Hi yall, so I’ve started treatment for male pattern baldness (specifically receding hairline only, norwood 2-3) for about a week now.
I’ve started 2.5mg oral minoxidil, 2-3x weekly 2% Ketoconazole, 1x weekly 0.5mm Derma rolling, ~3x weekly pre-diluted Rosemary oil massage and 5% topical minoxidil until my 4 month supply finishes, then only oral.
I will soon have an appointment to prescribe finasteride so I can have the complete stack in place, and I was wondering what dosage is best for efficacy, safety and economy.
Strategy 1: 1mg daily. This is the most widely used in trials and hair loss literature, classic but 0.71$ per dose or 260$ per year where I live.
Strategy 2: Split 5mg dose into 4x 1.25mg, take that every other day. This has from 3.75 to 5mg weekly exposure depending on either 3-4 weekly doses. Less exposure but still 80-90% of the 1mg’s suppression of DHT theoretically since it is non linear and suppression is significant for 48-72h. 1$ per pill, 0.25$ per dose, 46$ per year max.
Strategy 3: Same as 2 but instead of every other day, flat 5 doses per week, resulting in 6.25mg total weekly intake closer to the traditional 7mg but still utilising the quartering of higher dose pills for economy. This also leaves 2 days “recovery” to theoretically lessen side effect risk, but less so than every other day protocol. Similar total cost to strategy 2.
Has anyone here experimented with the above methods and what have your experiences been? Any advice on these or other methods?