18 With a receding hairline, recommendations for over-the-counter treatment?

[StayThick]

So you recommend him gambling with his dick being functional?

Are you crazy? RU has been around for ages, no has had any serious side effects other than mild side effects that Finasteride has. This guy is WAY too young for Finasteride, his body is still developing and you recommend for him to screw with his hormones? This is TERRIBLE advice.

I don't understand why people advocate Propecia as a first line of defense when somebody is thinning or believing they are.

Agree Hellouser, that advice is absolutely horrendous. Thank god I wasn't thinning at 18 and joined this forum or I would have possibly tried Propecia based on that type of advice and did god knows what to my developing body.

I would recommend FDA approved Minoxodil as a start and consider RU if you like to take one step further in the form of blocking DHT. I would stay away from Propecia at your age at ALL COSTS!

[25 going on 65]

I don't understand why people advocate Propecia as a first line of defense when somebody is thinning or believing they are.

Because if you do not block DHT you are wasting your time.

[StayThick]

Because if you do not block DHT you are wasting your time.

Recommending Propecia at his age is absolutely terrible advice. You do not know the impact that can make on his physical development moving forward.

It's too risky IMHO for him to even consider this at this point.

[ValyrianSteel]

From my experience I have found kirklands minoxidil 5% to be cheap and very effective, but I noticed my hair thinning at an early stage, and from what I hear; the worse it gets the harder it is to get back. A slight amount of dandruff and an itchy scalp in the first few months were the side effects for me. Nizoral shampoo worked effectively to mitigate those effects. I am 21 now, and have taken these products for 2 years and am very happy with the results.

In terms of propecia, I might be wrong, but after visiting several forums, I have read some worrying side effects, ie loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, and worse yet: depression. I avoided the product because I figured if there is a risk that I lose the will to be happy, then there's very little point to maintaining hair.

Internet speculation on the product aside, my friend, the same age as myself, started finasteride and shortly after developed a severe depression and loss of libido. It took several months after he stopped taking finasteride to recover. Perhaps it was other factors in his life causing the psychological distress and libido loss, however the timing is awfully suspicious.

I would recommend trying the safer options that have inherently less risk before going all in. Minoxidil 5% (twice a day) and nizoral shampoo 2% keta (twice a week) has worked as well as I could have hoped by ceasing further hairloss and restoring roughly 90% of what was lost.

[PatientlyWaiting]

Recommending Propecia at his age is absolutely terrible advice. You do not know the impact that can make on his physical development moving forward.

It's too risky IMHO for him to even consider this at this point.

Propecia is for 18 year olds+.

[PatientlyWaiting]

From my experience I have found kirklands minoxidil 5% to be cheap and very effective, but I noticed my hair thinning at an early stage, and from what I hear; the worse it gets the harder it is to get back. A slight amount of dandruff and an itchy scalp in the first few months were the side effects for me. Nizoral shampoo worked effectively to mitigate those effects. I am 21 now, and have taken these products for 2 years and am very happy with the results.

In terms of propecia, I might be wrong, but after visiting several forums, I have read some worrying side effects, ie loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, and worse yet: depression. I avoided the product because I figured if there is a risk that I lose the will to be happy, then there's very little point to maintaining hair.

Internet speculation on the product aside, my friend, the same age as myself, started finasteride and shortly after developed a severe depression and loss of libido. It took several months after he stopped taking finasteride to recover. Perhaps it was other factors in his life causing the psychological distress and libido loss, however the timing is awfully suspicious.

I would recommend trying the safer options that have inherently less risk before going all in. Minoxidil 5% (twice a day) and nizoral shampoo 2% keta (twice a week) has worked as well as I could have hoped by ceasing further hairloss and restoring roughly 90% of what was lost.

I am highly confident to say that the depression is more a part of the actual thought of losing your hair. When you lose your hair, you lose your confidence, your social life takes a hit, you become lonely and depressed. You take finasteride and blame every single feeling you have on the pill.

I can say for a fact, I was depressed before taking fin, and actually became better when I started taking it because I knew in my mind I was at least doing something about my hair loss.

[clockrepellent]

If you really want to save your hair, go to the dermatologist and get a script for finasteride....take a low dose (0.25 mg every other day) and see how you react over a few months. Over the counter you can take Borage Oil for the GLA as a supportive supplement which will block some of the dht conversion. Start a ketoconazole shampoo.