within the stratum corneum, hence increasing KP in Fick’s equation (equation 9.1). Ethanol was the first PE cosolvent incorporated into transdermal systems [15]. Synergistic[…]” “Synergistic effects between enhancers (e.g. Azone® [PI Chemicals, Shanghai, China], fatty acids) and more polar cosolvents (e.g. ethanol, propylene glycol) have also been reported suggesting that the latter facilitates the solubilization of the former within the stratum corneum, thus amplifying the lipid‐modulating effect. Similarly, solvents such as Transcutol are proposed to act by improving solubility within the membrane rather than by increasing diffusion. Another solvent, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), by contrast, is relatively aggressive and induces significant structural perturbations such as keratin denaturation and the solubilization of membrane components [16]. Table 9.2 is a list of the more commonly utilized chemical PEs.”
Excerpt From Book:
Cosmetic Dermatology, Draelos, Zoe Diana;
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Hmmm… am I to suppose this explains how the ECGC (Green Tea) and sienna colored Resveratrol seems to be absorbed into the hair shaft.
“solvent, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), by contrast, is relatively aggressive and induces significant structural perturbations such as keratin denaturation and the solubilization of membrane components”
Got my hair cut tonight… same stylist. Said she sees new grow and very healthy hair… not dried out or stressed. Says my hair looks totally natural… with blonde tones… formerly silver. Lol.
Been using 6 months… since May 2022… darker tone… an no roots…
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