Welcome
The Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation’s primary mission is to fund research on the characterization, underlying biologic mechanisms and treatments of post-finasteride syndrome (PFS). Other goals include generating public awareness of PFS and providing support for patients suffering from the condition.
Adverse drug reaction reports worldwide
PFS research studies published
Known suicides worldwide
Doctors & researchers speaking out
Nations warning of PFS
National media reports worldwide
Patient Services
Doctors & Researchers Speaking Out
Using finasteride for hair loss is like shooting at sparrows with cannons.

Using finasteride for hair loss is like shooting at sparrows with cannons. The drug.…blocks not only the super hormone but also other hormones that affect thinking and psyche, mood and emotions. Discontinuation of the drug should actually make the hormones work again.…but apparently, something breaks down in some men, in the prostate, in the brain, in the whole organism.
—I Didn’t Want to Go Bald. A Pill the Doctor Gave Me Destroyed My Life (English translation): Die Zeit, Feb. 22, 2018
We wouldn’t recommend that any man take [finasteride], especially not young men.

We are certainly very cautious, because we see the side effects. We wouldn’t recommend that any man take [finasteride], especially not young men. The longer they take it, the greater the risk of experiencing persistent side effects, including after they’ve stopped.
—Do Anti-Baldness Remedies Make You Impotent? Puls, SRF-TV, May 7, 2018
Blocking 5alpha-reductase by finasteride treatment may have broad consequences for the nervous system.

[W]e have evaluated in male rats the effects of a subchronic treatment with low doses of finasteride.…and the consequences of its withdrawal.…on neuroactive steroid levels…. Interestingly, at the withdrawal, some of these effects persisted, and different changes in neuroactive steroid levels, and in the expression of receptors, were also detected. Altogether these findings suggest that the block of the enzyme 5alpha-reductase by finasteride treatment may have broad consequences for the nervous system.
—Effect of Finasteride, an Inhibitor of the Enzyme 5alpha-Reductase, in the Nervous System: The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, July 2017
FDA is concerned that use of finasteride by pediatric patients may pose long-term safety risks.

“Finasteride inhibits Type II 5(alpha)-reductase, which metabolizes testosterone to the potent androgen 5(alpha)-dihydrotestosterone. FDA is concerned that use of finasteride by pediatric patients may pose long-term safety risks regarding growth, development and sexual function.”
French Urologist to Top TV News Mag: Propecia is a potentially dangerous drug—’I even told my brother-in-law to stop taking it’
February 10, 2019 Dear Friends: Vive la France! This time we call your attention to a PFS report last week on 66 Minutes, which models itself after the iconic American news magazine 60 Minutes and boasts a Sunday-evening audience of two million viewers. The 14-minute segment, titled Is This Hair-loss Drug Dangerous? (English-subtitled version here), […]
Regulatory Update: France’s FDA-Equivalent Agency Reissues Finasteride Warning
February 2, 2019 Dear Friends: Encore! Prompted by an increasing number of adverse drug-reaction reports to finasteride, France’s FDA-equivalent agency yesterday issued a letter to 100,000 health professionals reminding them that patients treated with the drug are at risk for developing psychiatric disorders and persistent sexual disorders. The Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et […]
Noted Swiss Science Writer Sides with Nation’s 2,000 PFS Sufferers
February 1, 2019 Dear Friends: Looks like Switzerland’s not so neutral after all. At least when it comes to finasteride. In a SonntagsZeitung story headlined Finasteride was once considered a miracle cure for hair loss. But soon libido disorders and other serious side effects were discovered. Now it’s going to court (English translation here ), […]
France’s Le Monde to 300,000 Readers: Finasteride Users Beware
January 25, 2019 Dear Friends: France is at it again. Doing the right thing, that is. Earlier this week, Le Monde—the nation’s second-largest newspaper, with a daily circulation of more than 300,000 copies—ran a story headlined When Fighting Hair Loss, Watch out for Finasteride. (English translation here.) The 1,170-word report, by Pascale Santi, begins: “Romain […]
Finasteride ‘Causes Several Alterations’ in the Section of the Brain Responsible for Processing Long-term Memory and Emotional Responses, New Animal-model Study Demonstrates
SOMERSET, N.J., Oct. 1, 2018 – “Finasteride treatment causes several alterations in the hippocampus,” the section of the brain responsible for processing long-term memory and emotional responses, according to a new study conducted at the University of Milano, and the Cajal Institute and Carlos III Health Institute, both in Madrid. Titled Treatment of male rats […]