Somewhat frustrating appointment with derm

[kj6723]

So today I saw a derm. He told me he doesn't write scripts for finasteride because he wouldn't take it himself. Also said that minoxidil is about equally as effective as finasteride and should arrest hair loss after about 6 months of use. He didn't charge me for the visit though, which was cool of him, since I was paying out of pocket, and he referred me to his son, who he says writes scripts for finasteride. So I've got an appointment with his son in about 2 weeks...Damn it I just wanna get on this stuff already!

 

[BackSoThickHoesWantTheTip]

frustrating appointment? from your information that guy sounds like an awsome doctor, he didnt charge you for your visit which is already GREAT of him. he doesnt want to prescribe you finasteride because he doesnt want to be responsible if something goes wrong, but in case you really want to get on the drug, he referred you to another derm(his son) who would prescribe it to you. once again, awsome derm.

 

[kj6723]

Yea, you right. I said somewhat frustrating because I had high hopes today was going to be the day I started finasteride, but he did hook me up big time by not charging me. I think he could tell the visit had a pretty disappointing outcome for me. I respect his decision not to prescribe it, it's got a somewhat sketchy track record. He's a phenomenal doctor. My mom has been going to him for years, and I used to go to him in highschool/college when I was dealing with some severe acne.

- - - Updated - - -

I was also a bit frustrated that he said minoxidil and finasteride are about equal in effectiveness, which completely contradicts the consensus across the hairloss community.

 

[Baldingat188]

I had the same experience. Been to 2 derms and a hair loss doctor all of which didn't want to let me take finasteride because of my age (18) . They also told me minoxidil is equally effective but I am very skeptical of that. I would like to start on finasteride before its to late

 

[kj6723]

I had the same experience. Been to 2 derms and a hair loss doctor all of which didn't want to let me take finasteride because of my age (18) . They also told me minoxidil is equally effective but I am very skeptical of that. I would like to start on finasteride before its to late

Yeah it's frustrating when it feels like you know more than the doctor on the subject. It seems the fact that minoxidil does nothing in regards to dht should make it obvious that it's not much of a long term weapon against male pattern baldness, and as far as I'm aware, all of the studies done have shown it's effectiveness to not even touch that of finasteride...so unless the docs are going off personal experience with patients, I'm not sure where this idea comes from.

Yeah, I don't know about the age thing. I'm 27, so obviously I'm "fully developed" at this point...18 is probably a bit more iffy for f*cking with one's hormones, as some people continue to grow and fill out for a few years after that.