xabre said:
What annoys me is that it was the irresponsibility of people on forums like this that convinced me two years ago to take this shit. The fact is propecia will do jack shit for frontal hair loss, so thinking it's going to stop a receding hairline is a fantasy.
Who's thinking that? I'm pretty sure my first post in this thread mentioned that it only works for the crown of one's head (not saying you're accusing me of saying it'll help stop thinning at the temples).
Much worse though than simply wasting your money on taking a drug for years before noticing any tangible benefits by not losing hair on the crown (and that is by no means certain either) are the nasty risks of side effects outlined above. I'm not saying don't take the drug (although I wouldn't recommend it, it is a drug originally designed to treat enlarged prostates in older men, re-packaged and marketed as a hair loss drug), what I say is that this is something that should be thoroughly discussed with a doctor before making such a decision; not something where you run off, pop a few pills and think you'll be growing back hair in no time. The potential problems that shit like finasteride can cause far overshadow any trivial hair loss you may have now.
Dude, it's a prescription drug so I would hope you guys discuss this shit with your doctors, and you're right about hair loss being trivial. In the grand scheme of things, how much hair you have on your head makes little difference, and outside of a hair transplant, there's nothing you can effectively do to stop hair loss. Coming to terms with who you are makes you a stronger person--either cover up a problem or go face to face with it and emerge for the better. If you're anxious about losing hair, you're probably anxious about other things. Psychological help might be worth more to you than drugs.
Would you be able to provide a bit more detail regarding your statistics? Practically everything I've heard (admittedly, not a whole lot) about propecia has been relatively good. You mentioned that decreased libido is somewhat uncommon, and usually returns to normal when off the drug - which I knew - but the extreme side effects occuring in great frequency are news to me. All I'd heard is that around 2% of those on propecia experienced decreased libido, a complain around 1% of the placebo group had as well.
Rogaine/Minoxidil worse than propecia? You must be kidding. Minoxidil is only dangerous when taken orally, as a topical treatment it is very tollerable with only minor issues such as skin irritation on occassion.
Worse in the results it produces and the annoyance in applying it.
although I wouldn't recommend it, it is a drug originally designed to treat enlarged prostates in older men, re-packaged and marketed as a hair loss drug)
To be fair, finasteride makes up 1% of the propecia formula for balding as opposed to the 5% for enlarged prostate treatment, and minoxidil was original used to treat high blood pressure (although orally as opposed to locally) , so they both have alterior applications.
