hairloss dilemma

[Jojo]

Hey guys thought i'd let you know whats been going on lately concerning my hair. I started taking fin in 2007 the only side effects i knew about were mainly ED, I tried taking fin for a year and it was fine so in 2008 i had a successful HT. I was around a norwood 3v and had my hair restored to what looks like a full head of hair. I never looked back, best money i ever spent i would say to myself. Gave me a new lease of life, self confidence, made me feel more comfortable, no more anxiety about going bald etc etc.

 

About a year ago i became aware of the more serious side effects of Propecia and that has made me more and more concerned since, because of related family ilness, and in general. I don't want to take this med anymore on the other hand i don't want to go bald, i need the hair. This dilemma is making me feel unstable, its all i think about lately. Its like simulated manic depression you think to your self "I can't take this med anymore" = despair, depression, anxiety about going bald etc then i feel mad and say " i'll just take less or something" = you feel elated, happy, but then i just start thinking this med is too scary, then back to despair over going bald again. Lately I've had no appetite, I can't sleep, I'm in a bad mood, my thoughts are going non stop about what to do.

 

Like many on here they don't want to take it but they do, and i know nobody can tell you to take it or not take it. Its like going bald a second time is a lot harder then the first because you've been on this journey and thought somehow you've done it, solved your hairless problem. Either decision is very hard, but I don't want to take this med thats the reason i'm in this dilemma. I work part time and enjoy the job, the other day i was casually wearing a baseball hat and was told no hat. So if i go the non fin route I'll definetly need a hat to feel comfortable in the job. I just thought I'd share what's been happening. Having hair again has made such a difference in my life and going back down that road is hard to cope with.

[Rootz]

I feel this is one of the biggest dilemmas with hair transplants and we're pretty much all in the same boat. I myself have surgery coming up soon and I'm still undecided on Fin. I most likely will not take it and will probably compromise with some external DHT inhibiting cream or something. I have no problem with the other treatments like Minoxidil or Nizoral. But the thing with Fin, is I don't want to significantly compromise the hormones in my body... for the rest of my life.

 

I know I most likely will not have major side effects... even if I do, again, most likely can just stop and recover. There are horror stories out there, but the extreme ones are outliers are I think I could accept a simple black and white risk of "0.01% chance you're screwed for life, and 99.99% chance all is good". But it's not that simple. The way the drug works has very real and serious implications... whether or not the side effects are immediately noticeable, your body is still compromised. The drug is very unnatural in terms of what it does. And over the years, I suspect my body would take a serious beating from the drug in subtle but serious ways.

 

I don't want to be the frog that dies in boiling water, sort of speak.

[Jojo]

Hi thanks for the reply, I've been off the fin for about a month now. You mentioned an external DHT inhibiting cream? Sounds interesting I'm not familiar with it, I tried Rogaine years ago and didn't like it. I was looking at saw palmetto and might give it a try, i've also been taking biotin for a while.

[Rootz]

The topical RU58841 is supposed to be pretty effective at blocking androgen (and inhibiting DHT), but it's a concotion you need to mix together yourself. Aside from that there are some others that could be beneficial such as Spiro and Revivogen. There are some tests out there showing these antiandrogen topicals reduce DHT in hair by a similar percentage as Finasteride, possibly even moreso, but the studies are less concrete and because the topicals work differently than Fin it's not clear if the end result of hair loss reduction is the same or really comparable.

 

Since my post though I've had a change of heart and plan to give Fin a try, but with a very low dosage. Taking 0.2mg of Fin per day is almost as effective as 1mg, so I'll try cutting a 1mg pull into quarters and very closely monitor what happens. I think there's a good chance I'll be fine, and if that's the case that would make things a lot easier and simpler. If I get sides at least I can say I tried.

[captainforehead]

Out of all the meds out there I firmly believe Fin is the best option for most people.