Need help super badly! Should I go FIN?

[norc]

I am 33 and suffering from MPB.
I have receding hairlines and frontal thinning of hair.

I believe this is hereditary as my dad has the same case.
I am using Min for 4 years already.
Not sure if it helped....

I noticed extreme thinning now.
I am really badly worried...
I can see myself at my Photos and it's damn bad.....

should i give FIN a try?
what dossage is good for gradual effects?

[inspects]

Try reading this Thread http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=9577

Also use the search function on this Forum, there is a wealth of information in hundred if not thousand of thread asking nearly the same question.

Best of luck to you.

[frankJ]

Hey norc. If I were you I'd give fin a try. I've been on it in varying dosages (1mg - 5 mg) for 16 years and never experienced any sides. That being said, It doesn't mean you won't. If you read the studies it doesn't seem the rate of sides is significantly greater than placebo groups.
Also the thing about gradually getting on fin. I don't think the drug manufacturer of most doctors recommend this. It's not like lithium or Zoloft. It blocks the formation of DHT, which I don't think the sudden elimination of ~70% DHT from your body will shock your system or anything.
Also be aware, in case you're not, that fin doesn't promote hair growth, it simply reduces DHT which is "causes" MPB. Mostly it helps you keep what you have. So noticing results mostly means not seeing further thinning or recession, or dramatically slowing it down.

[norc]

Hey norc. If I were you I'd give fin a try. I've been on it in varying dosages (1mg - 5 mg) for 16 years and never experienced any sides. That being said, It doesn't mean you won't. If you read the studies it doesn't seem the rate of sides is significantly greater than placebo groups.
Also the thing about gradually getting on fin. I don't think the drug manufacturer of most doctors recommend this. It's not like lithium or Zoloft. It blocks the formation of DHT, which I don't think the sudden elimination of ~70% DHT from your body will shock your system or anything.
Also be aware, in case you're not, that fin doesn't promote hair growth, it simply reduces DHT which is "causes" MPB. Mostly it helps you keep what you have. So noticing results mostly means not seeing further thinning or recession, or dramatically slowing it down.

thanks frankj...big help..
i've been reading a lot bout FIN for years...
but never tried it yet...
big factor is the horror stories out there....

[ChrisM]

Based onthe fact that their are two proudcts out there Dutasteride and Finasteride and both are potent DHT blockers that should help you in the war against hair loss. However Finasteride is on the lower scale of potential side effects as opposed to Dutasteride which is supposedly more aggressive in its DHT blocking strategy. You might luck out and be the guy who does not fall in the percentage of erectile dysfunction or having exhbited any sides whatsoever and then again you might.. the chance is basically 50/50. However you can discontinue treatment if you feel you are leaning towards the other camp and hope for the best. But those are the main ones that have been out there way past the experimental stage.

[norc]

Based onthe fact that their are two proudcts out there Dutasteride and Finasteride and both are potent DHT blockers that should help you in the war against hair loss. However Finasteride is on the lower scale of potential side effects as opposed to Dutasteride which is supposedly more aggressive in its DHT blocking strategy. You might luck out and be the guy who does not fall in the percentage of erectile dysfunction or having exhbited any sides whatsoever and then again you might.. the chance is basically 50/50. However you can discontinue treatment if you feel you are leaning towards the other camp and hope for the best. But those are the main ones that have been out there way past the experimental stage.

thanks Chris.
Yes that could be the best strategy, to discontinue treatment if I feel its not working to me...not to mention to hope the drug didn't damage my system....
It seems fin is my last hope to keep my hair...

[norc]

here's a link of my hair's photo when wet.

Do you think i badly needed FIN already?

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q47/ar24458/2012-12-28-192_zps6541a724.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q47/ar24458/2012-12-28-191_zps653f0360.jpg

[clandestine]

Should you get on fin?

If you want to, sure. If you don't, then no.

[norc]

i basically need an opinion if my case badly needs that kind of regimen already.

thanks

[ChrisM]

I can't view your pictures as I am at work and they have a filter that will block them but let me ask you this.. do you see shiny patches of scalp showing and are the ends of your hair by your hairline shrinking and becoming thin and falling out. Do you have a widow's peak which is where your hairline is essentially shaped like the letter v but not picture the temples and the hairline going back further with time so the V is pronounced. Are you losing hair at the crown of your head and if so is it a dime sized patch of baldness, a quarter sized or more ?If you touch you head today can you feel your scalp as some of your hair might be thin in density and not as thick as it used to be ? If these things are the definitely the case then all signs tend to point to MPB and androgenetic alopecia. The best combatants against it right now are Finasteride, Nizoral shampoo, and Rogaine 5% Minoxidil. Finasteride and Minoxidil in combination not only halt and slow down hair loss but in some cases reverse baldness to varying degrees and add youth to your appearance. Because the DHT is interrupted and blocked the hair that was impacted can now grow normally unimpeded and the affected thin shrunken hairs falls out and shed to be replaced by the normal hair full grown hair that will grow longer and stronger over time and the Minoxidil as a stimulant accelerates that growth.. one working inside your system for 6 hours in a day and the other outside on your scalp for a 12 to 24 hour period.

[norc]

Hi ChrisM.

I am pretty sure this is MPB. temples are receding but more on the right side.
It's becoming thinner on the right side temple.
I' m afaid I might lose all the hair in this area and become shiny thus irreversible.
here's the photo when wet with Min.
My hair looks a little better when dry..

[norc]

i believe my case is MPB cos of the common pattern. But its getting more dominant on the right side.....

i've got a photo way back 2010...


and today it's like this....left photo is when wet, right next to it is when dry....

[frankJ]

You might luck out and be the guy who does not fall in the percentage of erectile dysfunction or having exhbited any sides whatsoever and then again you might.. the chance is basically 50/50. However you can discontinue treatment if you feel you are leaning towards the other camp and hope for the best.

Hey norc. I can't tell if that's MPB, but that seems like a reasonable conclusion. If it is, it looks like it's not progressing really fast. Seems like you are the type of guy who fin would be best for, i.e, you have a lot of hair, and MPB isn;t very noticable. It might stop it in it's tracks for a few years or just slow it down quite a bit. I started with a widows peak, more pronounced than your when I was ~24. I'm 41 now and still have pretty much the same hair line, but with thinning. So I'd say fin bought me a lot of years, and I'm still using it.
There's a lot of info/speculation about the new stuff coming out in a few years, e.g. Histogen, Aderans, but it seems like they will be more effective the more hair you still have. So, who knows, maybe you wouldn't have to take it that long anyways.
Also, your chance of experiencing sides from fin or even Avodart are not 50/50. I believe there is a less than a 5% chance of experiencing side from either of them. I've attached a graph from Merck's clinical study below. Here's a link to there study. http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_...ropecia_pi.pdf On Wikipedia and some other sites I've seem I've seen occurrence of impotence as a side effect stated as (1.1% to 18.5%). I'm not sure why the large disparity, but I think they may be aggregating data from studies with men who were being treated for enlarged prostate who it think would already be at a higher risk for sexual dysfunction problems. I guess to ferret out those numbers you should look at individual studies, and compare occurrence of sides to the control group.

[frankJ]

Hey man, check this out also.

http://www.baldingblog.com/2011/01/26/propecia-and-the-15-side-effects-myth/

This a short article which explains the high rate cited for some sides, and why the numbers are erroneous. It's posted on baldingblog, which i think is run by a couple of hair transplant doctor, so I don't think they have anything to gain by pushing you Propecia.

[burtandernie]

Whenever someone asks what to do about MPB its never a hard answer. Your choices are not in the hundreds or anything. You can take propecia to try to slow it down or you can just keep going bald at whatever pace and see where it goes. Maybe a painful and expensive transplant years down the road. I dont think there many other proven options short of mixing chemicals like RU in your house but who knows what your getting there. An untested, unstable chemical mixed in ways that might not even work its just you guessing whether you think it did something while you waste time
In my mind you try propecia or just forget hair loss and live with it the options are just too limited at this point.