Hey guys, I'm a new member but I have been reading for a while.

Well, I have had a lot of shedding in the last year and while I still have a lot of hair up top I was worried about it getting worse. I went to a doctor and he suggested Minoxidil 5%. Since I had read people also using finasteride with minoxidil I asked my doctor if I needed it. He said no and that I should first try only the minoxidil for 6 months and then come back.

I wasn't filled with confidence after that and was worried that in the time between the next appointment I would have lost even more hair and was worried that I should have gotten finasteride too.

Just wish to ask some of the members here on their take. Is it enough? Should I go and demand a prescription? I was under the impression that finasteride is the bad boy I was after. The doctor said it's just the right way, to first take these measures before taking the bigger measure. But somehow I think the risk of losing more hair isn't worth it!

Welcome to the forum Ikki. I personally beleive that if you want to slow or even stop hairloss, Fin. is the way to go...Minox. is more for thickening existing hair, miniturised hair that is, it can also cause shedding in the beggining, and your ahir becomes dependant on it..I have been on Fin. for over 2 years and have been able to stop my hairloss + iI have had 2 HT's, never used minox...never...

Just a thought from the peanut gallery...

Ikki,


Welcome to this community!

I am assuming that you are over the age of 18.

GET ON FINASTERIDE!

You can get finasteride without a prescription.

There are many online sites that offer legimitate medication.

Just monitor yourself for side effects.

Finasteride and minoxidil SHOULD be taken together for a synergistic effect.

__________________
take care...

Ikki,
You didn't say how old you are, as that influences my approach with a patient. I am more aggressive with pushing both medications if a man is relatively young (17-25). If you intend to take only one medication, then the clear-cut first choice in my opinion should be finasteride. I commonly prescribe either a full 1mg tablet every other day, or more commonly, a quarter of a generic 5mg tablet every other day. For men over 35 I relax it to Mon-Wed-Fri. Merck's own research shows that as little as 0.2mg per day suppresses DHT pretty decently.
Minoxidil's main benefit is in slowing hair loss, but it can also add a little to increased hair growth, but the "messiness" factor is a greater and, if you stop using it for several weeks, you can lose all of your gains.
I think a lot of non-hair-specialists push minoxidil because that is what they first heard of in the way of hair loss treatment and because they're a little unfamiliar with finasteride or fear that the sexual side effects are more common that they really are. In my experience, in men in their 20's and 30's they are really uncommon. I would contact another doctor who may be more up on things.
Mike Beehner, M.D.

Hey guys I am 22 years old, thanks for your responses. I will look into seeing another doctor. Also, are there any legitimate online sellers of finasteride that people here have tested and know to be good?

I live in Australia, and I think it needs a prescription. If I get it without one, is that going to cause legal problems?

2 scientific studies have investigates the use of fin and minox. In both studies it was shown that using a combo was significantly better than using one alone. If you're going to just use one then use fin. Minoxidil isn't really all that great when you look at the numbers, but certainly helps