# Men's Hair Loss > Hair Loss Treatments >  Just started Propecia, Age 20.

## Confided

Hey everyone, I'm 20 years old and I've noticed that I've been gradually losing my hair (on the top, and hairline has receded). My mom was the first one to notice the hair loss. Since then I've been really insecure as I have had very thick and curly hair up until i was about 19. 

    I've also noticed several months ago that the top of my scalp has been unusually itchy. About a weeks ago I went to the Dermatologist, to which she prescribed Propecia to me. Before going in I had researched extensively and had come to the point that Fin was my only option as I did not want to use Mioxidil because I don't think I can keep up with applying it 2 times a day. 

    I'm hoping that I don't see an increased rate of shedding, although I won't be surprised if it happens. I just hope that it wont last for months as I have read stories like this. My father has a full head of hair as do my uncles. The only person that was bald in my family was my grandpa (ironically we the same first name), but my grandpa never had thick hair to begin with. I don't think I can cope with being bald, I can't see myself as pulling off the look.

   Although I'm doing all this worrying, no one has commented on my hair loss to this date so that has kept me feeling a little more positive. I was just hoping someone would have some tips and maybe some encouragement as I am sure I'm not the only one to go through this at a young age.

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## Dasani

Hey Confided, I'm a little bit older than you - I started noticing my hair thinning at 22. It was in my crown mostly but also definitely some slight recession around my temples. And I remember how upsetting that was to me. But I immediately got on finasteride (1.25mg daily) and I noticed a great improvement. I caught my thinning early, and I've restored my hair to a point where I look at it in the mirror and I honestly don't consider it to look like I'm thinning. I've also had no side effects from the drug to date.

I think you should definitely start taking finasteride and take it regularly. The overwhelming odds are you wont have any visible hair loss and/or you will regrow hair for 5 years at least. And there's a good chance that we're right on the verge of having a truly effective therapy that will eliminate hair loss by 2014 or 2015. You might even consider yourself lucky, every other 20 year old that lived before you and started noticing they had thinning hair had no choice but to accept it. You have a good chance of possibly never going bald.  :Smile:

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## Confided

Thanks man, that really makes me feel better that propecia has helped someone else in a similar situation. Propecia is expensive though, ive paid $70 for a one moth supply. I asked the Derma if I could go on Proscar but she did not think cutting the pills would be an accurate measurement. Im hoping that overtime, all this money will be worth it.

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## Dasani

Hey man, I should have been more clear. I am actually on proscar. I take a 5mg pill and cut it up into 4 pieces, then take one a day. It's $80 for a 4-month supply. Plus you get a slightly higher dosage, 1.25mg instead of 1mg. Go see another dermatologist getting generic proscar is the exact same thing as propecia just much cheaper.

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## DavidEasterly.360

By taking Propecia, you are allowing yourself to get the risk of ED.
so be careful 
you may get your hair back
but you might pay to much for it (ED)
I suggest talking to your doctor about the risks.
idk if dermatologist is enough.

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## VictimOfDHT

> By taking Propecia, you are allowing yourself to get the risk of ED.
> so be careful 
> you may get your hair back
> but you might pay to much for it (ED)
> I suggest talking to your doctor about the risks.
> idk if dermatologist is enough.


 Driving a car puts you at risk of being killed in a car accident, and so does a simple walk on the street.....

I don't think there are 50 cases of ED -worldwide- due to the use of Fin. Enough with this stupid shit.

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## PropeciaVictim

> Driving a car puts you at risk of being killed in a car accident, and so does a simple walk on the street.....
> 
> I don't think there are 50 cases of ED -worldwide- due to the use of Fin. Enough with this stupid shit.


 This is entirely false.  There have been articles published in medical journals with case reports or 70+ patients with irreversible ED and this only represents a smattering of the sufferers worldwide.  As the OP asked only to hear the good things, I will not elaborate anything further, but you should be aware that what Victim of DHT is telling you is not true in any dimension.

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## Confided

I've read about the possible side effects of Propecia. I've been on Propecia for about a week now and have no encountered anything out of the ordinary. But if I do, I will update on here every now and then for a reference to anyone thinking about taking it.

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## morbby

The thing with ED is if you are not experiencing it on Propecia then you are more likely not to go out on the boards and forums etc and chat about it, if you are experiencing it then yeah you probably will be quite mad and will go out and talk negative, so there is a slant there in my opinion.

As for me I been on Propecia for over 10 years from about 25 to 38, ugh i am getting old, but I have never had ED problems in all this time and I have never not been on the drug except for the occasional miss a day

Though my skin is purple  (joke)

Cheers

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## Still-Researching

Same here. Good results on proscar split in 4 and been on it for 2 years and plan to stay on, especially if I get a HT.

Make up your own mind on this one, do not listen to the ones that shouts the loudest - also speak to several doctors.

Another thought - ED is maybe hitting 1-2% of the male population with or without taking propecia, if you are in the danger zone of that, and try propecia and especially reads about these symptoms before or after you taken the drug - I am sure the chance of getting ED is higher.... but does that mean you just started showing symptoms earlier than you would anyway... 

If above is part of the story + that 99 out of 100 happy propecia users would not go online to say hi - it works for me... (it does :-) by the way...

Cheers

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## GreatSage

I'm the same age and in the same situation and just recently started taking Propecia, absolute no sides at all so far. To be fair though I was kinda "excited" to go on it and was focusing more on the positives.

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## seattle30

Post by  victimofdht,"I don't think there are 50 cases of ED -worldwide- due to the use of Fin. Enough with this stupid shit."

I dont think the facts backup this statement.  If you read within the July 18 edition of the Journal of Sexual Medicine the Editor-in-Chief Dr Irwin Goldstein writes, "I think of the frequent phone calls I recieve from men with varying degrees of hair loss who have used 5 alpha reductase inhibitors and now have newly manifested sexual and cognitive complaints that often persist despite discontinuation of the 5 alpha reductase inhibitor."

I am more inclined to go with Dr Goldstein's belief that in the many men who have called him with persistent sexual dysfunction after cessation of the 5 alpha reductase inhibitor, the cause is iatrogenic.

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## VictimOfDHT

I don't care what ONE doctor says, or two or three. Many doctors seem to have differing opinions about different things/drugs. I also find that some doctors don't know shit about anything. What the majority says, and what most people experience is what counts. I have no doubt that many of the people who are experiencing side effects experience them because of psychosomatic reasons. I'm sure if you give these people sugar pills and tell them it's Fin they'd still have these side effects.

Show me actual number of people who have ED because of the drug. Unless it's like 20&#37; or at least 10% of the users I'd say the drug is safe. And again, you know beforehand the drug might cause some sexual side effects but you choose to take it anyway and then you experience some effects. So what's the problem ? 
We take meds and we know they all can have side effects but take them anyway. Should we ban all meds because some of us experience side effects ??? 
Enough with this shit.

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## seattle30

The problem is that the sexual side effects(along with cognitive in some individuals) persist after stopping the medication.  When I went on the medication the dermatologist who prescribed me propecia never told me this.  Its easy to say enough with this shit if the problem isn't happening to you.

I am not saying we should ban the medication, just require those who prescribe propecia to let patients know that there is a possibility of experiencing these side effects after discontinuation.

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## SBTRKT

ED is the very start of things. 

I cannot feel my penis anymore - full stop.

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## seattle30

Victim of DHT "I have no doubt that many of the people who are experiencing side effects experience them because of psychosomatic reasons. I'm sure if you give these people sugar pills and tell them it's Fin they'd still have these side effects."

A sugar pill does not inhibit the neurosteriods 5 alpha-tetrahydroprogesterone and 5 alpha-dihydrodeoxcorticosterone.  It will also not inhibit an androgen which plays a role in erectile function, from a paper in the journal of andrology titled the Effect of 5a-Reductase Inhibitors on Erectile Function "In the castration group, the thickness of tunica albuginea decreased significantly and the elastic fibers were mostly supplanted by collagenous fibers, and in the DHT-inhibited group, the elastic fibers were replaced by disorganized and thick collagenous fibers. Since the tunica albuginea plays a major role in the erectile mechanism of the penis, the latter results offer an explanation for the presentation of ED in patients treated with 5ARIs."  

I think this statement by victimofdht is basically like telling hair loss sufferers that its "all in their head." Obviously not everyone who takes the medication experiences the persistent side effects after cessation, but for the unknown percentage who do they are very real.

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## Confided

> I'm the same age and in the same situation and just recently started taking Propecia, absolute no sides at all so far. To be fair though I was kinda "excited" to go on it and was focusing more on the positives.


 Good to hear, I'm doing the same thing. My scalp is still really itchy and I also pay attention to when my hair starts shedding but I guess it's just me being paranoid. I'm a lot more positive now that I'm on the propecia because of the fact that I'm actually taking a step to combat it.

And thanks to everyone that shows a lot of interest in the ED aspect of the symptoms but I'm having no side effects at all and my package is a functional as ever. haha.  :Smile: 

Once again thanks to everyone for the encouragement I really appreciate it.

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## JOE-91

You will experience sexual side effects within a few months and stop taking the drug. I guarantee you.

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## Confided

UPDATE MONTH #1: I've noticed that I've been shedding excessively. When I run shampoo through my hair when taking a shower I notice sometimes 10-20 hairs on my hands. Some days I only see a maximum of 5. I don't really understand why it fluctuates but I hope it doesn't last long. It also seems like my hair has begin to recede a bit faster along my temples, side, and front hairlines. Wouldn't it be some shit if this exacerbated the hair loss and it didn't come back? I hope this isn't the case.

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## GreatSage

Are you just on Fin?

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## Confided

Yes, im only on propecia.

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## Confided

My right nipple has seemed to become pretty damn tender. Every time I press on it, it hurts a bit. I might just discontinue the drug right now.

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## SBTRKT

Please get off the drug before you ruin your life.

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## Confided

UPDATE MONTH 2: So It seems like what I thought was a tender nipple actually turned out to just be an ingrown hair and has since gone away.  For the first month of being on Propecia I notice a LARGE amount of shedding. I was shedding 10-20 hairs every time I ran my hand through my hair in the shower and about 5-10 hairs when my hair was dry. Since month 2 has rolled around I've seen those numbers drop drastically to about 5 hairs max when shampooing and about 2 when running my hands through my hair when dry. 

I have also noticed that it seems like my hair in general is looking to be a little bit thicker (or maybe I'm imagining it). Either way, my hair loss has completely halted and my hair feels physically stronger from where it was over a month ago. I have noticed no side effects so far whatsoever up to this point and have no complaints, except for the high price  :Stick Out Tongue: .

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## GreatSage

Confided where are you buying your pills from?

I'm currently one month into the big 3 so I'm hoping to see some results in the next couple of months like you, I want to halt my hair loss and grow some back with Minox.

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## Confided

Unfortunately im buying my Propecia from wallmart atm. About $70.

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