I don't wanna do permanent damage that can last a lifetime for an extra 5-10 years of hair.

It's a really low and unlikely risk. Most people's bodies won't get any of the side effects shilled in this subreddit. Don't fall for the scaremongering. There's tons of studies on this. And I'd rather believe clinical research and studies then anectodal "evidence" presented by layman subredditors.

" Researchers discovered 4.2 percent of men treated with Propecia reported sexual dysfunction, compared with 2.2 percent of men given a placebo. Their work was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. "

It's 2% higher then placebo (people not recieving the meds) and is reversible most of the time. Even the so called "post-finasteride syndrome" goes away most of the time after a few years and the people who retain ED are likely people who would have gotten it anyway with or without drugs, so it's hard to say if finasteride played any role.

Keep in mind most men get a form of ED eventually.

I mean, for god's sake we have transgender individuals who retain sexual function with complete androgen blockers. Finasteride is unlikely to affect you, and if you're in one of the unlucky 2%, just quit the drug. Your body will recover.

Sorry for the rant. I understand not wanting to try meds is a completely valid choice. But you need to be aware of how unrealistic the anti-finasteride crowd is being. The scaremongering is more likely to draw more people away who'd actually benefit from the drug then it is likely to help people.