Hi brent, im in the same boat as you.
Im only 18 and while i want to keep my hair, and apparently propecia is the no. 1 way to go about doing this, i don't want to:
mess up my hormones. While i dont believe that the small number of horror stories i read here about finasteride represent the majority of the millions of people who use it, i still believe im too young for such a drug, really. ImmortalHair, someone who has conducted a lot of research, claims finasteride is dangerous and has a natural alternative regimen, which cannot be a snake oil as he doesnt sell any product he recommends and cannot benefit from it, as he gets you to order them from wherever you can find them, namely your local stores.
i also dont want to become dependent on finasteride, before i have tried something gentler. spironolactone seems like the perfect treatment for me, 5% for hairlines, and i'd love to be the guy who could come back and tell all the people who use spironolactone as a part of their regimens "its the spironolactone! I've used it alone for a year and maintained!" I dont want to lose my hairline in in 2,3,4,5+ years if finasteride stops working. Ill suddenly lose all my hair at 23... not my cup of tea!
My advice, if you're not trying finasteride, spironolactone is definately worth trying! Topical antiandrogen, no side effects, used for long term maintenace, relatively cheap! The one drawback is it isn't as proven as the others.
Also investigate immortalhair's regimen that i mentioned if you want.
The only thing stopping me taking spironolactone and his regimen right now is im seeing a derm soon, and i might have to try propecia alone for a year to judge if it is working....
good luck!