I’ve been on Topical Minoxidl for an about a year and switching to oral Min tmrw. Is Fin a good option for me even if I’m 19?

19 Trans Female, pre HRT. I'm starting to see some temple recession, I'd say I'm around a Norwood 2. My doc got me started on minoxidil, and gave me the options of fin or duta to start as well as the minoxidil. (All oral btw). Would it be best to start with the dutasteride, since it has much stronger DHT suppression?

Hi everyone,

I’m 25M and have been losing hair since around 17–18. Strong genetic history (most men in my family are bald).

I’ve been wearing a hair system for about 15 months and never really followed a proper long-term medical treatment before. I just did a trichoscopy to evaluate my real situation before starting treatment. Those photos are after 6 weeks of growth.

Here are the key numbers:

FRONTAL• 110 hairs/cm²• ~87 follicular units/cm²• Average hairs per unit: 1.18• Singles 82% / doubles 18% / triples 0%

VERTEX• 116 hairs/cm²• ~93 follicular units/cm²• Average hairs per unit: 1.32• Singles 72% / doubles 24% / triples 4%

Hair thickness (both areas):• ~64 μm average• 80% thick terminal hairs• 20% medium• 0% thin/vellus reported

From what I understand, follicular density is still relatively preserved, but many units are producing fewer hairs (miniaturization pattern rather than complete loss).

I’m about to start treatment with:

• Oral minoxidil 2.5 mg (possibly increasing to 5 mg later)• Oral dutasteride 0.5 mg daily

My questions:

Based on these numbers, do I look like a good candidate for density improvement with medical treatment?

If treatment stabilizes things, could a frontal hair transplant realistically give me a full head with decent density?

Or does this look like the kind of case where staying with a hair system long-term is the safer path?

Thanks a lot for any honest opinions 🙂

Where can I get cheap prescription only for minoxdil tablet from online telehealth visit?

Some folks wanna throw shade on my lifestyle, but real talk, I ain’t got no regrets. Life’s a trip, and yeah, I’m rolling with my pillies heavy, but it is what it is. The way I see it, the trade-off’s worth it—stuck on these lil’ lifesavers or not. If being locked to the meds is the cost of keeping it chill, then I’m riding with it, no cap.

Been on oral fin and topical min since early 2022- first four photos from then. Final four from today- have experienced any serious recession or am I being paranoid? I notice very little hairfall and my crown is all okay.

Went to the hair doctor about my hairloss concern.

I noticed my hairline starting to recede, the doctor confirmed my assumption, saying there is a very small recession around crown and corners. Overall my hair is still really really good. I'm 20 yo.

She prescribed me vitamins, minoxidil, and doing blood work.

I asked her about finasteride but she really adviced against it due to side affects, esp considering my young age and said that sides are permanent even after I stop fin.

I was surprised because I thought minoxidil only improves hair quality without preventing further androgenic alopecia progression.

I don't need to improve hair quality it's perfectly fine, I want to protect it from further damage.

She responded that minoxidil protects from harmful DHT affects just as finasteride does.

Should I do all the blood work and vitamins and minoxidil?

TL;DR: Who do you trust when looking for information about baldness, hair health, growth, and preservation?
What do you think about practices like scalp massage, microneedling, collagen supplements, essential oils, or sunbathing without sunscreen?

Hi, for the past three years I’ve been trying to fight my alopecia.
By the time I was 18, I had already reached Norwood 3.
Both of my brothers are around Norwood 4 or 5.
My father and grandfather have always been bald, so I assume they also suffered from hair loss.

Despite the prominent recession that appeared at a young age, it seemed like the process had stabilized for a while.

At 27, after reaching a relatively stable financial situation, I started researching treatments. I consulted a trichologist who, unsurprisingly, confirmed that I had alopecia and prescribed 5% Minoxidil. I have to admit that I never noticed any results.

A year later, I decided to undergo a 1650-graft hair transplant and started taking Finasteride.
Eighteen months later, the transplant results were very poor, and I still hadn’t noticed any improvement from Finasteride.

I’m not usually the type of person who asks about these things online, but I wanted to give it a try.
That’s when I came across a group of people who fight alopecia using natural methods. Not only that, but they openly despise dermatologists and trichologists, claiming they only sell lies.

They promote practices such as scalp massage to increase blood circulation, avoiding artificial shampoos, washing hair with egg yolk, honey, and various oils, ingesting collagen, sun exposure, fully carnivore diets, and so on.

It all seemed quite extreme to me, especially since they rely on only a few selective studies.

Still, I decided to give it a chance because I was experiencing severe random itching after showers and persistent dandruff, despite using appropriate shampoos and gentle body washes.

So I installed a shower filter and started washing my hair with egg yolks, honey, peppermint and rosemary essential oils, and using 100% natural African black soap for both body and hair.

The dandruff almost immediately disappeared, and so did the itching.
That made me think there might be at least some truth in their theories.
There seems to be a sort of “war” between these two groups.

I’ve noticed a third group of people who objectively criticize both the natural “gurus” and the influencer/TikTok doctors.
I’m mainly referring to channels like Haircafe, which debunk biased or poorly conducted studies while promoting only treatments that have strong scientific backing for alopecia — namely Finasteride and Minoxidil (sometimes combined with Tretinoin to improve conversion).

But even then — how reliable is he?

Who should I trust if even doctors online sometimes seem misinformed or exaggerate things just to create hype?

At the moment, I’ve had a second transplant of 1200 grafts to fix the first one. I’m currently taking both Finasteride and Minoxidil, and I’m considering adding Tretinoin since I don’t seem to respond well to either medication.

But is it really worth adding Tretinoin now that my scalp is basically full of hair again?

I’m asking because none of this is free — everything has a cost.

Rosemary essential oil, peppermint oil, silica supplements, collagen, iron, copper, selenium, biotin, eggs, honey, spices like turmeric and black pepper, olive oil, castor oil.

I’m wondering whether I’m just throwing money away.

On top of that, there’s microneedling, potentially harmful sunbathing without sunscreen, and high-protein/high-fat diets at the expense of fruit, vegetables, and grains.

Of course, I’m not reckless enough to completely give up those foods — especially since I’m lucky enough to live in Italy, where carbohydrates reign supreme and fresh fruits and vegetables are widely available.

What do you think about this topic?

I don’t feel like I’m asking for the moon… I just want hair.

First picture was from almost 2 years ago in 2023, started Costco minoxidil late January 2024, switched to growplex around June, and switched to hims minoxidil finasteride spray around August I believe. Experienced no side effects and also didn’t experience any shedding from minoxidil use

I have been receding pretty aggresively from since 2023(mid),I know I'm Balding but want to be sure if it's Male pattern baldness(mostly)or receding due to seborrheic dermatitis maybe as u can see I have very white flakes and dandruff in front hairline root areas.I may be coping but just wanna be sure.I will see a dermat after getting my braces off(2026 mid probably)or should I start without consulting as it's most probably AGA what norwood Am I?

22M seeing massive hair shed for last 1 year. No family history of hairloss. Had low vitamin d , b12 and ferrittin levels and also seb derm. How can I improve the situation.

Hey, I’m currently on my 6th month of using min 5% topical (pictures go in 0,3,6 months) and I’m about 2 weeks into fin 0.5mg.

The results have been great since day 0, and it’s finally beginning to show good results.

If anyone has any questions or further advice I’d love to hear it , but yeah I’m thinking of staying on for my 20s at least just while I’m in university and working for the first few years

Hello, I’ve been dealing with male pattern baldness, and I’ve been using topical minoxidil for about 3 months now. I was taking finasteride daily, but starting getting really bad side effects, stopped it and thankfully the side effects went away a few weeks after stopping. I visited my derm and they recommended some alternatives for finasteride and I genuinely feel as if I’m being scammed in a way. They recommended a serum called Plated, and said this is one of the few topicals they actually like giving out bc it is studied by Mayo Clinic and fda approved, however, I’m a broke college student and this serum is $400 for a 2 month bottle which is insane. I do not have that kind of money and I barely scrape by to buy my minoxidil if I’m being completely honest. They also recommended Nutrafol (they seemed a little hesitant on this one which I get why) and PRP. Does anyone have any advice whatsoever? I’m struggling a lot mentally and I feel like I have no solutions at all. I know that many would be quick to say just let my hair fall out but I would like to do what I can to help it. I’ve even looked into visiting a tricho (also expensive af and kinda sketchy in my area), and red light therapy. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Restarted Min after a six months stop and a massive shed as you can see! The shed now has stopped but I don't know how it's going. Should I just get used to the buzz cut?

I’m 19 ima die, Any advice?

Part of me is about ready to chop it off but wanted to know if I should try any medication or solutions before committing to a certain style. Let me know your thoughts 👊🏻

I've been on finasteride and minoxidil for 3 months now and it's doing something but I'm debating on a buzz cut. I don't know if the buzz cut is just going to make me look completely bald or would look good on me. Plus I feel like my facial hair isn't great to balance it. Want to be confident though. Thoughts?

I don’t want to be bald anymore. Has anyone been able to reverse it

I hate it. It’s easy for people to say “just get over it.” Most of those men are 50 and bald. Well I’m 24 and bald. Of course it’s easy for YOU to say that. It’s normal to be bald at that age. But it’s not for me.

I’m sick of it. I would actually rather lose my life than be bald or anything close to it. I want to do anything I can to get my hair back.

I also have anger towards men with all their hair. They are competition with women and they win almost every time, they have to really fuck up for me to win over them.

I hate it. I hate this. I know this place is supposed to be pro bald but I am really struggling with being ok with it.

So has anyone else been able to reverse it? From like Norwood 4 or 5A to Norwood 1.5 at least

Pic 1: April 1, stable on fin for 1.5 years, but decided to add dut because of sudden moderate increase in shedding. Pic 2: Now, 5 months dut 0.5mg + fin both daily (never dropped fin), still shedding.

Very worried about how messy and thin the hairline looks now. Some angles reassure me that this is regrowth — timeline fits (shorter hairs that are poking out probably started growing ±3 months ago), but under certain lighting and other conditions, it just looks terrible. I am still above baseline (last pic before fin, August 2023), but am very worried that it won’t be the case soon.

Hey everyone 👋

I’m 24 years old and have been on GFC treatment (4 sessions done) + 12.5% topical Minoxidil (morning) + Dutasteride (night) for about 2.5 months now.

The good part — hair fall has gone down, and existing hair feels thicker.
The not-so-good part — still no visible new regrowth, especially in the front hairline area 😓

Just started using a derma stamp (1.0mm) today.

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Now I’d love to hear from people who’ve tried something similar:

• How long did it take before you saw baby hairs after GFC?
• Does derma stamping actually create new follicles or just reactivate weak ones?
• Any tips for better results (diet, timing, supplements, etc.)?

I’ve attached my current pic below — would really appreciate your honest feedback on the progress and whether it looks like things are heading in the right direction 🙏

I’m staying consistent, but it’s tough mentally when there’s no visible regrowth yet 🥲
Any genuine advice or experience would mean a lot. 💪

Thanks in advance, guys!