I'm 23 without insurance and I don't have a doctor either but I made an appointment with a general practitioner (family doctor) near me and after a quick examination she wrote me a 1yr script for Finasteride (Propecia) and said I can call her when it runs out and she can refill it.
I paid $40 for the appointment and it's $60/month for the drug, just get a prescription, it's WAYYYYY more reliable to buy from a legit local pharmacy than on some shady site. If you don't have $40 on you then Finasteride isn't the drug for you anyways because it's expensive. It's for people that care enough about saving their hair that they are willing to pay a days wages to remedy it.
Seriously, the appointment took MAYBE 10 minutes and it was as simple as that, it was confidential and nobody knew about it but me and her, now I can live knowing that I've done all I can and if I lose more hair than I will have no regrets because I tried everything. So far though my results have been pretty good so I'm satisfied.
If anything I wish I could go back to when I was 19/20 and have an appointment then because my male pattern baldness was just beginning at that point but I was too shy to do anything about it. If you do nothing or take detours your just wasting time, face your dilemma head on as you'll eventually thank yourself for it. Also start with 1mg and stick to it, I had achy balls for the first week or two but have had no issues since and I'm 4 months in. 0.5mg just seems flaky to me, it's kind of like leaving a job half finished, I would not suggest going lower than .7mg for keeping your hair loss frozen without regrowth from my experience, I've noticed slight regrowth at 1mg that I doubt I'd have if I listened to the people on here and only took 0.5mg's/day.
Maybe there is a reason Finasteride doesn't work for some people, ever think of that? Those are the same guys that will stop taking it for a few days then get back on later, experiment with dosages, try miracle cures, worry about losing muscles, think their penis will fall off, etc... Just stick with it for 3-4 months straight at 1mg and if you don't notice any improvement then stop taking it, if you don't give the drug a chance to saturate into your body then your not going to see any improvement, hair grows slowly so you need patience.
Also, I suggest not missing any days and if you think you forgot to take it earlier just take an extra for good measure. I've been diligent and it has paid off! I'm not saying the drug will work for everyone but I'm sure it would work for more if they took it in full dosage and as prescribed.
I think a lot of the side effects are due to psyching yourself out, if you believe a drug will ruin your penis it will. I'm sure I'm going to catch hell for posting this but reading all the posts on here geez... some of these people are incapable of waiting 3 months, are worried about a worst case scenario that is very rare and unproven, will drop a drug over a slight libido decrease or a mild ball ache early on... you get the picture.
How about instead of worrying just read the freaking drug information pamphlet the pharmacy gives you upon receiving your first monthly prescription and follow it.
