Hiya, I’ve been taking 1.25 mg of oral minoxidil every day for the past three weeks and noticed a complete drop in libido. Just wondering if anyone else has gone through the same thing, and if there are any safer alternatives out there?
I actually stopped taking it last week and my libido’s gone right back to normal, so I’m pretty sure it was the minoxidil. Would really appreciate any thoughts or suggestions. Cheers.
It’s a vasodilator, so it boosts blood flow, but it doesn’t actually do anything to your libido.
It’s most likely down to something else, not the minoxidil. Could be stress, rubbish sleep, hormones playing up or something along those lines.
I haven’t had any side effects from minoxidil myself, but a mate of mine has. He gave it a go three separate times. Loved the regrowth each time but ended up stopping because of the side effects. His libido always bounced back straight after though.
The human body’s a complicated thing. Even when we reckon we’ve got it all figured out, we’ve got to be careful saying anything’s 100 percent guaranteed.
Minoxidil doesn’t mess with your hormones at all. Any link people feel is more likely mental than anything else. Just because two things happen around the same time doesn’t mean one caused the other. Bet there are whole groups online saying stuff like “ibuprofen gave me ED” – doesn’t mean it’s actually true.
I went through the same thing, and loads of others have as well. There’s even a whole subreddit just about this. My libido’s been improving since I stopped, and as a young bloke, I can tell you for sure it wasn’t in my head.
Oh yeah? And how exactly are you so sure it’s not psychological? Just because it’s not physical doesn’t mean it’s not real. If it’s in your head, it’s still a side effect. It’s just being triggered mentally rather than by something directly chemical. Still just as valid, mate.
And let’s be clear, stop spreading misinformation. Minoxidil is not known to cause sexual side effects. There’s no solid evidence linking the two.
I’m not spreading misinformation. Anecdotally, there are people who say minoxidil’s caused them sexual side effects. I get that clinically it doesn’t look like it should, and the science says it probably can’t.
Same sort of thing as people saying creatine causes hair loss. The research isn’t conclusive, but it does seem to happen to some people. So while it might not show up in studies, it doesn’t mean the experience isn’t real for those going through it.
As a young bloke who’s fit, healthy, eats well, sleeps well and has had proper bloods done showing high testosterone levels, I’m pretty confident it’s not psychological. I didn’t even connect it to minoxidil at first, but since I stopped taking it, my libido’s gradually picked back up.
Not here to argue, just wanted to share my experience in case it helps someone else.
There’s a new study out now and it’s conclusive. Creatine does not cause hair loss. So that clears up a lot of the old rumours floating about.
That study’s unfortunately got some major flaws just in the way it was done. Still, it’s promising to see more research happening around it. What we really need is a proper double-blind placebo study with a much bigger sample size and done over a longer period of time.
No one’s saying it’s a known cause of sexual side effects. Just that a few people have said they experienced them, and yeah, it seems to be very rare. It’s not misinformation if someone shares what actually happened to them. That’s just their experience.
Exactly, just because it’s not common or officially recognised doesn’t mean they didn’t get side effects from it. Everyone reacts differently and personal experiences still matter.
How was your experience with Dutasteride? Was it better than Finasteride? I’m thinking of trying it but I’m also planning to start a family soon. My wife’s gynaecologist and the fertility doctor both told me to stay completely away from both of them in oral form. They said these drugs can be quite notorious.
Do you think it’s alright to go ahead with a hair transplant if I’m only using it topically? Will topical Dutasteride or Finasteride still help with transplant results? And are there any good brands you’d recommend here in India?
Also, I know for sure the libido issue wasn’t psychological. I’ve been on the same vitamins and diet for over 10 years. It just didn’t suit me, same as how some meds just don’t agree with certain people.
Forty five subjects split into two groups is a pretty small sample size. And three months is still too short a time to really measure proper hair loss, same issue the 2009 rugby study had. The anagen phase can last up to 12 years, so it’s not something you can fully assess in just a few months.
It’s promising, for sure, but right now we’re still mostly relying on anecdotal results because of these limitations in the actual data.
What actually matters here is the androgen hormone levels, and there wasn’t any difference between the two groups. A sample size of 45 isn’t too small either. The stats they use take that into account, and the numbers they check for significance are adjusted based on the sample size, so the results can still be solid.
It can happen to some people because of a spike in prolactin. It’s rare, but it does happen. Might be worth looking into other growth boosters like latanoprost, or giving topical options a go instead.
My prolactin levels are through the roof and I’ve been taking 2mg of oral minoxidil a day for the past two years. Me and my endocrinologist can’t figure out what’s causing it, and he reckons it might be down to finasteride. Do you think oral minoxidil could be the reason instead?