I was on youtube and I came across a video and article where this guy was talking about how he used Minoxidil eight years ago to jump start his beard growth (he has a huge beard now). So I looked into it and I've decided to give it a try. I've been on T for a year and 6 or 7 months and I have some decent chin hair and a mediocre mustache as well as some neck hairs and sideburns just starting. I've only got fuzz on my cheeks though. So I figured I'd start this thread to post about how this stuff works for me and for anyone else to post their experiences/opinions as well. I just ordered the Kirkland 5% Minoxidil from Amazon so I should be getting that next week. I will post before pictures of my facial hair which I will take the day I start using it, and I will post updates periodically. I won't shave during this process. I bought a six month supply so I guess that's how long I'll do this for. According to what I've read/heard and my own understanding of how this stuff works, unlike use for scalp hair loss any new growth I get facial-hair wise should be permanent.
Any questions or comments are welcome and encouraged. Hopefully this will help me grow a better beard as well as help others decide whether or not to use this stuff based on my experience. And hopefully this won't be a waste of $25.00 and my time, but I figure it's worth a shot, since I'm pretty tired of looking 5 years younger than I am.
It'll be cool to see what your results are. I've read that minoxidil also causes body hair growth. I was thinking about getting some to thicken the body hair I already have but I'm pre-T so I'm not sure how it would work for me and I doubt I could get a beard from it.
My only word of caution to anyone trying it is that minoxidil is extremely toxic to cats which a lot of people don't know.
Interesting! I've only been on T for about 2 months and I've got some sparse chin/neck/chest hair. I am tempted to give this a go.
I'm currently doing this experiment (it's been 7 months so far) and it has massively kickstarted my hair growth. I started with only a few strands of hair on my chin and moustache but now I have a baby beard now (and I'm asian to put it into context). After the 5 month mark the hair growth has been steadily growing in. I'll post progression photos soon.
I'm not sure if it was the result of being back on T (for 7 months now) or minoxidil but my body hair has also increased quite a bit.. quite rapidly since I started.
There were only 2 temporary downsides:
1. minoxidil lowers your blood pressure and my body felt off (a "drop") when I first started using it for a couple of weeks (that similar feeling you get when you've missed a dosage of T for a day or two). It stopped after my body adjusted to the minoxidil
2. During month 2 - 3 I started losing a massive amount of hair on my head (the "shedding phase" that commonly occurs). It was very stressful but after getting to the 4 month mark it stopped shedding completely.
When stopping, the growth I had on my face stopped and even retreated. To this day, a few years later, that growth has not come back.
Quote from: LordKAT on February 06, 2015, 09:43:43 AM
When stopping, the growth I had on my face stopped and even retreated. To this day, a few years later, that growth has not come back.
How long did you stop for before noticing it retreat?
I've half-ed my dosage for the last 2 months now (I use to do it twice a day) and haven't noticed much growth since then and I wonder if that's the case?
TheGrayWolf - thanks for doing this experiment and sharing it with us! I wish I found some resources/progression photos before I started.. I only found results through cis-male blogs/youtube videos.
PS: Photos:(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fftm4.com%2Fmin.jpg&hash=cf8a4bc007528f44f766e1bae95ab51c58424f7b)
Holy crap that is impressive. Buying some now!
Quote from: ephone on February 06, 2015, 09:33:46 AM
I'm not sure if it was the result of being back on T (for 7 months now) or minoxidil but my body hair has also increased quite a bit.. quite rapidly since I started.
I am not trying to burst your bubble dude, but if you have been back on T for 7 months and the Minoxidil for 7 months during the same timeframe, I wouldn't be attributing your hair growth to the latter.
This will be interesting to see
I keep getting urges to give this a go myself, but I have to keep telling myself that hormones take time, and I'd rather let my transition do it's thing for at least 2 years before I use minox (I'm currently 1 year). Both my brothers have pretty impressive facial hair so I'm hoping mine will get there eventually.
There are just way too many downsides wit minox for me, so I want to give my T effects a fighting chance before I have to commit to something else that has way too many side effects.
I would say my facial hair atm is the same as the 1.5 months in the above pic with slightly thicker/longer chin hair, I stupidly shaved 3ish weeks ago so I don't know what it would've looked like if I hadn't, won't be making that mistake again.
It'll be interesting to see your progress and how things go, I have heard some miracle stories of people not losing hair once they come off minox, but, again...I doubt I'll have that luck so better not risk it, I don't fancy the shedding for a couple months either :P
Quote from: spacerace on February 06, 2015, 01:17:17 PM
I am not trying to burst your bubble dude, but if you have been back on T for 7 months and the Minoxidil for 7 months during the same timeframe, I wouldn't be attributing your hair growth to the latter.
Very valid points. I was on T for 8 months prior and didn't really grow any facial hair at all.. took a year off T and went back on. Not sure why this second round is that much different... I feel like minoxidil might have helped kickstart the hair growth but who really knows..
Also, I know someone else who'd tried it and hasn't been able to grow as much hair so genetics come into play for sure.
Quote from: Ollie on February 06, 2015, 03:28:19 PM
It'll be interesting to see your progress and how things go, I have heard some miracle stories of people not losing hair once they come off minox, but, again...I doubt I'll have that luck so better not risk it, I don't fancy the shedding for a couple months either :P
The shedding phase was quite scary.. I felt like I lost half my hair and almost regretted starting it. It's okay now. There are most definitely negative effects.. we'll see how it is. I'm easy off of minoxidil until I out in a week. But like spacerace mentioned, maybe a chunk of my growth was coming from getting back on T.
Thanks for the input and sharing experiences, guys. I'm considering starting out applying it once a day to see how my body reacts to it, and to minimize any side effects.
Quote from: LordKAT on February 06, 2015, 09:43:43 AM
When stopping, the growth I had on my face stopped and even retreated. To this day, a few years later, that growth has not come back.
I'm curious how long you had used it before you stopped? I've read some anecdotes and some people seem to think you have to use it until the new hair has matured in order to not lose it. I don't know though, since all of this stuff is based on personal experiences of course.
Quote from: Ollie on February 06, 2015, 03:28:19 PM
This will be interesting to see
I keep getting urges to give this a go myself, but I have to keep telling myself that hormones take time, and I'd rather let my transition do it's thing for at least 2 years before I use minox (I'm currently 1 year). Both my brothers have pretty impressive facial hair so I'm hoping mine will get there eventually.
There are just way too many downsides wit minox for me, so I want to give my T effects a fighting chance before I have to commit to something else that has way too many side effects.
I would say my facial hair atm is the same as the 1.5 months in the above pic with slightly thicker/longer chin hair, I stupidly shaved 3ish weeks ago so I don't know what it would've looked like if I hadn't, won't be making that mistake again.
It'll be interesting to see your progress and how things go, I have heard some miracle stories of people not losing hair once they come off minox, but, again...I doubt I'll have that luck so better not risk it, I don't fancy the shedding for a couple months either :P
I've thought about that as well, but the way I figure it I got an eight or so year late start, so if I can catch up beard-wise a bit there's no harm trying. Also as I said, I'm sick of looking so much younger than I am haha.
Quote from: spacerace on February 06, 2015, 01:17:17 PM
I am not trying to burst your bubble dude, but if you have been back on T for 7 months and the Minoxidil for 7 months during the same timeframe, I wouldn't be attributing your hair growth to the latter.
This. This is my thing with people who claim such great results on minox while they are also on T. It's likely the T and not the minox. Correlation does not equal causation.
I've been using minoxidil since July, and along with my mustache being much more notable, I can actually grab parts of my beard and some hairs on my neck are getting long. My peripheral vision is awful and I feel like I can't see a lot of it too well, but my partner says he can see it a lot. I haven't used any in about a week since I ran out, but I hope to go back to a regular basis again soon.
The Minoxidil arrived today, and as promised I took some before pics and then applied it to my face and upper neck. I didn't use the full recommended dose (1ml), partly because I don't think I need that much on my face and partly because I want to start slow to watch for any side effects. I'm going to try to go for twice a day. If I make any changes in dosage I'll update on that. To preface the before pics, I haven't shaved my moustache and chin since the end of October, and I haven't shaved the rest of my face for two or three weeks.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi113.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn230%2Ffrankp85%2F20150211_180946_zpsn7nzi0z9.jpg&hash=0352a9813fd82e64373bcfc184f7644279c13377)
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi113.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn230%2Ffrankp85%2F20150211_181041_zps9hjmkaqe.jpg&hash=0dd72c83c0ca8c7655b718d1d9ed635a8b04cc91)
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi113.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn230%2Ffrankp85%2F20150211_181021_zpsgo7bcxcc.jpg&hash=01bb1d22afcc957a1d1dd3fafae15eff6bfa3ecd)
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi113.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn230%2Ffrankp85%2F20150211_181133_zpslvu1hpyl.jpg&hash=91025a886c0f3bb646f19813ab6ccf264a357e95)
I don't think the pic of my neck came out that well. I do have some sparse hairs but they are not that thick, so they are hard to see in pictures I guess. I also have fuzz on my cheeks but it's hard to get that to show up as well.
I will update with new pics and whatnot next Wednesday.
Week 1 update pics:
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi113.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn230%2Ffrankp85%2F20150219_012919_zpshzjd02xx.jpg&hash=c963ca41833e2f658069711140efc2f08094807d)
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi113.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn230%2Ffrankp85%2F20150219_012943_zps5qf7zcwn.jpg&hash=687818ad82efcc8077801441521d72a61d7bb871)
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi113.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn230%2Ffrankp85%2F20150219_012936_zps1ish0ygq.jpg&hash=460fab18a7ddbd79e0954a591542af7306ab1ad2)
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi113.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn230%2Ffrankp85%2F20150219_012928_zpsnta37dfa.jpg&hash=d9e3a5eac3713ade2f1c8092954c7938d576d98f)
Haven't seen any change as far as I can tell. My applications haven't been as consistent as I'd like, but I'm doing my best. No side effects so far, aside from a bit of itching right after I apply it. I did have a bit of a mishap and I accidentally spilled most of the first bottle a few days ago. Needless to say I was not pleased, but I still have five more, and if after I use those up and decide it's worth continuing I can always get more.
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Okay so I've been trying this for the past month and can absolutely lend support to the benefits. I don't have pics, but I have seen about a 30% increase of facial hair within 1 month! Just to give you background info, I have been on T for nearly 2 years and before the monoxidil was only able to grow a chin strap with no moustache and very little hair/fuzz ON my actual chin. Within the month I have hair filling in my chin and a shadow of full beard hair, including moustache and cheeks.
I'm hella impressed, and glad to say it didn't cost a lot. I got an $8 extra strength generic minoxidil from walmart. Applied twice per day, it lasts one month. I'll be getting another bottle ASAP. It does dry out your skin and can cause some irritation/ flaking, so I tend to apply it AFTER work and again before bed. During the day I hydrate my skin with nivea, Vaseline and/or cocoa butter.
I should also add that I have an awesome barber who, from the beginning (starting T), shaped my sideburns and chinstrap to promote darker growth. By my 1 yr T anniversary, I had a very thin but dark chin strap. While trying minoxidil, I took an extra week (3 weeks) between haircuts to promote growth. My barber was still able to shape (not cut!) my beard to make my shadow beard look more pronounced. Needless to say, I praise my barber to no end for keeping my goals in mind for all this time.
I definitely recommend this to any guys on T that are trying to get that fuzz to grow into darker hair.
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