Alrighty.. I'm new.. pics..Day 1 on P/Finasteride..

[abadacus]

Ok.. I'm 38 years old and have noticed some slight receding and thinning happening over the last couple years. Went to my doc for some industrial strength decongestant and I mentioned my thinning and some concern about my hairline.. he said minoxodil or propecia could possibly stop it in it's tracks as well as possibly regrow a bit which in my case could bring me pretty close back to square one which would be fantastic. He informed me on the risks as well as the article on that newest study in 2012 and possible long term sexual issues. Anyway so yesterday I went to Walmart and filled the rx .. for 4 Dollars!? Amazing!
So here I am .. day one on 1.25mg. I've read through this site the last day and know the risks and the rewards and am going into this with a positive attitude. It seems a majority of the posts here are from fairly young guys with fairly quick aggressive hairloss.. I would be interested in hearing feedback from people in my age range with similar hairloss. E.D. and those side effects aside.. my biggest worry is if I get alot of shedding and the drug taking a year to stabalize me to where I am right now. I don't mind too badly my hairline right now but the thinning scares me.
I'm including a couple photos , one from 1 year ago (with my niece) when I may have been receding slightly but no thinning, (my hairline was always on the higher side). 2 photos from today.. one what is looks like normally styled and one pulling it back to show the Norwood. I have no loss on the top or crown... just the front.

[Spex]

Hey man,

Welcome. My advice is try not focus on the sides and just get on with your life. The mind is a powerful tool.

Give yourself the advantage and start off slow and steady IMO.

See this topic i made to help : Transition onto Propecia


Best
Spex

[abadacus]

Thanks for the info, and yep, that's my plan.. just roll with it..pretend it's just one of my vitamins .. I don't plan on counting hairs and I'm going to try and only visit this forum maybe once a week otherwise it's easy to get compulsive. I'll update occasionally on progress or otherwise. If in a year I have the same amount of hair I'll be happy and a little more hair I'll be exstatic... especially at only $4.00 a month

[BigThinker]

Thanks for the info, and yep, that's my plan.. just roll with it..pretend it's just one of my vitamins .. I don't plan on counting hairs and I'm going to try and only visit this forum maybe once a week otherwise it's easy to get compulsive. I'll update occasionally on progress or otherwise. If in a year I have the same amount of hair I'll be happy and a little more hair I'll be exstatic... especially at only $4.00 a month

Is generic fin w/a script only $4 a month??

[Spex]

Thanks for the info, and yep, that's my plan.. just roll with it..pretend it's just one of my vitamins .. I don't plan on counting hairs and I'm going to try and only visit this forum maybe once a week otherwise it's easy to get compulsive. I'll update occasionally on progress or otherwise. If in a year I have the same amount of hair I'll be happy and a little more hair I'll be exstatic... especially at only $4.00 a month

All good mate - will be great to hear from you with updates as time progresses.

Great mental approach too .

[abadacus]

Is generic fin w/a script only $4 a month??

Yep.. I was amazed when I went to pick it up.. thought something was wrong but the pharmacist at Walmart said it's been like that for a while and that other than needing to cut the pills into 4 that it's the same active drug that's in Propecia. Can't beat that!

[BigThinker]

Yep.. I was amazed when I went to pick it up.. thought something was wrong but the pharmacist at Walmart said it's been like that for a while and that other than needing to cut the pills into 4 that it's the same active drug that's in Propecia. Can't beat that!

Would you advise I request generic 5 mg pills then, when seeing the derm next month?

[abadacus]

Maybe Spex or one of the doc's on the board might know.. I would be interested in their opinions too . I asked about cost and generics when asking my dermatologist in Portland about propecia/finasteride and when I made the decision and called a few days later she just gave me an rx and I filled it so I assume she thinks it's ok.

[peterpan]

lucky devil, you look like youre 28 not 38. try not to worry about the sides though, performance anxiety can do the same thing with not being able to get a boner. even if you do get sides theyll probably go away, mine did.

[abadacus]

Hey.. thanks for the compliment! Good to hear.. cuz lately I've been feeling a bit on the older wornout side the last year or so, especially with my hairline taking a turn.
I'm on day 10 now and everything is great.. 0 sides , I feel exactly the same or better. Probably too soon though to experience anything.. but so far so good!

[BigThinker]

Maybe Spex or one of the doc's on the board might know.. I would be interested in their opinions too . I asked about cost and generics when asking my dermatologist in Portland about propecia/finasteride and when I made the decision and called a few days later she just gave me an rx and I filled it so I assume she thinks it's ok.

That's pretty cool of him/her. My derm has been really chill so far, so I'm hoping she will allow me to cut 5mg Rx.

[Soxfaninfl]

Propecia 1mg went generic this month. Walmart has it in generic form for 63 dollars, but it will continue to get cheaper as the months go by thats what the pharmacist said. 5mg generic Proscar is cheap! I just don't want to deal with cutting pills.

[abadacus]

So.. just thought I'd update.. 30 Days officially down and zero side effects .. also no change in the hair. Of course at this point I wouldn't expect anything.. I haven't had any shedding at all.. not sure if that's a good thing or bad. I know it's not possible but I would say if I had to say if my hair was worse or better I would say better. So I'll update again at another 30 days.. Is there a way to update the original 1st post? no "edit" selection by it so I'm guessing no.

[BigThinker]

Glad to hear no sides. Hope that continues, in addition to halted hair loss of course.

[abadacus]

ok.. 60 days down. Still no noticeable side effects. And as far as my hair.. I would say for sure that it has not receded or thinned more. I would say if anything it's better than when I started.. if anything. Not sure what it is but it looks a little more substantial in the receding/thinning temple area. Next month I'll update with some photos. Is there a way to update the original post?.. I'm not seeing any 'edit' buttons for it..... or will I need to start a new thread? or should I just append this one?