Finersteride at age 20?

[huawei]

Hey all, I'm soon to be 21 and have been losing my hair at quite an aggressive rate starting only months after I turned 18. I'm between a NW 2 & 3 right now with diffuse thinning but if I stop it now and can thicken the existing hairs I'm pretty golden as my original hairline was nothing to be impressed about anyway.

The reality is that I've tried to just deal with the hair loss and not risk having sides from drugs but I just can't do it anymore. Looking at forums such as propeciahelp I see that there are not that many threads when compared with successful users world wide.

Would you guys advise to give it a go? What are the REAL chances of irreversible sides?

[Dan26]

Hey all, I'm soon to be 21 and have been losing my hair at quite an aggressive rate starting only months after I turned 18. I'm between a NW 2 & 3 right now with diffuse thinning but if I stop it now and can thicken the existing hairs I'm pretty golden as my original hairline was nothing to be impressed about anyway.

The reality is that I've tried to just deal with the hair loss and not risk having sides from drugs but I just can't do it anymore. Looking at forums such as propeciahelp I see that there are not that many threads when compared with successful users world wide.

Would you guys advise to give it a go? What are the REAL chances of irreversible sides?

If you decide to get on fin, try to get baseline blood/hormone tests done and also start on a low dose ie 0.25 every 3rd day, 0.05mg EOD etc

[KO1]

Hey all, I'm soon to be 21 and have been losing my hair at quite an aggressive rate starting only months after I turned 18. I'm between a NW 2 & 3 right now with diffuse thinning but if I stop it now and can thicken the existing hairs I'm pretty golden as my original hairline was nothing to be impressed about anyway.

The reality is that I've tried to just deal with the hair loss and not risk having sides from drugs but I just can't do it anymore. Looking at forums such as propeciahelp I see that there are not that many threads when compared with successful users world wide.

Would you guys advise to give it a go? What are the REAL chances of irreversible sides?

Congratulations on taking the first step to treating your hair loss! The goal of this medication is to slow down and stop hair loss, not grow new hair. If you start early, like you are, you have a great chance of keeping most of your hair for many, many years.

No one can tell you the real chance of irreversible sides. Get educated, learn about the drug, and make an informed decision. The vast majority of people take the drug with no issue, but some do experience sides, but it is an optional treatment for a cosmetic condition, no one can make this decision for you.

I disagree with Dan26, I don't think microdosing is necessary unless you're terrified of the drug. Nor do I think baseline hormone levels are necessary or beneficial. But you can get them if you want.

[ge77inhigh]

Agree with the guy above. Start with low dosage. Fin has serum dht effects up to 4 days. .25 mg wouldnt be a bad dosage no need to jump on 1.25 mg band wagon. Do follow up blood test and monitor sides. You might not see results until 6+ months. I recommend starting using nizoral and minox along fin.

I cant say you will get sides or not. Dht is much needed androgen since it has many hormonal functions. Starting with low dosage is recommended to see how you tolerate the med. If .25 mg is working with no sides and lowering your scalp dht then I would stick to it. I personally was on 1.25 mg got horrible sides on fin. It all depends on person, some take dut and experience no sides. Do your research and make a informed decision.

[ryan555]

Hey all, I'm soon to be 21 and have been losing my hair at quite an aggressive rate starting only months after I turned 18. I'm between a NW 2 & 3 right now with diffuse thinning but if I stop it now and can thicken the existing hairs I'm pretty golden as my original hairline was nothing to be impressed about anyway.

The reality is that I've tried to just deal with the hair loss and not risk having sides from drugs but I just can't do it anymore. Looking at forums such as propeciahelp I see that there are not that many threads when compared with successful users world wide.

Would you guys advise to give it a go? What are the REAL chances of irreversible sides?

PLEASE get on fin and save yourself from spending your 20's obsessed with this problem. Finasteride saved my youth and I never thought about hair loss again the whole time I was on it. Your chances of persistent side effects is remote, very remote. Your chances of continuing to bald without taking meds is 100%. If you are really concerned about sides, start slow and taper up. A lot of guys even find a great deal of success at very low doses or taking the drug only two or three times a week, though 1 mg per day is definitely preferable.

Good luck!

[Dan26]

The reason I say start at a low dose is because a single dose of 1-1.25mg cuts DHT by a lot more than a single dose of 0.05, 0.2, 0.25, 0.5 etc.

I can't point to any studies, but I'd imagine that slowly lowering your DHT levels rather than cutting them drastically is a bit better for your body. But more importantly, what do you have to lose? 1mg is the recommended dose as haircount in trials were superior to lower ones, but you can work your way up to 1mg if you chose to. And remember that even on the small doses your DHT will pretty quickly get cut by almost the same amount, it will just be reduced at a slower rate.

As far as baselines go, again, you have nothing to lose, why not do them if you can? If you already for example have low free T, low DHEA, low FSH etc aka an irregular hormonal profile as it is, it could be wise to reconsider. Also if your system ends up getting destoryed you have baseline tests and doctors woul dhave better idea of a treatment plan if you have to undergo hormone therapy.

Point is, the mind is VERY powerful. Do if potential sides are a major cause for concern/anxiety for you, take my advise and perhaps you will gain the peace of mind and to try it out!

[Ibrium]

I started just before I was 21. I constantly regret not starting sooner, because I've been waiting over a year for my hair to very slowly come back again (while I'm trying to grow it long), whereas if I'd started even a few months earlier, I would be doing far better by now. (For example, 6 months sooner would probably have put me a year ahead of where I am now, since it would have prevented much of my loss in addition to starting the regrowth earlier.) So my advice would be not to wait.

No trials of finasteride have actually found persistent side-effects after discontinuation. And there are also side effects from the placebo, so I'd say a bigger risk is that you psyche yourself out and give yourself side effects by becoming paranoid about them. (Look up the "nocebo effect".)

[KO1]

The reason I say start at a low dose is because a single dose of 1-1.25mg cuts DHT by a lot more than a single dose of 0.05, 0.2, 0.25, 0.5 etc.

As a sidenote....doesn't that kind of contradict your theory of microdosing (0.05) is as good as full dosage?

[Dan26]

As a sidenote....doesn't that kind of contradict your theory of microdosing (0.05) is as good as full dosage?

No I'm talking about a single dose. A single dose of 5mg cuts DHT by more than a single dose of 1mg. A single dose of 1mg cuts DHT by more than a single dose of 0.5mg etc etc.

But based on the study I've posted before, that measured serum and scalp DHT after 42 days of daily doses, the DHT levels of the smaller doses were near the same aka, like people always say, fin has a flat dose response rate (it acutally has a NEARLY flat dose response rate).

The point of 'tapering' is that your DHT levels drop down slower than at high daily doses. Not sure i that does anything in terms of reducing sides though (I imagine it should be easier on your system), but nothing to lose cause your DHT gets where it needs to be in a pretty short period of time.

[StayThick]

I personally think trying Propecia at 20/21 is too young..I say this because we don't know what sort of impact, if any, that can have on growth and other developmental areas.

I mean I was still growing at 23 height and bone density wise towards end of college and I couldn't fathom taken this drug during that period because I didn't know what kind of impact that could have on my development and still growing body..

That being said, I am a strong anti-Propecia guy on this forum but I would never steer anyone from trying this drug. I just state my experience and mindset when I was your age. It's important for everyone to gather information and make their own decisions, like I did when I started and ultimately quit.

If you try it, like others, I'd recommend starting at .25mg or something small. That's my only regret when I started because I followed what Merck and my Derm stated (1mg) and had disturbing sides.

In any case, kudos for being active and wanting to find a solution for your hairloss. I hope Propecia safely works for you if you decide to go that route. Sometimes less is more..remember that.

[ThinningHope]

I started Propecia at probably 17, maybe 18, and I'm 22 now. That being said, I was bad about taking it regularly so I can't really say how long I've been good and consistent about it, but it's been at least a year, probably more like two. Before that the doses were somewhat irregular so it's hard to say what my hair might look like otherwise. I also switched to the generic somewhere down the line. Anyway, I'm just here to tell you that I haven't yet experienced any side effects as of yet (to my knowledge anyway).

[huawei]

The reason I say start at a low dose is because a single dose of 1-1.25mg cuts DHT by a lot more than a single dose of 0.05, 0.2, 0.25, 0.5 etc.

I can't point to any studies, but I'd imagine that slowly lowering your DHT levels rather than cutting them drastically is a bit better for your body. But more importantly, what do you have to lose? 1mg is the recommended dose as haircount in trials were superior to lower ones, but you can work your way up to 1mg if you chose to. And remember that even on the small doses your DHT will pretty quickly get cut by almost the same amount, it will just be reduced at a slower rate.

As far as baselines go, again, you have nothing to lose, why not do them if you can? If you already for example have low free T, low DHEA, low FSH etc aka an irregular hormonal profile as it is, it could be wise to reconsider. Also if your system ends up getting destoryed you have baseline tests and doctors woul dhave better idea of a treatment plan if you have to undergo hormone therapy.

Point is, the mind is VERY powerful. Do if potential sides are a major cause for concern/anxiety for you, take my advise and perhaps you will gain the peace of mind and to try it out!

Thats exactly right. I will be getting baseline blood tests done for sure and will taper up the doseage.

I started just before I was 21. I constantly regret not starting sooner, because I've been waiting over a year for my hair to very slowly come back again (while I'm trying to grow it long), whereas if I'd started even a few months earlier, I would be doing far better by now. (For example, 6 months sooner would probably have put me a year ahead of where I am now, since it would have prevented much of my loss in addition to starting the regrowth earlier.) So my advice would be not to wait.

That is exactly how I feel hey. If I had of started 6 months ago my hair would look so much better. Even if my existing hairs thicken up it will look alot better.

I personally think trying Propecia at 20/21 is too young..I say this because we don't know what sort of impact, if any, that can have on growth and other developmental areas.

I mean I was still growing at 23 height and bone density wise towards end of college and I couldn't fathom taken this drug during that period because I didn't know what kind of impact that could have on my development and still growing body..

That being said, I am a strong anti-Propecia guy on this forum but I would never steer anyone from trying this drug. I just state my experience and mindset when I was your age. It's important for everyone to gather information and make their own decisions, like I did when I started and ultimately quit.

If you try it, like others, I'd recommend starting at .25mg or something small. That's my only regret when I started because I followed what Merck and my Derm stated (1mg) and had disturbing sides.

In any case, kudos for being active and wanting to find a solution for your hairloss. I hope Propecia safely works for you if you decide to go that route. Sometimes less is more..remember that.

I've taken this into consideration and it has been the key reason why I didn't start when I first accepted that my hairloss was happening two years ago. I will be careful with it.

[KO1]

Uh, no. There is little or no reason to believe that finasteride will hurt or impede bone growth and development, especially at your age. And no, age 20 is not too young to take it, it has been tested as safe on men over age 18. This is not a matter of opinion.