I was worried about balding. My hairline had been receding a bit, but I really couldn't tell whether I was truly balding. I liked my receded hairline because it made me look masculine, but I didn't want it to recede too much! So I was on T for about 16 months and then started finasteride. I was on F for a total of two years (stopped briefly to donate blood) but haven't taken it since November.
So...I didn't really see any appreciable difference when I compared before finasteride, during, and after. My hairline might have gone back a little since I stopped, but I figure that if I can't tell, what difference does it make?
I continued to masculinize while on F, but I didn't realize that the effects had slowed down, and I didn't notice the sexual side effects because I thought I was finally getting a handle on my sex drive and all of that. I was, but only to an extent.
A lot of guys don't care whether the masculinization process slows down after a certain point. I actually do, so I'm glad I'm off finasteride; shortly after I stopped, I noticed that my facial hair was becoming thicker and coarser, and my body hair was coming in more rapidly. And I do wish my sex drive were a little less now, but I have it under relatively good control most of the time. So losing some drive wasn't a real problem. BUT there was also some sexual dysfunction that I didn't realize until after I went off the F. My erections were very much affected, and my orgasms weren't as intense.
I wrote a post about all of this a couple of months ago. You might hunt it up. But I don't know the answers to some of your questions. Topical Rogaine is not for receding hairlines, that I know. Oral finasteride...I'm not sure.
P.S. I did try saw palmetto tablets, but they did nothing for me. On the other hand, the finasteride doesn't seem to have helped my hair, either.