Oral minoxidil is a vasodilator: it relaxes the walls of small arteries and lowers blood pressure. It was sold as Loniten and is available as generic tablets.
Also known as: Loniten, minoxidil tablets.
Generic minoxidil tablets come in 2.5 mg and 10 mg scored strengths.
The FDA label approves minoxidil tablets only for severe high blood pressure that causes symptoms or organ damage and is not controlled by maximum doses of a diuretic plus two other blood pressure drugs. For people over 12, the starting dose is 5 mg once daily, increased as needed to 10, 20 and then 40 mg, with a usual range of 10 to 40 mg a day and a maximum of 100 mg.
The label's boxed warning says minoxidil can cause fluid around the heart (pericardial effusion), occasionally progressing to tamponade, and can worsen angina; it is usually given with a beta-blocker and a diuretic. About 80% of patients develop increased body hair within 3 to 6 weeks. The label states that using the tablets to grow hair is not an approved indication; low-dose oral minoxidil for hair loss is off-label. Whether that is right for you is a decision for you and your prescriber. The approved hair-loss form is topical minoxidil.
The FDA minoxidil tablet label says blood levels peak within the first hour and the average plasma half-life is 4.2 hours; Dose Track uses 4 hours and a peak at about 40 minutes. The blood pressure effect lasts much longer than the drug stays in blood: the label gives a total duration of about 75 hours.
Numbers shown are the values Dose Track uses, listed only where they agree with the source above. Half-life varies from person to person and with injection site.