Is there a danger in starting propecia too early?

[Sharpy]

I'm a 29 year old guy. This past year, I thought I was starting to notice some receding of my hairline and temples. I've had my hair shaggy for about 5 years, so I really can't say for sure when it started, or how much I've actually lost. I recently got my hair cut shorter, so I can see what's actually going on up there.

 

I thought it might be the beginning of male pattern baldness, so I decided to see a dermatologist to find out about possible treatment. She prescribed me Propecia, and as of this writing, I've been on it for about a week. During this time, I've been scouring the internet to find out more info about Propecia, and I'm pretty concerned about what I've read so far. There's the sexual side effects, of course, but that isn't even the worst of it, in my opinion. What I'm really concerned about is the periodic hair shedding that I've read is likely to occur every few months or so. I went on the drug to *prevent* balding, not keep going bald over and over again. What does 'shedding' even look like? Is it typically enough for others to notice? Will I start getting my hair all over other people's furniture? Will I have to wear a hat all the time? Haven't been able to find much further info about the specifics of 'shedding' but it's something I really want to know about. I recently called the dermatologist, and she said that Propecia will *not* cause shedding, which is the opposite of everything I've read. So I don't know what to believe.

 

I'm starting to have second thoughts about whether I'm even losing my hair. There's a chance I may simply have a so-called 'mature' hairline. My hair is definitely thick--in fact, I think I'm just about due to get it cut. Plus, I style it forward, so it really isn't noticeable to anyone but me. I'm actually pretty satisfied with my hair the way it is now. My reason for deciding to take Propecia was not to regrow hair, but to simply maintain what I have. But now I'm wondering if I've made things more complicated for myself by having gone on the drug in the first place.

 

My question is, is there such a thing as taking Propecia too early? By taking it, could I actually be doing more harm to my hair (and the rest of me) than good? Especially if I'm not 100 percent sure I've got MPB. I know if I really am losing my hair, and the drug works the way it's supposed to, it should prevent me from losing any further hair (at least that's what I initially thought). But if I start shedding excessively, I worry it may not all grow back like it's supposed to. I may lose more hair on Propecia than if I never took it at all.

 

However, I'm reluctant to stop taking it, because even though I've only been on it for a week, it's already in my system. Ever since I started, I've been experiencing some mild testicular pain, so it appears my hormones have already been affected. I don't know what kind of weirdness might occur if I stopped altogether. I may start losing my hair even faster than before. And if I ever decided to go back on it again, it may not work for me anymore. But whatever I decide, I have to do it soon. Otherwise, from what I understand, I'll have to take it for life in order to keep my hair.

 

So I think it's easy enough to understand my dilemma. What should I do? Any advice would be much appreciated. And apologies for my long-windedness.

[Flavio]

Originally posted by Sharpy:

[...] During this time, I've been scouring the internet to find out more info about Propecia, and I'm pretty concerned about what I've read so far. [...]

 

 

I'm glad I didn't have the Internet when I started taking finasteride ten years ago or I'd be pretty concerned, too.

 

I've never had any side effects (no shedding, no testicular pain, no impotence) and I'm sure most of the reported side effects are purely psychological. We're all guys and we all know that men can get paranoid when the subject is sexual potency.

 

You're 29 years old, so this is probably a good time to start taking finasteride (I started taking it in my early 20s), if you really are suffering from MPB. It's a bit strange that you are not sure about your condition. Are you experiencing shedding? Is your pillow covered with hair in the morning? Do you think you're losing more than 100-150 hairs every day? Is your hairline receding?

[Flavio]

Speaking of testicular pain, I had a similar experience 13 years ago (it had nothing to do with Propecia, I wasn't even taking it back then). I caught this venereal disease and, although it wasn't too serious, I was really upset about it. And I remember I experienced constant testicular pain, so I had to take a pill of Nimed everyday. Today, I'm sure that pain was a purely psychological effect, because my tests were all negative and there was nothing wrong with me

[Sharpy]

Originally posted by Flavio:

Originally posted by Sharpy:

[...] During this time, I've been scouring the internet to find out more info about Propecia, and I'm pretty concerned about what I've read so far. [...]

 

 

I'm glad I didn't have the Internet when I started taking finasteride ten years ago or I'd be pretty concerned, too.

 

I've never had any side effects (no shedding, no testicular pain, no impotence) and I'm sure most of the reported side effects are purely psychological. We're all guys and we all know that men can get paranoid when the subject is sexual potency.

 

You're 29 years old, so this is probably a good time to start taking finasteride (I started taking it in my early 20s), if you really are suffering from MPB. It's a bit strange that you are not sure about your condition. Are you experiencing shedding? Is your pillow covered with hair in the morning? Do you think you're losing more than 100-150 hairs every day? Is your hairline receding?

 

I'm sure it isn't psychological--I've had a mild ache down there since the first day of being on the meds, and it seems I haven't been able to "get it up" either. True, some guys seem to be deeply concerned with their sexual functioning, but it really isn't that big a deal to me. The way things are going at this point in my personal life, I doubt I'll be having sex anytime soon anyway. I'd rather be impotent than bald. I just bring it up because I think it's a significant detail, and also because I find it strange how they say there are only 2 percent of men who supposedly experience those effects. Either I'm part of that rare 2 percent, or there's a greater percentage than the data shows. So who knows in what other ways my body will react to the stuff?

 

The reason why I'm not sure about my condition, is because I really hadn't paid much attention to my hairline until recently. So I don't know when it started or how much I had to begin with. I used to have longer hair, so it was never that obvious. It wasn't until one day I decided to examine my hairline, that I started to suspect something might be going on. But I don't think I'm quite a NW2 yet, and my hair is still quite thick on top. So it's really hard to say.

 

When my hair was longer, more hair used to come out onto my comb and in the sink. But I was also combing, brushing and blowdrying extensively. Now I don't comb or brush it, and I either let it dry on its own, or blowdry it minimally. I still notice some hairs on my hand (maybe about 4 or 5) when I shampoo, but other than that, no major shedding I've noticed.

 

So I don't know whether or not being on this medication is just going to make things worse. I also don't know whether getting *off* this medication will make things worse. I'm really stuck on where to go from here.