I have been considering adding tretinoin into my stack for a while now to increase the success of my minoxidil. i think i might be a non-responder or even a low responder because its kinda helped but with small hairs mostly. I have some 0.05% laying around and i have been using it 1x a week for 2 weeks. I wanted to get some opinions on whether i should get a weaker strength like 0.025% or 0.01?
Im thinking 0.05% 1x a week might be too infrequent + too strong to use more than 1x per week. I havent had any pimples or dryness the past two weeks. everything’s going ok , just double the shedding than normal.
My stack is:
- Ive been taking 1mg finasteride for 5 yrs now, consistently every day for 3yrs.
- Minoxidil Morning and night 5%- Rogaine Foam for 5-6yrs consistently and inconsistently before then for maybe 1-2yrs.
- Microneedling - i was consistent for a while, stopped just because it became a pain after a while. May introduce back into the mix.
-Nizoral 1x a week , sometimes 2x. it dries out my scalp a little.
I’m probably a Norwood 1.5 or 2, not entirely sure. My front center hairline hasn’t receded and it’s still where it was when I had thick hair. My temples are thinner though, maybe 40-60% less dense than my front center. I still have some longer hairs at the temples, but mostly small hairs now. They’ve replaced where the thick hairs used to be.
Also maybe a good idea to mention i have had Alopecia Areata in the past, 5+ years ago in my scalp and beard. Multiple spots coin sized spots, maybe 4 in my scalp and 1-2 in my beard. nothing in my scalp now. once in a while i see a spot in my beard starting to appear but it usually goes away within a few months and its not fully bald, just a thinner spot. My suspicion was that it was exacerbated by vyvanse, stress, and lots of coffee at the time.
Age: 30
Past Experience with tretinoin:
I tried tretinoin once but it gave me very small pimples in my temple area. probably because i used nizoral before using tretinoin+ a full pea sized dot of tretinoin 0.05% in my temple area mostly which may have been too drying for my scalp.
Anyhow- i have used tretinoin for 2 weeks now and i’ve notice almost double the hair shedding that i usually see in the shower- All long hairs 3-4 inches long (i have a slicked back mullet hairstyle). im not sure if its just shedding or if 0.05% is just too aggressive for my temple area that hairs are falling out but i was wondering if someone could give me some guidance on this.
i’ve been thinking about going lower to 0.025 or even 0.01 but there haven’t been any studies on 0.025% tretinoin with 5% (not 0.5%) . I’ve only seen 0.01% with 5%. and the other study was with 0.025% & 0.05% if im not mistaken.
Obviously, id like to use the least amount possible that will be enough to see good results.
My Question:
1. Should i switch to 0.025 or even 0.01 so that i dont get irritation down the line and can use it more frequently than 1x a week? or is 1x a week 0.05 still considered good enough to increase minoxidil absorption.
2. Is this shed normal this early on for 0.05 of tretinoin?