Regaine Men's Extra Strength (5%) Minoxidil Hair Regrowth Treatment (4 x 60ml) $87.49 down from $148.99.
Regaine Men's Extra Strength Hair Regrowth Treatment is a topical solution for the treatment of hereditary hair loss in men. Clinically proven to help stimulate hair growth in some people with hereditary hair loss. 4month supply.
Mixed reviews
You could say the reviews are patchy
You go on this and you'll have to be in it for life. There is a side effect when you stop it which is, you'll lose more hair. Do your research before starting on this.
Not sure why you're being down voted, numerous people have had the same complaint.
There have also been multiple reports of hair growing in places that were unexpected and in excess.
Don't worry it's weak little men who are hurt due to balding.
I opted for shaving bald when I started losing hair and I haven't been happier.
Also this stuff can cause heart problems if taken incorrectly and for long periods of time.
Inaccuracy is probably the reason
@DanielBaird: Exactly, it doesn't always work and when it does, if stopped, you will lose your hair, It's a life commitment.
Does this apply to topical solutions too? I was gifted some nioxin stuff a few years back, and I rub it in from time to time. Now I'm partly glad that I rarely use it, but still a bit concerned. Not malding.
Don't use it if you don't really need to, resort to natural oils, they work better and use good shampoos and don't wash your hair everyday, let natural oils do their thing.
@itsmoe You are right.
I don't know how many people would really read the instruction which come with the box. It does mention if you stop using the product you will get back as "before".
But the term "before" with the time being, the original you may already lost more than the time you started using.
Thus people may found that they lost more after stop.
Since I have done a couple of lazy cycles, stop using after a set, then it really get back as "before" slowly…now I am in cycle number 6. :D
(I am using the foam version)
Bro, I've been shaving my head for the last 10 years or so. I have looked into all of these options and the stress and anxiety that comes with it, I was better offer just buying a trimmer and a shaver and just accepting the fact that I will not have beautiful long hair ever again.
If it's working for you bro, that's great.
I feel sad for your bear.
It can, but requires other things well like micro needling, supplements and beard oil.
And most importantly your genetics
Which supplements and microneedle do you recommend using?
This
I'm pretty sure it does. However, be aware- when applying this to your scalp, the effects go away after discontinued use, but with beard I believe its permanent
Where did you read this?
He's not wrong.
Consistent minoxidil application will encourage follicular growth and if vellus hairs transition and become terminal, they are there to stay.
The issue is that minoxidil does not treat the underlying driver of baldness (DHT). So minoxidil on the beard can be permanent, but minoxidil on the scalp without a DHT blocker like finasteride is going to be pretty short-lived and pointless.
@Tight Tim: Thanks I was asking about the beard (that it's permanent, without ongoing application). Do you have a link to evidence / research findings?
Problem with finasteride is it affects sex drive and has other negative downsides
@PredatorvsAlien: I don't think there's any 'real studies' on minoxidil beards being permanent. After all, it's off-label use. I mentioned in a comment further down that anecdotally, it seems to be possible. If you jump on YouTube you'll find plenty of people who have documented their journey growing a beard (from nothing sometimes) using minoxidil and then doing check-ins years later to show that it didn't shed away and disappear.
As for finasteride, statistically you would be highly unlucky to experience those side effects. They exist, but don't just assume you'll be impacted. I'm just a n=1 but I haven't had any issues taking finasteride.
@PredatorvsAlien: n=x just refers to the sample size in research/statistical contexts. In my case of n=1, it's just acknowledging that I haven't experienced any issues, but that I'm only one person.
That's ruff
There is a whole community out there showing it's possible, just search "minox beards" and see.
There is also plenty of anecdote to suggest that once the vellus hairs become terminal, that they stick around even after discontinuation of the minoxidil.
Before commenting, take a look at previous deals and their comment threads, there's a lot of good information (and preconceptions dispersed) we've shared before.
This comment reminds of uncle rico from napoleon dynamite trying out his "Time machine" he bought online and electrocuting his nuts……
Napoleon: 'Piece of crap doesn't work'
Uncle Rico walking out holding his nuts: 'I could of told you that'
They only thing that worked for me was Finasteride.
no ED?
None for me. I recommend trying Fin for every man who catches it early, or can't let go and shave.
Been using for a couple of years now and seen little to possibly no gain. I am also on Fin which has stopped me from losing more hair. What made you stop using Minoxidil and just stick to Fin only? Assuming you were once using Minox
Id recommend the foam over this
PP405
You've used this stem cell treatment?
No - but apparently it looks promising & worth watching the trial results.
Few years off seeing the light of day, if phase 2 trials go well and they look at some longer-term studies. Worth keeping an eye on.
TDM-105795 seems exciting.
I used to think hair loss was as inevitable as the tides..
Just so people know:
-Keep this far and away from pets, very small amounts are fatal.
-40-60% of people are non responders since this product needs to react with sufficient SULT1A1 enyzme levels to work. Microneedling (which is also great for hair loss) and/or tretinoin turn most people into responders.
-It takes months of consistent use to work
A guy at my work does all this, needling and all, and still wears a hat or beanie lol
Just embrace baldness. There's no harm in it. I guarantee if you're single and looking then the baldness is not the cause.
Agreed. Holding on to scraps is no good. Shaving to a number 1 looks (and feels) way better!
Wrong. Ask men who get hair systems.
Being bald gets you treated much worse by many people, unless you're one of the lucky few with a round head who look good bald and are masculine.
The fact that a little bit of hair is holding you back, is a huge concern. People don't treat bald people any less than normal people. I have was balding at 20, started shaving my head at 22 and never had any issues with the ladies or any other people and I'm an average looking guy at best.
@itsmoe: Brother, I'm telling you you're wrong.
Ask guys who get hair systems - they can literally A/B test having hair versus not. They all report that you get treated better, acknowledged more, smiled at more, respected more, when you have a head of hair. There's motivated reasoning and bias here, but it's a consistent fact reported and they're best placed to directly compare.
Again, the exception is people who look good bald AND can be confident when shaved, but that's a subset of a subset.
I hope (and wish) guys could just shave and be happy, but that's like saying women can just dress poorly and be assertive and they suffer no social consequences just because you wish it were so - sadly we live in the real world, where it is not so.
@Wolfenstein98k: I could be wrong but all the guys that I know who are balding and have shaved their heads, do look better without hair, you have to have a little bit of balls to be confident in your baldness. Also it's how you put yourself out there, if you are going to look like a drug dealer with a serious face most of the time (usually me) and look unapproachable, don't expect people to smile at you or treat you nicely.
I'm trying my best to be smiling most of the time and when I do, I get nothing but friendly looks back. Once again could just be me. (Also a beard does help when you are bald which I was blessed enough to have a decent one).
The issue with me is seeing men suffer and go through depression for losing their hair, I want all men to be happy with the way they look because women will pick on anything regardless, so be who you are and be confident with it. This is what I am preaching.
@itsmoe: Agree on all that - but if the man is visibly balding, then the big shave is an improvement. But if he's not, keeping the hair is almost always a better look.
But many men who are not yet shaved do not identify as bald and do not want to be - they should have options.
Lastly, read the point about hair systems again.
What recommendations for Microneedling?
Great comment on the surprising efficacy of combining tretinoin with minoxidil, I never see anyone mention this.
Source required for the second claim. I'd read that tret and microneedling have small effects, nothing like enabling 40-60% of men to suddenly become responders.
How long does this sale go for?
It's usually 2 weeks.
Thanks
Do you know how often it goes on sale?
I still have maybe 1.5 cannisters left, but not sure if I should buy another pack now or not.
Every 3 to 4 months.
Thanks. Gonna try the foam to grow some more respectable-looking facial hair.
Which is better. This or the foam. Pro and Cons to any that have tried both?
My personal preference is foam. Easier to apply and giving you a little bit "hair up" effect after dried.
Ok thanks. Thing is, it’s usually more expensive than the liquid whether they on sale or not
Obligatory reminder that minoxidil will only encourage follicular growth, but a prescription DHT blocker is required to actually treat and stop the underlying driver of male pattern baldness.
What are the DHT blockers without negative side-effects or downsides?
As in, zero chance of side-effects? I don't think any exist.
All you can do is try finasteride/dutasteride and hope that you don't get side effects (statistically you're highly unlikely to, but like with any medication, some people will). Otherwise, accept your fate from the Norwood reaper.
Out of the two, which is better. And assume both are Dr's prescription medication?
No such thing. They have very few side effects, but the side effects come from lowering DHT - so you can't achieve the outcome without the risk of side effects.
The way it seems to me, after reviewing some literature and speaking with multiple doctors and two dermatologists, is that every man is somewhere on the spectrum from "very virile, zero risk of ED" all the way to "very nervous about sex, can think himself into ED in seconds if he lets his brain go there".
These drugs nudge you a bit further right on that spectrum, with the greater a reduction in DHT, the harder the nudge.
Accordingly, if you're barely above ED level, it might be enough of a nudge to make you feel it. But if you've got a "buffer", you won't notice anything.
Very few men (<2%) report any sides. So I think it's just a selection effect, and the men most likely to have sides - right side of the spectrum - are already nervous types with lots of negative emotion, and so they're also most likely to complain online.
So there's a big online culture of reporting them as d!ck-killers, but whenever someone studies it scientifically, or a derm prescribes it to hundreds of men, they get a clear signal that almost no men struggle with it.
Don't stress, try it out, discontinue if you can't handle it. But if you don't do it, your baldness will keep progressing, and few people suddenly plateau and stop balding.
Fantastic comment.
Thanks for the detailed reply. Is it much of a hassle to ask your local GP to be put on finasteride for example? And how often do you take it, pill form? And how long before it kicks in. Presumably its taken for the rest of your life, and whats the monthly / annual cost. Is it on the PBS?
@PredatorvsAlien: See your GP.
It's quick and easy, you'll walk out with a 6-month prescription.
Pill, you can get 1mg and take them daily*, or get 5mg and use a pill cutter (or knife) to split them into 4, then take four days on, one day off - average of 5mg per 5 days. Works out way cheaper.
You take it as long as you want to slow (or if lucky, stop) your balding.
Shows effects over a few months due to the way shedding cycles work. For most people it just stops progression, so you don't see a massive difference, but you don't see what you didn't lose. For lucky few, it causes some regrowth and thickening.
Cost is cheap as because it's generic. It's something like $17 for a box of 30x 5mg, so that's 5 months worth.
*Consider starting lower than this and working your way up. Ask your GP for advice.
@Wolfenstein98k: Great thanks. What generic brand are you taking?
That's way cheaper than going on Regaine, even when its for sale at $88 which is only for 3 months per box of 4.
@PredatorvsAlien: Don't confuse Finasteride with Minoxidil - I was talking about the price for 5mg Fin.
Minoxidil topical is much cheaper in the generic than the Regaine brand. Just google "Minoxidil extra strength" or whatever, it comes in a yellow generic box and is much cheaper. Same stuff.
@Wolfenstein98k: Yes I was asking about Finasteride. You mentioned it was generic? If so, what brand is it? (the Finasteride you are taking)
Oh yeah, sorry my send para is confusing
@Wolfenstein98k: Did some quick reading and it seems there is some risk of prostate cancer if one takes Finasteride and it can affect PSA readings? Sounds like this is not a great option if one has a family history of prostate cancer?
@PredatorvsAlien: It lowers PSA, but you just need to let your doctor know if you are looking into it. It doesn't cause cancer. It actually lowers the risk.
But it increases the risk of FINDING cancer, which can be misunderstood as causing it.
@PredatorvsAlien: You're welcome. Good luck on your journey, if you start it. My only regret is not starting years earlier.
@Wolfenstein98k: Thanks. Let’s see what my GP says. May not even give me a script lol
I’ll give it a try if it’s an option
I’d like to also get off the topical Regaine due to reasons you state - dryness, dandruff etc. Seems like it will be cheaper per year also.
I have avoided Finasteride due to the downsides but seems like it’s been over-highlighted
@PredatorvsAlien: Definitely has. If you're not very unhealthy (fat, no exercise, etc) then you don't have any biological causes of ED.
Your only risk factor comes from worrying - so just don't overthink it. Remember that it's >98% chance of being fine.
To get a feeling for how serious that is, try to flip a coin and get the same result six times in a row, as that is the same chance. You won't.
My experience after using topical Minoxidil (aka this product but generic, much cheaper):
I saw slight improvement after best part of a year.
The application process is easy, takes a few minutes, but is annoying. I have medium length hair (swept back and over) because I'm thin on the crown and thinning in the front. It looks good enough as a style, but the problem is this liquid does coat the base of the hair strands even if you try to avoid that. The result is the hair looks a little greasy and "wet", which exaggerates how bare it looks.
Further, it gives you dandruff because your scalp dries out from the alcohol.
If you keep your hair short the wetness may not be a problem, but the dandruff would then be more visible.
Some people say foam avoids these problems but I never tried it.
Instead I switched to oral (sublingual to be precise, ask me for more details if interested). This is much better for me because it has a higher chance of success*, AND it means you don't have to wash and style your hair every morning after use of topical the night before.
Whereas oral (and sublingual) are converted in the liver, which has a much higher success rate across the whole population.
The downside is the systemic approach has more side effects related to the heart and blood pressure, but this is easily reduced as a risk and monitored with a doctor. Sublingual lowers this risk even further, which is why I'm doing that.
Could you please give details of the oral/sublingual Minoxidil you are taking, what's the brand name and cost? How often do you take it, and how much etc.. So are you taking this, and finasteride together?
Needs a GP prescription, or go to Sinclair Dermatology. Former is much cheaper.
Only one brand (the compounding pharmacy for Sinclair, I think their name is Pharmacy smart) makes sublingual currently, but you can get them from your local chemist with GP's prescription.
Started on 0.45mg to be conservative, now at two a day. Will bump up a bit more, and then wean off the topical. Can't wait.
It is quite expensive compared to generic oral, something in the realm of a dollar a day or a bit less (roughly $170 for 180 pills), because it's new and there's no competition. Not sure of the exact price of regular oral, but it's much cheaper.
Definitely take with Finasteride - if you're not on Fin, you are continuing to bald. Minoxidil should help gain some hair, and thicken a bit, but if you're balding at the same time, it's probably a net negative. Better than nothing but it's not addressing the cause like Fin does.
When I'm done changing from topical to SL, my goal is a pill a day of each Fin and Min. I tried other things but I've come around to that as the best balance, and it so happens to be the standard protocol lol
Ok so what’s the pros and cons of taking minoxidil oral pills Vs sublingual? Seems the pills are cheaper. And what is the brand name for the pills
@PredatorvsAlien: No idea for brand name but I'd look at generic. If that doesn't exist yet, Loniten might be the one. Again - GP.
Pros of SL is that it bypasses first-pass metabolism in the liver, meaning that more of the active component is absorbed. In practice this means a smaller dose is necessary for the same outcome, meaning less side effects.
Only cons are price (and that it takes a few minutes to dissolve, with a minor risk of swallowing it by accident). From a google it seems like Loniten is $31.50 on PBS, but I don't know if you can get that price when you're using it off-label. That's for 100x 10mg, and you'd be likely to use a quarter of that a day when starting.
@Wolfenstein98k: I saw the GP this afternoon, he's given me a script for a combined Finasteride 0.25 MG + Minoxidil 2MG pill (+8 other elements). So one pill, taken once a day (instead of two).
But I have to take it to a specialist compound pharmacy to make this up. So have to find one and get a price
@PredatorvsAlien: Fair enough. Ask your local chemist if they can send away for it.
I would just do regular Fin and Min, and cut them yourself. Easier to get and no doubt cheaper. But whatever works for you.
@Wolfenstein98k: Didn't get the choice. The GP said this option was the way to go
I went to 3 chemists near me, 2 said don't do compound. One said they can, but send it away to get done. Waiting to hear back tomorrow for their quote
Looking at your posts, it looks like you're currently taking 1 MG Fin + 2 MG Minoxidil. My script is 0.25 MG Fin + 2 MG Minoxidil. Is my Fin too low? almost a quarter what you're taking
@PredatorvsAlien: It's good to start there, in case you have a bad experience. If I could start again I'd start smaller and work up to 1mg.
Just do that for a while, maybe a month, then move up.
@Wolfenstein98k: The GP gave me a script with 5 repeats, so that's 6 months worth. I'll do that for that long I guess and see how that goes, and ask him to increase if no bad side effects on 0.25 MG
@PredatorvsAlien: Sure, that's just a slow titration. If you're not losing quickly, that's alright then. I'd go higher faster though, personally.
No reason you couldn't get a second script for standard 1mg, and split those if you want, and supplement your current tablets.
@Wolfenstein98k: Only thing is I have to pay out for another session with the GP to get a second script, so another $57 after medicare rebate. My GP is not bulk bill unfortunately. Presumably my first script is still useable after the 2nd one is given out, or does it cancel out the 1st one? Never had a script before lol
@Wolfenstein98k: Cheapest quote I got is 87 cents per capsule (rather than tablet). Most expensive was $1.30 per capsule. What do you think of this cost wise compared to tablets?
@PredatorvsAlien: That is much more than buying them separately and cutting them yourself. You are paying for convenience there. Only you can decide if that's right for you.
Do some googling for 1mg (or cheaper, 5mg) Fin and 5mg Min (if you can find it, maybe only 10mg which you can quarter). Do the math. It'll be way cheaper.
@Wolfenstein98k: How much is yours working out to be per day?
Googled for Fin 5mg but only came up with Finasta Sandoz 5mg Tablets 30 at Chemist Warehouse, but when you click on the link it says: Sorry, the product you are looking for is no longer available. Where are you ordering from if you don't mind me asking?
@PredatorvsAlien: Prescription for Fin, doctor suggested 5mg then splitting. But you could just ask for that. Your doctor will prescribe it if you seem trustworthy. Something like $20 per box which lasts 150 days.
Prescription for Min - same deal. I went with sublingual, you can get that prescribed now and then the local pharmacy will send away to have it compounded by PharmacySmart. Or just go to them if they're near you.
Otherwise regular oral Min can be gotten anywhere, like Chemist Warehouse, but I think you need a prescription. Much cheaper than your compounded tablets.
@Wolfenstein98k: Checked Chemist Warehouse…
Finasteride WGR 5mg Tablets 30 - Finasteride $29.99, split into 5 = 1mg for 150 days = 0.20 per day
Loniten 10mg Tablets 100 - Minoxidil $46.99, split into 5 = 2mg for 500 days = 0.094 per day
= 30 cents per day
vs
My capsules at 87 cents per day (with lower mg fin)
So yeah, generic fin & min tablets are 1 third of the price. Just have to split a table into 5, which is kinda tricky? And as long as these generic tablets are good quality.
But don't capsules have better absorption? Or is it negligible…
Just to add to the conversation here regarding the purchase of Minoxidil:
Has anyone used Kirkland Minoxidil? I'm keen to know what differences (if any) you experienced.
Reason I ask (FYI), as well as a serious word of warning is that I used to buy only Kirkland from eBay until my very last purchase - this was a fake, characterised by the cheap, smudged/poorly printed label and slightly pink solution that had the sweet scent of glycerine. I was successfully refunded but thought; if someone were to go ahead and use 6 months of a knock-off then you run the risk of negating all the time, money and effort of previous, 'genuine' supplies of Minoxidil. Ever since this incident I've chosen to pay a little more for Regaine from a reputable merchant.
Is it gonna help with beard growth? My bear has been patchy for my whole life