Would greatly appreciate advice, 24 and stuck

[Cob984]

Hi Guys, I had the most dense hair imaginable till about a year ago, got loads of positive comments on it, it was so dense it could pass of as a badly done system!

Since august of last year started seeing myself thin at the front and the thinning has been very aggressive, i would say its more diffuse thinning . In november visited a doctor who put me on 250mg saw palmetto daily. Got instant results and was delighted but about 3 months in I began to thin again and to make matters worse the saw palmetto started manifesting side effects , it aggravated my gyno problem and i put on weight on my stomach inspite of working out. It also worsened my libido.

Tried minoxidil and i was extremely sensitive to the stuff, chest palpitations and a high feeling of unease not to mention intense dark circles. Dropped this in a month. Have also tried the 'hair laser' but that stuff has been complete garbage.

My doctor has recommended nothing else but to cut my saw palmetto to 125mg a day, thats essentially all im taking right now and my hair is aggravating badly. My hair stylist has started commenting on my hair thinning badly as well. I am in a very bad place right now given it was 12 months ago i was being complemented on my incredible hair and I feel so helpless. My Dr. has absolutely told me not to get on propecia as I will manifest much worse sides than saw palmetto which I guess is logical? What is your guys opinion on this and please help me. Am i just screwed or is there anything I can do?

 

[Cob984]

Bin the saw palmetto and get on finasteride. Your doctor either is extremely conservative in prescribing medication or he believes in the horror stories himself. If you got sides from saw Palmetto then you are likely to get it from fiansteride. You should at least give it a try anyway. You wont know unless you try.

Exactly which is why I am hesitant on trying it in the first place, Should i start on low doses?

If the sides do appear and it appears likely given my reaction to saw palmetto what am I to do? is there anything out there? this is killing me

 

[Cob984]

Guys, please help me here with all your experience
I am a bit desperate to figure myself out
thanks

 

[dinosaur_sr]

Finasteride and Rogaine are the only treatments that are medically proven to treat hair loss - the rest may work but can't be trusted one hundred percent. finasteride works for me and I'd definitely recommend trying it. If you do get side effects then drop it - permanent side effects seem very rare, and side effects alone are rare too. Speak to a doctor about it of course, don't go on my advice. A different doctor to the one who prescribed you Saw Palmetto if possible lol! Don't get in the mindset that you will have side effects, though, as you may start imagining things.

Rogaine will also help you get back your thickness. In my opinion you should start using finasteride as soon as you can, then add Rogaine if you want to. If you've lost your hair quite recently there's a good chance you'll be able to get a fair bit of it back as the follices won't have fully died. If you do start using them, be persistent and don't let a bit of shedding worry you. If they don't work for you (and they have a pretty good success rate) better to have tried and failed than to be thinking 'what if'!