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How Long Does Minoxidil Stay In My Body?

Apr 21, 2006/by William Rassman, M.D./7 /Drugs

Dr. Rassman,
I have been taking 2% topical minoxidil since late December 2005. I have ALWAYS taken more than the recommended doses. I would estimate at first 2-3 times the amount, later on 4-5 times the amount. By mid March I noticed my sex drive was really low and and I had a harder time getting and maintaining an erection. I read online from the Mayo Clinic that too much absorption of topical minoxidil can lower sex drive and performance. I have stopped taking it for a week and sexually I’m better, but not quite normal. I also still have some heart palpitations. Could you please tell me when my body will “clear-out” the excess minoxidil?

Some drugs are metabolized fairly quickly, while others can take a long time before they are eliminated. We quantify this with the use of the term “half-life.” The half-life of a given medication is how long it takes for the body to get rid of half of the dose. When the patient is taking a medication on a regular basis, there is an ongoing process of drug absorption in the form of each dose of the drug and, concurrently, an ongoing process of drug removal with the drug’s metabolism and clearance. Eventually, there comes a point when the amount of drug going in is the same as the amount of drug getting taken out. We call this “steady state.” It takes somewhere between 5 and 6 half-lives for a medication to reach steady state. Thus, medications with short half-lives reach steady state relatively quickly, while those with long half-lives take a long time to reach steady state. Minoxidil has a blood half-life of about 4 hours, but I can not determine how long it hangs around the kidney, heart, or other organs when it is out of the blood. Most of the good studies are on oral administration of the drug for treatment of high blood pressure and here is what I read on RxList.com: “The extent and time-course of blood pressure reduction by minoxidil do not correspond closely to its concentration in plasma. After an effective single oral dose, blood pressure usually starts to decline within one-half hour, reaches a minimum between 2 and 3 hours and recovers at an arithmetically linear rate of about 30%/day. The total duration of effect is approximately 75 hours. When minoxidil is administered chronically, once or twice a day, the time required to achieve maximum effect on blood pressure with a given daily dose is inversely related to the size of the dose. Thus, maximum effect is achieved on 10 mg/day within 7 days, on 20 mg/day within 5 days, and on 40 mg/day within 3 days.” This may be more than you asked for.

If you have heart palpitations, you should be seeing a doctor about that. This is a worrysome problem, something that is far too important than to take it to a doctor like me who advises on general questions over the internet. Minoxidil may be out of your system by now and the fact that you are getting better is good, but having a heart problem needs prompt and proper medical treatment, so get it to see a doctor ASAP.

https://baldingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/logo-small-300x62.png 0 0 William Rassman, M.D. https://baldingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/logo-small-300x62.png William Rassman, M.D.2006-04-21 12:32:012006-04-21 08:34:04How Long Does Minoxidil Stay In My Body?

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  1. kostas
    kostas says:
    May 30, 2010 at 1:30 am

    Hi Doctor

    Can topical Minoxidil affect the sex desire, impotence or the erections abiity of somenone?
    Are there any facts, or have you heard something about that?
    Thank you in advance.

    Reply
  2. Leon
    Leon says:
    Jul 18, 2015 at 5:43 am

    Yes it will affect your sex drive. Sometimes permanently. If you get big erections just go bald. What do women really care about? Hair or sex. Answer is sex.

    Reply
    • Khal
      Khal says:
      Jun 10, 2016 at 3:11 pm

      would you enlighten me please of how can minoxidil affect the sex drive ? thank you

      Reply
  3. oscareo
    oscareo says:
    Nov 12, 2016 at 1:52 pm

    Hi
    If I have been using Regaine on and off for mild baldness which started occurring a couple years back, and it seems to have only caused shedding, and now I stop the treatment altogether, is there any chance the “shedded” hair will return.
    After the shedding begins, I start to panic and stop the treatment completely, it seems to have made my balding worse.
    Thanks.

    Reply
  4. NatureIsYourFriend
    NatureIsYourFriend says:
    Nov 17, 2016 at 9:49 pm

    Guys, minoxidil is total crap don’t use it! Not only does it make your skin look bad with wrinkles (it decreases your collagen hormone which make you look young and beautiful) it also will cause hair loss once you stop using it in fact you will lose even more hair than before you started minoxidil. I used this for receding hairline and oh boy do I regret using it… I stopped taking it after I developed skin rash that didn’t go away for month. Now I’m restoring my hairline with natural treatments and there is plenty of them if you’re not too lazy to search it and much safer and cheaper.

    But from now on I will stay away from minoxidil as far as I can and I recommend to stay away from it to others aswell.

    Reply
  5. Dumb one
    Dumb one says:
    Jan 4, 2017 at 6:23 pm

    Ok used monoxidil for a couple of months and it affected my kidneys and liver and blood pressure.I will never use it again, it’s dangerous and doesn’t work. I now must clean my system of that awful stuff. NEVER again. It has messed up my life.

    Reply
  6. Randy
    Randy says:
    Mar 17, 2017 at 9:01 am

    I have been using mens strength minoxidil for 1 month once a day 1ml on scalp areas (I’m female) per my nurse practitioners prescription for alopecia ariata topped with emu oil to assist absorption. My hair is now falling out in handfuls and I have been increasingly dizzy, fatigued and passing out….unable to play golf as I had been (walking 18 holes 3x per week) or effectively anything else like housework etc. Spend lots of time in bed reading. I started reading about side effects and had no idea the minoxidil may be the culprit. I stopped it 48 hours ago and am still having dizzy spells but feel better this morning. Seeing the NP in 2 days. Any advice as to how long it may take for the drug to exit my system?

    Reply

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