I've been struggling with Androgenetic Alopecia since 16/17 - I've tried everything I could think of short of a hair transplant (which I have no intention of going through with), but all I've managed to do is slow down the inevitable. Now at 27, and with a huge and *very* noticeable bald spot in the back of my head, I think I'm ready to "give up ghost" as it were.
There's only one catch - when I was about 22/23, I was desperate and did something really dumb, I started experimenting with oral spironolactone 100mg. Took it for about a year, had horrible side-effects - numbnesses, diplopia, loss of libido, ED, you name it - doctors even thought I was showing early signs of MS, ffs.
I stopped taking it at about age 24/25, and gradually the side-effects started to wane, then switched back to Finasteride. I'm no longer experiencing double vision or strange numbnesses but the loss of libido and ED, well...
I still have a libido, though it is certainly lower than it used to be, and I can still get erections without too much trouble - maintaining them is the issue, and they're not as hard as they were before I started taking spironolactone (and forget about morning wood/spontaneous erections). Since it was a while after I stopped taking it before the numbnesses and dipoplia disappeared completely, I didn't make much of a fuss about it - but after 2/3 years I'm pretty convinced they won't go away on their own. Any ideas? Please tell me this isn't permanent.
Do I need to take anything to "realign" my hormones?
There's only one catch - when I was about 22/23, I was desperate and did something really dumb, I started experimenting with oral spironolactone 100mg. Took it for about a year, had horrible side-effects - numbnesses, diplopia, loss of libido, ED, you name it - doctors even thought I was showing early signs of MS, ffs.
I stopped taking it at about age 24/25, and gradually the side-effects started to wane, then switched back to Finasteride. I'm no longer experiencing double vision or strange numbnesses but the loss of libido and ED, well...
I still have a libido, though it is certainly lower than it used to be, and I can still get erections without too much trouble - maintaining them is the issue, and they're not as hard as they were before I started taking spironolactone (and forget about morning wood/spontaneous erections). Since it was a while after I stopped taking it before the numbnesses and dipoplia disappeared completely, I didn't make much of a fuss about it - but after 2/3 years I'm pretty convinced they won't go away on their own. Any ideas? Please tell me this isn't permanent.
Do I need to take anything to "realign" my hormones?