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Newsroom
- ED that Occurs During Finasteride Treatment Differs from ED that Persists Post-Treatment, Says New UniMi Research
PFS Investigator Roberto Melcangi suspects the post-treatment variety springs from neuroendocrine disorder, rather than genital pathology Aug. 28, 2023 Dear Friends: Finasteride use can, and… Read more: ED that Occurs During Finasteride Treatment Differs from ED that Persists Post-Treatment, Says New UniMi Research - 51% of Dermatologists Believe Finasteride ‘May Cause’ Sexual Side Effects—but Only 18% Believe those ADRs May Persist, Says New Harvard Medical School Research
Pioneering PFS investigator Michael Irwig also finds that just 13% of respondents believe finasteride could cause depression, while 54% believe the drug is ‘unlikely’ or… Read more: 51% of Dermatologists Believe Finasteride ‘May Cause’ Sexual Side Effects—but Only 18% Believe those ADRs May Persist, Says New Harvard Medical School Research - 2023 PFS Foundation Annual Address
Aug. 4, 2023 Dear Friends: Finasteride was first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in April 1993. But let’s put that aside for… Read more: 2023 PFS Foundation Annual Address - Finasteride Manufacturer Organon Flees French Propecia Market, Rather than Comply with Federally Mandated Red-Box Warning
But generics, unfazed by front-facing disclosure that their products ‘can cause psychiatric and/or sexual disorders,’ stay put May 31, 2023 Dear Friends: French resistance to… Read more: Finasteride Manufacturer Organon Flees French Propecia Market, Rather than Comply with Federally Mandated Red-Box Warning - 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
Following new safety review, Health Canada working with finasteride manufacturers to strengthen suicidality warning March 27, 2023 Dear Friends: Although the US Food and Drug… Read more: 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
Doctors & Researchers Speaking Out
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
I think about 1 in 10 guys will have appreciable issues with [finasteride]. I definitely see it.
There’s significant pathology associated with taking finasteride. We used to think it was just in those main structures—folicles for hair, prostate—but now we know there’s profound potential impact, centrally, in your nervous system. It can affect your sex drive, your sexual performance, etc., etc… I think about one in 10 guys will have appreciable issues with [finasteride]. I definitely see it. That’s why I never use it in my practice… There are people I know who have [PFS] permanently.
—The Drive podcast with Peter Attia, MD: October 6, 2023
[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
[T]opical finasteride is not approved as a medicinal product in the USA.
It’s still unclear to what extent the lower systemic [finasteride] exposure translates into a lower risk of side effects. Although sexual side effects did not occur more frequently than with placebo…due to the small patient collective…hardly any reliable statements can be made. However, such side effects must always be expected. Although topical finasteride is not approved as a medicinal product in the USA, it is marketed as an over-the-counter medicinal product through telemedicine portals such as forhims.com. In this context, the Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation, when asked by the DAZ editors, points out that they are also aware of numerous cases of [PFS from] topical application.
—Hair Growth with Consequences: Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung, March 10, 2023
Patients & Loved Ones Crying Out
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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
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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
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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