I’m a Very Early Norwood 1

First off, I just want to say that I love your blog and I thank you for your willingness to offer advice to the general public. I’m a 24 year old male who recently stopped taking Propecia after 1 month because well, basically I began to experience sexual side effects and let’s just say I’m not man enough to risk losing my manliness for good. You’re well aware of the information available on the internet, so I won’t go too much into detail. There have been in-depth studies in other countries and I trust their scientists know what they’re doing.

I guess what I wanted to know is what my other options are. Right now it looks like the next best option would be Rogaine, but coupled with diet and exercise and overall good health, is there any thing else that I can do to prevent further hair loss? I’m a very early NW1, so my main goal is to maintain my hair.

Thank you

I’d wonder why your doctor would prescribe Propecia to someone with a “very early” Norwood Class 1, which isn’t even considered balding. That causes me to think that you weren’t prescribed the medication to begin with. I won’t lecture, but I sincerely hope this isn’t the case. If you had these side effects, perhaps you should’ve gone back to the prescribing doctor and gone over your options (lower dosage, etc). Or maybe you went to an inept physician. Regardless, don’t start trying to treat something that isn’t there.

Get your hair and scalp mapped out for miniaturization and find out if you have any real balding going on. Everything else follows a proper diagnosis, which you most certainly need. As for treatment options, you’re correct in that the next best would be Rogaine (minoxidil)… but again, I do not recommend that you start using hair loss medications preventatively.

As for your claims that “there have been in-depth studies in other countries and I trust their scientists know what they’re doing” — how in-depth are we talking here, and does that mean you don’t trust studies performed in the US? If you’re referring to the Swedish Medical Products Agency study from 2008, I wrote about that already.