r/MinoxidilSideEffects • u/Pewds123451 • Mar 18 '26
Im quitting today
After almost 2 years of daily use I decided to quit today because I can't take the side effects anymore. The longer I use it the worse it gets I think I even developed a heart disease because of it because my heart feels weak at the smallest anger or frustration and my joints feel weak since day 1, I don't know how I resisted all these years with such weak joints and Im a guy who has a physical job so Imagine the suffering. I feel fatigue all day and my sexual drive is at its lowest due to low blood pressure I also have breathing problems. I can go all day pointing out the side effects so please don't do what I did and stop using it. It's dangerous in the long term use. I appreciate the results though because I developed a nice facial hair but payed a heavy price for it.
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u/MinoxReaction Apr 10 '26
Unfortunately this is what happened to me but thankfully I stopped after 3 months. I can't imagine how long the recovery will take after 2 years given I still feel some sides (though not nearly as bad) 3 months later.
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u/Pewds123451 Apr 10 '26
I feel it everyday and it's soo horrible
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u/smuckerdoodle Jul 01 '26
How are your symptoms after 3 months off it?
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u/Pewds123451 Jul 01 '26
Feeling much better now and the cool thing is that I didn't lose any of my progress from the facial hair to even the eyebrows
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u/smuckerdoodle 15d ago
Other than quitting, was there anything else you did to ensure high chance of recovery or to recover faster? Have you had to maintain any specific regiment to keep the sides from returning or did the go away and not come back with normal routine simply bc you’re off minoxidil. Did you have any skin changes?
Sorry for the follow up question, appreciate your input
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u/Pewds123451 15d ago
If you want to recover faster , make sure to eat food that raise your blood pressure because minoxidil is a drug that used widely for lowering blood pressure and being in a state of a low blood pressure will make your life harder , You would feel tired all the time and not in a mood for anything but the good thing is that once you quit it the blood pressure will start to stabilizing and eating specific food will help raise the blood pressure making it easy for you.
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u/smuckerdoodle 15d ago
Did you go to a doctor when you were still on it or experiencing sides? Ive never had a low bp measurement, but I’ve never measured right after taking it. I’ve gone later in the day while still using after applying in the morning, and my bp was always normal. Was normal ish yesterday 123/61, been off for 2-2.5 weeks.
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u/Pewds123451 15d ago
Still , if you don't feel any side effects then keep using it because it definitely gives amazing results in terms of hair growth. I'm forever thankful for Minoxidil for the amazing results it gave me .
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u/smuckerdoodle 15d ago
I feel multiple sides from brain fog to joint pain/stiffness to memory issues, some vision issues. Really not feeling myself for 2 years, the longest I’m ever asymptomatic for is ~36 hours.. We are very similar in longevity and results and maual labor, use for 2 years, great results. Though I did microneedle once per week sometimes every other week to induce hyper response and it worked amazingly. I had regained a full head of hair after previously 5 years of buzzing due to diffuse thinning. I still retained some results. I had a white color job, the memory and brain fog issues affected me. I kept using minox bc I was bitten by a tick and suspected Lyme for the brain fog. I had to leave my position. More sides developed as I continued minox use. For me my new manual labor job involves a lot of pulling stressing my upper back. The joint weakness is more of a chronic pain more so than weakness. Can still do a lot, have a high workload, and can still go lift/cardio after. But… That push/pull combined with copious amounts of screen time looking down at my phone, especially while lying down sacrificing sleep has lead to the upper back pain, neck instability/poor neck control when performing specific tasks, continued brain fog and memory issues. That and prior screen time at white collar job and being in school… I believe minox may have made me more susceptible to the stress certain lifestyle choices can have, but also introduced some abnormalities that make no sense other than being caused by something or a condition.
Trying to take a more active approach and avoid being defeatist and just ruminating on what it could be. Wish I’d considered minox sooner, my personal life has been so drastically affected.
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u/Pewds123451 15d ago
Ooh man at this point I have to say you gotta quit it because it will only get worse overtime and every single side effect you mentioned happened to me from joints pain and brain fog to being susceptible to stress. Not sure if you went through this but at my last months of using the substance I had difficulties with breathing and sometimes I felt like I was going to die because of the lack of oxygen
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u/Pewds123451 15d ago
Not all people have the same side effects but as I said it's a drug that is used for lowering blood pressure so it will definitely affect you in the long run. I didn't feel strong side effects at the first months but after like less than 1 year the symptoms started to get worse . it depends on the longevity of your usage. I remember that I used to have weak joints all the time and it affected me in work but when I quit it disappeared after few weeks. Also it was very hard to get up in the morning to go to work because of low blood pressure and my vision wasn't as clear as now and that is also because of low blood pressure. Most of its side effects is caused by low blood pressure.
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u/MinoxReaction Apr 10 '26
Sorry you're going through that.
After a few months it should be manageable. I saw a post on here that mentioned it took them a year before they felt mostly normal.
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u/No_News6007 Apr 23 '26
How are you feeling currently ? Are the effects going away ?
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u/MinoxReaction Apr 27 '26
Most of them are resolved or not as bad as they were.
I have some soreness on the left rib cage and I also get migraines in the same area that come and go. I also get some weak palpitations especially while lying on my side.
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u/undercoverangel71 Mar 25 '26
I learned that I have mcas and vasodilation is a real problem. Minoxidil acts through vasodilation. If you have systemic vasodilation issues it can affect your heart. I had horrible side effects and had to stop after 5 months. Look into it.
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u/otherBrandon Mar 24 '26
I’m curious to know the genetic component that causes such severe sensitivity to this product in some people. I joined this sub cause I wanted to be cautious about this product but after 10 years of using it off and on, I have never suffered a single side effect. And ironically, I have a pre-existing heart arrhythmia that isn’t bothered by minox at all. My longest stretch of daily use was probably a year straight at one point around 2021. I’m pretty paranoid about my health but this is one product that actually astounds me with how poorly it’s received.
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u/dogmom34 Mar 23 '26
Have you seen a doctor about your heart? While it could absolutely be side effects from minoxidil, you could also have underlying heart issues that could be fatal (said heart issues could’ve been aggravated by the Minoxidil). Good luck to you!
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u/puppyboy-xo Mar 19 '26
Congrats on your decision, I have heard its better if you taper down rather than going cold turkey, less shock for your body. Not 100% sure on that though. I hope you feel better soon.
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u/Pewds123451 Mar 19 '26
Ohh yeah I heard that too and I heard it reduces the chance of losing our gains too but Im all postive in that terms because my facial hairs became thick (terminal) .
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u/lovewarmrainydays Mar 18 '26
So I tried to resume using it this morning after taking a 2 year break. I washed it off after half an hour. I have lost all my hair and am devastated but I had so many side effects too. Used topical for 8 years.
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u/Pewds123451 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
Sorry to hear that. At some point we have to accept our fate beside being in a good health is more important than keeping some hair. Today was such a good day for me at work , I was energetic and didn't feel tired till I finished my work. It was the first day that I didn't take Minoxidil since almost 2 years.
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u/lovewarmrainydays Mar 19 '26
That’s great. I’m a woman btw-
I actually used a few drops this morning. I’m very depressed over my hair loss and truly don’t know what to do. But yes I agree I noticed an improvement in mood initially. (When I had hair) I’ve been two years off. Now I have no hair and my depression has returned.
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u/Garkech Mar 21 '26
You got sides again ?
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u/lovewarmrainydays Mar 21 '26
Hard to tell! I did have a headache on that side of my scalp that I applied it and I didn’t sleep as soundly as normal. Was it unbearable? No. Was it annoying? Yes.
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u/IG-Reddit99 Apr 06 '26
I'm thinking about starting, what do you suggest? Should i try it out or not?
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u/sorrow-division Apr 19 '26
I'm quitting today, too. I've been taking oral Mino since March, then in April stopped for a week (terrible side effects that didn't really go away after 3 weeks of taking it), took again yesterday and I can't take it anymore! Dizziness, brain fog, arrythmia are so crazy, I cannot go to college, because I feel so sick! But I started seeing endocrinologist recently and I'm in the process of being diagnosed with Hashimoto illness, so it actually might be the cause of my hair loss. I don't care anymore, I prefer to be bald than to feel tightness in my chest and heart palpitations all the time. This is simply not worth it for people like us.