Looking for advice please

[jonhny]

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice please, a bit of info about myself:

I'm 37yrs old, for the past 3yrs I've noticed my hairline recede at the sides of my temple, I would say I'm between Norwood 2 and Norwood 3.

My maternal and paternal grandfathers both had a good head of hair and my father still has most of his hair at age 61 - albeit thin and fine mostly.

I've been reading up on things, probably only for the past 3 or 4 months to see what I can do to stop further receding. I've read that the first thing to do is go on medication to halt things, where I live in the UK, there's a retailer that does an ongoing course - Boots Hair Replacement Scheme.

However, I've heard treatments can cause fertility problems. Currently my wife (same age as me) is pregnant with our first child and as we are quite old starting a family, we plan on having another child in the next year (or two max) - Therefore, I'm worried about potential side effects of these products?

Would it be ok to take products if any available? My plan was to go on the medication as soon as possible and then have Follicular Hair Transplant to bring back my hairline - does this sound ok and feasible?

Thanks for your time,

Johnny.

[nassau]

Hey there Johnny,

Like im sure you found out when doing your research, there are only 2 FDA proven and safe products to slow down, and in some cases reverse male pattern baldness to a degree. They are, Propecia and Minxodil, also more commonly know as Rogaine. While Propecia does have on its warning labels that pregnant women should not handle or use the pills, it does not have any affect on them if they are sexually active with someone who is on the medication. As far as your question about repairing your hairline, it all depends on the amount of donar hair you have avalible. But that does sound very feasible for you. But the first course of action for you should be to make a appointment with a hair specialist, not a surgion, and see what they would recomend. Well hope this helps, and good luck with your hair treatments.

[Fixed by 35]

Hi Johnny

I wouldn't worry too much about infertility on finasteride. It can cause a lower libido in a very few cases but the drug has such a short half life that the side effects subside very quickly when you stop taking it. I say that as a layman, but doctors seem to agree!

In terms of infertility, I believe it's possible in theory but I think you'd have to take the drugs for an awfully long time for that to happen, if at all.

If you're really concerned about the drugs, there are some natural alternatives that might work. I say might, because they're not proven to work nor can I cite much in the way of evidence. The most common is saw palmetto. I think procerin is a good way of taking this because whilst this company's claims are a bit excessive, it does include all the ingredients that advocates of natural supplements take and it's not particularly expensive.

One of my personal favourites is beta-sitosterol, you can get it in Boots and it is typically sold as an over the counter supplement to reduce colestorol. It's called Lestrin. I quite like taking this supplement for general health benefits and it has helped my hairline too.

Nothing will work better than propecia or avodart though. Do remember, natural supplements don't undergo clinical trials and most results are based on hearsay. Unfortunately, finding a natural solution is largely trial and error, mostly error, in the experiences of most men!

[THLG]

I believe that you are right about the natural supplements as they are hearsay in most cases besides vitamins and minerals only work if you are lacking in something, My son started to lose his hair at 16 years old he would not date or do any sports anything So I analyzed his diet cut out all the processed foods we used a few of the standard hair loss treatments on the market and we stuck to it even though he complained about not being able to eat at McDonalds any more I completely changed his diet upped his protein levels to about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight changed his shampoo and within 6 months his hair started to grow back.. Now you would never know he ever had a problem, however I don't know what one thing I did that fixed it we changed everything...