Greetings all, I want to thank RxISK for presenting this opportunity for me to share my experience with this drug and my persisting side effects from it.
It all started in April 2021, I was an insecure eighteen year-old Canadian guy slowly losing his hair like many others out there. Desperate for a cure, I decide to do some independent research and I discovered Minoxidil, a topical hair growth gel that will make my hair grow back? Yes please! I quickly placed my order and waited anxiously, excited to see the results that were promised.
Once I had received my 5% KIRKLAND TOPICAL MINOXIDIL, I wasted no time applying 1mL generously to my head twice a day, excited to see the results. A month goes by and it was working wonders! My hair was growing back and so was my confidence.
All was well up until around the start of May I had begun to notice an increase in my resting heart rate of around 40bpm. I have a Fitbit that I use for exercise, so to make sure it wasn’t just anxiety, I began tracking my heart rate while asleep and resting. Turns out my normal resting heart rate of 70bpm has now skyrocketed to 120bpm. It felt like someone was pounding inside my chest daily. The intense palpitations would come in waves, and bring anxiety.
I used to experience severe hypochondria a few years back that I have long since been able to manage, but this was a whole other demon I wasn’t ready to face. I couldn’t sleep every night because my heart rate would always stay above 100bpm, no matter what I did it would always be racing and racing. I felt sick and I thought I had poisoned myself.
Among the cardiac effects that started to develop, one night in particular I noticed breathing had become increasingly difficult when I was lying down. You know the feeling when you can’t seem to catch a full breath? That but times a hundred. It felt like drowning without any water. I was scared out of my mind. I rushed myself to the hospital that night, where I was hooked up to an ECG and given a blood test after describing my symptoms to the nurse. Turns out I had become anemic and my hemoglobin count was well below normal. I was urged immediately to begin daily iron supplementation which helped alleviate that symptom which I still take to this day.
But the worst part of it all? My sexual function had come to a crashing halt. I slowly started to notice my daily morning wood had completely disappeared and the natural erections a healthy virile eighteen year old should have had vanished. Not only had my natural erections ceased, but now almost all pleasurable genital sensation had been reduced to what I can only describe as wearing several layers of clothing over my genitals at any given time. My sensitivity had plummeted. Gone were the days of natural erections and any sort of pleasurable feeling down south. I was confused, scared, I thought I was broken.
Minoxidil
The Minoxidil had to be to blame. I immediately discontinued applications around the start of May 2021 when this had all unfolded. I began to search through website after website trying to find answers to what I was experiencing. That’s when I found the PSSD, PFS, PAS conditions and their subsequent forums. I hit the jackpot. Everything these articles and blog posts had described almost mirrored exactly what symptoms I had been struggling with for the past month. But nowhere was Minoxidil even mentioned as a possibility. In addition it was completely denied as a probable cause by all the healthcare professionals I had seen.
Weeks went by, and the cardiac and sexual symptoms remained. Day after day reminding me of the feeling of imminent death and the inevitable sexless life ahead. It was hell on earth. Now life just did not feel as exciting as it once did. Everything turned grey. Before I was eager to wake up every day ready to face anything that came my way, only now to realize there is nothing that will be able to cure me, and I am stuck and my days drag on. It has now been nine months since I have entered this state and have only managed to have little windows of normalcy and erectile sensation lasting about 10 seconds, just for it to return into bleak nothingness soon after.
I would like to reiterate that I have never tried SSRIs, Finasteride or Accutane ever before in my life. Only minoxidil.
I could copy-paste the minoxidil wikipedia article describing minoxidil’s effects in the body, it seems best to highlight certain sections that draw possible connections to my symptoms. Although I highly recommend to those of you who are suffering from the side effects of minoxidil to take a look and do your own research. You are not crazy. Your symptoms are real, and like everything in life there is an answer out there. We just need to look for it. We need to find out how minoxidil can causes these potent symptoms before we can work on developing potential treatments.
So to summarize, Minoxidil is a antihypertensive, vasodilator blood pressure medication to help those with hypertension and hair loss. It works as a potassium channel opener, causing hyperpolarization to cell membranes. In theory, by widening blood vessels and opening potassium channels, it allows more nutrients to hair follicles. Seems simple enough. But once we start digging deeper into the roles that potassium ion channels play in the body’s sexual and cardiac function it all starts to vaguely connect. Remember what I said about my dissipated erogenous sensations? Turns out mechanoreceptors involved in such sensations relay their stimulus through those particular ion channels.
See Here and Here and Here and Here.
Remember my anemic symptoms? Well according to the wikipedia article, minoxidil causes a redistribution of cellular iron, which could explain the rapid depletion of iron in my body and the subsequent anemia. And because it is a vasodilator, it lowers blood pressure, which causes the heart to beat faster, causing sinus tachycardia which could explain my cardiac symptoms as well.
An article on calcium channel blockers, which are a class of drug similar to potassium channel openers that produces almost the same effects on the body as potassium channel openers do.
Here is a relevant excerpt:
Calcium channel blockers block calcium activity, which causes blood vessels to dilate and lowers blood pressure. The same mechanism that causes this decrease in blood vessel constriction can also decrease the contractions essential for penile rigidity and orgasmic sensation.
Other possible mechanisms by which CCBs may affect sexual activity include:
- Decreasing dopamine activity, which can lead to an increase in prolactin. Increased prolactin can have the following effects:
- Reduced sex drive
- Impotence
- Galactorrhea
- Infertility
- Blocking the actions of excitatory peptides that are involved in genital sensation
Testimony & Honorable Mentions:
It has now been nine months since Minoxidil took a good part of my life from me. I am okay. I am hanging in there. Like many of you, I know my life used to be worlds better, but with everyday that goes by I face this harsh reality with stoic acceptance to the fact that I probably won’t feel pleasure again, or at least for a very long time.
I can still achieve erections and orgasm/ejaculate just fine, however what used to be effortless and natural now has become a challenging chore and without actual prolonged physical stimulation I would not be able to get erect otherwise.
My doctor has booked me to see a endocrinologist and urologist to get to the bottom of this, which he believes my symptoms are due to my low serum testosterone levels, which I would be more than happy to look more into. So I have some sort of hope that perhaps Testosterone Replacement Therapy TRT could return some of my sexual function back and give me some of my spark back. It’s a long shot but like many of you at this point I am willing to try pretty much anything for a chance to get out of this condition.
Please visit the MinoxidilSideEffects subreddit if you feel like you may be suffering from the same thing as this. I am merely one of many. After reading others experiences on there I almost feel lucky. Shout outs to u/FlexMissle99, u/Proper-Craft1, and u/CraftyWookiee for being major contributors on the sub to spread awareness of this drug. We will one day find an answer.
There are many of us out there. Do not believe all the gaslighters and nay-sayers that tell you this is all “in your head”. We are an unfortunate group who experience this. But I’m sure there will only be more of us as the years go by, which will shed more light onto the dangerous long term effects of the medications we take on a daily basis and hopefully find us a cure. What Rxisk is doing is amazing and I fully support their research and highly encourage you to donate to the Rxisk Prize as well as the PFSNetwork Charity/Research Incentive.
Stay strong every single one of you. We’re all gonna make it. Please remain hopeful, and try to make the most out of life while you can. I urge you to not let this condition define who you are. As hard as it may be, accept that this is how you feel and try your best to live every day with some hope that in the future there will be cure, if not treatment. RxISK has provided me a safe space to talk about my experience and has given me relief that there are others out there just like me. This doesn’t pertain to just Minoxidil syndrome sufferers, I am talking to everyone who has a pharmacological induced sexual dysfunction, whether it be SSRIs, Finasteride or Accutane.
Jarrett says
Great post. I took minoxidil years after taking Zoloft for 10 years on and off.
But once I took Minoxidil is exactly when I started to get the symptoms. I never knew if it was from SSRI or minoxidil.
The fact you never took SSRI makes me believe it was minoxidil for my case.
I informed Dr. Melcangi a year ago about Minoxidil possibly effecting me. He said it’s very possible but there is zero research on it.
Roman says
I used minoxidil one year for beard growth, two years later since i quit i still have this side effects:skin aging, brain fog, Ed, gut issues, joints inflammation, fatigue, shortness of breath that’s all what i got with minox 5%. Citrulline, weight lifting, intermittent fasting, creatine, no alcohol, healthy diet, multivitamins kind of help with Ed and overall feel myself better, but it’s not even 50% what I was before. Maybe it’s purpose from universe or i just victim of circumstance but I’m gonna break through. Be brave guys
Captain says
Bro going through the same stage. Its been almost one year using minoxidil prescribed by endorinologist for beard growth. My full body checkup was normal and he suggested me to use minox. But i recently found that i dont getting morning wood and and my erection
are weak too not harder like before.. Its been one week i stopped using minox. Bro how can we reach our old phase before using minoxidil. I am very dissapointed bcoz of this.
GH says
Thanks for writing this. I am in the same boat from applying rogain foam 5% on two beard patches twice a day for 3 months (so basically double dosed). This has brought me to my knees and and brought my already fragile marriage to the brink of divorce – the androgen deprivation has basically shrunk and softened my erections and of course getting erect without strong ED drugs is out of the question.
It’s been 6 weeks now with no end in sight. Doctors agree the minoxidil is the most probable cause and my hypogonadism is apparent in my blood work. Unfortunately the drug of choice (proviron) is not available where I live so I am trying clomid for now or might switch to TRT in hope for a miracle, although there are studies that show penile atrophy is permanent.
Don’t believe anything is safe just because it’s sold OTC – I have learned this the hard way.
Matt says
I have been applying topical minoxidil for many years and I actually have iron overload in my blood. Anyway, I stopped minoxidil and feeling significant better.
Captain says
Hey matt how can i check if i have iron overload in my blood. Coz i used minoxidil about 1 year . Is been one week i had stopped.
susanne says
Participate in current PSSD related Research
Post-Drug Syndrome Survey
This survey will compare PSSD (Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction), PFS (Post Finasteride Syndrome), PAS (Post Accutane Syndrome)
Register for an account for the forum at https://forum.propeciahelp.com
Open this link and reply to the post requesting to take the survey. You will then be sent a link.
PSSD Study by Professor Fiametta Cosci (Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Florence):
Survey for Males
Survey for Females
PFS and PSSD Studies by Dr Roberto Melcangi (head of the Neuroendocrinology Unit in the Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Milano)
request the questionnaire by emailing: roberto.melcangi@unimi.it
The Mario Negri Institute is now collaborating with Maastricht University Neuroscience department on PSSD research. RxISK is involved with this. You can request to be added to an email list to participate in future research after completing a RxISK reprt:
Complete a RxISK Report on THE RxISK website (RxISK is led by Dr David Healy, psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist, and is the most influential organisation in seeking to increase the profile of PSSD and encourage research):
https://rxisk.org/experiencing-a-drug-side-effect/
UK PSSD Association
Contact: pssd-uk@protonmail.com
Participate in current PSSD related Research
Post-Drug Syndrome Survey
This survey will compare PSSD (Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction), PFS (Post Finasteride Syndrome), PAS (Post Accutane Syndrome)
Register for an account for the forum at https://forum.propeciahelp.com
Open this link and reply to the post requesting to take the survey. You will then be sent a link.
PSSD Study by Professor Fiametta Cosci (Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Florence):
Survey for Males
Survey for Females
PFS and PSSD Studies by Dr Roberto Melcangi (head of the Neuroendocrinology Unit in the Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Milano)
request the questionnaire by emailing: roberto.melcangi@unimi.it
The Mario Negri Institute is now collaborating with Maastricht University Neuroscience department on PSSD research. RxISK is involved with this. You can request to be added to an email list to participate in future research after completing a RxISK reprt:
Complete a RxISK Report on THE RxISK website (RxISK is led by Dr David Healy, psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist, and is the most influential organisation in seeking to increase the profile of PSSD and encourage research):
https://rxisk.org/experiencing-a-drug-side-effect/
UK PSSD Association
Contact: pssd-uk@protonmail.com
L says
Alhetheli GI, et al. Post-Finasteride Syndrome:
Current Views and Where do we Stand?. Ann Med Health Sci Res.
2022;12:12-18.
Introduction: Androgenetic alopecia is the most frequent cause of hair loss worldwide, affecting around 70% of males and 40% of females. Since the approval of finasteride for androgenetic alopecia, several studies have reported various psychological and sexual side effects. In 2012, the food and drug organization made changes to the drug insert stating the possibility of persistent side effects, or what is known as post-finasteride syndrome. There is still not much known about the rate of these side effects and the causal relationship. Methods: A literature search was performed using the Pubmed and Google Scholar databases that included studies conducted from 1995 to 2020. Results: There were 47 identified articles in Pubmed, while 152 articles were identified using Google Scholar. Duplicates were removed, leaving a total of 185 articles. Following a second, thorough screening of the titles and abstracts, only 62 full-text articles were reviewed. Of those, 35 articles were chosen to be included. Conclusion: Based on the existing literature, the medical community believes that these patterns of symptoms constitute the basis for PFS in individuals predisposed to epigenetic susceptibility. The medical community must define and characterize the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying PFS, and more attention should be devoted to patient education and counseling as well as to developing novel management modalities. Further highquality clinical studies are needed to evaluate the potential neuropsychiatric side effects of finasteride in humans and to establish whether finasteride has any exact causal relationship with suicidal ideation and other reported side effects.
Full text https://www.amhsr.org/articles/postfinasteride-syndrome-current-views-and-where-do-we-stand.pdf
jake says
Hi Everyone, (here is my rant) I just wanted to share my experience. I am 45 y male with no medical issues, no meds, allergies, Blood values are with in normal range. BP has always been 110/ 65 range. I monitor my diet and generally exercise at least 3–4 days a week.
I started my 5% minoxidil once a day on my scalp back in sept of 2021. except for weekends I applied regularly until may of 2022. Hair loss improved by January of 2022. Not much, but I was quite happy with the result. Remaining hair looked better.
I didnt know much about the side effects, as I thought they were rare, never bothered to study, so it was not on my radar. last 2 months have been a night mare scenario. I have had so much panic attacks, mild hand tremors and increased resting heart rate 100 bpm. Interesting part was that my heart rate was in normal range during work outs. My initial focus was on thyroid or possible post covid. But my blood work and ECG came back normal. My Dr wanted me to start a low dose of Beta blocker which I didn’t start.. Then on may 26, out of no where I thought about the possibility of minoxidil side effect. That is when I found out about this page. I am grateful for all the information here. I stopped minoxidil application and it took almost 5 days, my resting heart rate has gone back to normal 65- 70. It took almost 2 weeks to get some sense of normalcy. Each day is getting better.
My theory is that it affect people with normal BP or low BP. since Minoxidil is a vasodilator, your BP goes down. hence body produces Adrenaline to increase your HR.
Thanks, just wanted to share my experience.
Leon says
Hey there, did your breathing get any better? Because mine has definitely improved with the weeks that passed by, but it’s still very annoying. It has been a month now since I poisened myself with minoxidil. In addition I still experience slightly blurry vision. Used to have severe vertigo and headache but that faded after about 2 weeks.
MinoxidilSyndromeOP says
Yes, my breathing did improve after iron capsule supplementation. I came back positive for anemia. I believe the minoxidil iron redistribution was the cause, but I am currently better. The breathing lasted for a few weeks though, as nothing in the body can be fixed quickly.
Kyle Alexander says
My symptoms could fill a book.
I was on the 5% liquid Minox for over 3 years. I applied it twice a day on my face religiously.
I’m now suffering big time from what feels like withdrawl symptoms.
I have dizziness, derealization, brain fog, sinus issues, chest tightness, and severe panic attacks/anxiety. It all started after stopping cold Turkey about 6 months ago
I used to be a very healthy young man and now I wake up with this hell everyday
Caffeine and excessive alcohol make the symptoms much worse.
I have taken every supplement and alternative medicine known to man with not much improvement.
Steve says
Hey Kyle , Ive been experiencing the same exact symptoms you have. Have you improved since the time of your comment? I started getting heart palpitations many months after using minoxidil for my facial hair. I quit it cold turkey , as i told myself my health was much more important than a full beard. Since quitting cold turkey a couple weeks ago , my heart palpitations have gotten worse , and I’ve been experiencing panic attacks because of it. It it SO annoying and makes things i used to do ( Like working out ) unbearable. I also experience dizziness and my vision starts fading to black when i stand up really quick sometimes.
Kurt says
I’m not the original poster, but I had similar symptoms to what they described. I used liquid Minox for about a year, and stopped cold turkey one day after I got a panic attack and went to the hospital. In the following days I had heart palpitations, dizziness, and shortness of breath. Even after I stopped using Minox, my symptoms continued.
It’s been 8 months since my last dose of Minox, and thankfully I can say that it does get better. The first few months were brutal, I continued to have panic attacks, I had daily heart palpitations and most nights I had trouble sleeping due to my heart pounding out of my chest. Like you, these symptoms got worse shortly after I stopped using Minox. After the initial spike, these symptoms have declined over time, but it took months before they were no longer severely impacting my life. Nowadays, I no longer get panic attacks, the heart palpitations are minor or barely noticeable, and it rarely affects my sleep. It still does affect me to this day, but I’m hopeful that I’ll be symptom-free some day, even though it clearly takes some time.
Maybe your recovery path will be similar. Some things that made it easier for me were eating healthier, exercising, and cutting out caffeine. I also got a prescription for Hydroxyzine from my doctor which helped me fall asleep on the nights where the palpitations got really bad.
Best of luck to you!
Robert pina says
I applied rogaine 5% extra strength on January 27 ,2022 (only applied once). The next day I had erectile dysfunction, loss of sensation, watery semen, low libido, & less motivation to do anything in life. Fast forward to September 8,2022 ,it’s been 8 months and I’ve tried every supplement know to help ED & everyone of them failed to cure me. I still have hope and this post has gave me hope. If anyone finds the cure , please email me @ robertpina33@yahoo.com. We will find a cure , majority of things have been cured in life & I have 100% faith that Will find it soon!
Captain says
Hey robert pina, how are you now. Dude i used minox about one year and now i have weak erections and no morning wood. Its been 2 weeks i stopped it. Is there any go back to my old state. I am very depressed now?
Anon says
Same boat as you fellas. Have you tried bloods and taking testosterone or dht like proviron cycle to jumpstart hormones? I’m about to try this but hope not to worsen anything.
This is my next plan of action. Nearly no libido almost 3 years now.
Stan says
Join community and report side effect to FDA!!!!!
https://www.reddit.com/r/MinoxidilSideEffects/
De says
For sure this minoxidil thing is problematic.i started using it in September 2022 for alopecia.the 2% minoxidil was applied twice a day and some improvement was noticed on hair regrowth.
Early Feb 2023 developed weared symptoms of heart racing, panic attack, depression,succidal thoughts, frequent urgency and loose stool, restless.
Rushed to hospital thinking of heart issues BP very high episodically,ECG done mild creterion LVH observed I was initiated on bisoprol , Amlodipine
No improvement
I went back explained my experience once more and initiated on flouxetin,
No improvement with in 2weeks, went back and flouxetin put off and immipramine initiated and I had care of my look so I had stopped application of this drug only to realize some improvement after a month however as normality started resuming I thought of care to the baldness again::. On application,all the previous symptoms resumed that when I realized it could be minoxidil causing me all terror in life now I stopped but still hopping for better life however am still on immipramine and bisoprol + Amlodipine