Heh....put the call into the doctor this week and just started last Wednesday myself. My hair loss isn't very advanced.....just some slight thinning all over. No bald spots and I'm happy with my hairline. I noticed slight thinning in my early 20's but it wasn't nearly bad enough for me to want to do anything about it. And I don't blame myself at all - the side effects for finasteride are scary. It scares a lot of guys away from ever even using it. So it's not something to take haphazardly. I know I'm accepting a risk by using it. Now at almost 30, my thinning seems to have gotten slightly worse but it's so hard to tell.....it's been something I've thought about for the last couple months and this wasn't gonna get any better so no better time than now with New Year's and a fresh start. I don't plan on taking minoxidil for now because, for starters, I'd still feel pretty good just keeping what I have. And I don't want to commit to minoxidil if I'm not ready to basically make a lifelong commitment of using it.....and using minoxidil by rubbing the stuff in your head twice a day everyday sounds like a bit of a pain. But taking a pill once a day - that's very easy. I already take vitamins daily. No issue with that. Plus it'll give me a better idea of how the finasteride works - because any results I see will be due to the finasteride. I am ok with a drop in libido within reason - I have always had a very healthy libido and masterbate 1-2 times a day. If I only feel that need every other day or so - as long as my penis still works, that's a fair trade. No doubt it's scary when people start throwing out words like chemical castration and such. Good luck to you all.....no doubt it feels good to take the plunge and feel like you're at least making the effort to at least try to improve yourself and fix the issue. That's all you can do. I kind of anticipated that results (if any) won't show for another 6-12 months (if not even a little longer). So other than keeping an eye out for any possible side effects, I'm not expecting any results any time soon so it'll be out of site, out of mind. I plan on using the next 6 months to pay closer attention to my body and getting in good shape.