Should I start finasteride?

[notbalding83]

Hi, I got diagnosed with miniaturization in the top scalp and crown (not the hairline..weird) and was wondering what treatment you would recommend? My Doctor suggested I start propecia but I am not sure if I should start it. I'm 20 btw. Thanks

 

[zzzzz]

Everyone who has male pattern baldness should start propecia/finasteride

Hi,

hardly anything can be seen , you should take a picture with your head buzzed or something.

If a derm diagnosed him as having miniaturization in male pattern baldness areas than I don't think that is needed

 

[mr the hairy monkey]

Hi,

hardly anything can be seen , you should take a picture with your head buzzed or something.

 

[notbalding83]

Hi. Yeah I'm not to keep on getting a buzz cut but I was diagnosed. How important is catching it early? Should I wait and see if anything drastic is going to happen?

 

[mr the hairy monkey]

well the thing is, when you take it early enough , your hair is maintained instead of being regrown.

I don't know anything about finasteride except it blocking dht and having unpleasant side effects , but let me sum up to you the process.

example : if your scalp still has hair on it (even if they are thin) , well the medication would just make them grow thicker and maintain them in good health.

whereas if your hair is gone , the medication has to make your hair grow back first.

that's the whole point , growing back your hair instead of maintaining it can be trickier.


zzzz is the expert here , especially when it comes to finasteride

edit : if you want to wait , hopping that this is not actually male pattern baldness , well the only interest of it would be to spare you the troubles and the money , because it would suck starting taking a treatment for something that you don't have.

 

[Notcoolanymore]

If you are not ready to start treating your hair loss, or you do not think it is that bad, then do nothing at this point but take pics. Every few months take more pics and compare. If you notice your hair getting bad, then decide if you are ready to do something about it.

 

[notbalding83]

Okay bc I was officially diagnosed I'm leaning towards finasteride. Any advice on what to expect?

 

[Vlatch]

Okay bc I was officially diagnosed I'm leaning towards finasteride. Any advice on what to expect?

Expect to keep your hair for a long time if you start now.
In term of sides : slight decrease in libido for a lot of people, watery semen is frequent too. Less frequent : ball ache, problems maintaining an erection, gynecomastia. Most side effects get better after a while and they disappear after discontinuing the drug.

I've been taking it for a month and I only had a little decrease in libido, no other sides (lets hope it continues !).

Your hair looks fine to me though, hard to conclude anything with those pictures =\

 

[notbalding83]

Expect to keep your hair for a long time if you start now.
In term of sides : slight decrease in libido for a lot of people, watery semen is frequent too. Less frequent : ball ache, problems maintaining an erection, gynecomastia. Most side effects get better after a while and they disappear after discontinuing the drug.

I've been taking it for a month and I only had a little decrease in libido, no other sides (lets hope it continues !).

Your hair looks fine to me though, hard to conclude anything with those pictures =\

Awesome thank you. Did you start finasteride early on for your male pattern baldness? Also, should I get nizoral?

 

[Vlatch]

Awesome thank you. Did you start finasteride early on for your male pattern baldness? Also, should I get nizoral?

Yes and no, I wish I had started a couple years earlier but I still have decent hair (diffuse hair loss, I hate having wet hair and being under the sun ^^).
There are several studies showing Nizoral is good against hair loss (as effective as minoxidil 2%), and it's easy to use, but given the state of your hair I think finasteride should be more than enough (again, it's hard to see anything with your pictures but if you say you were diagnosed with male pattern baldness by a professional, I'll just have to take your word on it). I use Nizoral 2% every 2 days, but I also use it to treat sebborheic dermatitis.

 

[centurie]

Hey basically i was in the same situation as you, waited a year since noticing my hairloss and it got a little worse but its still un-noticable to the common person. Anyway as of today im starting 0.5mg of Propecia every other day, in my opinion i believe this is the optimal dose for people like me and you as some say sides are less frequent with such doses. Even if it doesn't work your hairloss would of progressed much and you could just up the dosage to the standard 1mg dose

 

[notbalding83]

Awesome thanks for all the feedback. Centurie? Did you look into 0.5 ED instead to keep DHT from fluctuating? Did you see a derm? Did he say anything helpful?

 

[xRedStaRx]

Awesome thanks for all the feedback. Centurie? Did you look into 0.5 ED instead to keep DHT from fluctuating? Did you see a derm? Did he say anything helpful?

DHT doesn't "fluctuate" from EOD dosing. The turnover of 5-AR II takes around 2 weeks

 

[notbalding83]

What dose do you recommend for me just starting out?

 

[xRedStaRx]

What dose do you recommend for me just starting out?

There is no 'start out' dose either.

Just take 0.625 mg EOD.

 

[centurie]

Awesome thanks for all the feedback. Centurie? Did you look into 0.5 ED instead to keep DHT from fluctuating? Did you see a derm? Did he say anything helpful?

I visited a derm who basically said to get on 1mg ED since its the tested dose and has been proven to work, however upon asking whether i could try 0.5mg EOD he said their was no reason why it wouldn't work as effectively and i could try it out if i want. As Red said DHT does not fluctuate with EOD doses, their are graphs showing that it can take more than a week for DHT to return to normal levels, and that their is negligible difference between DHT levels from the first and second day of taking 0.5mg dose. Basically in all reality it probably wont make much of a difference from taking a 1mg ED dose or a 0.5mg EOD dose, apart from the fact that we save money and potentially have the risk of sides lowered.

 

[SayifDoit]

Expect to keep your hair for a long time if you start now.
In term of sides : slight decrease in libido for a lot of people, watery semen is frequent too. Less frequent : ball ache, problems maintaining an erection, gynecomastia. Most side effects get better after a while and they disappear after discontinuing the drug.

I've been taking it for a month and I only had a little decrease in libido, no other sides (lets hope it continues !).

Your hair looks fine to me though, hard to conclude anything with those pictures =\

Great advice, for the most part that is what you need to know when you're taking this drug, the risks.

 

[notbalding83]

Great advice, for the most part that is what you need to know when you're taking this drug, the risks.

My derm today said her side effects observed in practice are also at 1%, so that made me feel better. Anyways..starting today. Thanks for your help

 

[centurie]

What dose are you starting with? Also keep a log, take basline photos and then photos every 3 months or so. Usually the change is so gradual that we are unable to notice, however comparing photos will help you see if treatment is working. Good Luck!

 

[notbalding83]

What dose are you starting with? Also keep a log, take basline photos and then photos every 3 months or so. Usually the change is so gradual that we are unable to notice, however comparing photos will help you see if treatment is working. Good Luck!

Hi. I popped .5mg yesterday and don't feel the slightest bit different. Should I just stop fiddling and stick with 1mg?