This is the Minoxidil I am using with a dropper, 1 ml twice a day.

As mentioned in previous posts my sister arrived to Cuba from Mexico for a short vacation on April the 15^th. She brought with her two main things that were not available in Cuba and that I have been using since then: one was the antidepressant (that I already talked about in http://mydearhair.com/2013/05/22/not-depressed-but-in-need-of-antidepressants/), and a bottle of Minoxidil 5%.

I think I mentioned before that when I discovered the first two bald spots I started using the Minoxidil 2% immediately. I had bought it time ago when I started noticing an overall thinning of my once abundant hair. However I never got to be disciplined with the required “two times a day” application. The instructions say that it would take at least 4 months to notice some progress. I don’t think I ever passed from one week of continues used.

Nevertheless I had it here and I started immediately. But also, during those first days of my alopecia areata I read that the Minoxidil 2% (which is the one for women) was not really effective in the treatment of this disease. So I asked my sister to bring the 5% solution with her.

In Mexico, by the way, it is pretty expensive. A small bottle that lasted less than a month was about 40 dollars. Nevertheless I was surprised to see that my medical insurance covered the cost of it.

I also order some from the U.S. and a few weeks after it was brought to me by a “mule” (someone that makes his living bringing things from the U.S. to Cuba) for a small 15 dollar transportation fee. The one I bought in the U.S. (via Ebay) was 16 dollars for a three month treatment (something I can afford for the rest of my life, if needed).

Since then I have religiously used the Minoxidil twice a day (1 ml each time as indicated) and I am starting to see some changes but I am not sure if I should attribute this to the Minoxidil or to any of the many other things I am doing or to all of them.

Anyway I will talk about the changes in a later post.

In the warnings included in the label of this mediation it says that it should not me used if (among other things) one is a woman, has patchy hair loss, and has no family history of hair loss… (check, check, check…).

Nevertheless the dermatologist said that I should continue to use it since it has proven to be effective in the treatment of alopecia areata.

I will report any changes, although I am doing so many things now that I will not know to what to attribute them to.