Finasteride and infertility....and some other stuff

[ThinningHope]

Hey all,

I'm a young guy (22 years old) and I know that one of the potential side effects of this drug is infertility. I don't intend to impregnate anyone any time soon but I would like to have the option in the future, so this is kind of a big concern for me. Does anyone have any experiences or knowledge to share on this topic? I've been taking Finasteride for several years now. I'm not sure how effective it has been due to my young age and the gradual nature of its process, but I don't want to stop taking it because I'm afraid that if I do, it'll turn out that it was helping my hair quite a bit, and I really don't want to be losing any more hair than I can help as I'm pretty insecure about all this.

I've briefly looked into alternative options for preventing further hair loss, but nothing looks too appealing. I don't use Rogaine because I don't know if it would work and I don't want to deal with the shedding phase, like I really don't want to deal with any shedding. I never really used any special shampoo or conditioner either, though I did just start using some horse shampoo/conditioner recommended by a friend for thicker hair. Any thoughts on the effectiveness of horse shampoo are welcome as well.

I've also considered looking into a hair transplant procedure, but I've always had the feeling that those just don't end up looking natural. I hear they're better than they used to be but I'm still skeptical. Currently most of my hair is still there, and I don't know if a transplant would be necessary, but it's definitely something to think about for the near future. Any thoughts on this?