I have no idea if I should choose minoxidil or finasteride
21m, started noticing a receding hairline and thinning crown about 18 months ago, right before my 20th birthday. I literally thought nothing of it, until almost 10 months later when I was on a bench press, and my friend pointed it out to me. I immediately went home and took a look for the first time, and I was so shocked that I got a haircut for the first time since I was 13, after having hair that went down to my back for almost 8 years. My parents were gaslighting me and said that I always had a big forehead and thin hair, but I knew they were lying. If any light shines on my head, especially the crown area, you can literally see my scalp. Its been over half a year since I got my haircut, and there’s been zero improvement, and things have gotten slightly worse. It has not gotten worse to the point where my parents will admit that there is a problem, so they continue to gaslight me into believing that my hair is normal, however this has been pointed out to me by two friends and my own brother on 3 separate occasions. I have never owned a hat and now I haven’t gone outside without one since March. I go to college too so its brutal being the guy who always has a hat on no matter what. Now time for the actual question. In May, my doctor (not a dermatologist) took a look at it, and he said that it is thinning, and if im worried about it I should take minoxidil, oral or topical and he said that he was against prescribing me finasteride because of my age and potential side effects. What should I do? Im obviously no expert on these things, but my impression was that you should always start with finasteride because at the very least it will prevent things from getting worse. It seems like starting with minoxidil is risky because it takes a long time to work, and if it doesn’t work you just wasted time that could have atleast been saved by taking finasteride. I should also mention that my dad pretty much has no crown at all, and a decently receeded hairline. I also want to mention that I have no interest in taking topical, I’d prefer oral for both. I got 2 and a half years of college left and I’d like to feel my age atleast once before I graduate, so I think I’d have to start within the next 30 days. Im leaning towards finasteride but I know its slightly more risky, but considering my parents, especially my mom, is going out of her way to find every side effect possible, and saying things like “i dont want you to take this because you could damage your kidneys” I figured that I’m gonna have to go behind their backs in order to get the treatment I need, so i need to be sure that im choosing the right one. I also wanna mention that im against starting both at the same time because if I get side effects I won’t know what caused them.
