23 just had a consult, was told I'm too young for finasteride, not sure what to think

[Fortunate Son]

How is your crown area?

I really don't know. I feel like I'm thinning all over on my scalp. The thing is that my brother's hair loss is not so extremely aggressive as it gets, so his crown bald spot didn't become too visible until he was about 30. So it's not like my hair loss is super noticeable at 23, but my hair line has that classic receding M shape, asymmetric recession, it has already receded past the hairline that my mum and dad have, and now I feel like the top is slowly getting thinner. Is this not enough cause for concern?

I'm really at a loss what to do because everyone is telling me I still have hair so I don't need to treat it yet, but I thought the treatment is supposed to be about prevention. I just don't want to wait until it becomes noticably thinner. It already feels thinner than sides and back when I run my hands through it. I want to try finasteride but both my GP and the nurse told me to come back when I start seeing bald spots. If maintaining what you have is the game right now I don't want to wait until I have a bald spot. What kind of advice is this? The hairline recession looks bad enough as it is, and my fringe is getting worse at hiding it.

I really want someone with experience to weigh in on this. I'm afraid if I just wait that I will regret it later. Odds of it getting progressively worse seem stacked against my favour. I really just want to visit some more clinics and get their opinion. Are there any experts/experienced readers out there willing to way in on my case? I'm at such a loss what to do... I ordered Kirkland moam online but I have no idea when it will be delivered. I just want to do the absolute best job I can at keeping what I have and from what I've read finasteride is the only way to do that.

The fact that time is ticking on this and that I have no idea how far it will go if I do nothing is making me feel nervous. I just want to get on top of this thing, have someone really look at my scalp. Isn't mapping for minitiurization/scalp biopsy/etc a thing? Where can I do that? I just want to get the best possible look at my scalp. It's not like money is an issue for me. My GP wouldn't even refer me to a dermatologist. Wtf is that about? I go to these things with an open mind, I'm not asking them to prescribe me anything directly, but all people will do is look at me and say: 'you haven't lost that much hair yet'. So helpful.

[Fortunate Son]

I know that 'my hair feels thinner' is vague and subjective, but if I try to rationalize my symptoms as mentioned (especially the receding hairline) and the fact that my own brother is an NW3/4 vertex and getting worse, and so was my maternal grandfather at that age, how can I just wait this out? I don't want to wait until I'm an NW3
Vertex. The hair loss and itch is aggrevating enough, and not being able to hide my receding temples anymore, if this is already weighing me down so much now, how much more emotional will the whole thing get when I'm an NW3 and people can see through my crown?

I know I'm just venting now, but all I want to do is find the best course of minimizing any further loss so one day when I'm hopefully not too old there will be a cure or at least some kind of safer treatment with good efficacy and if/when that day comes I will have as much as I can to work with. I want to fight this any way I can but I need help. I need to know where to go and who to see who will take me seriously and understand how it feels to have so much to lose and see it all slipping through my fingers, and not tell to stand by and watch as it gets worse. I just want someone to read this and tell me who to see, what kind of method to diagnose this. I just want a good treatment plan that involves close attention and monitoring and not just waiting until it gets noticeable. Where do I go here? Anyone?

[bmoreno515]

Sorry I took so long to reply and don't feel like your venting, these forums are for reasons like this so we can express how were feeling and ik my advice isn't the best but if you can find a dermatologist who can prescribe finasteride then id do it if I were you, if you can see a significant change in your hair that only you are able to tell then make the jump on finasteride, you can save what you have and possibly get some growth if you apply minoxidil at the temples but growing the temple area is very hard. You can get a blood test and see where your testosterone levels are.

[PatientlyWaiting]

Too young for fin at 23 is ridiculous. I never listen to primary physicians when it comes to hair loss, only dermatologists/hair specialists. Did you see a dermatologist? Regular doctors, from my experience, are not very helpful when it comes to MPB.

[Fortunate Son]

Too young for fin at 23 is ridiculous. I never listen to primary physicians when it comes to hair loss, only dermatologists/hair specialists. Did you see a dermatologist? Regular doctors, from my experience, are not very helpful when it comes to MPB.

My GP wouldn't even refer me to a dermatologist, so I went for a free consult at a local hair clinic and the nurse said she doesn't think I should take propecia because I am 23 and my hair loss is not very advanced yet, she said the long-term effects of the drug are not very well known so she wouldn't prescribe it until I am older or my hair loss suddenly gets worse. She said she doesn't like the idea of someone being on the drug for 10-15+ years.

I'm not sure how to find a dermatologist. I looked on the website of my local hospital which lists the dermatology teams there but no one seems to really specialize in cosmetic dermatology/hair loss so I feel like that would just be a waste of time.

[Hubris]

My GP wouldn't even refer me to a dermatologist, so I went for a free consult at a local hair clinic and the nurse said she doesn't think I should take propecia because I am 23 and my hair loss is not very advanced yet, she said the long-term effects of the drug are not very well known so she wouldn't prescribe it until I am older or my hair loss suddenly gets worse. She said she doesn't like the idea of someone being on the drug for 10-15+ years.

I'm not sure how to find a dermatologist. I looked on the website of my local hospital which lists the dermatology teams there but no one seems to really specialize in cosmetic dermatology/hair loss so I feel like that would just be a waste of time.

Nonsense - 23 is old enough to be on Propecia. The person you originally spoke to was a nurse, yes? Speak to a doctor/dermatologist.

[Fortunate Son]

Nonsense - 23 is old enough to be on Propecia. The person you originally spoke to was a nurse, yes? Speak to a doctor/dermatologist.

I want to but for some reason this is difficult to accomplish. My GP won't refer me to a dermatologist until I start to notice bald spots which means if I see a dermatologist on my own accord I'd have to pay it all out of my own pocket which gets really expensive. I found a clinic that does consults and photographic scalp analyses for like 160 euros, the catch it that it's 2,5 hours away, transport costs are another 40 euros, the worst part is that they seem to only prescribe their own brand finasteride1.25+saw palmetto+whatever in one pill that cost 155 euros for a 3 month supply. I mean, I said money's not an issue but I'm not going to pay 200 euros to have access to a 50 euro-a-month finasteride prescription. I'm still young and my income has been great the past 2 years but it's so unstable that I want to err on the side of caution. Plus, I just don't want to pay more than is necessary because of obvious reasons.

I decided to look at the list of IAHRS doctors in Brussels (kind of far away but doable) and called Feriduni to see if I could go for a hair loss assessment but they have a waiting list until the end of 2016, then I called WHTC hair clinic (Dr. Mwamba) and I told them I'd like a consult asap and she said she'd send an email with a date. No indication of when but I assume if the wait list was as bad as Feriduni's then she'd have said something.

Sigh. So bummed that my GP won't just refer me to a derm 'until I start to notice bald spots'. What is up with that mentality. I hope I get an email from the WHTC clinic soon.