couple of questions

[absconders]

i VERY recently (past few weeks) started seeing shedding, and i believe i have caught male pattern baldness in its earliest stages. so far its not noticeable at all, except it feels a little thin in the front (might just be me, my mom says i'm going crazy). still have all my hair for the most part, but the amount coming out in the shower is kind of alarming. i just had a few questions about treatments...

- this is the best time to start finasteride, correct? earliest stages of balding? my temples are baaaarely receded and if i could keep what i have now i would be more than happy. not looking for regrowth.

- REALISTICALLY what are the chances of side effects for finasteride? they say 2-3%, but every other post on here seems to be someone complaining about horrible sides making them get off the drug completely. it's worth trying out right?

- when they say it takes 4-6 months or whatever to see results, does that mean it will take 4-6 months to stop my shedding? or for my hair to NOTICEABLY look different? i read that this stuff blocks DHT immediately. i just want this freaking shedding to stop, it's scary - again, not looking for regrowth.

- should i bother with rogaine at this point? i seriously dont think i need it, my hair looks fine and if i could just pop a pill every day that would be awesome.

answers for any or all of these questions are appreciated.

 

[absconders]

i know......what i'm saying is that i dont have any bald spots or noticeable recession yet. so i'm not super concerned with regrowing hair in any areas. i just want to maintain and stop shedding so i dont HAVE to regrow anything.

- - - Updated - - -

~bump~

 

[talmoode]

you really should go see a hair specialist if you are not 100% sure. Any hair loss histroy in your family?

 

[absconders]

yeah, dad went bald during his 20s, and my mom's brothers in their 20's/30's. mom's dad still has his hair, 80 years old. not sure about dad's dad.

my psych, pediatrician and mom think that it's the stress. i've had nasty depression this year, especially in the past few weeks, coincidentally when i started noticing hair fall. prior to that it barely ever crossed my mind. i've barely been eating these past few weeks, no appetite. depression from losing hair or losing hair from depression? hmmm

and i have a derm appt for next week. just want to get this cleared up. willing to try finasteride because honestly, no point in having a sex drive if im a bald 19 year old.