minoxidil will have an initial shed for the 1st 3-4 weeks. Dude... you are waaay to worried about propecia to not try it. The side effects are rare, and even if you do get them, you can stop propecia and they will go away. Also, if you get them, they usually go away after a period of a couple weeks.. they did for me. Half the people shed on propecia and half don't. Sheds are a good thing on propecia anyway, because 99% of the time the hair grows back thicker and fuller. Good luck!
also, depending on how bad your hairloss is, your might want to try 5% minoxidil. 2% is for women and guys who don't have a lot of loss to begin with.