My father lost his hair in his early 20s, and nearly all the males in my family are bald or balding. This can’t be normal, I refuse to believe that other teenage boys who are not experiencing AGA go through something like this.  What are your thoughts? And when you started shedding hair, did it actually progress to visible hairloss?

If all of the male members of your family have extensive hair loss, it is likely you will follow that course. The use of oral minoxidil or finasteride might slow down the course of the process, something that your father and grandfathers might not have tried when they experienced the balding process. I would strongly recommend that you get a HAIRCHECK test to establish a baseline so that you can follow the hair loss with a good measurement and repeat is yearly to determine the effectiveness of the treatment you select. Find a doctor who has this instrument as I believe it is critical for you to know for sure, what is happening to you over time.

We do know that there is a reduction in the quality of semen in many men taking finasteride (becomes water and the volume is reduced) so this article explains this. For men who have had this side effect, when they stopped the finasteride, their semen came back to normal.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/8636309/

I appreciate the level-headed, professional commentary that you provide. I have learned much from reading through pages of your comments. I had a question regarding side effects. I am not so worried about ED or sexual side effects, but more so about gynecomastia.

To set the stage: I am age 27, early N2 with diffuse loss and thinning from front to back, concentrated at the top and the crown. I have been experiencing hair loss since age 17. Body fat percentage is about 20%, and I live an active lifestyle and lift heavy. I also have extremely mild pubescent gynecomastia (bilateral), with the telling disc-shaped nodes present underneath each nipple. The right side is larger than the left. My nipples do get itchy occasionally, with the right side being more sensitive.

My current regimen: Minoxidil: about 2.5 years, OTC (USA) ketoconazole shampoo: 4 months, Finasteride: just started and ramping up to 1.25 mg dosage,

From your posts, and others, I have read that gynecomastia caused by finasteride is very rare, with most professionals agreeing upon estimated rates between 1:250 to 1:1000 individuals.

However, I cannot find any information on whether or not having pre-existing gyne increases risk for exacerbation?

The finasteride dose I have started is 1.25mg, and I am taking zinc 50mg as a supplement, and will soon start a DIM supplement. Is there any merit to either zinc or DIM having mild aromatase inhibitor effects?

People like you with existing breast nodules are at the same risk as people without breast nodules for gynecomastia secondary to finasteride. I would not take any medications to prevent what is so rare, about 1:1000 risk.

My grandfather (on my mother’s side) died at the age of 102 with the same amount of hair that he had when he was 5 years old. My great grandmother also came from the area below and lived to be 114 years old.  Its all in the genetics!

Many men think that Dutasteride is better than Fnasteride. Finasteride is 70% effective as a competitive inhibitor while dutasteride is about 80% as effective. However, most people don’t really see the difference from a practical point of view. The drug Dutasteride is not FDA cleared. Therefore, it is not proven to be safe. We know, for example, that Dutasteride produces sterility in some men.

Sometimes the native hair falls out, and other times it does not. If you take the drug Finasteride, the chance of keeping your active hair is much greater, and it acts as a prevention to surgical shock loss.

Yes, you can remove the “bad” pigment by using a proper pigment that will not turn bright blue if the scar still shows. Another option is the Q-Switch laser – it removes the blue pigment and will not go deep enough to kill the hairs around the scar.

Men under the age of 25 have a better chance of getting these type of results. The younger you are, the better the chances.

I’m so happy! (Fin is working) from tressless

You should go see your doctor ask him how Finasteride is contributing to your symptoms. Depression may be a result of all of the ongoing things in your life, your hair loss, and maybe even some elements of Finasteride.

Been feeling very depressed on fin. Blood test confirmed have high SHBG and low free t from tressless

Scars like this are usually the result of an overly aggressive surgeon who removed a strip too wide, and the tension may have been too high when he closed the wound. Alternatively, a very elastic collagen is present in some people which can produce stretching of the wound. In this case, the wound reflects your genetic make-up with regard to the way you heal. The best treatment for this is Scalp Micropigmentation (see here:https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/scar-covering/). Sometimes, with scalp exercises, you can loosen up the scalp enough to try to get the scar removed. During that time, the surgeon would perform a trichophytic closure which will help obtain a better scar. If your scalp is not loose enough, a surgery will not work.