Have started rogaine foam and been on it for about two weeks. Have had no bad side effects like itching and irritation so might stick to it for awhile. Anyone know about how long it takes to see if you respond to it? And do you sometimes have a shed first? and about when does this happen? any info on this topic would be great! thanks in advance!

tkerr22...

I actually started using the Rogaine foam toward the end of Oct after my transplant. My experience with it is as follows.

Within a week after starting, just about all my transplanted grafts shed. AT this time, approxiamately 7 weeks after my transplant my native hair in the transplanted has grown to 3/4" and a number of the grafts have begun to grow.

At my vertex,no transplant done there, I am seeing new growth at this stage. Vellus hairs are becoming thicker and hopefully will eventually become terminal. I have not experienced any shedding so far, nor any issues, ie irritation or itching.

This form is a nice improvement over the Rogaine solution I used a few years back and seems to be more effective. (this has been proven by blood chemistry noting 2x the systematic absorption over the solution). Hope this helps.

Thank you Cousin It,

Only being two weeks into using it I obviously haven't seen anything yet, but since it is so easy to use and there is no irritation and it dries so fast it is not a hard regiment to follow. Unlike the liquid form that irritated me badly and also stayed greasy on my head for hours. I just put on the foam a half an hour ago and it is dry now. I barely have to use much either, just a small cotton ball size each use covers the area nicely! keep in touch with updates for me, thanks man

Since I started using the Rogaine foam only, and totally discontinued the liquid, a few weeks ago, i have had some discouraging results. I am wondering if this could be because my hair in the front is long to cover my hairline and maybe the foam is being absorbed in the hair too much and not enough in the scalp. Anybody think that this is possible?

(don't let this discourage you, though, it could also be related to the fact i started taking Strattera for a few weeks, but quit because of bogus dizzyness side-effects, although I couldn't find anything on a google search linking Strattera with alopecia, and it is not a stimulant unlike other ADHD drugs like Adderall which you WILL DEFINATELY find hits on a google search linking with alopecia or hair loss).

I am not sure Jack, but that could be an issue. My crown area is smooth and little hair is there so the foam is very easy, but I could see how the foam could be harder to use when going thru hair.

jack,

So what kind of discouraging results did you have? From what I gather you are applying the foam to the hairline? Have you been losing hair?

I haven't used the foam before, but I would suggest trying to massage it into the scalp to get past the hair, etc.

Falc

Jack..

Are you parting the hair with a comb to make sure you have direct contact with the scalp. It is a bit harder to work with the foam than it is with the liquid, but so far I think it is worth it. Also use the tips of your fingers to really work it into the scalp, the stimulation is an added plus. Let us know how you make out.

thanks for the info guys. I was thinking of trying this stuff as I really dont like the topical solution. I am already using propecia which after a few years also is a CHORE, but ill try this stuff too. One thing to note, once you start, Can't stop!

Well by discouraging results I mean what seems to be an increased rate of hairloss. I mean i've been using rogaine and propecia for almost two years, and when i switched to just the foam the loss seemed to get worse. It used to be that if i grew my hair out long it looked fine as long as there was no wind, but now i can't even say that, it has thinned and receded so much it pretty much always looks like shit. And yeah, i'm using it on the front/hairline area. Anyways, I have gone back to mainly using the liquid, ONLY because my hair is grown out long right now. Maybe if i applied the foam while it was wet it would be better? But anywho, looks like i'm going to have to cut my hair real short out of necessity soon anyways, so i'll go back to the foam then. I don't want to discourage anyone from using the foam since there is some scientific evidence on its side, just want to give people something to look out for.

Also, another cause to this loss could be scratching too much. Using Rogaine with increased frequency has caused my scalp to itch, and finally I caved. I want to have hair, but i dont want to live life with an itchy scalp. If it itches i'll scratch the hell out of it if i have to, as i'm not really getting great enough results otherwise to make it worth resisting the itch.

How long did you use the foam, could it have been a shed that signifies it was working? The foam is pretty potent stuff, it was proven to grow hair in 85% of users, higher than the liquid.

Also, how come your stopped Propecia and how long ago was it, could your loss be due to this too. Sometimes we stop something we believe is not working, but in actuality it was, it may have been keeping the status quo.

jackisback,

scratching your head can definately not help, and maybe cutting your hair short and getting back on the foam will help in two ways. First it will allow you to actually get to your scalp easier with a higher effective rogaine, and secondly and most important in my own use, no more itching! The foam is great as that was my main draw back to the liquid, the itching and the greasy feel. I have had neither with the foam

I have been taking lotion rogaine 5% for over 10 years and I currently switched to foam around 2 months ago. All of a sudden I have had an increase in hair shedding. Everytime I shower now I have around 25 hairs falling out and all day I feel the hair shedding onto my face and I see them on the shoudlers. My hairloss is much more noticable now. Is this due to the increased potency of the foam? I am really concerned about this. I am also having some hairloss on the side of the head which I know is not the typical alopecia androgenica. Maybe the foam is distributing to the sides of the head? Please advice since it is getting more and more noticable. Thank you

Hi

Increased hairloss while using Rogaine or Propecia is generally a good sign.. YES, a good sign ..This is shedding which means the hairs are cycling through the growth process. Do a search on SHEDDING and you will see the feedback

This is normal ..

No I understand about the increased shedding. The differenc is that I have been using rogaine for 10 years and I did experience the increased shedding when I started 10 years ago. My problem is I just switched to the foam and now I am experiencing the shedding. Is that normal if I have been using the lotion for 10 years already? Understand my question?

Thanks in advance

Hi ole friends (and new)

I had a similar (not as extensive loss) experience as Saleen in the past 3-4 months switching to rogaine foam. It totally started freaking me out esp. since I have had a HT 2 1/2 years ago. It has stabilized (month 5) but nothing that noticable yet as of regrowth.

I am prob. the longest term rogaine user since I was in the Phase IV trials in 1987..lol.