RU-58841 scalp irritation after 3 weeks, normal shedding or am I reacting?

Posted by weekendnate in Safety & Side Effects - 1 points, 4 comments.

Been running RU-58841 daily for about three weeks now, 50mg per mL in a standard vehicle, applied to the hairline and crown. First two weeks felt fine, maybe a little dryness that I wrote off. This week the scalp is noticeably itchy and red along the temples, and I am seeing way more hair on the pillow and in the shower drain than before I started.

Trying to figure out what is going on. Is this just a temporary shed that settles out, or am I having a reaction to the compound or the carrier? I have not changed anything else in my stack and no new shampoo or anything. Bloodwork from a few weeks ago showed my DHT and testosterone in normal ranges so I do not think it is systemic.

If anyone has hit a similar wall around the three week mark, did you push through, drop the dose, or switch vehicles? I would rather not nuke my scalp and chase a problem that might just be the follicle transition.

Comments

• gina_zone2: Honestly that sounds rough, the itch and redness along the temples makes me wonder if it's the carrier doing it more than the RU itself, since propylene alcohol and PG can really irritate some people after a few weeks of daily use 🧬 I haven't run RU myself tbh but I've seen a lot of people say shedding in weeks 2-4 is super common and usually settles, while persistent redness and itching is more often a vehicle issue than the compound. Could just be the follicle reset too. Did you start with
• rachel_ketogen: Yeah the temple redness screams carrier to me too. I tried RU at 50mg/mL daily and got the same itch after week two; cutting to every other day calmed it while shedding still happened. Did you try lowering the dose or switching vehicles? 😅
• weekendnate: Interesting that you saw the same thing at the same strength. I have not tried EOD yet, mostly because I assumed daily was needed to keep local DHT blockade steady, but maybe my scalp is just not tolerating the daily dose of whatever the carrier is. I am leaning toward dropping to every other day for two weeks and seeing if the redness calms without losing ground. If that fails I will probably switch vehicles before I bail on the compound entirely. Was your shedding worse on the lower frequency
• weekendnate: Yeah that lines up with what I was suspecting, the carrier is probably the bigger culprit here. I went straight to daily from day one which in hindsight might have been dumb. I think I am going to drop to every other day for a week or two and see if the redness calms down before I blame the RU itself. If the itch sticks around on off days then I will probably try a different vehicle. Appreciate the push to think about it that way.

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.