Scared to start Big 3

[base10]

Hey Guys,

I'm looking to get started on finasteride. I'm currently 24 years old, I still have good hair. Little bit of recession in the corners, but it's completely unnoticeable. Unless I pull back tightly on my hair and tilt my head forward, most would I say I have no signs of hairloss.

However I do see that my hairline is a bit weaker, and I see a bit of hair miniaturization. The hair loss on my father's side of the family is horrendous. My father is a Norwood 5A in hair loss, but I see hair thinning in a norwood 6 pattern. His 5 brothers, all of them are bald or balding. I've only got 2 male cousins on this side of the family, their hairloss believe it or not is worse than their fathers. One is 31, he's a Norwood chrome dome, my other cousin who's 28, has bangs covering his Norwood 3.5.

My father's side of family hairloss is pretty severe, am I guaranteed the same male pattern baldness path?

I'm considering starting on the big 3. However the task of maintaining this regimen for the rest of my life feels extremely daunting. I've already started using Nizoral about once a week.

I'm a bit scared of side effects caused by use of finasteride. Is this something I should worry about?

 

[Notcoolanymore]

You aren't guaranteed to have male pattern baldness, but I would say the odds are not in your favor. It does suck maintaining a regimen for the rest of your life, but going slick bald to me is worse so I will deal with it. I am also holding out hope for better treatments in the future. Hopefully we will only have to use the big 3 for a few more years before something better comes along. I am not holding my breath though.

With everything going on around the internet about finasteride sides, I understand your fear. My experience with the drug has been no sides for a year. Who knows about the future? I cant stand the thought of being bald so I will accept the potential risks and keep using. If the chance of getting sides is worse for you than going bald, then do nothing and see what happens.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

^^^ Yeah, what he said. Being bald...not for me. If I'm 48, married, with 3 kids, and starting to bald I might just say "f*ck it" and be less worried. I'm 25, single, in grad school, and am trying to nail everything with two sets of lips so being bald right now is not even close to being an option. It's a pain in the *** to keep up with the regimen on a daily basis, but I just like to think of it like adding to the things that are already a daily routine like showering and brushing your teeth. I wake up, shower, use nizoral every other day or so for shampoo, towel dry my hair, brush my teeth, then use my minoxidil foam -- which I find to be a decent styling product when my hair is on the longer side because it holds the hair in place -- on the top of my scalp and at the hairline, wash my hands, put on deodorant, get dressed, and I'm ready to start the day. Before bed, I take finasteride, brush my teeth, and reapply minoxidil again. My hair continues to feel healthier with each passing week. Finasteride only gave me side effects intermittently and early on (first 3 months or so), so I'll definitely be continuing for the foreseeable future. If I can get some decent regrowth at the crown, and be able to maintain for another 10-15 years while somebody smarter than myself works on finding a better option for male pattern baldness, it will all have been worth it.

 

[base10]

I've been watching my hairline the past 5 months. My hairline when I pull it back I can see the corners "go back just so slightly". How likely is it that I will follow my fathers balding pattern? For a guy who's 64 and balding, throughout his 30's - early 40s he maintained his hair relatively thick and full. Why is it that my cousins hairlines are so much worse than there fathers?

Is there any likelihood that my hair will be any better than any of my male cousins?

Also, my libido is through the roof. I'm doing my best to resist. Is this a sign of high DHT?