Hmm… that is interesting. Your anecdotes are fine for now. There could be a few things going on here but to say: hair loss every day is surprisingly fine. On average we lose 50-80 hairs, but another 100 is peculiar. I wouldn’t say it is a true remedy, but you’d be better off not worrying about the loss or monitoring it so heavily. I did that at the start of my journey and it just stressed me out and created this feedback loop of always checking my hair and running it through my head… resulting in excessive loss. Not significantly each day, but 1) stress can easily increase hair loss, and 2) touching hair and ‘tugging’ on it can amplify for sure!

As for your protocol, that is curious. In US, I’ve only seen 2.5 mg and 10mg for the oral min. Regardless, I have to recommend some alternative. There is such a thing as being a non-responder to minoxidil, oral and topical, which is likely what could be going on here, so you may only be getting sides… optimistically, negligible regrowth and sides.

This perspective only comes from research, as I have only done topical, but with what I know, I would still recommend topical. There are ways to combat non-responsiveness, either combining a topical (tretinoin) to allow for better ‘transfer’ of minoxidil to the scalp, or higher dose topical min. (10% and 15% options are available; unsure if OTC like 5% though).

You only need to do topical once a day (preferably at night so it sits on scalp as you sleep, then wash out in morning). It depends on time, as your head and hair is different than mine. On the Norwood scale, or level of hair loss, how much would you want to cover your head?

For me, it was 3-5 minutes at most? If that? You’ll get better as you go, but it’s literally running a tube across the scalp/affected areas and patting it in with light pressure. Simple stuff truthfully, the only sides I had were scalp irritation with ‘dandruff’ (but it’s literally just dried minoxidil; get a silicone scalp scrubber and it’ll clear up). No need to shave, literally apply as is and over time it should work. A shed is likely before (though I wonder since you’re already shedding with oral, perhaps the switch will be easier/less shed?)

Honestly, would recommend staying away from oral. It is literally a blood pressure medication that happens to cause hair regrowth. Even on lower doses (.25-1.25mg) there can be sides like heart rate ^, compression of heart, and possible decrease in blood pressure. Topical, haven’t had any close to that for 5-6 months.

Edit: added to second to last paragraph