inkQbus

I am 26 and have been researching HT for about 2 years now before I have finally decided to take the dive. I tried propecia, but have not been able to live with the side effects. They have been too severe for me to justify the continued use. My question is, has anyone else had a hair transplant without the use of propecia? My fear at such a young age is that I get the HT, then I continue to bald and then end up with a very unnatural look.

I'm 25 right now with 26 approaching fast and have been losing my hair since around 18. I tried rogaine by itself by just applying it to the crown like they recommend. I did not see any improvements or slow down in my hair loss. After speaking with 2 HT doctors, they told me to apply rogaine to my whole scalp twice a day, not just the crown. I am doing this as well as taking procerin. I've been doing this now since thanksgiving (around 3 months now) and have noticed my hair actually filling in and it now definitely seems thicker then it was before I started. I really wanted to use propecia with rogaine, but after being on propecia I had very sever sexual side effects that made me stop after a month. I'm still thinking about getting a HT sometime within the next year, but have been researching like crazy to make sure that is something I definitely want to do.

I took a half a pill of Finasteride (5mg) on a schedule of every M-W-F, which several Doctors on this site recommend. As I understood from the pharmacy, Finasteride and Propecia are the exact same medicine; only difference is dosage. I am going to use rogaine for the long haul. It seems to slow down the hair loss a little bit. As far as the baldness scale, I am around a 4. I plan to get a HT but am concerned that I will have to go back multiple times to catch up with my balding due to not being on medication.

I'm also new to this site, but have been reading for some time. Just to share my personal experience, I went on it around this past Thanksgiving. Everything was fine for the first two weeks; I actually had an increase in sex drive. Soon after, my sex drive completely went away. It was everything I feared when starting this medication. I am only 25 and have never experienced any lack of sex drive. I literally went for 2 weeks without even thinking about sex or having an erection. It scared me to death and I immediately went off the meds and will probably stay off permanently. I hope this helps. Several people have taken propecia and have had success with no side effects, unfortunately I did not have the same experience.

BigBill....thanks for the info. When you say you only take it twice a week, is that 1mg tablets? Do you see it being just as effective?

The side effects that I experienced were a complete lack of sex drive. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before. At 25, I don't think I should have any issues with this, and they were more than apparent only after a few weeks with Propecia. My fear is that if I go through with a HT at this age, that if not using Propecia, my sides will drop even further causing a very odd look with hair on the top of my head but then a gap b/w the hair on the sides of my head.

Hi all: I have been reading this forum for the last year or so, but this is my very first post. I am currently 25 and I am looking to get a hair transplant in the near future. I have been balding for about 7 years and feel that I have a defined pattern of balding. I recently went on propecia and definitely felt the side effects. I stopped using propecia because it completely freaked me out. I am using Rogaine and will continue to use Rogaine. I am looking to go to Dr. Cooley for the transplant, but I have not had an in person consultation with Dr. Cooley due to the distance from where I live. I am looking for some advice on what everyone thinks about my situation as far as......does not using Propecia and getting a HT at a young age cause problems; is an in person consultation 100% necessary before getting a HT; whats everyone's thoughts on HT at the age of 25.....etc Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have really gained a vast amount of knowledge from this site thus far.