A message for Jerma, concerning hair loss

Jerma seemed to have been really stressing about his hair on stream today, and I absolutely know how that feels. I might as well post my experience about a potential solution here, in the off chance he sees it. Also, I'm not giving anyone medical advice, I'm just a dude on the internet talking about his experience, so keep that in mind. Anyway, here goes.

First and foremost, Jerma, I think your hair looks fine as it is currently. Trust me when I say I've seen way worse hairlines than yours. I knew a kid who had a baldspot at 16 (pretty unfortunate). So overall I wouldn't worry about your hair as it is now. You're also a fucking stud and I'd go gay for you, but that's besides the point (call me). Anyway, I know how potentially devastating it can be to have male pattern baldness. It seriously fucked with my mental health and self-confidence when I had to go through it.

Fortunately, there are options to deal with it and potentially halt MPB. I'll be speaking from my own experience here, in hopes that it can help Jerma or other folks here who are dealing with it. A few years ago I did research into a medication called Propecia (aka Finasteride or Proscar), which reduces a hormone that directly causes MPB. After two years of taking finasteride, it seems to have halted my MPB entirely. Maybe 5% - 10% of the hair I'd lost came back as well, which is about ordinary (it won't bring back all your lost hair, it just keeps it from getting worse, just to set expectations). The important thing is that I've noticed zero hair loss ever since then.

One thing I should definitely mention is that it's been reported that finasteride could potentially have some concerning side effects, like sexual dysfunction, gynecomastia (breast enlargement), depression, and the side effects could remain after you stop taking it. Reports I've read state these are rare, and I personally have had none of these side effects, but you should absolutely talk with your doctor about this medication first. You'll also need to take this medication for the rest of your life, else all the hair its maintained will fall out again in about a year (personally I don't find this to be a problem, I can afford the prescription and it's a tiny pill, like taking a vitamin that maintains your hair). There's also the potential issue of price - some places charge about $600 for a one month supply. That point in particular would have turned me away entirely, but then I found GoodRX, which is an app that gets you discounts on most medications. It's been a massive help for me, and because of it, I'm getting a 6 month supply for $13. Not even kidding. Medication prices are crazy and thank fuck GoodRX exists. Even if you don't have MPB, I highly recommend that app.

To sum things up, this medication seriously helped me, and I'm much less anxious about my appearance these days, and that's made a world of difference for my mental health. If anyone is stressing about their MPB, ask your doctor about Propecia/Proscar/Finasteride. It may or may not work for you - you just have to talk to your doctor and see. Hopefully this thread didn't sound too shill-y, but I just wanted to share my experience and hopefully keep people from going through the pain I went through before finding out about finasteride and GoodRX. I hope this'll be my OneGuy moment that can make a difference for Jerma, because he deserves to have less stress in his life.

EDIT: After a quick look I found r/tressless for talk about hair loss. Lots of finasteride testimonies here. Give it a look!