I am new to this board because I am searching for answers and information to make the most educated decision about possibly getting off of Finasteride after 8 years. I am now 35, but my hair started thinning in my late teens and early 20's. The Finasteride has worked miracles, and I now have more hair than I did in my mid 20's, and I look way younger than my actual age. I have also used Nizoral 1% daily and I think it has helped as well. I work in the fitness industry and there are plenty of guys with shaved heads, but I don't think it would be a good look for me and am very self conscious about losing my blonde hair that I wear at a medium length. I have been having effects that I just recently realized might have been brought on by the finasteride.
When I went to my Dr for my birthday physical, I had my blood work done for the first time in years. I had very low Vitamin D levels and my Dr actually put me on prescription Vit D. For someone who is fairly muscular and works out very hard 4 days a week, I was surprised my testosterone was a low 380. I did some research and thought the finasteride might be contributing. Over the past few years my memory has been extremely bad and family and coworkers have made comments, and I have always just blamed it on partying too much in my college years. I was always very skinny growing up with a very defined jaw, and my face has been puffy and bloated looking as long as I have been using the finasteride. I have always had an extremely high libido, but the last year it has dropped dramatically and I feel that my erections aren't as firm as they used to be. After researching side effects others have had, I don't know if I am paranoid, but I feel like I might even have some penis shrinkage? Even the thought of some of these side effects makes me want to stop taking the finasteride, and my girlfriend is constantly encouraging me to quit taking it because of the libido loss. I stopped taking it for about two weeks, but started back again after it looked to me that I was losing some hair. I haven't been using the Nizoral 1% for a few months since I wasn't able to find it at Wal Mart or Walgreens like I had been. I saw the prices it was going for online and thought I would search other alternatives. I have thought about hair transplants for a while, but I'm a nervous about getting a botched job that does not look natural and it would be noticeable for a couple weeks after the surgery and I work around a lot of people. I hate how there always seems to be the next miracle cure coming, but it is always a few years away and never happens.
I spoke to my Doctor about coming off because I was concerned about the sides, and she said not to believe everything I see on message boards and there was not much medical documentation about severe side effects and even searched for me in her office. She showed me how you can go to scholar.google.com and search only medical documents and none had been published about actual penile shrinkage. it made me feel a little better at the time, but I still think I need to get off of this stuff, and I don't want to find out 20 years down the road that this stuff really messed me up.
So I am here searching to see what kind of results people are getting without finasteride, so hopefully I can come off of this stuff. I have noticed there are a few alternatives to Nizoral that have the Ketoconazole, but I don't know if there is any real difference between them and what the difference might be? I saw some people with the front temple hairloss like myself using Minoxodil, but I also saw that some people have actual hair loss from it. I was under the impression that Minoxodil was only for guys losing hair on the back of their head? I am hoping to get some feedback and see if possibly some Keto shampoo and Minoxodil combo might be as effective as the finasteride? I guess everyone is on here for answers and to see what is working for others, so I am joining the club to help make my decision. This is about the fourth hair loss forum that I have joined, as this has been on my mind a lot lately. So please chime in as I welcome any comments or advice.
When I went to my Dr for my birthday physical, I had my blood work done for the first time in years. I had very low Vitamin D levels and my Dr actually put me on prescription Vit D. For someone who is fairly muscular and works out very hard 4 days a week, I was surprised my testosterone was a low 380. I did some research and thought the finasteride might be contributing. Over the past few years my memory has been extremely bad and family and coworkers have made comments, and I have always just blamed it on partying too much in my college years. I was always very skinny growing up with a very defined jaw, and my face has been puffy and bloated looking as long as I have been using the finasteride. I have always had an extremely high libido, but the last year it has dropped dramatically and I feel that my erections aren't as firm as they used to be. After researching side effects others have had, I don't know if I am paranoid, but I feel like I might even have some penis shrinkage? Even the thought of some of these side effects makes me want to stop taking the finasteride, and my girlfriend is constantly encouraging me to quit taking it because of the libido loss. I stopped taking it for about two weeks, but started back again after it looked to me that I was losing some hair. I haven't been using the Nizoral 1% for a few months since I wasn't able to find it at Wal Mart or Walgreens like I had been. I saw the prices it was going for online and thought I would search other alternatives. I have thought about hair transplants for a while, but I'm a nervous about getting a botched job that does not look natural and it would be noticeable for a couple weeks after the surgery and I work around a lot of people. I hate how there always seems to be the next miracle cure coming, but it is always a few years away and never happens.
I spoke to my Doctor about coming off because I was concerned about the sides, and she said not to believe everything I see on message boards and there was not much medical documentation about severe side effects and even searched for me in her office. She showed me how you can go to scholar.google.com and search only medical documents and none had been published about actual penile shrinkage. it made me feel a little better at the time, but I still think I need to get off of this stuff, and I don't want to find out 20 years down the road that this stuff really messed me up.
So I am here searching to see what kind of results people are getting without finasteride, so hopefully I can come off of this stuff. I have noticed there are a few alternatives to Nizoral that have the Ketoconazole, but I don't know if there is any real difference between them and what the difference might be? I saw some people with the front temple hairloss like myself using Minoxodil, but I also saw that some people have actual hair loss from it. I was under the impression that Minoxodil was only for guys losing hair on the back of their head? I am hoping to get some feedback and see if possibly some Keto shampoo and Minoxodil combo might be as effective as the finasteride? I guess everyone is on here for answers and to see what is working for others, so I am joining the club to help make my decision. This is about the fourth hair loss forum that I have joined, as this has been on my mind a lot lately. So please chime in as I welcome any comments or advice.
