Use Minimal Effective Dosing for Hair-Loss Medications
Across hair-loss treatments, start with the lowest possible effective dose and increase slowly only as needed, ideally with medical supervision and blood/cosmetic monitoring. For oral minoxidil, the cited low starting dose is 0.25 mg rather than jumping to 5 mg. For oral finasteride, 0.5-1 mg/day is presented as an effective and fairly safe starting place for most people, and dose increases may be delayed up to about 25 weeks unless side effects require reducing it.
“I would hope that if people are working with a physician, or if they're not in taking minoxidil, that they would start with the lowest possible dose. So for oral minoxidil, that would be 0.25 milligrams, and then increase it as needed rather than jumping in right at five milligrams.”