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Newsroom
- Team Melcangi Launches ‘Milano Project’ to Map the Basic Science of PFS so Research Can Move from an Animal Model to Human Clinical TrialsInitial therapeutic target is allopregnanolone April 11, 2024 Dear Friends: Roberto Cosimo Melcangi, PhD, is taking a page out of Robert Oppenheimer’s playbook. The Head… Read more: Team Melcangi Launches ‘Milano Project’ to Map the Basic Science of PFS so Research Can Move from an Animal Model to Human Clinical Trials
- Search for Sources of Major PFS Symptoms Pinpoints 186 Brain GenesNew UniMi study enumerates pathologies including depression, anxiety, insomnia, and cognitive dysfunction potentially linked to finasteride-induced genetic dysregulation March 16, 2024 Dear Friends: Turns out,… Read more: Search for Sources of Major PFS Symptoms Pinpoints 186 Brain Genes
- Canada to Health Pros: All Finasteride Patients Should ‘Be Screened for Suicidal Ideation, Self-harm, and Depression’ Before Being Prescribed the DrugJapanese disproportionality analysis of finasteride ADRs, meanwhile, shows completed suicides 270% higher than expected Jan. 28, 2024 Dear Friends: Canada is taking no chances vis-á-vis… Read more: Canada to Health Pros: All Finasteride Patients Should ‘Be Screened for Suicidal Ideation, Self-harm, and Depression’ Before Being Prescribed the Drug
- Internet Access to Prescription-Free Finasteride ‘Is a Serious Risk,’ Warns PFS Investigator Roberto Melcangi‘My colleagues are seeing many cases’ of this condition, the UniMi endocrinology professor notes in his first-ever long-form TV interview Jan. 7, 2024 Dear Friends:… Read more: Internet Access to Prescription-Free Finasteride ‘Is a Serious Risk,’ Warns PFS Investigator Roberto Melcangi
- ED that Occurs During Finasteride Treatment Differs from ED that Persists Post-Treatment, Says New UniMi ResearchPFS 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
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
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
[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
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