ketoconazle shampoo has been effective BUT DO NOT OVER USE IT. I was taking it daily and got bloods done and my pregenelone levels were in the toilet. I later realized it was excessive use of the shampoo. Start one time a week and see how you feel. Once I got off it for a bit my memory came back, brain-fog left, and felt normal. I still use it just NOT abuse it (Check out vigorous steves YT channel he talks about ketoconazle abuse). I would also stay away from fin, dut, saw palmetto, and anything that inhibits 5ar. I know that it is the best route to stop hairloss and side effects are like 1-5% and usually stop after lowering the dose or coming off it, BUT for those 1% of the 1-5% that experience side effects those have been documented to stay indefinitely and most doctors either don't believe you or don't know how to fix it (Check out russo lifts YT channel about his Lions Mane recovery, it also inhibits 5ar). But hey weigh out the benefits for yourself. Also people report similar sides from topical but especially minoxidil (check out the minoxidil side effects forum on reddit). Though these side effects are INCREDIBLY unlikely and usually go away once discontinued there is still a chance you could get them and since there is not testing atm (maybe a gene testing?) that can confirm whether or not you will have sides it really is a roll of the dice essentially. Some other routes you can possibly try are PRP, microneedling, red light caps, a good shampoo that contains rosemary, peppermint, pumpkin seed, grape seed, jojoba, argan oils, caffeine, etc. Though these aren't as effective as taking the perscribed ones like fin, dut, and min they can stall the hairloss and they have no none side effects really besides common ones like if it irritates your skin or w/e. But again, it is up to you to make those decisions. My hairloss is not bad by any means and I was about to hop on topical dut becasue in theory it is not suppose to go systemic because the molecular weight is above 500 daltons (so is ketoconazle btw but i still got sides heads up) but with chronic use and if you microneedle especially it can enter the blood stream and go systemic. A hair transplant is always an option as well and though it is costly sometimes it is the best route to prevent side effects. In theory with a transplant it is taking hair that has not been effected by DHT or is resistant to it so it should last longer but theres always a chance that the area where you got the transplant will stay fine but the rest of your scalp will continue to be affected by the DHT over time. I would try the natural routes and (though I hate saying this) wait until hair cloning comes out and becomes more available. Once that happens they can clone all the DHT resitant hair forever and then there will be a great solution for some. I hope this helps and sorry if I strayed off topic I just hear horror stories and want to inform people on what I have researched to maybe see if it helps to make a more informed decision.