Should I be As Scared As I Am?

[Pioneer]

Should I be THIS nervous Starting Finn?

So here's the story. Early 30's and always had a good head of hair

Have very little facial hair or body hair in general. A few years back, got big into weight lifting and got on high doses of creatine. Not sure if there was a correlation but as I got much stronger/bigger, I felt like the hair took a hit. Broke a bone a few months back, got off weight lifting, have lost a bunch of muscle mass, am not eating as often as I was to bulk up.. Noticed shedding, read about DHT and creatine, got off creatine, saw a doctor who thought I was crazy for concerns over male pattern baldness.

Looked online and picked up Nizoral which i was using every other day (i'm cutting back to every third day now). Also am on saw palmetto, L-arginine, l-lysine, ashwagandha, biotin, omega-3. punkin seed oil, and panthothentic acid. Also using American Crew Trichology concentrate vials nightly. To say the least, I'm taking what I think are the right steps but the continued shedding has me nervous. Also, I feel as though the hairline area is thinning based on the look and feel. I've discussed it with a select few close friends/family and they all think I'm nuts.

Which brings me to the doctor. He gave me a prescription for finn which I had filled up.. but I've had it sitting in my bathroom counter for over a month untouched as I'm nervous of sides. Should I jump in and see what happens? Should I just avoid at all costs? Are the sides overhyped? Are there any other alternatives I could try prior to going with finn or should I just suck it up and give it a go?

Included two pics as I know you'll otherwise ask for them

 

[DENI3D]

My hairline basically looks exactly the same but a little thinner all around sides, front, and top and I'm 23. Just started finasteride yesterday but if your hair loss is accelerating as much as mine is you'll probably want to get on it asap if you want to get on it at all. The odds of having really bad/permanent sides are pretty slim, but its still a chance. Like Clint Eastwood said "Do you feel lucky punk, do you?" :mrgreen:

 

[Pioneer]

My hairline basically looks exactly the same but a little thinner all around sides, front, and top and I'm 23. Just started finasteride yesterday but if your hair loss is accelerating as much as mine is you'll probably want to get on it asap if you want to get on it at all. The odds of having really bad/permanent sides are pretty slim, but its still a chance. Like Clint Eastwood said "Do you feel lucky punk, do you?" :mrgreen:

What percent of guys go on finn with zero sides? Is that even possible or is basically everyone stuck with them?

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

What percent of guys go on finn with zero sides? Is that even possible or is basically everyone stuck with them?

It all depends on what you're more apt to believe, Merck's empirical data or the anecdotal stories that you read on the internet. Personally, I have a hard time believing anyone doesn't feel at least somewhat different when first starting a drug that blocks the most potent male hormone there is. That's probably due to my rather tumultuous time taking the drug which I ultimately needed to discontinue due to decreasing T levels.

There are many people out there that report no side effects whatsoever. There's men out there that report side effects only during the early stages of starting the drug that eventually subsided. There's men out there, myself included, that felt side effects right away and they continued throughout the duration of usage. Then there's the microscopic sub-set of men that report Post Finasteride Syndrome -- basically the worst side effects you can imagine that occur for months, years, or even permanently after discontinuing the drug.

It's all up to you though, man. Merck reports something like only 2 percent of men reporting side effects from their drug trials back in the 90s, but most of us in this community tend to think it's quite a bit more than that, but nothing staggeringly high either. Most of the time, the side effects that you may encounter are minor (watery semen, lowered sex drive, lack or morning wood) and usually subside after a few months. Finasteride has never been cheaper or more readily available than it is today, but the choice of whether or not to take it is yours and yours alone. It's the most common and most effective treatment available today for male pattern baldness. Good luck.

 

[Pioneer]

It all depends on what you're more apt to believe, Merck's empirical data or the anecdotal stories that you read on the internet. Personally, I have a hard time believing anyone doesn't feel at least somewhat different when first starting a drug that blocks the most potent male hormone there is. That's probably due to my rather tumultuous time taking the drug which I ultimately needed to discontinue due to decreasing T levels.

There are many people out there that report no side effects whatsoever. There's men out there that report side effects only during the early stages of starting the drug that eventually subsided. There's men out there, myself included, that felt side effects right away and they continued throughout the duration of usage. Then there's the microscopic sub-set of men that report Post Finasteride Syndrome -- basically the worst side effects you can imagine that occur for months, years, or even permanently after discontinuing the drug.

It's all up to you though, man. Merck reports something like only 2 percent of men reporting side effects from their drug trials back in the 90s, but most of us in this community tend to think it's quite a bit more than that, but nothing staggeringly high either. Most of the time, the side effects that you may encounter are minor (watery semen, lowered sex drive, lack or morning wood) and usually subside after a few months. Finasteride has never been cheaper or more readily available than it is today, but the choice of whether or not to take it is yours and yours alone. It's the most common and most effective treatment available today for male pattern baldness. Good luck.

In addition to nizoral (using every three or four days), the supplements i listed above, eating healthy, and the american crew concentrate, are there any other things I could add to the regiment that would make a marked improvement prior to resorting to finn? I would like to try all avenues before going down one with potentially negative side effects.

Your write up was extremely thoughtful and thorough so, to you, my hat is off sir!

 

[ryan1]

not scarred

 

[theEvergreen]

Hmmm...I would most likely say not to freak out. I feel like mine is around your progress and your situation seems almost exactly the same as mine. Started lifting, started noticing a lot of thinning. Everyone else insists I still have really thick hair, but I don't know if it's just some sort of dysmorphia. I look back at old/recent pics and do some comparing and there's not that much difference so I think I'm crazy. The only pics where it looks like I'm legit thinning is when I intentionally sit under really bright lights to take the pics.

Anyway, there's tons of people on finasteride who have no sides. I think you'll be fine if you go on it dude. I'm starting to think I should as well.