oral minoxidil for hormonal therapy induced hair loss
Hello all,
My hair grew back very thick after chemo (took 2 hours to blowdry!) and stayed that way through ovary removal and 4 years of AIs. I thought I had lucked out. About 1.5 years into Tamoxifen I started losing it again - diffuse loss, over a few months, most noticeable at temples and crown. I had a scalp biopsy done to rule out any other causes, which it did - it showed "miniaturized" follicles which is consistent with hormonal hair thinning.
I've started oral minoxidil (1.25mg/day) and I wanted to know if others have tried this for their tamoxifen related alopecia. If so, how long until you noticed results and what were the side effects? I'm not bothering with the topical version (messy) and the oral version may also help my sad sparse brows and lashes so that was my choice.
Experiences?
Comments
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I started taking oral minoxidil (same dose) in August and my hair has grown back significantly. I even went to a hair salon for the first time in years and they said I had 3-4 inches growth that was much thicker. I'd say 50% more but not quite how it was before all the treatment. It's also very curly, frizzy and dry (opposite to what I had before) but I'll take it!
I can now go out without a hat and everyone noticed the difference so completely worth it. I tried the topical treatments before and they didn't work as well as being horrible to apply. Hope this helps and you get a good result too!
I've been on letrozole for a couple of years and was on tamoxifen for a year before that.
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