Medication plan after hair transplant - advice on timing finasteride & oral minoxidil (indoor cat; work with pregnant women)

Treatments Finasteride
1

Hi everyone,
I need your collective experience because the dermatologists I’ve seen here in Germany haven’t been very familiar with this.

My hair started thinning about four years ago, and last week I had a hair transplant. I regret not trying finasteride and minoxidil first, so I’m planning to start them now. I’ll most likely be prescribed 1 mg finasteride, and I will ask about oral minoxidil. I understand oral minoxidil is off-label for hair loss in Germany (it’s officially approved for hypertension), but a doctor can prescribe it.

I prefer the oral form because I have an indoor cat who sleeps in my arms every night and I don’t want to risk exposing her to residues from topical minoxidil on my hair or pillow. I also work closely with pregnant women and infants daily and want to avoid any potential contamination.

My question: When would you start the medication? I’m thinking of starting finasteride right away, but waiting two months before beginning minoxidil so I can better monitor any side effects. Would you do the same, or would you recommend a different approach? I’m getting married in eight months - normally that wouldn’t matter, but if significant shedding is likely I might adjust the timing. At the moment my head is shaved because the transplant was one week ago.

Thanks for your input!

2

honestly, have no damn idea. but used fin in topical form (which also goes systemic to an extent) for a few weeks, no sides. you are unlikely to have any sides statistically speaking. but my recommendation for you would be to a)routine blood tests (and liver-renal checks too if possible, for fin) b)routine blood-pressure checks (for oral minoxidil, after a few hours of taking it) as it originally was developed for hypertension, yes in low dose that is typically used for AGA it is unlikely to have a major effect but be cautious. in fact, this is what i do.