Should I listen to my derm's advice?

[kckckc]

My derm advised me to start off with 6 months of rogaine to see if it helps. He has written me a year's supply of finasteride in case I ever need to jump on it if the rogaine doesn't help.

He said the hairline and temples aren't showing much signs of recession, but if it gets any worse, I should jump on finasteride right away. As for now, he recommended rogaine because of the thinning on the crown area.

A lot of people on the forums advised me to jump on finasteride as soon as possible to delay male pattern baldness. I'm 26 and I'm trying to avoid taking finasteride as long as possible until I really need it.

Would it be harder to stop male pattern baldness and hair regrowth if I don't take finasteride now versus taking it next year if my male pattern baldness progresses much more aggressively?

My regimen right now that I'm thinking of (if I'm delaying finasteride) is to use rogaine, folligen, mix carrier/essential oil, as well as taking pumpkin seed oil, drinking green tea, and taking my daily vitamins. Thinking of adding saw palmetto since I'm delaying finasteride, what do you guys think of my regimen assuming I'm delaying finasteride?

 

[DENI3D]

All I know is I took minoxidil for 7 months and all I did was lose rapidly. Some people gain but apparently for the majority you need both. Currently almost at 6 1/2 months on finasteride and still losing. I had to stop minoxidil because it inflamed and irritated my scalp. If that happens you shouldn't tough it out because it only makes it worse. It's up to you, but when I started minoxidil by itself my balding wasn't that bad, after 7 months it looked like I lost about half my hair.

 

[Pequod]

Rogaine does not stop male pattern baldness so I would not follow his advice. The longer you wait the worse it will get assuming you are losing hair now. You can start finasteride with a small does in the beginning. Buy a pill splitter and do either .25 or .5 mg per day and see how you feel. You may not get any side effects, you never know until you try it. Stay on that for 5 weeks as that is about how long it takes to get over the changes it creates, then you can bump it up to 1 mg a day or 1.25.

 

[kckckc]

Damn, I was hoping he would shed more light but he only made things worse.

I might have to jump on finasteride then.

Are there any people on this forum that use minoxidil without being on finasteride?

 

[Hairloss23]

All I know is I took minoxidil for 7 months and all I did was lose rapidly. Some people gain but apparently for the majority you need both. Currently almost at 6 1/2 months on finasteride and still losing. I had to stop minoxidil because it inflamed and irritated my scalp. If that happens you shouldn't tough it out because it only makes it worse. It's up to you, but when I started minoxidil by itself my balding wasn't that bad, after 7 months it looked like I lost about half my hair.

Yes I was in a very similar boat to you, I had minior hair loss maybe NW1.5 when I went to my dermatologist, he said to take minoxidil for 6 months and that he'd right a "letter of recommendation" to my GP so that if I ever wanted finasteride I would not have to go back to him (He was private and cost me £200). I took Minoxidil and it made everything so much worse, I took it for just over 4 months and didn't see any signs of regrowth just lots more hair fall than before and terrible scalp irritation. Once I got off it the shedding and scalp returned to normal but left me at NW2. Fortunately I am steadily growing back with my current regimen. IMO no one should take minoxidil if they are under NW2 and even those of higher Norwoods should think about it before they start. You are tied down to it for life unless you want to lose any hair it regrows and potentially more hair as well.

- - - Updated - - -

All I know is I took minoxidil for 7 months and all I did was lose rapidly. Some people gain but apparently for the majority you need both. Currently almost at 6 1/2 months on finasteride and still losing. I had to stop minoxidil because it inflamed and irritated my scalp. If that happens you shouldn't tough it out because it only makes it worse. It's up to you, but when I started minoxidil by itself my balding wasn't that bad, after 7 months it looked like I lost about half my hair.

Yes I was in a very similar boat to you, I had minior hair loss maybe NW1.5 when I went to my dermatologist, he said to take minoxidil for 6 months and that he'd right a "letter of recommendation" to my GP so that if I ever wanted finasteride I would not have to go back to him (He was private and cost me £200). I took Minoxidil and it made everything so much worse, I took it for just over 4 months and didn't see any signs of regrowth just lots more hair fall than before and terrible scalp irritation. Once I got off it the shedding and scalp returned to normal but left me at NW2. Fortunately I am steadily growing back with my current regimen. IMO no one should take minoxidil if they are under NW2 and even those of higher Norwoods should think about it before they start. You are tied down to it for life unless you want to lose any hair it regrows and potentially more hair as well. This would be alright if minoxidil was side effect free but overtime it will age your skin and may cause heart problems.

 

[kckckc]

Yes I was in a very similar boat to you, I had minior hair loss maybe NW1.5 when I went to my dermatologist, he said to take minoxidil for 6 months and that he'd right a "letter of recommendation" to my GP so that if I ever wanted finasteride I would not have to go back to him (He was private and cost me £200). I took Minoxidil and it made everything so much worse, I took it for just over 4 months and didn't see any signs of regrowth just lots more hair fall than before and terrible scalp irritation. Once I got off it the shedding and scalp returned to normal but left me at NW2. Fortunately I am steadily growing back with my current regimen. IMO no one should take minoxidil if they are under NW2 and even those of higher Norwoods should think about it before they start. You are tied down to it for life unless you want to lose any hair it regrows and potentially more hair as well.

- - - Updated - - -



Yes I was in a very similar boat to you, I had minior hair loss maybe NW1.5 when I went to my dermatologist, he said to take minoxidil for 6 months and that he'd right a "letter of recommendation" to my GP so that if I ever wanted finasteride I would not have to go back to him (He was private and cost me £200). I took Minoxidil and it made everything so much worse, I took it for just over 4 months and didn't see any signs of regrowth just lots more hair fall than before and terrible scalp irritation. Once I got off it the shedding and scalp returned to normal but left me at NW2. Fortunately I am steadily growing back with my current regimen. IMO no one should take minoxidil if they are under NW2 and even those of higher Norwoods should think about it before they start. You are tied down to it for life unless you want to lose any hair it regrows and potentially more hair as well. This would be alright if minoxidil was side effect free but overtime it will age your skin and may cause heart problems.

Thank you very much for your input!