Two months on finasteride story so far (UK pharmacist) 28 y/o

[4frmacist]

abit of background about myself:-

slight recession of hairline since early 20's however nothing noticeable and general thick hair. I am someone who eats 80% healthy and have been going to the gym for 8 years with good muscle mass and ok body fat levels. I am well aware of healthy eating habits and lifestyle choices. Do not drink or smoke. Since starting full time work after university over 4 years ago I have had to work long hours but still kept healthy lifestyle choices although going through some stressful times e.g. a baby, house, renovation etc.

It wasnt until I turned 27 I noticed increased recession on my left temple and even my wife noticed that the vertex of my head had slight scalp showing when hair was styled. I decided to oil my hair regularly with castor and argan oil and using alpecin shampoo. hair in general did thicken up slightly but recession was continuing.

I am currently a Norwood 2. father side and uncles are either bald or heavily receding. Mothers side all uncles have Full heads of hair.

I did my research into finasteride and being a pharmaicst ensured I looked at all the product literature ensuring I understood the side effect profile and chances of getting them which i understood to be very low.
I decided to start on 0.5mg Every day and see progression from there.

Fast forward 2 months my experience so far

positives -- hair has a slight 'Lift', hair possibly thicker in vertex area.

Negatives - I have experienced a definite increase in shedding /recession on both temple areas in 2 months more than that whole of last year combined. this is meant to be normal and I am willing to wait this out to see if this grows back according to the hair cycle growth?

Extreme brain fog first week which subsided but general oomph has gone in me and sometimes just feel anxious for no reason. Ejaculate is thinner. Libido is lower but still get turned on if you know what I mean. Nipples are puffier some days and possible increase in body fat around midsection although have only gained 1kg in 3 months.

I am in two minds as to how to proceed. writing this post I can clearly see the negatives are alot more than the positives. My hair hasnt exactly got better and I have a feeling I have reflex hyproadrogeneticity because of the increase in recession in hairline which was not receding. However it has only been two months I'm unsure if i am being inpatient and wait till 6 -12 months?
I do feel Merck has understated the side effect profile occurrence in patients .

I am looking at doing a hair transplant in a year luckily having the funds to afford a top surgeon
however unsure as to whether to continue to wait it out another few months with this medication. An advice would be appreciated as sometimes an outside opinion is much clearer as opposed to debating with myself lol.

I do have pictures if they need to be uploaded .

Thanks in advance

[misirthecat]

hi 4frmacist, clear and beautiful text. I understand you're a healthy man but stress is ruining our life. For some men, the plate hair transplant inevitable. I think drug addiction is so bad for all organ. my english is not good but i feeling same emotion with you.