Hi Everyone,
I am addressing this post to all men, especially younger men who are considering Propecia but are scared to take the plunge. Just a forewarning this is going to be fairly lengthy.
MY STORY
I am a 23 year old male and have been losing my hair since I was about 17. I didn't notice until I was 21 or so, but now looking back at pictures it's pretty clear to see. Really I have no idea how I didn't see it. Anyway, nowadays I am sitting at about a norwood 2.5-3. A lot of you reading this have probably caught your hair loss fairly early and are exploring your options. I'm sure that almost all of you will give Rogaine a chance first because there are relatively few side effects, no prescription needed, you've heard of it before, etc. I can't speak for everyone, but in my case it did very little to help. I started Rogaine at 21 when my hair was still looking pretty decent because I didn't want to take the "risk" that comes along with Propecia. I used Rogaine alone for a year, and all I did was lose a good bit more hair.
Around the time that I noticed my hair loss, I started reading these forums and was terrified about the thought of Finasteride. Terrified because I was a 21 year old, very social, not too bad with ladies and I couldn't take the thought of any sexual side effects. For months and months and over a year I read these forums and just got more and more scared but more and more aware that what I was doing (rogaine) wasn't helping and I needed to try something different. I did research on finasteride through these forums, google, youtube and other sources and even eventually asked my sister who is a Physician Assistant. You could find conflicting opinions everywhere! I mean literally every source shows different statistics and different opinions. I waited and waited and WAITED until my hair loss just was bothering me beyond belief.
MY FINASTERIDE RIDE SO FAR
Finally, on my 23rd birthday I scheduled a doctors appointment (what a celebration) and got prescribed Proscar. He said that I would be surprised about how many patients my age he has taking finasteride in one form or another and that he has many patients who have been on it for 15-20 years with great success. By the way, this is just my family doctor - he is not a hair restoration doctor trying to convince me of anything. I've now been on finasteride for several months and can happily say that my hair loss has STOPPED. If it hasn't stopped, it has slowed to an extreme crawl. The day that I started finasteride, I shook my hair pretty rough over a sink and had about 50-60 hairs fall in just 30 seconds. Today I can do the same and have maybe 5 or 6 hairs fall in an even longer time period. As for SIDE EFFECTS, the part everyone cares about, this is what I experienced:
2 weeks of slight testicular discomfort (completely bearable)
2 weeks of extremely extremely INCREASED libido (this has since returned to normal or maybe even a little better than normal)
2-3 weeks of restless sleep (not even sure that this was caused by Finasteride)
All of these have completely gone away and my sexual life is completely fine!
THE POINT OF MY MESSAGE - I do believe that people have poor experiences with Finasteride. However, there is absolutely 100% a bias on these forums. You occasionally see someone suggest that maybe the people that Finasteride works for stop posting on these forums. I am a testament to that. I do not post often, but since I started Finasteride (even before I knew it was working) I've completely stopped viewing the forums. Maybe it's just because of peace of mind that I am doing something. Anyway, today I thought it'd be a good idea to post out here just to let people know.
MY REAL POINT - I would be willing to bet that you won't regret giving Finasteride in some form a try. But I guarantee you that if you are just starting to see thinning/recession, it's going to get worse. If you do nothing about it, it WILL get worse. Don't let these forums scare you about Finasteride without giving it a shot yourself.
I'll try to answer any questions that anyone has on this thread. Please for everyone else, don't start posting about the "evils of finasteride" - there's enough of that out there already.
I am addressing this post to all men, especially younger men who are considering Propecia but are scared to take the plunge. Just a forewarning this is going to be fairly lengthy.
MY STORY
I am a 23 year old male and have been losing my hair since I was about 17. I didn't notice until I was 21 or so, but now looking back at pictures it's pretty clear to see. Really I have no idea how I didn't see it. Anyway, nowadays I am sitting at about a norwood 2.5-3. A lot of you reading this have probably caught your hair loss fairly early and are exploring your options. I'm sure that almost all of you will give Rogaine a chance first because there are relatively few side effects, no prescription needed, you've heard of it before, etc. I can't speak for everyone, but in my case it did very little to help. I started Rogaine at 21 when my hair was still looking pretty decent because I didn't want to take the "risk" that comes along with Propecia. I used Rogaine alone for a year, and all I did was lose a good bit more hair.
Around the time that I noticed my hair loss, I started reading these forums and was terrified about the thought of Finasteride. Terrified because I was a 21 year old, very social, not too bad with ladies and I couldn't take the thought of any sexual side effects. For months and months and over a year I read these forums and just got more and more scared but more and more aware that what I was doing (rogaine) wasn't helping and I needed to try something different. I did research on finasteride through these forums, google, youtube and other sources and even eventually asked my sister who is a Physician Assistant. You could find conflicting opinions everywhere! I mean literally every source shows different statistics and different opinions. I waited and waited and WAITED until my hair loss just was bothering me beyond belief.
MY FINASTERIDE RIDE SO FAR
Finally, on my 23rd birthday I scheduled a doctors appointment (what a celebration) and got prescribed Proscar. He said that I would be surprised about how many patients my age he has taking finasteride in one form or another and that he has many patients who have been on it for 15-20 years with great success. By the way, this is just my family doctor - he is not a hair restoration doctor trying to convince me of anything. I've now been on finasteride for several months and can happily say that my hair loss has STOPPED. If it hasn't stopped, it has slowed to an extreme crawl. The day that I started finasteride, I shook my hair pretty rough over a sink and had about 50-60 hairs fall in just 30 seconds. Today I can do the same and have maybe 5 or 6 hairs fall in an even longer time period. As for SIDE EFFECTS, the part everyone cares about, this is what I experienced:
2 weeks of slight testicular discomfort (completely bearable)
2 weeks of extremely extremely INCREASED libido (this has since returned to normal or maybe even a little better than normal)
2-3 weeks of restless sleep (not even sure that this was caused by Finasteride)
All of these have completely gone away and my sexual life is completely fine!
THE POINT OF MY MESSAGE - I do believe that people have poor experiences with Finasteride. However, there is absolutely 100% a bias on these forums. You occasionally see someone suggest that maybe the people that Finasteride works for stop posting on these forums. I am a testament to that. I do not post often, but since I started Finasteride (even before I knew it was working) I've completely stopped viewing the forums. Maybe it's just because of peace of mind that I am doing something. Anyway, today I thought it'd be a good idea to post out here just to let people know.
MY REAL POINT - I would be willing to bet that you won't regret giving Finasteride in some form a try. But I guarantee you that if you are just starting to see thinning/recession, it's going to get worse. If you do nothing about it, it WILL get worse. Don't let these forums scare you about Finasteride without giving it a shot yourself.
I'll try to answer any questions that anyone has on this thread. Please for everyone else, don't start posting about the "evils of finasteride" - there's enough of that out there already.