My story so far, in need of help

[NW10]

Hey guys,

Like the majority of you on this forum, I am suffering from male pattern baldness. I have been lurking on the forums for about a year now and this is my first post. I am seeking the advice of anyone who is willing to give it, as I have found myself in the same predicament that I know many of you also face.

Just a quick background on myself, I am 22 years old, and live in the UK. I began to lose hair at the hairline at about the age of 18. Only recently did it begin to really bother me, following a period of sustained emotional stress, my hairline began to recede much faster. I am currently nw2.5 probably, maybe nw2 at a push. I used regaine 5% for one year without much success, and then following this in a moment of weakness, purchased minoxidil 12.5 +azaelic acid, from a private hair loss clinic in London. This has done little to nothing to slow my loss and I am currently rapidly receding.

My question to you, is what is the best step for me to take next? The logical order of things would be to give propecia a go, however, as a senior at university who studies biomedicine, I am heavily against suppressing the production of any of the bodies natural hormones, and as a result, this has made me very scared of using propecia. From my research, it appears that there are no treatments (much less a cure) in the pipeline that will arrive in the next 5 years. From a medical perspective, I hold great hope in CB-03-01. However, having studied the pharmaceutical industry, and given the history of release of hair loss products, I doubt that it will ever come to market, let alone in the near future (>5 years). Having closely followed the thread of desmonds trip to korea for the world hair congress, I am also slightly disappointed that there seems yet to be so many hurdles to overcome in ultimately finding a cure.

Over the last year or so my hair loss, although not terrible at this stage, has caused me significant upset, even depression. Ultimately, I feel I am faced with the choice, take propecia, or don't take propecia and hold out for something better that may or may not come before I am completely bald. Perhaps some of you kind people could give me some much needed advice/call on your own experiences with propecia to help me make up my mind.

Many thanks to anyone who can offer advice, sorry for the long post!

NW10.

 

[eenrak]

Hey man,

I was extremely apprehensive regarding finasteride at first, like really really scared shirtless. I am a biophysist and messing with the fundamental hormones in your body sounds extremely scary, and it really sounds risky if you go to the right (wrong) websites. Nevertheless, I said to my self, look at scientific statistics, and published papers. Based on that, and not anecdotal remarks (like this one ), make an informed decision.

I had no sides besides some initial watery semen, and have been on it for almost four months with decent results (minoxidil twice a day too). What calmed me was a chat with a dermatologist. Don't go to your regular doctor, they are often skeptical.

Side note: many people talk about increasing dosage over time, but personally I didn't like it. It felt like I was taking a new 'leap' every time I upped the dose. And the placebo effect got me 3 times! 2 min after I took the first pill, I couldn't get it up.. Lol. Such a weak mind I have. And every time I upped the dose, the mere though of finasteride troubled my erections a bit. My point being, really take into consideration that the placebo is real, and be patient and aware that even the slightest fear of finasteride can give trouble downstairs.

I hope that helped you make a decision.

 

[zzzzz]

if you aren't going to take finasteride what are you going to do? Nothing you will lose your hair. You can try RU but that is probably worse for your health than finasteride. There is nothing you can do to save your hair except things which are even worse for you than finasteride. I wasn't scared of propecia and I started dutasteride daily half milligram from the start (I have 4 times less DHT in my blood than if I took finasteride 1.25mg daily) and absolutely nothing. In fact there was no change at all to anything except shedding increased but that can fluctuate naturally. I had to get a blood test to confirm it was real before I bought another batch

 

[Notcoolanymore]

I have been on finasteride for a little more than 10 months. I had slight ball ache for about 2 months and that is pretty much it. I have been lucky enough to have some regrowth. The treatment options that we have are not the best, but they can work. If you really do not want to go bald you really have no choice. Personally I think holding out hope for something better/safer to come out soon is a bad decision. I am hoping for different options in the future, but will use finasteride until then.

 

[GoldenMane]

finasteride will regrow and thicken some thinning hair, but it is primarily a preventative medication for saving the hair you already have. The longer you wait, the less hair you'll have left to save and the less hair you'll regrow. I've been on finasteride since late August 2013 and I've had no side effects at all. I've regrown some hair and thickened too so that you can no longer tell I am/was going bald, even with wet hair, but I've definitely lost some ground in thickness and my hairline that I'm not going to ever get back. I'm happy with my coverage again now, but if i'd acted sooner I'd have a better hairline and thicker hair.

 

[NW10]

Thanks for your advice guys. I am aware that only a small number of people get side effects from finasteride, and that the likelyhood is that I would be for the most part side-effect free. What concerns me more than that is however the long term use of the drug. I worry that over the course of 5-10 years of suppressing DHT production, this could have a substantial effect on my general endocrinology. I think what I will do is book an appointment to see an endocrinologist, and I will discuss with him/her from a medical perspective the dangers/risks of suppressing DHT for many years. If he/she gives me the green light,then I will give it a go! And if not, I will say **** it, make the most of a bad situation, lift a lot of weights, buy some nice new clothes and rock my bald turnip shaped head with pride. Thanks for your help everyone.