jww3

Would it make sense to combine the 2 - so do topical and lower oral dosage?

I have been taking oral finasteride since around age 18.  Unfortunately, I inherited some bad balding genes from my father's side, it appears, as I started shedding at around age 15/16.  Fortunately, the shedding stopped and my hair mostly stabilized around 6-9 months after I went on finasteride.

I have started to get really concerned about the side effects/changes this could have caused my body over the course of 10 years (I'm almost 28 now).  I recently went to my derm to express my concerns, and he said I could try topical finasteride.  He gave me instructions to crush 60mg finasteride/60mg liquid minoxidil and apply it once daily.  He said it may be less effective, but if I try this for 1-2 months I would be able to tell if oral finasteride is impacting my libido, etc, without a big risk of major shed (since I'm on the topical).

What are your thoughts on this?  I'm worried about losing hair, but I am thinking that going on finasteride so early caused me to have less body/facial hair, is now slowing gains at the gym, and causing sexual side effects (watery semen and potentially lower libido).