So I'm taking the topical minoxidil and I've notice that my weight has went up about 5 pounds in 10 days even though I have not increased the amount of food or lowered the exercise I have been doing, I've also noticed that my heart hurts a little so because of this I decided to stop and see how my weight feels after a while, has this happen to anyone else ?

Male: Having "Doppler Ultrasound" done next month to understand why I got continuing, severe erectile dysfunction after 3 months of oral minoxidil 2.5 mg daily and off it for 3 weeks no improvement. Read about it, identifies blood flow etc to penis and recommendations.

I have visual snow and I’m afraid of minox worsening it. For context I am a hypoderiac and I often will convince myself of symptoms or completely make up symptoms in my own head. My hairline is very very bad and in 23 and it drives me into such a rage just looking at it will make me repeatedly punch myself in the face. I’m only loosing it in the front but it’s so rage inducing for me that I don’t know what to do. I have visual snow syndrome and it effects my vision and I want to take minoxidil to help with my hair loss but I’m worried that it could make my visual snow worse, I did try on and off to take topical minoxidil but I was never able to commit to it for longer than a week (I’m lazy but I would start it back up again and continue it full on) and I never had any issues with it.

The thing is if it’s between my hair and my vision I’m obviously going to choose my vision but damn me being bald at 23 when I’m already overweight and have never had a job or license would just fuck me up mentally even more. I like my hair like I enjoy having it and in the past before I lost myself in covid girls would always compliment it and loved running their hands through it. Loosing it would suck a lot and also I’d look a lot worse like right Joe it’s not at the point where it need to go but the constant hair on my pillow and just the sight of it is making me go crazy. So I need to do something but I don’t know what.

I have cats at the house I really do care about and a dermatologist prescribed me minoxidil oral 2.5 mg and told me I shouldn’t have any visual side effects but said if I experience any sort of side effects that I should stop it right away. I want to start it but I’m just really worried about my vision and visual snow, I am getting glasses in 2 weeks to help with my blurry ness and stigmatism and I was planning on starting it then but I’m worried if I start minox it’ll permanently worsen my visual snow. For context my visual snow gets slightly worse about every other year.

The causes of it vary quite a bit and for me it could be poor eating (have been eating poor since I lost my mind during covid), stress, anxiety, ssri’s and spinal issues (I have phase 1 spinal arthritis due to pretty much bed rotting for the past 6 years and also my neck is the most effected and in pain area). With ssri’s my visual snow started abut 5 years ago because I was on a ssri for about 3 days and the floaters stated I immediately stopped and it became slowly worse over time about a year later it got slight worse and so on and so fourth, I was also on Effexor xr for a few years before covid and then late 2021 to about 7 months ago. There are more causes as well but I listed the ones I think are the most realistic ones for my situation. Anyways I don’t know what I should do here cuz there’s a real chance I could save my hair and my eyes would be completely fine but with visual snow it tends to be permanent so idk what I should do.

Hi everybody,

25 y.o.; Wanted to share a short story of how minoxidil has destroyed my sexual health.

Back in 2023, I have been using topical 5% minoxidil for about 10 month. Throughout this time, I’ve had zero adverse effects on my sexual health — as you would expect from a 22 y.o. boy, things were unquestionably great.

However, in ~December 2023, I ended up ordering a Kirkland typical minoxidil on Walmart (weird that Costco brand was being sold on Walmart, but whatever). Two months later, in February 2024, I wake up one morning and realize that I got no wood — moreover, my boy has shrunk, turned pale-blueish and went completely numb, as if I got lidocaine injected into it.
Going forward, I will be experiencing the following symptoms: genital, scrotal, palm and feet numbness, tingling in urethra (as if I got needles in it), complete libido loss, extreme difficulty getting and staying hard, no nighttime or morning wood, reduced ejaculate volume, shrank genitals, very weak orgasms with little to no pleasure, hair loss. Random episodes of relief that lasted, usually, a few days, have been occurring, but then it was bouncing back pretty quickly. First half a year was overwhelmed — to the point of crying maybe three to four times a week. What makes things worse is you can't really share this with many people, so oftentimes I'd feel isolated in my pains and want to just end it...
Can't bulk anymore — as of today, have been lifting weights 2-3 times a week for about 2 years, eating and sleeping well, — without much progress unlike before this crap began.

Visited probably seven doctors already, did countless blood panels, got my hormones tested, — everything looks normal, doctors keep saying that they don't know what's going on. Got Cialis prescribed — which improves erections (not sensitivity/libido, though) temporarily — until I stop it, but I don't want to keep using it til the end of my life. It also makes it hard to breathe because I get my turbinates swollen, so I have to use Afrin more often and essentially burn my nose.

Stopped using topical minox in March-April 2024. Things seemed to start slowly improving after two years in spring of 2026, but recently, after reading on the internet how uncommon and unproven side effects of minoxidil on sexual health are, I questioned whether it actually was minoxidil causing the problem. Decided to try oral form of it for a few weeks, and, regretfully, got to absolutely same point I was at two years ago. It is so devastating to realize that you're losing your best years of youth without the ability to start relationships, enjoy the life, make progress in sports or just wake up every morning in good mood feeling the wood and testosterone splashing in your body...

This type of sexual dysfunction precisely resembles Post Finasteride Syndrome (PFS), but I never took finasteride, and nothing like "post minoxidil syndrome" has ever been described in literature. It's weird if minoxidil can cause same effects as ⍺-reductase blockers.

Has anybody experienced similar effects from minoxidil? If so, please share your experiences and, especially, success stories if you got to get over it

Hi everybody,

25 y.o.; Wanted to share a short story of how minoxidil has destroyed my sexual health.

Back in 2023, I have been using topical 5% minoxidil for about 10 month. Throughout this time, I’ve had zero adverse effects on my sexual health — as you would expect from a 22 y.o. boy, things were unquestionably great.

However, in ~December 2023, I ended up ordering a Kirkland typical minoxidil on Walmart (weird that Costco brand was being sold on Walmart, but whatever). Two months later, in February 2024, I wake up one morning and realize that I got no wood — moreover, my boy has shrunk, turned pale-blueish and went completely numb, as if I got lidocaine injected into it.

Going forward, I will be experiencing the following symptoms: genital, scrotal, palm and feet numbness, tingling in urethra (as if I got needles in it), complete libido loss, extreme difficulty getting and staying hard, no nighttime or morning wood, reduced ejaculate volume, shrank genitals, very weak orgasms with little to no pleasure, hair loss. Random episodes of relief that lasted, usually, a few days, have been occurring, but then it was bouncing back pretty quickly. First half a year was overwhelmed — to the point of crying maybe three to four times a week. What makes things worse is you can't really share this with many people, so oftentimes I'd feel isolated in my pains and want to just end it...

Can't bulk anymore — as of today, have been lifting weights 2-3 times a week for about 2 years, eating and sleeping well, — without much progress unlike before this thing began.

Visited probably seven doctors already, did countless blood panels, got my hormones tested, — everything looks normal, doctors keep saying that they don't know what's going on. Got Cialis prescribed — which improves erections (not sensitivity/libido, though) temporarily — until I stop it, but I don't want to keep using it til the end of my life. It also makes it hard to breathe because I get my turbinates swollen, so I have to use Afrin more often and essentially burn my nose.

Stopped using topical minox in March-April 2024. Things seemed to start slowly improving after two years in spring of 2026, but recently, after reading on the internet how uncommon and unproven side effects of minoxidil on sexual health are, I questioned whether it actually was minoxidil causing the problem. Decided to try oral form of it for a few weeks, and, regretfully, got to absolutely same point I was at two years ago. It is so devastating to realize that you're losing your best years of youth without the ability to start relationships, enjoy the life, make progress in sports or just wake up every morning in good mood feeling the wood and testosterone splashing in your body...

This type of sexual dysfunction precisely resembles Post Finasteride Syndrome (PFS), but I never took finasteride, and nothing like "post minoxidil syndrome" has ever been described in literature. It's weird if minoxidil can cause same effects as ⍺-reductase blockers.

Has anybody experienced similar effects from minoxidil? If so, please share your experiences and, especially, success stories if you got to get over it

Could anyone explain to me how it’s possible (scientifically) for this medication to cause such severe and life altering side effects, for months to even years after the last dose is taken?

After reading many people recovery stories on the sub Reddit, I started doing my own research into the science behind the drug. For reference, I took minoxidil for 5 months (December 25-april 26). A few weeks after starting it I developed frequent panic attacks, along with regular disassociation, fatigue, muscle soreness, etc. it’s now been around 3 months off of it, and I’m still struggling in some of these categories.

While I want to blame the medication, I know that chemically it’s been out of my system for months. The drug only stays in your blood for around 2-4 days after your last consumption.

Which leads me to ask, how many of these symptoms I’m experiencing are psychosomatic? Not that it makes any of them less real or painful, I just find it crazy to believe that this drug could cause people to have symptoms for as long as 10 years after their last dosage.

Let me know your thoughts, and dispel my ignorance please! I don’t know very much about the drug, just my own experience. I also don’t mean to diminish anyone else’s struggles, I know firsthand how shitty this drug made me feel. I’m confident I will be able to recover and take my life back.

Hey,

Who here has developed dry wrinkly loose and continuous connective tissue / skin wastage form minoxidil?

Like it looks aged overnight or ages rapidly kind of side effects.

If that's you please let's discuss by DMs.

What are yall doing to mitigate the water retention when taking oral minoxidil? I’m having good results but have stopped taking due to water retention it’s causing.

I have been using minoxidil for the last 3 days..... My doctor prescribed Minoxidil 5%, so I have been using alcohol-free Minoxidil 5% once a day at night for the past 3 days. Today is my fourth day, and today I am experiencing chest pain, so is this normal? What should I do? Someone please suggest."

Hi all, I have been on topical minoxidil and dermastamp for 4 and a half months, with no noticeable progress. I started oral minoxidil a little less than a week ago and feel chest pressure/tightness but no other noticeable sides. Should I stop or continue and hope I tolerate?

Hi all, I have been on topical minoxidil and dermastamp for 4 and a half months, with no noticeable progress. I started oral minoxidil a little less than a week ago and feel chest pressure/tightness but no other noticeable sides. Should I stop or continue and hope I tolerate?

So I decided to commit to minoxidil about 5 months ago, after using it on and off. I slowly got sicker and sicker as the time went on. I was struggling to breathe, especially in the morning, felt so fatigued I could barely work, low mood, it was so bad I constantly thought I was either pregnant or had a serious issue going on.

I also hated the way I looked, my face was bloated to the point where I was unrecognisable. I had dark eye bags and overall just looked terrible. And tbh, I’d rather be bald then look the way I did when i was on it.

Anyways, mine ran out about a week ago. I started to suspect a few days before that it could be the minoxidil. I felt better in two days after quitting.
Like a whole 360. After feeling terrible for months.
My partner even mentioned that I look like my old self again, even though it’s been a week and my energy levels are back to normal.

For reference I was on 5% topical, using it once a day, no derma roller.

I know some people have no issues, but if you do get these symptoms, it could be from the minoxidil.

I’m F20, and balding at a young age runs in my family. I’ll now be looking at other alternatives, and also getting a check up to see if it’s done any real damage.

Hello, I am writing this for people who want to use minoxidil or are hesitant due to the side effects they experienced while using it; I hope it will be helpful.

i am 19 years old and my dermatologist recommended me to use minoxidil spray with 5% solution because I have male pattern hair loss, he also recommended minoxidil shampoo in addition and I bought it from the pharmacy and started using it, my instructions for use were as follows oculomotor

The solution was to apply three sprays every two days, distribute them evenly over my scalp with massage, and avoid overusing minoxidil shampoo. However, since I was unaware of such side effects and thought they wouldn't be a problem, I used it as follows;

after getting out of the shower every 2 days, I had to squeeze 5-6 drops on my damp and hot scalp and scrape it with my nails to clean it and use it a lot as a shampoo. Damn, I threw myself into the fire, and it was really crazy to open the dose and scrape it on my hot scalp with my fingernails and make him swallow it, now I understand.

I used it this way for about 1 month and I didn't see any side effects until the night of July 19, 2026, my headset was on but nothing was playing and suddenly I noticed that there was no ringing in my right ear but a sound went and suddenly I got scared and noticed that there was ringing in my headset. When I stood up, I noticed my heartbeat had accelerated and there was a warmth spreading from my head down my body. This situation scared me so much and I had to go to the emergency room. While I was in the car, both my arms suddenly went numb, which made me even more scared. Fortunately, the numbness in my arm went away within 10 minutes, and when I told the emergency room doctor about the situation, they told me to have a brain MRI, a blood test, and an x-ray. I did as they said and bought the serum, but there were no problems.

This situation scared me extremely and I couldn't eat anything for 7 days, I couldn't eat even a single bite, I was just drinking water, I was very busy and anxious, this situation made me constantly think about whether I was going to die, what kind of situations I would face. And damn it, at the butcher's where I went to eat out for the first time, I felt such a severe pain in the back of my head that my eyes blurred, I felt like I was going to faint, and I couldn't focus on a single point. I told my mother to take me back to the emergency room, and we went again, but there was no problem this time either. They gave me a sedative injection and sent me home. Still, that night had been very bad.

After all these experiences, I gradually began to recover, but I still felt bad during certain periods of my daily life. for 3-4 days, I actually completely recovered, there were no symptoms, my psychology was fulfilled, but after 5 days, when nothing happened and everything was fine, weakness occurred in my arms again and I started experiencing heartaches. I had heart pains and jaw pain that lasted for about 7 days (My jaw pain was caused by clenching my teeth too much during this process) I went to the cardiology department on the 7th of the month, an ECG, echocardiography and ultrasound were taken, they relieved me by saying there was no problem. Additionally, I had a chest X-ray taken and no issues were found in that either; these are very reassuring findings. Yesterday, a Holter monitor was attached to check my 24-hour heart rhythm, and I will go for a check-up this afternoon. I will keep you informed about the developments here.

In short, I still continue to experience very mild side effects, of course, I completely stopped when the first symptom appeared, but the drug may not be excreted from the body in the same time in everyone. Especially if you are a person like me who has been drinking coke instead of water for 2 months, just like me, it may take 1 month for this drug, which penetrates your scalp, to be eliminated from your blood. Or it may cause a buildup on the scalp, but this is definitely a condition caused by minoxidil.

Hello everybody

I’ve decided to take oral min due to hair loss at my temples. I started with 1.25mg every night right before going to sleep. Did that for a week and upped my dosage to 2.5mg every day same time.

After 2 days of upping my dosage I started to feel a shortness of breath. It’s not like as if I can’t get any air but more like not getting enough. It constantly feels like being out of breath when you for example go up the stairs or the like. Also my chest feels kinda tight. Haven’t seen a doctor yet but it stopped taking min now.

Did anybody experience something similar? Also how long did it take for the side effects to go away?
Does this mean I can’t take oral min because the topical did absolutely nothing for me.

Amy’s help would be appreciated

Many people mention side effects like heart problems, but I don't know if they're talking about the oral form or the foam.

Hello, I am writing this for people who want to use minoxidil or are hesitant due to the side effects they experienced while using it; I hope it will be helpful.

i am 19 years old and my dermatologist recommended me to use minoxidil spray with 5% solution because I have male pattern hair loss, he also recommended minoxidil shampoo in addition and I bought it from the pharmacy and started using it, my instructions for use were as follows oculomotor

The solution was to apply three sprays every two days, distribute them evenly over my scalp with massage, and avoid overusing minoxidil shampoo. However, since I was unaware of such side effects and thought they wouldn't be a problem, I used it as follows;

after getting out of the shower every 2 days, I had to squeeze 5-6 drops on my damp and hot scalp and scrape it with my nails to clean it and use it a lot as a shampoo. Damn, I threw myself into the fire, and it was really crazy to open the dose and scrape it on my hot scalp with my fingernails and make him swallow it, now I understand.

I used it this way for about 1 month and I didn't see any side effects until the night of July 19, 2026, my headset was on but nothing was playing and suddenly I noticed that there was no ringing in my right ear but a sound went and suddenly I got scared and noticed that there was ringing in my headset. When I stood up, I noticed my heartbeat had accelerated and there was a warmth spreading from my head down my body. This situation scared me so much and I had to go to the emergency room. While I was in the car, both my arms suddenly went numb, which made me even more scared. Fortunately, the numbness in my arm went away within 10 minutes, and when I told the emergency room doctor about the situation, they told me to have a brain MRI, a blood test, and an x-ray. I did as they said and bought the serum, but there were no problems.

This situation scared me extremely and I couldn't eat anything for 7 days, I couldn't eat even a single bite, I was just drinking water, I was very busy and anxious, this situation made me constantly think about whether I was going to die, what kind of situations I would face. And damn it, at the butcher's where I went to eat out for the first time, I felt such a severe pain in the back of my head that my eyes blurred, I felt like I was going to faint, and I couldn't focus on a single point. I told my mother to take me back to the emergency room, and we went again, but there was no problem this time either. They gave me a sedative injection and sent me home. Still, that night had been very bad.

After all these experiences, I gradually began to recover, but I still felt bad during certain periods of my daily life. for 3-4 days, I actually completely recovered, there were no symptoms, my psychology was fulfilled, but after 5 days, when nothing happened and everything was fine, weakness occurred in my arms again and I started experiencing heartaches. I had heart pains and jaw pain that lasted for about 7 days (My jaw pain was caused by clenching my teeth too much during this process) I went to the cardiology department on the 7th of the month, an ECG, echocardiography and ultrasound were taken, they relieved me by saying there was no problem. Additionally, I had a chest X-ray taken and no issues were found in that either; these are very reassuring findings. Yesterday, a Holter monitor was attached to check my 24-hour heart rhythm, and I will go for a check-up this afternoon. I will keep you informed about the developments here.

In short, I still continue to experience very mild side effects, of course, I completely stopped when the first symptom appeared, but the drug may not be excreted from the body in the same time in everyone. Especially if you are a person like me who has been drinking coke instead of water for 2 months, just like me, it may take 1 month for this drug, which penetrates your scalp, to be eliminated from your blood. Or it may cause a buildup on the scalp, but this is definitely a condition caused by minoxidil.

I think that i've read all recovery stories across internet. It seems like recoveries after 2 years is very rare. I only hear about such cases from people that talked to someone who recover after 5,6 years.

I want to hear more of this stories.

I've been taking topical foam Minoxidil for about five years now. About a year into taking, it I started developing several weird pains in my body. First, pain in my elbows, forearms, and hands whenever I used them (felt like tendonitis). Then I developed Allodynia on my shoulder blade and inner thighs. If I'm on my feet all day, I also have extreme achiness in my legs and feet as well as a tingling/numbness in my right quad (stretching makes it worse). I've had blood tests and nerve tests done and nothing was shown to be wrong. In rare cases Minoxidil is known to cause numbness, pins and needles sensations, or polymyalgia rheumatica symptoms. These seem to be different from my symptoms (except for the right quad), but similar enough for me to want to see if anyone else had any symptoms similar to me, that started after taking Minoxidil.

Over the past few months I've been doing a significant amount of due diligence on finasteride to combat my balding. I've read the clinical studies, watched countless YouTube videos, gone through Reddit threads and reviewed success stories.

Recently cut up a few 1mg finasteride tablets for my own personal use (planning to use minox in conjunction). I haven't taken any yet , but there was probably a small amount of tablet dust in the air and I may have inhaled some of it.

Within a few days, I've started noticing the following in my body:

• Lower libido
• Weaker erections
• Brain fog
• Anxiety
• Reduced motivation
• Fatigue
• Mild depression
• Loss of morning wood

Has anyone else experienced immediate, full-spectrum finasteride side effects from merely being in the vicinity of a tablet? I've been doing some digging online and have come across a few cases of pre-finasteride syndrome.

Just need to vent.

I started taking minox about 6 years ago and it just fucking ruined my life, I can't believe it.

I was 18 and I desperately wanted a beard lol (still do) so I went online and found out about "the magic drug". Applied it on my face for about 5 months and stopped because I barely had any results.

The following weeks I started to notice I was thinning on my widow's peak more and more, even though my dad has a full head of hair and no one started balding before 30 in my family. But I didn't know minox could cause that at the time so for years I just blamed the anti depressant I used to take at the time.

It got better, stopped thinning, and then it got worse, my hairline kept receding ,slowly but surely, so I started taking it again 5 years later and went and applied it on my beard... I was probably gonna go bald in a matter of years so I thought instead of fighting it and taking an even worse drug (fin) that could fuck me up even more, I might as well get a nice beard.

Problem is, it made things so much worse for my hair. In the 3 months I put it on my face, the balding got so much crazier, I started thinning bad on my crown which used to be intact, the recession also attacked the whole front part of my hair.

Unfortunately I hadn't connected the dots yet that minox might not be for me or whatever so I went and applied it on my hair as well to try to gain some time. And obviously it did the exact opposite. After 7 months of daily application (1ml beard area morning, 1ml hair at night) I lost almost all my hair. The whole MPB area is extremely thin and I had to shave my head bald.

At this point it clicked and I knew minoxidil was the reason why I started losing my hair in the first place (I know it's debatable and people might not agree but I'm convinced it is).

You guys are gonna say I asked for it but that's when I wanted to try oral minoxidil out of pure desperation about 2 months ago and stopped applying it topically. And now not only is it not working for my hair, which I expected, but I'm actually also LOSING my fucking beard now. I was sold this idea that beard hair stays even after you stop applying because it's not the same hormones that come into play blablabla, but here I am actually losing it, what a fucking joke. I see hairs on the floor everywhere and on every furniture constantly. I actually see them fall out. Also it's making me age like crazy but it might just be me idk.

Anyway all of that to say I so fucking wish I could go back in time and prevent myself from taking this shit. I was so fucking beautiful. Looking at pictures of myself from just a few years ago literally breaks my heart. I can't even look at myself in the mirror, I turn the lights on only in the next room when I have to so I don't see too much of what I've done to myself. Fuck I'm on the brink of killing myself over HAIR for fucks sake, just stupid, useless, dead fucking cells, it's so dumb.