Completely agree with your first paragraph.
People want simple answers and it's not so simple, and often people pay the price down the line for wanting a simple answer.
Regarding your medication, it's especially for these reasons why natural approaches are something you should always try for. Often times people incorrectly overlook the natural stuff because of the strong marketing hand of Big Pharma which will try to make anything that isn't Pharmaceutical, a waste of time. Is a business, so you can expect them to play dirty.
There's been many times where major Pharmaceutical companies have been sued for wrong doing and harmful side effects, etc.
Regarding fixing up your diet, as the bare minimum you should look to atleast cut out all sugars, and also look out for fruits which also have lots of sugar in them. Just because it's a fruit, doesn't necessarily mean it's healthy.
Sugar increases DHT, so you want to make sure you cut that out completely ASAP.
Cut out all processed foods, gluten and anything made with flour or wheat like breads, pastas, pastries, etc, and dairy. Most often people with Androgenetic Alopecia suffer from allergies to these (which typically aren't very noticeable, but affect the hair follicles greatly because they increase inflammation on the scalp and the hair follicles miniaturize and die).
I know you might be thinking that's like cutting out everything, but that's not the case.
Think about it like this, Male Patterned Balding is actually a way of your body telling you it's designed to be like a high performance car, but you're giving it the cheapest fuel. It's a way of your body saying you were designed to operate at a higher level, which is actually super beneficial to you because if you think about it, most pro-athletes do this and they have the best health. It also helps to slow down aging caused by GMO and processed foods.
You will notice a big difference in your energy levels and mood once you fix your diet like this. It also will help you look way more lean, which is only a benefit.
Watch this short video, it explains clearly all the things you need to do.
*NOTE: Ignore the part about the Growband product, you don't need it. *
Next you want to look at fixing Fibrosis and Calcification which basically suffocate the hair follicles and cause it to minituarize, thin and die.
The best way to do this is reducing the calcium in your diet which is typically found on dairy products, hence it's important to stop dairy + Microneedling once a week (which will also help absortion of Minoxidil to boost its effectiveness). Then you want to make sure you're taking a supplement which contains Vitamin K2 and Magnesium because they help to reverse calcification.
There's quite a few highly important vitamins and minerals that you need to take as the basis of any hair loss regimen, also because with stress, trauma, fatigue, depression, etc, many important vitamins and minerals get depleted and it caused a worse effect on your body and hair.
Good news is you can pretty much get all the main vitamins and minerals from 1 capsule from HairGuard and 1 capsule from Dr Berg.
HairGuard supplement:
The ultimate hair supplement that provides essential nutrients and minerals needed for strong, thick, healthy hair growth. Visible hair growth after 3 months or your money back. Take 1 capsule per day.
pro.hairguard.com
I also like their "Hairbiotics" (pro-biotic) supplement, which helps create good bacteria that helps hair. Often if you don't have enough, your body can't absorb the nutrients you're giving it.
But if you want a much better deal, check out their "Ultimate Bundle" , it's like $99 if you subscribe for the bundle which comes with a bunch of stuff, including the Hair Supplement + Hairbiotics + lots of other stuff including a really good natural Topical + other stuff.
Ultimate Hair Regrowth BundleGet absolutely everything you need to stimulate thick, healthy hair regrowth in one simple package. Contains a 2 month supply of Biogaine, our flagship Anti-Hairloss Serum, plus the Essentials Supplement and Complete Hairbiotic. Block DHT to prevent further hair...
pro.hairguard.com
I've cross checked all the different hairloss supplements on the market and this is the most comprehensive as well as the best dosages per vitamin or mineral + their all natural with no potential side effects.
Then this Dr Berg supplement will be really important for getting Your Vitamin D3, and has a some important trace minerals, but if it's too expensive, then simply find another cheaper source to get your Vitamin D3. Main reason I like his supplement is the high dose of Vitamin D3 which is 10 000 IU's as well as its packed with Vitamin K2, B6 and B2 which is very important for hair growth PLUS they come from natural sources and aren't from synthetic sources made in a lab, so they have a much higher bio-availability and therefore much better absorbtion than most supplements out there.
Unlock the power of Dr. Berg D3 & K2 Vitamin. Available in 5,000 IU and 10,000 IU D3, with K2 and MCTs, with added ox bile for optimal absorption.
shop.drberg.com
Read the ingredients in the link to see for yourself.
Also, calcification can be caused by hard shower water, if you want, it's a good idea to invest in a filtered shower head, their not expensive:
Reducing scalp tension is also super important as a tight scalp means bad news for hair. Scalp massages and Microneedling really help with this.
Basically if you do those things, for atleast 6 months, I'm pretty sure you should see much better results than you currently are as it's a far more wholistic approach - of course with the addition of regular exercise.