Can rates of mpb change time to time in a person. From 2017 – 2018, my hair line went to Norwood 1 from Norwood 0. The texture of my hair changed and density decreased. From July 2018 to now, there was no change in hairline or density, remains the same. Essentially does mpb progress in a linear, exponential, or sine wave like fashion? Or is there no idea.

Moving from a Norwood 0 to a Norwood 1 is just moving from a juvenile to a mature hairline, and it is NOT balding. To be sure, I would have to see what you are referencing with some good photos.

The science papers suggest that the sexual side effect (the focus of most men on this site) are less than 2% and are reversible if stopped early. The nocebo effect is much higher as young men bring on their sexual side effects by obsessing over taking the drug, and reading forums that suggest that this is a common occurrence. The greatest concern of most young men is the condition called Post Finasteride Syndrome which if real, may reflect a 1% risk at most. There is controversy over the existence of this condition within the medical community, but it is nevertheless important for any man considering this drug

Thanks. I did have a checkup with my dermatologist but I was too embarrassed to mention the mild testicular ache. Should I be more open in the future? I thought it wasn’t much to worry about and its gone now. If it was persist I would have mentioned it.

Never be shy about talking about anything to your doctor. Always speak from the heart, even if you feel that the doctor might not understand you well enough. We hear it all and we don’t make judgments, just diagnosis and treatment recommendations, when indicated. I thought I would share a story about an HIV patient who didn’t know until I tested him and everything that surrounded this particular patient and what I did, what happened to me and a follow-up as well: https://baldingblog.com/hiv-and-hair-transplants/

It is one of the very common problems that women have–hair loss during menopause. It is a really very emotional and disturbing problem for many menopausal women. During this time they will be experiencing hot flashes, mood swings, weight gain, insomnia, etc problems. Actually, the ovaries stop working and hormone-secreting also stops making estrogen and progesterone. These two hormones play a vital role in blocking the impact of the genes responsible for hair loss and protect the hair growth, making hair roots look strong while the hormones are being made. Once they are gone, the genetic influence gets strong if they have the genes for hair loss.

These seem to be based upon animal studies. There is little human evidence that sexual side effects are caused by minoxidil, but I always keep an open mind when someone sends me such links as below.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4039155/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24742982/

Some nice subtle results. Stay the course. The impact in the crown is heading in the right direction, but the frontal area may be just the result of longer hair.  Finasteride doesn’t usually work well on the frontal hairline.