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Neuropsychiatric Side Effects for Finasteride Housed on FDA Database Show Disproportionate Safety Signals Compared to Control Meds—and a ‘Striking Increase in Suicides’—Says New Research

March 27, 2023 Dear Friends: Although the US Food and Drug Administration rarely mentions PFS, its database of side effects speaks volumes about the condition’s epidemiology. Out of control According to new research based in part on the agency’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), finasteride use is, on average, 23 times as likely to precipitate […]

Study Used to Push Non-FDA-Approved Topical Finasteride Knocked by Top German Rx Journal

March 20, 2023 Dear Friends: Germany’s oldest and most widely read pharmaceutical journal has taken a deep dive into post-finasteride syndrome (PFS). That, in an effort to provide its 29,000 subscribers with the most scientifically sound information on non-FDA-approved topical finasteride. That, as well, ahead of yet another nation bringing topical finasteride to market as […]

UK Drug Regulatory Authority MHRA Investigating Finasteride Safety

March 5, 2023 Dear Friends: The British are coming—hopefully with a PFS-awareness program on par with that of the French. MHRA investigates According to a February 16 memo from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the agency is conducting a safety review of finasteride 1 mg. “This topic was discussed at our […]

Topical Finasteride Could Precipitate PFS, Top German Rx Journal Warns

Feb. 27, 2023 Dear Friends: Spraying finasteride on your scalp instead of ingesting it is no guarantee you won’t develop post-finasteride syndrome (PFS). So cautions Germany’s oldest and most widely read pharmaceutical journal. So, too, an American college senior who says his academic, social and sex life has been decimated by a non-FDA-approved topical-finasteride product […]

France Orders ‘Red-Box’ Warning—and QR Code Linking to PFS-Awareness Dossier—Slapped on all Finasteride 1 mg Products by April

Dec. 4, 2022 Dear Friends: French PFS awareness is going high-tech. ANSM, the Gallic nation’s drug-regulatory authority (DRA), last week unveiled plans to add a so-called “red-box” warning—that includes a QR code—on all finasteride 1 mg products in 2023. Intended to “reinforce information on adverse effects” of Propecia and generics, the warning reads: This medication […]

Doctors & Researchers Speaking Out

Men under the age of 40 who use finasteride for alopecia are at risk for suicide if they develop persistent sexual adverse effects and insomnia.

An important pattern of symptoms was common among all cases who committed suicide in the setting of finasteride use: insomnia and persistent sexual dysfunction after medication discontinuation. Insomnia and fatigue/tiredness were some of the most debilitating symptoms… Men under 40 years of age who use finasteride for alopecia are at risk of suicide if they develop persistent sexual adverse effects and insomnia.

—Finasteride and Suicide: A Postmarketing Case Series: Dermatology, January 14, 2020

Michael S. Irwig, MD, Attending Endocrinologist
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Two subjects—eight percent—committed suicide during or after the study.

While the sexual side effects of 5ARIs are well known, there may be persistent genitourinary, physical, psycho-cognitive, anti-androgenic and penile vascular changes after 5ARI discontinuation. Use of 5ARIs for treatment of AGA may lead to persistent sexual, genitourinary, physical, psycho-cognitive, and anti-androgenic sequelae even after cessation of 5ARI therapy… Two subjects (8%) committed suicide during or after the study.

—Penile vascular abnormalities in young men with persistent side effects after finasteride use for the treatment of androgenic alopecia: Translational Andrology and Urology, April 2020

Mohit Khera, MD, Director, Laboratory for Andrology Research
Baylor College of Medicine

[PFS] is clearly a problem that is important to the general public.

Much of the medical community has yet to recognize [PFS] as a real clinical entity. Our… analysis indicates that, nonetheless, [PFS] is clearly a problem that is important to the general public that warrants intervention. Thus, it is inappropriate to dismiss this condition.

—Global online interest in finasteride sexual side effects, International Journal of Impotence Research: September 13, 2022

Kian Asanad, MD, Chief Resident Physician in Urologic Surgery
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

Seems that almost half of urologists instruct their patients to stop finasteride!

It’s Monday, which means it’s time for a poll! In evaluating fertility, how do you counsel men taking finasteride for hair loss?… Results are up! Seems that almost half of urologists instruct their patients to stop finasteride!

● Stop finasteride: 45.6%
● OK to keep taking: 17.5%
● It depends: 36.8%

—Society for the Study of Male Reproduction (via Twitter): October 11, 2022

James Smith, MD, President
SSMR for the American Urological Association

Mother of Patient

He was a happy, easy going, kind and caring teenager and Propecia has made him mentally disabled.

My son, 31, had a mild form of BDD and was worried about his hair thinning and took Propecia in 2013. He was taking it for 4 years during which his personality changed beyond recognition and I suspect he developed PFS. He experienced severe side effects: insomnia, loss of libido, obsessive thoughts, anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. These deteriorated since he stopped taking Propecia in 2017. He was no longer able to go to work, lost the ability to sleep well, was unable to care for his 2 daughters and is feeling increasingly suicidal. He had to go to the emergency department twice this year and now is in a mental hospital in New York. Vulnerable young people should not be prescribed Propecia so easily and drug producers should provide a clear warning about such dangerous side effects. I believe Propecia ruined his health, career and life. He was a happy, easy going, kind and caring teenager and Propecia has made him mentally disabled. I’m very upset and do not know what to do.

GL, 62, Oxford, England: Aug. 3, 2018

Condition update: September 2020

No improvement

Mother of Patient

He’d been using topical medications for 5 years and decided to try Finesteride. That was the beginning of a nightmare.

My son was a healthy, smart ambitious 28-year-old man who was going back to school at Suffolk University with a 4.0. He also worked and was in fantastic health, climbing mt Washington in 4 hours for fun. He was, however, battling losing his hair. He’d been using topical medications for 5 years and decided to try Finesteride. That was the beginning of a nightmare. His sister was getting married Alugust 18th. 4 days before the wedding it started…muscle spasms, nonstop and severe anxiety. He had only been on it for 3 months. He immediately stopped taking it but it has continued for the last 5 months. Now though, he is in pain. He has been seeing a neurologist, and is convinced he must have ALS, although so far the tests do not point to that. He started seeing a therapist also hoping it was stress. But the pain and twitching and insomnia are real. He does not currently have any erectile issues thankfully but the physical and mental stress he experiences is horrible. He continues to search foir answers but i am convinced it is from the Finesteride.

LM, Lowell, MA: Jan. 6, 2019

Condition update: August 2020

Slightly worse

PFS Patient (male)

I am living now for seven years with my parents in their tiny apartment and do not know what to do.

I am 35 years old and have this Syndrome since I have been 24 years old. My Life was smashed and destroyed after I started with Finasteride. I can’t stop thinking about this one moment I decided to go to this special Doctor who treats hairloss. I was 24 years young and I had full beautiful hair. This Doctor made some tests and scared the shit out of me my prognosing a full bald me in a few years. I trusted him and took the pills he gave me. Safe pills he said. No side-effects. Soon after I started the pills my life made a u-turn. I was finishing university and had already found a new job in a new city. That’s when I start to enter hell. I lost my mind and had the most disgusting mental health issues. I had to go to the hospital and started with suicide thoughts. It was an absolute nightmare! Fast Forward. I am living now for seven years with my parents in their tiny apartment and do not know what to do. I feel a bit better because I take a lot of different medications but I can not go outside or even read a book because I feel sedated. I really do not know what to do with my life.

HH, 35, Stuttgart, Germany: Feb. 3, 2019

Condition update: September 2020

No improvement