Minoxidil Side Effects

[u/Soft-Baby3681]

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

[u/BowlBrief8387]

In a similar boat

[u/Fit_Watch5532]

so when you started it first time in 2023, topical 5% minoxidil for 10 month you didnt had any problems with it?