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It is helping! Rogaine for female pattern baldness!
I am very excited to share some good results with you and to encourage anyone with my type of hair loss to try what I tried.
I am 59 years old. About 4 years ago my ex husband pointed out that I had hair loss (leave it to those ex husbands! Especially mine..very critical).
I went to my Doctor and dermatologist and they confirmed that my hair loss was "simply age related" and the dermatologist recommended minoxidil for women. I tried it for a stretch, probably 30 days, hated it and quit. I did nothing. Eventually I stopped coloring my hair (the dark was not helping my cause) but that "hole" in my crown was always there. Awful because the only thing I could do was "comb-over" and that didn't really work either. I used Topix and the problem only got worse over the next 3-4 years. I was quite close to looking into a hair piece--but, of course, I did not want that, even though my hair has never been "pretty" I wanted to avoid a hair piece if I could.
7 weeks ago I read an article about women my age using Rogaine for men (5% foam) and Nizoral shampoo. The article (I am sorry, I did not bookmark it) stated that Rogaine for men is all right for women my age. I ordered 6 cans of it from Amazon (at a great savings). I vowed to used it twice a day until the cans were gone. I have 1/2 can left. It is not as messy as the minoxidil, but it is not particularly FUN either. I still haven't figured out how to get the foam mostly onto my scalp instead of into my hair! But, I have done my best, rubbing it into my scalp, morning and night. I have faithfully used Nizoral shampoo. The "HOLE" is now filling in. These aren't great photos--but I think you can see the difference. I recommend anyone with my type of problem try this.
It did seem to look worse before it looked better (like at the 3-4 week mark). This might be why people quit before it takes hold. I am going to keep going with it. I was very skeptical about this--but now I can see that this is an improvement and I wanted to share it!
I am 59 years old. About 4 years ago my ex husband pointed out that I had hair loss (leave it to those ex husbands! Especially mine..very critical).
I went to my Doctor and dermatologist and they confirmed that my hair loss was "simply age related" and the dermatologist recommended minoxidil for women. I tried it for a stretch, probably 30 days, hated it and quit. I did nothing. Eventually I stopped coloring my hair (the dark was not helping my cause) but that "hole" in my crown was always there. Awful because the only thing I could do was "comb-over" and that didn't really work either. I used Topix and the problem only got worse over the next 3-4 years. I was quite close to looking into a hair piece--but, of course, I did not want that, even though my hair has never been "pretty" I wanted to avoid a hair piece if I could.
7 weeks ago I read an article about women my age using Rogaine for men (5% foam) and Nizoral shampoo. The article (I am sorry, I did not bookmark it) stated that Rogaine for men is all right for women my age. I ordered 6 cans of it from Amazon (at a great savings). I vowed to used it twice a day until the cans were gone. I have 1/2 can left. It is not as messy as the minoxidil, but it is not particularly FUN either. I still haven't figured out how to get the foam mostly onto my scalp instead of into my hair! But, I have done my best, rubbing it into my scalp, morning and night. I have faithfully used Nizoral shampoo. The "HOLE" is now filling in. These aren't great photos--but I think you can see the difference. I recommend anyone with my type of problem try this.
It did seem to look worse before it looked better (like at the 3-4 week mark). This might be why people quit before it takes hold. I am going to keep going with it. I was very skeptical about this--but now I can see that this is an improvement and I wanted to share it!
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Permalink Reply by Celeste Clark on
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Thanks Lorena,
I have been using the Rogaine 5% for men for 6 months with no adverse effects. The dermatologist said he feels Rogaine is alright in women who are not in child bearing years. When I first read about Rogaine and/or Minoxidil I did not want to start it because I understand that any gains will be reversed if you don't keep using it. It seemed too expensive to me. However, as the "hole" kept getting worse and I became more depressed about it, I figured what the H**L. I understand your concerns, but since my blood pressure is perfect, I will keep on. Of course, if there are any serious side effects, I will discontine. I accept risks because I like the improvement.
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Permalink Reply by Amy on
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Hello,
I bought some Rogaine for women (2% solution) a couple of days ago and am trying to gather the courage to use it. I am scared to start because I think I want to have more kids (the goal is one more . . .) and I know that if I want to get pregnant I will need to stop using the rogaine and any regrowth (if any) will be lost. I am afraid that I will be worse off than if I hadn't used it (I have seen that there is often increased hair loss for a few weeks before it stops). Also, there seems to be an understanding that this drug can have a negative impact if a woman plans to get pregnant in the future. Is that true? Does it affect fertility or make it more likely to have a baby with birth defects? I could not find anything online that states this specifically and it is not in the warnings included on the instructions in the box.
If anyone has a recommendation as to whether I should try this or just suck it up and deal with the loss and eventual wig, I would love to hear it.
Thanks!!
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Hey Amy..! The only reason I am doing Rogaine (and for me it's the "for men" version!) is because I am well past reproduction age. I believe that the consensus is to stay away from Rogaine if you plan on having children. Sorry to say! Perhaps someone else with more knowledge can chime in.
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Permalink Reply by Michelle L on
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Hi Celeste
I am so happy for you but I do want to tell you my 'not so good' Minoxidil story, just as a caution. I also have AGA and started using 5% Minoxidil (same thing as Regaine for men) about 3 months ago. While on it, I lost about 50% of the hair on top of my head (seriously) which I accepted because apparently Minoxidil causes you to shed before you regrow. Okay, fine. But - the hair hasn't regrown, I am much worse off that when I started (now wearing a wig.hat/bandanna) and have stopped because in the 3 months I was on Minoxidil, my skin aged DRAMATICALLY. And I mean, noticeably. I looked further into it and read that Minoxidil is actually a collagen inhibitor, so once it was in my system, it caused my skin to dry up and wrinkle. I was HORRIFIED! I stopped Minoxidil immediately because I'd rather be bald than wrinkled - ANY DAY. The problem is that when I stopped Minoxidil, the little hair I had grown in the 3 months then fell out in a big clump. So, all in all, not a good experience.
I did grow a rather magnificent handlebar moustache. Gorgeous. Except that I am a woman...
(And when I went for a bikini wax, my beautician nearly passed out from the amount of hair down there!)
I am sure none of this will happen to you and I sincerely hope that you have only joy from the stuff. But had to share my story as a word of caution.
xoxo
michelle
PS - attached is a shot of may hair before and after Minoxidil (after is the top of head shot). - Attachments:
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mish.jpg, 7 KB -
hair march 2010.jpg, 134 KB
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