i'm 25 and 3 moths ago i noticed my hair was thining. now, my doctor basically said propecia is the most effective treatment, and that it has no side effects. this made me inclined twords going on propecia. but while internet research confirmed that propecia is the most effective treatment right now, i saw a lot of people complaining about side effects, some of them pretty awful. and now i'm just confused. from posts on forums it seems like a lot more than 2%-5% suffer from side effects. on the other hand, the prospect of a product that could almost stop my hair loss at a pretty early stage is very appealing. i would really like to ask people here who took propecia what was their expirience with the drug? is it worth it, or am i just gonna replace worrying about hair loss with worrying about awful side effects?

also, on a seperate note, how the hell do you stop being insanely depressed about all this? i just keep wishing i could go back to the time when i was blissfuly unaware of my hair situation. this sucks.

thank you in advance

On the depressed portion of your question, be happy you are alive and otherwise healthy. There are people out there that are dealing with much worse issues.

I am not saying do not take fin, but you should also look into the natural route and LLLT as well.

If i were you i would go for it.... because that's what i did 2 months ago. Just take it and don't worry about sides... even the placebo group had a small percentage of sides... if you get them just stop taking it, but don't constantly think about it. A lot of guys here take a natural approach to fight loss and would probably gladly help you out. Hair loss is very depressing, i have just accepted it ....you can go bald or fight it.

If you are a NW 1 or 2 I'd say RELAX and get on the LLLT right away -- use Nizoral Shampoo and if you have hairloss that is obvious then go get some plugs. Whatever you do don't come into these groups and start the kitchen sink approach. This doesn't work and you will only feed your obsessive compulsive nature by clinging on to the latest "seaweed" or caffeine cure. This will slowly make you go even more insane. Do the research: plugs are great if you are bald. LLLT is great if you aren't. I'm oversimplifying but it's important to not get hung up on miracle cures that don't exist. That being said, without all these forums to discuss new ideas we wouldn't evolve -- just be careful that you don't cling to false hopes is all.

a few more questions 76Doug - you said you took propecia for 3 years... why did you stop if it stabilized your condition? did you have any side effects? also, you said LLLT is great, did you use it? did it help?

anyone who has used L LLT - i read about it, and honestly until now it didn't seem like something that could actually help. has anyone managed to stop the shedding using only LLT, with no propecia?

lapwig - you said i should maintain a proper diet - how can i know what that is exactly? also, you said you don't use propecia, but keep a diet, excersice and so on... how did that work for you?

i'm not kidding myself that there's a magic cure. i just still have most of my hair, and if there's a safe way to keep it, i would like to do that.

again, thank you for taking the time to answer.

I have a science background too. Evolution seems overwhelmingly obvious to me, but hey if you can refer to me some good literature on this issue send it to me via my mailbox here. I don't want to hijack this thread on this issue.

Mollari,

My definition of a good diet, is lots of good green vegetables (organic mostly), no crap carbs (ie most breads, beer, pasta, pancakes, most bagels, potato chips, etc.). What I did was cut these bad carbs and fill those calories in with good fats, mostly organic virgin olive oil and unsweetened orgainic almond butter for me. I cut out all refined sugars, which is pretty radical and difficult at first. A simple good diet would be something along the lines of the Mediterraen diet. Inflammation is our enemy in MPB, so any good anti-flammatory diet is excellent for us. Fortunately there is lot of literature on this for people with Arthritis, so we can emulate those styles of diets. I like to add oregano, cinnamon, parsley, tumeric etc to my foods. These herb condiments are very beneficial to your health so don't overlook those.

Exercise is very easy for me. I stay very active and get good cardio three times a week and workout with weights twice a week.

I also do LLLT and use topical oils for my hair. My results: I have halted my hairloss and got back some modest regrowth. Am I totally satisfied, no, but I am pretty happy with my results plus my overall health and libido has improved.