Ohh the dilemma of a gradual diffuse thinner...

[TinTon]

Nothing quite like being a gradual diffuse thinner (all on top, mainly & primarily at the crown).

When you are a typical Norwood fella receding at the hairline you jump on finasteride to halt the situation, logically... but when you are very gradually thinning all over the top, the decision is so much more tiresome: Do you jump on finasteride in the hope the gradual thinning halts (with possibility of encountering side effects then experiencing up-regulation of the previous gradual balding rate) or just ride it through naturally embracing your fate and avoid the possibility of side effects from finasteride?

I'm plagued with this decisions each passing day. What a bum-crack!

 

[JTS]

Nothing quite like being a gradual diffuse thinner (all on top, mainly & primarily at the crown).

When you are a typical Norwood fella receding at the hairline you jump on finasteride to halt the situation, logically... but when you are very gradually thinning all over the top, the decision is so much more tiresome: Do you jump on finasteride in the hope the gradual thinning halts (with possibility of encountering side effects then experiencing up-regulation of the previous gradual balding rate) or just ride it through naturally embracing your fate and avoid the possibility of side effects from finasteride?

I'm plagued with this decisions each passing day. What a bum-crack!

Give finasteride a shot. I got sides within 5 days of starting finasteride so I stopped, I started again on Sunday but I'm stopping because something just isnt right. That said, you'll prob be luckier than me.

 

[Notcoolanymore]

When it comes to balding, everything is a roll of the dice. Balding may take many years, or it can all of a sudden hit you hard and you could slick bald in a matter of a couple of years. You can take finasteride and have no sides, but it may not work to stop your hair loss. You can take finasteride and be one of the unlucky ones that gets horrible sides. Everything is just a huge guessing game with many answers. It comes down to how you feel about going bald. If it sucks, but you feel that you will eventually come to terms with it, then don't treat it and see what happens. If the thought of going bald is something that you can't get over, then you should do something to treat it. Most of us here are in this same boat. We all understand the potential risks of taking finasteride, but we also understand the risks of letting ourselves go bald.

 

[Esprit]

Do we really believe the percentage of people on finasteride who get sides is really only 1% as a look through these forums would inidicate strongly the other way?

 

[TinTon]

Do we really believe the percentage of people on finasteride who get sides is really only 1% as a look through these forums would inidicate strongly the other way?

I think most people will have side effects from changing their hormonal balance via a drug, that's a given but it only matters to said population when/if they have "noticeable" side effects, as most won't notice the more subtle sides they are having.

In terms of the percentage, I thought it was 2% as per the FDA and Merck studies. Either way in terms of forums it's impossible to use them as a percentage indicator because it's much easier to find 30 threads of people complaining about side effects than it is to find people celebrating for not having any side effects, that's of course natural because people who are having zero "noticeable" side effects are hardly likely to sign-up to a forum and create a thread for the sole purpose of telling others that they don't have any side effects from taking finasteride, who in their right mind would want to tempt fate by doing that.

 

[Esprit]

Some good and valid points, have you decided what you are going to do yet?
finasteride or minoxidil?

 

[TinTon]

Hi Mate,

I've not started anything as yet because I've been a bit pre-occupied with other issues just lately, but if I do start some hair loss treatment, it would be finasteride rather than minoxidil.

 

[Esprit]

Sounds a lot easier to do, and couple of hair transplant surgeons have told me not to bother with minoxidil. I know some have had good results from it though, so not sure why they are so against it