I had a good head of hair till I was 38 but the it started receding on the sides and now it’s thinning down the middle. I’ve been taking fin for almost two years now, prolly too late. Not seeing any improvement. I bought a case of minox and tried some around almost bald areas around forehead but it only removed the existing hair. I feel I will go bald by 42

We are not 100% sure if there is a point of no-return for hair loss, but if there is, it certainly happens in older men (greater than 40, possibly 50). A family friend went on finasteride for his prostate at age 70 and much to his surprise, his frontal hair partly regrew which he proudly showed to me. So maybe there is no point of no-return.

I believe that since your started losing hair at 38, now at 40 you have an excellent chance of reversing it because the time interval between the loss and now is relatively short.

I’ve gone from Norwood 2 to Norwood 3+ during this quarantine. My university is going to open up in a month or so and I am quite anxious. I don’t think hooping on the meds now would improve my situation so that nobody in university notices my hair loss. I feel that the best immediate solution is to get a hair system.

Wondering if I could use the meds – oral I presume, while using the hair system

Yes, you can take minoxidil and finasteride while you wear a hair system but much hair will be lost from traction alopecia from the glues and tapes used with the hair systems and that produces hair loss that does not come back with drug. Those that sell hair systems never tell you about the traction alopecia and how eventually you end up never really getting off of using these systems.

I wanted to show my results from the use of my oral minoxidil for 8 months. It improved my hairline to a almost a normal hairline without recession in the corners which plagued me before I took it.  I wonder had this man had taken finasteride as well, if the forelock would have thickened up more and possibly the corner hairlines moved further down.

I had super thick, very dark black hair, that was very curly and never had to use gel/product/conditioner to style. But every since I started balding, my hair became flat, dead, cant hold any style, and hair products just irritate my scalp. I’m currently on dutasteride, weekly microneedling, and dr regenpure ketaconozole shampoo 3-4x a week.

As hair miniaturizes, it loses its color and its character (texture). When it reverses with drugs like finasteride and dutasteride, the original color and texture can return.

This man used finasteride daily and minoxidil twice a day on a regular basis for just 6 months

People always want to know if you’re dealing with sides. I’m on my fourth or fifth day now and I’ve had tachycardia and mild dizziness post dosage. The dizziness doesn’t really seem to be impacting me until I workout. They both seem to be beginning to lessen though. I’ve also been severely fatigued. My eyes just feel so heavy after taking them and I’ve been having difficulty staying awake, but my sleep quality is also horrible due to CPTSD so it may be unrelated. I was slightly hyptertensive previous to taking minox anyways so hopefully this will help out with that.

There are many side effects resulting from taking oral minoxidil like all drugs.  You need to be aware of these side effects when you take this medication orally. There is even a dangerous rare risk of cardiac tamponade which can kill you if you don’t take care of symptoms of early heart failure.  Don’t be your own doctor.  Taking 5 mgs daily is higher than I recommend and is in the range where serious side effects can happen.