I regularly update my old popular post on oral Minoxidil for hair loss. Almost every week there are interesting new stories and testimonials on low-dose oral Minoxidil (LDOM) growing hair in people. And the news media has become extremely interested in this subject.
However, in that post, I purposely neglected including links to Reddit before and after hair growth transformation stories. There are just too many to count. I have now made this post for that specific purpose.
The Most Efficacious Hair Loss Drugs Ranked
I feel like there are even more hair growth success stories in regards to oral Minoxidil than the gold standard oral Dutasteride (Avodart). Make sure to go through the numerous comments in my post on oral Dutasteride for hair loss reviews.
Note that Dutasteride is only officially approved to treat hair loss in Japan and South Korea. In the rest of the world, this enlarged prostate medication is used off-label to treat androgenic alopecia (male pattern hair loss).
Countering my increasingly pro oral Minoxidil bias, a widely cited 2021 systemic review of 23 studies via meta-analysis found the following efficacy ranking for the main hair loss medications:
- 0.5 mg/d of oral dutasteride.
- 5 mg/d of oral finasteride.
- 5 mg/d of oral minoxidil.
- 1 mg/d of oral finasteride.
- 5% topical minoxidil.’
- 2% topical minoxidil.
- 0.25 mg/d of oral minoxidil.
I wish this analysis had also tried to include extra strength Minoxidil 10% or 15%. In any case, I would be curious to see a similar study that covers the years 2022 and 2023. Oral Minoxidil for hair loss only became popular in the US and Europe over the past two years. In Thailand (and, to a lesser extent, Australia), this popularity came much earlier.
Reddit Oral Minoxidil Hair Growth Stories
On Reddit Tressless, there are daily success stories of people regrowing hair while on oral Minoxidil. In most cases, people are taking 2.5 mg per day (like myself), though many take 5 mg per day or even more. Please talk to your doctor if you ever take this drug, especially if you have any pre-existing heart conditions.
Over the past year, I collected many of these success story links. Below is a list of some of the most inspiring transformations that oftentimes include extraordinary before and after photos. Make sure to swipe through all the images in each link, and not just see the first one.
In many cases, people were taking Finasteride or Dutasteride for a while too, but adding oral Minoxidil into the mix truly made the biggest difference. In some cases, a person got on two drugs around the same time, but I still counted the result as supportive of oral Minoxidil.
You can click on each of the images below and go through the original poster’s responses to comments and questions. This will give you a decent idea on what drug seemed to make the biggest impact on the hair regrowth.
Note that all of these people are likely legitimate. In many cases, I checked out their past posting history. Moreover, there is absolutely no financial benefit in someone promoting oral Minoxidil. If you use GoodRx in the US and select the generic option, low-dose oral Minoxidil will cost you less than $10 per month. Even cheaper than topical Minoxidil foam. I just do not see any financial incentive for people to push this medication over other alternatives.
If any of the below people post future updates, please feel free to add the relevant link in the comments to this post. Or, for that matter, if you see any new Reddit testimonial that blows your mind, feel free to share. Especially if the person is only taking low-dose oral Minoxidil and nothing else.
8 mos: oral (Du, Min), topical (Min, Ru, Ketoconazole), microneedling. NW7 for 7 years
byu/ClayPot357 intressless
3 Month Progress – Fin & Oral Min
byu/tresslessthr0waway intressless
Dut (2years) / RU58841 (5 months) / Oral Min (1 year)
byu/nuKaross intressless
Update on hair, will be posting monthly! Nov 8 – Jan 14
byu/Hairevrywherebuthead intressless
4 Months Progress (1mg Fin, 5mg Oral Min & Nizoral 2x/week)
byu/djbaroud intressless
Oral Fin/Min 6 month before and after
byu/minicoopj intressless
(26 M) 9 months on oral minoxidil and oral finasteride
byu/Stock_Adeptness_9134 intressless
Oral min 2.5mg closing in on 3 months
byu/_the_orange_box_ intressless
It works. About a 1 year transformation.
byu/HarryBalsagna_ intressless
6 months update: Dut 3x/week / oral min / dut+prp mesotherapy
byu/salsasanluis intressless
[M30] 15 months progress on Oral Dutasteride and Sublingual Minoxidil
byu/Throwaway_no_hair intressless
[24M] – 70 days progress on > daily oral fin (1mg) + daily topical and oral min (1.5mg)
byu/No-Bodybuilder4389 intressless
My progress story for my hair loss treatment
byu/sohaibkkhan intressless
Oral minoxidil works wonders!!!
byu/Affectionate-Fill319 intressless
~6 months of chemicals and needles
byu/Competitive_Help_513 intressless
I am a young woman interested in taking oral minoxidil for my hair loss, but I had another young woman on reddit reach out to me saying that it gave her a connective tissue disorder? this is very scary to me..any insight on this?
Oral minoxidil can lead to the lack of integrity of connective tissue around your heart leading to fluid buildup. It’s rare but has happened before.
Just be very careful because it’s hard to detect while using the drug orally.
yeah and I think oral minoxidil is a little tougher on women..but I want my hair. This is a tough decision to make.
A man here, i have been on oral min for about a year now. Hair is looking ok, nothing great. But this past Friday I noticed my feet look a bit swollen. Not puffy to the touch, but they looked fuller. My feet are usually very thin and veiny, but i almost couldnt see one vein in either foot. I laid off the minox for two days and they are back to normal. Not sure what caused this all the sudden, but it was alarming.
Have not heard about that side effect, but women tend to get on lower doses. Probably due to the hirsutism side effect. The below video covers oral Minoxidil for women’s hair loss in several places:
https://youtu.be/DUj-vnNCu0M
Thank you. I am responding somewhat well to Topical Minoxidil 5% once a day..thinking of upping it to twice a day..I wonder, what is better, topical minoxidil 5% twice a day vs. oral minoxidil 1.25 mg/day. I read the ranking of hair loss treatments you mentioned per a systemic review that was published but it doesnt quite have oral minoxidil 1.25 on the list..only 0.5 and 5 mg/day.
You might also want to contact Dr. Bhoyrul in Australia or Dr. Donovan in the US or Dr. Vano in Spain. The last two mentioned are in the below links:
https://donovanmedical.com/hair-blog/oral-minoxidil-five-errors
https://www.actasdermo.org/es-rf-oral-minoxidil-for-articulo-S157821901930304X
thank you so much!will do
Could you report back if you speak to them? I’m a female with hereditary hair loss as well.
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/1awk9at/4_months_oral_minoxidil_25mg_oral_finasteride_1mg/
Incredible results in that first example especially; happy for him. I can’t bring myself to take those drugs but this is a positive sign!
I am a woman on 0.5 mg for 1.5 month…
I am experiencing water retention on my stomach especially after eating…
I’ve read here and there that that types of side effect can disappear after 3 to 4 months…. Is there evidence for this ?
Finasteride 1 mg/ day maintains but a year on 2.5 OM has done nothing for me. Good luck everyone.
I’m a 43 year old male, Norwood 2-3. Today is my eighth day on Oral Minoxidil, 2.5 mg. I’m tolerating it pretty well. It makes my heart beat a little faster at times but nothing terrible. Keeping my fingers crossed it won’t cause me trouble. Hope it fills in my thin spots on the scalp. Sadly, I cannot take Finasteride or Dutasteride orally. I got very bad reactions to both of them. They made my depression worse plus got my scalp irritated and itchy. I can take them topically but leaves my scalp yucky, oily, exposed and don’t like the smell. Same goes for Topical Minoxidil. I’m considering going on reishi mushroom and graviola leaf oral supplements again instead to get the 5-α reductase benefit. The thing is does it really work like Finasteride or Dutasteride? I know it did wonders for my prostate but for my hair I’m really not sure. Yeah, some say taking less Finasteride or Dutasteride might curb the side-effects but seriously I’m struggling as is and cannot chance it again. I think Dutasteride actually had a negative effect on my hair. I’m using Pyrilutimide but not responding as of yet.
Best of luck and keep us updated. Your comment went to the spam folder for some reason. Glad I checked.
New one:
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/13wmg94/3_month_finasteride_oral_minoxidil_progress/
2. – 5 mg/d of oral finasteride !
Wow. These people can’t read. How did America become this illiterate? It’s been well established that 5 mg/d has no benefit over 1 mg/d.
It is based on a meta analysis of 23 studies/trials. The authors did not test these dosages themselves.
And even if the 5 mg was only 10% superior to the 1 mg, that will impact the ranking.
I’ve been on 1.25mg oral minoxidil for 1 week, no sides. Has anyone here started at that does and that doubled it, if so, how long did your doctor wait to go up in dosage?
That is good.
I am a female,.started on 0.5 mg, instarted to experience water retention after 3 weeks..I am almost 2 months in….
Indont know if sides effect can disappear with time…
I think it’s worth noting that when people say they experience ‘no sides’ that doesn’t mean there aren’t systemic changes going on in your body that you cannot notice right now that will have ripple effects down the road. Not trying to be a downer, but taking these drugs every day there’s no way there’s no collateral damage.
Not saying you’re wrong and most probably right. The thing is how long has Oral Minoxidil been used at these lower dosages and what have been the adverse effects? What I hope for is in time something equally or more effective will come along, is safer to replace it. Hopefully I won’t have to take this stuff for decades because I would suspect by then something quite negative is likely to occur. Then again people take anti-depressants for years on end and seem “okay”.
it is something that I am just not okay taking for decades on end..AGA is chronic. Plus on reddit, yes there are miracle stories but plenty others that are not…
Man I heard on the radio coast to coast am, that China is already doing full fledged human cloning that’s how China is going to solve there population problems. If that’s the case then kintor holds no value and they also said China is trying to beat Japan as a stemcell/cloning hub for patients seeking new cloned organs China is going to do this and there going to dominate the world in the electric vehicle market just like Japan did 40 year’s ago with there cars …..
I am 20 years old male, is it safe to start oral min? I tried topical min+fin but no results. It has stabilized but seems now i am loosing more hair.
What are your thoughts on telemedicine docs who moonlight at these mail order places like Strut, Hims and Happy Head? I told one at Strut that I tried 0.5mg of Dut in my early 20’s and experienced sides, but now at 47 I’d be open to a lower dose like 0.1mg or even dosing 1-3x a week. He said I’d probably experience sides regardless and dosing must be every day to have high serum levels. He must not have gotten the memo on the 4-5 week half life. It left me wondering about his competency.
Dut is dose dependent as far as results, higher dose, more often means a greater chance for success. I’m not a doctor, my feeling is the low dose you’re considering would have little effect, especially using only 1-3 times a week. As far as his comment on experiencing sides, who knows until you try it.
Great results. And I like that they’re real/legit photos – no doctoring.
I think as long as you can take it (and can stand any sides you might get), do it. Long term, I’m not sure it’s the final answer. I can’t find the source so I won’t quote it, but a large percentage of men have heart issues by the time they reach their 50s (and it’s possible if/when they have heart issues they may no longer be able to take most of these meds). I work with quite a few “older” individuals (50s-60s) and almost all of them have heart issues of some kind (heart disease, heart attacks, palpitations, arrhythmia, value issues, etc). So this is fantastic while one can take it but for many it won’t be a long term (late in life) solution. But while one can, go for it. I just hope they keep working on other solutions as well.
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/13yrbuq/1mg_fin_for_1year_and_25mg_minox_for_25_months_now/
That might be the best photo I’ve ever seen regarding hair growth – or in the top 10% at the very least. Interesting, he hasn’t been on min long (less than 3 months). I wonder if most of this came from fin (obviously the combo probably accelerated the growth).
You can check the poster’s history and all past comments on Reddit. He praises oral Minoxidil in one.
I find some of the other examples in this post more impressive. Some before and after slides are entirely hidden. Make sure to click on “read more” and swipe through all results.
Of course nothing beats these:
https://www.hairlosscure2020.com/male-to-female-mtf-transition-hair-growth/
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/13zyk4j/3_month_finasteride_oral_minoxidil_progress_wet/
was this posted?
“MicroRNA-205 promotes hair regeneration by modulating mechanical properties of hair follicle stem cells”
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2220635120
https://neurosciencenews.com/stem-cell-baldness-23396/
Thanks, will write a post!
Lorence, I deleted your same link.
I see a lot of people on oral minoxidil now. Does anyone know who would prescribe it off label use in Ontario canada ?
Below guy has a solid 2 year posting history:
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/147d1ol/oral_min_has_been_a_game_changer/
Below guy on 5mg per day for 8 months says that “head hair is also best it’s been”:
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/147a2j6/facial_growth_on_only_oral_min/jnuog94/?context=3
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/149gp0n/21_7_months_fin_1mg_everyday_6_months_oral/
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/13u342n/3_months_on_05mg_oral_finasteride_25mg_oral/
https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/14ag03v/one_year_realistic_progress_picture/
Admin do you think 2.5 mg is just a slower dose than the 5mg but eventually they will achieve the same result at some point? I’m on 2.5 for the last 3 months only the high cost and hair growing all over my body is preventing me from going 5mg.. am seeing modest results but not like what you see on reddit. Do u think I should give 5mg a try for 3 months?
Hi M, I cannot advise people on the right dosage for themselves unfortunately :-( I am getting faster facial hair growth on 2.5 mg/day, and it is annoying. My already dense beard seems even denser, and I always shave daily.
Thanks admin I am facing the same, am actually questioning if 1mg fin a day is actually working for me since 1. Am not seeing that much resutls at 6 month mark and 2nd oral min growing that much hair on my body means fin isnt preventing that much DHT :( adding Cosmerna and niostem in a couple of months hopefully they aid.
I did not think Finasteride did anything for me. Then I moved to Dutasteride, which worked well, though it might have given me some gyno :-(
That’s depressing.I was hoping it will work after 6 months but am on my 7th month and barely any improvement! How long did you wait on fin before moving to Dust? I think most men have or will have some form of gyno at some point especially after 50 but ED, depression, sever gyno, sperm health… is what preventing me from making the switch at this point but maybe I will do if fin doesn’t do anything at 1 year or try dut mesotherpay every 3 months.
Hi Admin,
I see my own photos both here and on the Sublingual Minoxidil Feed. Oral Dut and Sublingual Minox really has worked wonders for me. I hope Sublingual Minox becomes more widely available at some point, speaking to my Dermo and his experience with it, it sounds like it could be slightly superior to Oral Minox. Pretty exciting.
I’ll be posting update photos on HRN & r/tressless later this month. This will be an 18 month progress update.
Great to hear. What is your username on Reddit? Please update us here too.
Throwaway_no_hair
Viney, very interesting, can you tell us what Sublingual Minox you use and where you get it? What country are you located in?
I get it compounded by a compound pharmacy above Dr Sinclair’s clinic. I live in Australia and it’s prescribed by one of the dermatologists at his clinic.
Thanks Viney, seems like it’s not readily available outside of Australia yet.
When will be hair transplantation from person to another person be available?
Do you know some one who does it?