Hi all, first time poster. Just a quick little background info on my hair loss: I started noticing an extreme amount of shedding in my shower one day in mid-August of 2004, shortly after I had started college. I had been taking creatine and body building with a trainer for the past 4 months and I am sure this had something to do with the new found hair loss, plus starting college was pretty stressful as I was away from home for an indefinite period of time for the first time in my life. Naturally, I have VERY thick, wavy hair and always thought hair loss would be the last thing I'd ever have to worry about.
When I tried telling my dad about it, who has been on Propecia for over 8 years and has regrown and maintained all his hair with no side effects, he simply laughed me off and was not at all understanding about it. I know it didn't appear that I was losing my hair at first since it was still very thick, but over the past 2 years it has slowly but surely gotten thinner and it is becoming easier and easier to see scalp in the back, and there has been a slight recession on my widow's peak. I still appear to have a full head of hair when not looked at closely, but there has definitely been a good amount of thinning. I visited my dad's dermatologist twice, and both times he simply brushed me out of his office telling me that I had dandruff which can cause temporary hair loss and threw some crappy shampoos at me which didn't do much of anything besides make my hair smell bad.
Anyways, just had an appointment with another dermatologist on Monday, and although he didn't seem to think I have much of a problem, he prescribed Propecia and Nizoral 2% for me, and also suggested I pick up some Rogaine. He gave me a week sample supply of Propecia, and here is where the problem comes in...
After going through this site, I cannot believe all of the negativity I have read towards Propecia: the shedding, the amount of people who claim they actually lost more hair while on it, the tolerances that can be built up against it, etc. etc. This has really freaked me out and I have a week's supply of Propecia and a prescription for a 3-month supply of it sitting on my kitchen table so far unused. I would really appreciate some feedback on general thoughts on Propecia and if you all really think it's worth the risk. I'm not concerned about the sexual side effects: THAT I could live with since I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that I have a very active sex life at the moment (confidence has just been destroyed). However, I certainly do not want to lose more hair while on Propecia and although I am very concerned about the state of my hair at the moment I know it still looks better than most guys' since it was so thick to begin with and could live with it looking the way it does at the moment. I would just really like to stop, not cause more shedding and hopefully get back some of it's thickness.
Also, I like to wear my hair long. Would I still be able to do this while on Propecia? I can't thank you guys enough in advance for any response you might give. I'm just so lost right now.
When I tried telling my dad about it, who has been on Propecia for over 8 years and has regrown and maintained all his hair with no side effects, he simply laughed me off and was not at all understanding about it. I know it didn't appear that I was losing my hair at first since it was still very thick, but over the past 2 years it has slowly but surely gotten thinner and it is becoming easier and easier to see scalp in the back, and there has been a slight recession on my widow's peak. I still appear to have a full head of hair when not looked at closely, but there has definitely been a good amount of thinning. I visited my dad's dermatologist twice, and both times he simply brushed me out of his office telling me that I had dandruff which can cause temporary hair loss and threw some crappy shampoos at me which didn't do much of anything besides make my hair smell bad.
Anyways, just had an appointment with another dermatologist on Monday, and although he didn't seem to think I have much of a problem, he prescribed Propecia and Nizoral 2% for me, and also suggested I pick up some Rogaine. He gave me a week sample supply of Propecia, and here is where the problem comes in...
After going through this site, I cannot believe all of the negativity I have read towards Propecia: the shedding, the amount of people who claim they actually lost more hair while on it, the tolerances that can be built up against it, etc. etc. This has really freaked me out and I have a week's supply of Propecia and a prescription for a 3-month supply of it sitting on my kitchen table so far unused. I would really appreciate some feedback on general thoughts on Propecia and if you all really think it's worth the risk. I'm not concerned about the sexual side effects: THAT I could live with since I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that I have a very active sex life at the moment (confidence has just been destroyed). However, I certainly do not want to lose more hair while on Propecia and although I am very concerned about the state of my hair at the moment I know it still looks better than most guys' since it was so thick to begin with and could live with it looking the way it does at the moment. I would just really like to stop, not cause more shedding and hopefully get back some of it's thickness.
Also, I like to wear my hair long. Would I still be able to do this while on Propecia? I can't thank you guys enough in advance for any response you might give. I'm just so lost right now.
