I read a lot of posts about Propecia 'only being effective in the crown area.' The first post I ever made on this board was in regard to not wanting to start taking Propecia, (due to the sexual side effects I thought I saw happening from a measely 1 week sample!) - so I still haven't followed through with the bloodwork to move along in the process. (I had my hair appointment, came here before persuing the bloodwork to get the prescription.) I want to start it BAD because tons of people have said that even if only effects the crown, I'd say 99% of the reviews I've read have the common suggestion that your remaining hair stays in-tact. So far I'm only receding in the front of my scalp -

So you guys recommended Minoxodil, and this is what I'm most likely going with. I haven't heard any horror stories from negative side effects outside of 'possibly using it on your hands a lot of and growing unwanted hair.' Can anybody comment on this, or has anybody run into this? That's question one. Question two - can I get some result feedbacks from people who use STRICTLY minoxodil??

Lastly, can Minoxodil effect my hairline in the front, (aside from my crown,) - because it's applied where you physically put it? (Unlike Propecia, a pill. You rub Minoxodil on yourself...) - Have any of you restored and regrown a ton from just Minoxodil, or is just Minoxodil alone not enough? I need to tackle this now since I'm hopping out of the Propecia experiment. Sucks - sounded like it works, but I'm too young for those side effects. Thanks for whatever replies I can get - and I plan on completely doing what I'm told here, and posting my results. My pics aren't too neccessary because I don't have a ton of loss yet, just thinning about an inch or two on the left/right side of the front of my hairline.

I think this is the wrong section - should be Hairloss drugs.

Anyway, I'm into my second month of Minoxidil-only treatment. I had side effects from Finasteride in the first week, too.

I'm delighted with the Minoxidil results. Like you, I'm young and I have very mild recession, mainly at the temples. I'm a Norwood 2, barely. But I can see that it's starting to thin ever so slightly on the whole top of the head.

I shaved my dome and I've been applying the standard Rogaine branded 5% liquid solution of minoxidil twice daily, irregular timing, not 12 hours apart, and I do miss applications from time to time.
The temples have noticably improved (sorry, I don't have viable before and after shots, you'll have to just believe me). Right now the new hairs are quite fine, but they are definitely visible, maybe because my hair is naturally thick and black anyway, and my hairline is looking slightly better. To be honest, it's working better than I had expected so I'm happy about that.

The very front middle (widow's peak?) has some regrowth, but not as much as the temples, but it was not as thinning/receding either, so perhaps there weren't as many dormant follicles to fire up.

I have experienced 0 side effects so far, no itching or flaking of my scalp or dizziness or anything. I'm in Shanghai, so I'm using a local Chinese brand of medicated hairloss shampoo (recommended for use 2-3 times a week) and in between that I'm using another deep scalp cleanser with menthol that just feels nice. I also have a spiky scalp massager brush that I sometimes use when shampooing my hair, but I don't actually like how it feels very much. I'm planning to buy a ketaconazole shampoo soon (but the hairloss one I'm using now one might possibly contain it - I can't read Chinese!)

My only concern or worry is that Minoxidil is said to have a time limit on how long it will remain effective. In 3 years it might stop working. Hopefully it doesn't, or they at least come up with some other, better, hairloss solution by then. I am considering taking saw palmetto, too. Maybe the dose of Fin was just too high for my body.