Mild ankle swelling seems to be caused by oral minoxidil

I take it too, but haven’t had any swelling. My doctor has asked, but so far no swelling. I will say that I add no salt to anything. I’m not sure if that matters.

@celia16 Are you taking the 2.5 mg tablets? It's interesting that your doctor is aware and concerned. My doctor never mentions it. Did you start a low salt diet when you started oral minoxidil? I thought my discomfort was due to osteoarthritis although it felt like swelling. I asked my podiatrist yesterday about the indentations from my socks and he immediately said it was mild edema.

@tillymack , it was my dermatologist who prescribed it. I started out with half dose. I took that for several months before I went to 2,5 mg. She always asked me if I had any swelling. I never thought much about it. I had recurring edema in my feet and lower legs many years ago, but it went away. I wasn’t taking Minoxidil then.

I am sensitive to salt and think most food doesn’t need it. I haven’t added it to my food in years. I’m not on a low salt diet, but choose foods with low or no sodium added when possible. So, I never have fluid retention now. Oh, I also take a small dose of a blood pressure med. I take 1/2 of a 20 mg. Telmisarton. I don’t have arthritis.

You can ask your doctor what it means if you have swelling.

@celia16 To be sure I understand, you don't add salt to food but also don't avoid food which contains substantial sodium in its natural form?
I'm planning to start a very gradual reduction in the dose by taking half a 2.5 mg one day a week for one week, then two days a week, etc. while continuing the other days with the full 2.5 mg tablet until transitioning to 1.25 mg daily. I've read reducing the dose from 2.5 mg to 1.25 mg can resolve mild ankle edema.

@tillymack , I might check with the doctor about adjusting the dose. Also, you might get some impact on the hair situation if you adjust it.

Did you get more shedding when you first started on this med? I read that is common. I can’t say I did. Maybe due to me starting with half dose.

How do you feel the med is doing with hair growth?

Oh, ref the sodium. I’m not on a low sodium diet, however I probably consume much less sodium than the average person. That’s because I eat a lot fresh or frozen fruits, veggies and poultry without adding salt. I occasionally have peanut butter, but don’t get salt free. If I buy chips, I will get the No Salt Added. I get low sodium soy sauce. On my recent labs, my Sodium level is normal.

My hair is shedding because I stopped minoxidil abruptly due to elevated
liver enzymes. Also stopped other supplements and changed my diet so
difficult to tell what helped but my ALT and AST returned to normal. That
said, now I have mild ankle edema. Just reading online that eating high
potassium foods might help, and I'll try that 🙂 as well as low sodium
food and no added salt (thank you for these suggestions) when available to
jump the process to reduce edema.

I didn't think it helped that much but with the shedding I can see that it
was helpful after all which is why I started up again.

@tillymack, interesting. My potassium runs slightly high so I avoid bananas. My GP suspects it’s due to my blood pressure med, though I take a small dose. Just started a new one and hopefully that will stop.

My hair doctor, who is a DO, prescribed Dutrastride which I took for about 6 weeks. Inexplicably, I gained about 10 pounds. It’s not associated with weight gain. But idk. We discussed it and I stopped taking it. Will revisit later. It is well known to skew labs, so I suspect it caused me to have a slightly elevated AST. It’s normally fine so that does bother me. Will retest in October. All other labs were great.

Did you get a scalp biopsy? How did you get diagnosis? I can’t get one. Dermatologist nor hair doctor know what has caused this. Biopsy was inconclusive. It started post covid. Also, right after major weight loss and B12 deficiency. It’s frustrating though I think it’s improving.

I had a scalp biopsy because my symptoms include a large bald patch on my right temple. It turned out to be androgenic alopecia. At my age, this is common... My so called hair specialist will only give me minoxidil or platelet rich plasma. Another dermatologist will also give me a prescription for spironolactone. I've tried that and found it helpful. By the way, I read that spironolactone can help the edema because it acts as a diuretic. I was not interested in platelet rich plasma because it costs a fortune, is not covered by insurance, is painful, and not guaranteed to help.

@tillymack , good to know. That med has not been mentioned to me. I have heard about Finasteride. I may consider that. I’m grasping at any options since I don’t know the cause. They suspect it’s autoimmune.

I’ve consulted with the hair doctor who does hair transplants, injections and scalp tattooing. I did purchase a red light therapy cap that I use daily. She said that helps regardless of the cause.

I also use a special prescription shampoo 2-3 times a week.

Best of luck to you. This can be very stressful.