Worm said he went to a dermatologist from the beginning. The derm told him he had male pattern baldness. Worm then tried Finasteride and had great success, but didn't like the side effects from finasteride. So, he stopped and tried Zix, and it stopped his loss. He added minoxidil much later. All of his primary success is from Zix.
Does it work for everyone? No. But it has worked for him and many others. On past boards, people have had good success with Zix and even posted before and after pics.
I would always recommend finasteride and minoxidil first to anyone, but if you can't handle those, then Zix is definitely worth a try, especially considering how dirt cheap it is.