37 - Just Went To Dermatologist

[James1313]

Very few men keep a perfectly straight hairline into old age. Next time you're out, look at men in their 50's and you'll see about 1 in 10 actually have a perfect hairline. Even those with a "full head of hair" often have some mild recession in their hairline. Look at George W Bush as an example. No one would say he is "balding" but that is not ther hairline he had when he was 20.

Having said that, if it bothers you to such a great extent, get on treatments. They work well. Lucky for you, it's unlikely that you will experience very aggressive MPB given that you are already 37 years old.

That's actually a good point. My grandfather (maternal) just turned 91 and he still has a full head of hair. He's receded somewhat, but still has a full head of hair. My paternal grandfather was bald (horse shoe) by the time he was 75.

I'm going to hold off on finasteride and just monitor it. My barber said I'm still fine, he's my canary in the coal mine. He also told me that we lose up to 100 hairs per day, depending on the stage of your hair cycle, at least that's what he told me.

[mpb47]

Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it.

This has made me somewhat obsessive: looking in the shower drain, checking my pillow, my work desk, seeing how many I can pull out if I pull hard on my hair, wondering if I'm losing hair or just obsessing. I found two hairs on my desk and went nuts today. This really isn't healthy behavior.

Instead you should take the middle of the road approach:

Take some pics every few months, then from time to time compare. That is how I convinced myself my crown had started thinning (at about your age btw). At first I wasn't sure but the pics eventually showed what was going on.
And yes when you older it might be very slow but it still creeps up on you and you won't even realize it without pics when it happens that slowly.

So if you see no change in say a year, then no worries. And if you do, consider what some of us are doing: take lose dose of propecia.
I take .25mg 2x a week and seeing results after 4 months.

If you loss is slow you may not need a normal dose anyway. Kinda hedging your bets so to speak!

[James1313]

Instead you should take the middle of the road approach:

Take some pics every few months, then from time to time compare. That is how I convinced myself my crown had started thinning (at about your age btw). At first I wasn't sure but the pics eventually showed what was going on.
And yes when you older it might be very slow but it still creeps up on you and you won't even realize it without pics when it happens that slowly.

So if you see no change in say a year, then no worries. And if you do, consider what some of us are doing: take lose dose of propecia.
I take .25mg 2x a week and seeing results after 4 months.

If you loss is slow you may not need a normal dose anyway. Kinda hedging your bets so to speak!

I think I'm going to use your approach.

[James1313]

By the way, what's the deal with side effects? According to most of what I read online, they seem disproportionately overblown. Also, is there much of a difference between the regular and generic versions of finasteride?

[Notcoolanymore]

Personally I use generic fin and I think it is working great. Others only use the name brand stuff. I honestly don't think there is a difference as long as you are getting the stuff from a reputable pharmacy.

There are some that will disagree with me, but I believe in the documented statistics. Sides will happen, but the percentage is low.

[James1313]

Personally I use generic fin and I think it is working great. Others only use the name brand stuff. I honestly don't think there is a difference as long as you are getting the stuff from a reputable pharmacy.

There are some that will disagree with me, but I believe in the documented statistics. Sides will happen, but the percentage is low.

You mean Proscar, the generic version, right? I'm not trying to play twenty questions, but there's so much stuff online, especially anecdotal evidence and horror stories.

What about Rogaine in your opinion? Just trying to cross my t's and dot my i's.

[Notcoolanymore]

You mean Proscar, the generic version, right? I'm not trying to play twenty questions, but there's so much stuff online, especially anecdotal evidence and horror stories.

What about Rogaine in your opinion? Just trying to cross my t's and dot my i's.

Ask all the questions you need to, somebody will usually have an answer for you. Yeah, I use generic proscar(fincar I believe). I also use generic minoxidil. I have both the foam and liquid. Again, I think the generic is just as effective.

[James1313]

Ask all the questions you need to, somebody will usually have an answer for you. Yeah, I use generic proscar(fincar I believe). I also use generic minoxidil. I have both the foam and liquid. Again, I think the generic is just as effective.

I'll probably go with the generic. I see it comes in 5mg tablets. That means I'd need a pill cutter, right? .5mg is a whole lot of cutting.

I'm going to wait until I get my results back from the endocrinologist about my thyroid.

[Notcoolanymore]

I'll probably go with the generic. I see it comes in 5mg tablets. That means I'd need a pill cutter, right? .5mg is a whole lot of cutting.

I'm going to wait until I get my results back from the endocrinologist about my thyroid.

I suppose you could split the pills with a knife, but it is pretty easy with a pill cutter. It will run you a couple of bucks.

[mpb47]

I'll probably go with the generic. I see it comes in 5mg tablets. That means I'd need a pill cutter, right? .5mg is a whole lot of cutting.

I'm going to wait until I get my results back from the endocrinologist about my thyroid.

James-
There is both generic Proscar (5mg) and generic propecia (1mg). I have used both . Generic is fine as long as it is legit. I personally use inhouse and they have been fine. Proscar is cheaper but because I wanted a low dose this time, I went with generic propecia (called Finpecia at inhouse) because it is easier to cut in smaller doses. And because I am using a smaller dose, the price is not a big deal. At a small dose, I seeing improvements, but it is slow. I take .25mg normally 2x a week, but sometimes I will only do it 1x a week-forgot a couple of times.