Hi everyone,
This is my second post now in relation to finasteride, and unfortunately for me I've come to the realisation I cannot take it (at least not for a while until it's out of my system anyway, and even then, I'd like to try some alternatives first.) I basically posted a little while ago about the possibility of suffering from sides of propecia, and can safely say the 'sexual side effects' I suffered were definitely a mental thing. However, a week or so after that post (about a month and a bit into treatment), I started suffering some mental and physical side effects. Not enough to completely destroy my life, but enough to worry me. I basically was suffering from extreme mental fatigue and dryness of the eyes, I guess you could call the first 'brain fog', but for me (I'm normally a wise cracking journalist who's quite good at engaging in conversation and particularly with my words) I could not deal with it. I like my mental sharpness too much. I could not string words together, I was mentally drained by 3 PM and my short term memory became horrendous. It was almost as though I was just kind of 'fading' through every afternoon. So my plan is to discontinue finasteride for a month and then try again at a lower dosage, I'm considering literally biting off tiny chunks of the pill. I'm very worried however because I've only been off the drug three days and today I literally just pulled about 30 hairs out of my temple in the space of a minute without even trying.
OK NOW,
I'm interested to see people's opinions on effective alternatives to finasteride, such as Topical spironolactone and RU 58841. I'm already on a Nizoral/Rogaine combo and if there's a chance even one of Topical spironolactone or RU could stop any further hair falling out, I'd be stoked. I'm quite ok with my hairline (although it is getting quite blonde at the temples and miniaturizing, and my crown is becoming noticeably thinner from the top) and I know that minoxidil alone won't cut it.
Opinions, please. What is the side effect profile like for topical spironolactone and RU? I understand RU is relatively hard to get and no trials have been done, but I've also read that Topical spironolactone is an effective, side effect free alternative to propecia, but then read that it can be much more damaging than finasteride! What the? Also, with my current hairloss, (I'm somewhere between an NW2 and 3 and I wouldn't say my hairloss is overly aggressive) what do you think my chances are of minoxidil thickening what I already have and just delaying how noticeable my loss for, say 2 years? I'm quite ok with losing my hair in my late 20's/early 30's, I really am. But I'm 23 now and I just can't deal with the thought of being almost there by say 28.
Cheers, guys, I know that was a lot to digest but opinions would be greatly appreciated.
This is my second post now in relation to finasteride, and unfortunately for me I've come to the realisation I cannot take it (at least not for a while until it's out of my system anyway, and even then, I'd like to try some alternatives first.) I basically posted a little while ago about the possibility of suffering from sides of propecia, and can safely say the 'sexual side effects' I suffered were definitely a mental thing. However, a week or so after that post (about a month and a bit into treatment), I started suffering some mental and physical side effects. Not enough to completely destroy my life, but enough to worry me. I basically was suffering from extreme mental fatigue and dryness of the eyes, I guess you could call the first 'brain fog', but for me (I'm normally a wise cracking journalist who's quite good at engaging in conversation and particularly with my words) I could not deal with it. I like my mental sharpness too much. I could not string words together, I was mentally drained by 3 PM and my short term memory became horrendous. It was almost as though I was just kind of 'fading' through every afternoon. So my plan is to discontinue finasteride for a month and then try again at a lower dosage, I'm considering literally biting off tiny chunks of the pill. I'm very worried however because I've only been off the drug three days and today I literally just pulled about 30 hairs out of my temple in the space of a minute without even trying.
OK NOW,
I'm interested to see people's opinions on effective alternatives to finasteride, such as Topical spironolactone and RU 58841. I'm already on a Nizoral/Rogaine combo and if there's a chance even one of Topical spironolactone or RU could stop any further hair falling out, I'd be stoked. I'm quite ok with my hairline (although it is getting quite blonde at the temples and miniaturizing, and my crown is becoming noticeably thinner from the top) and I know that minoxidil alone won't cut it.
Opinions, please. What is the side effect profile like for topical spironolactone and RU? I understand RU is relatively hard to get and no trials have been done, but I've also read that Topical spironolactone is an effective, side effect free alternative to propecia, but then read that it can be much more damaging than finasteride! What the? Also, with my current hairloss, (I'm somewhere between an NW2 and 3 and I wouldn't say my hairloss is overly aggressive) what do you think my chances are of minoxidil thickening what I already have and just delaying how noticeable my loss for, say 2 years? I'm quite ok with losing my hair in my late 20's/early 30's, I really am. But I'm 23 now and I just can't deal with the thought of being almost there by say 28.
Cheers, guys, I know that was a lot to digest but opinions would be greatly appreciated.