So here's my story. I always had thick hair up to around 17 years old. This was when I decided to try to use minoxidil to help grow my beard. However, after a couple of weeks, I started to notice increased shedding from my scalp. I then stopped using it and from then on, I've been losing hair. I used to think that the minoxidil had done something irreversible to my body, but now I'm pretty sure it is just male pattern baldness. This started happening right as I was about to enter college. I started to get really paranoid and depressed and this made me jump on finasteride as an 18 year old. I used it for about 4 months until I came home from Thanksgiving break and my parents found the pills in my backpack. They got really mad and told me I wasn't balding at all and I need to stop taking the medicine. I actually believed them for some time because I hadn't noticed a difference so I stopped taking the medicine. I cut my hair shorter and I thought it was getting better, but really it wasn't. This was when I shaved my head and I looked like a monk for a while. While the hair was growing back, I could see that the hair all over my head was thinner, not just in the male pattern baldness spots. Fast forward to about 3 months ago and I got back on finasteride. I never really took any pictures because I just didn't want to look at myself all the time. Now, after about 3 months, I'm not sure if I have noticed any difference. My hair seems to be shedding the same amount. I could be making progress but without pictures, I can't be certain. I have great coverage, but all around thin hair (even my back and sides have gotten thinner). If I tilt my head up and look at my hair from the bottom in the mirror, you can literally see straight through to the top of my ceiling. I'll keep posting updates for the future. I was also thinking of getting on minoxidil, but I'm not sure if I will be consistent enough with it. Anyone think I will be good with just finasteride? Also, given how fast I have thinned (about 2 years I feel like my hair has gotten 70% thinner), would just jumping to dutasteride be good? I haven't got any sides btw.
Here are some images I found of myself in 2017 and the ones I took now (the barber fucked up the left side of my hairline so that's why there's hair growing back in one of the pics): https://imgur.com/a/cggSLHT
Here are some images I found of myself in 2017 and the ones I took now (the barber fucked up the left side of my hairline so that's why there's hair growing back in one of the pics): https://imgur.com/a/cggSLHT