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

Adverse drug reaction reports worldwide

PFS research studies published

PFS research studies published

Known suicides worldwide

Known suicides worldwide

Doctors & researchers speaking out

Doctors & researchers speaking out

Nations warning of PFS

Nations warning of PFS

National media reports worldwide

National media reports worldwide

Sources

Patient Services

Connect with other PFS patients

Consult knowledgeable doctors

Report your side effects

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

Michael Zitzmann, MD, Andrology Professor
University of Munster, Germany

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

Roberto Melcangi, PhD, Head of Neuroendocrinology, Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences
University of Milano

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

Doris Mannhard, MD, Urologist
University Hospital Zürich

Propecia should not have been authorized in the first place, and its approval should be revoked as soon as possible.

Propecia was approved in 1997 as a solution to slow male pattern baldness. Finasteride is not only poorly effective, but it can lead to infertility. As we stated in 2006, we advise against a cosmetic product with potential endocrine side effects. Propecia should have never been approved, and its authorization should be revoked as soon as possible.

—Finasteride-induced Infertility (English translation): Der Arzneimittelbrief (The Drug Letter), November 2013

Dietrich von Herrath, MD, Chief Physician
St. Joseph Hospital, Berlin
More

Suggestion That Sexual Side Effects Appear Early in Finasteride Therapy then Return to Normal is ‘Inaccurate,’ Say Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine

SOMERSET, N.J., Aug. 26, 2015 – Twenty-five percent of men currently taking finasteride or dutasteride (brand names Proscar and Avodart) for the treatment of benign prostate enlargement (BPH), appear not to benefit from taking these medications. Those prescribed Propecia or Avodart for male pattern hair loss are also at risk for adverse events elicited by […]

2015 PFS Foundation Annual Address

Aug. 4, 2015 Dear Friends: By many accounts, we’ve reached a tipping point on post-finasteride syndrome awareness within the medical community. The most significant advancement occurred in March, when the U.S. National Institutes of Health added PFS to its Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center. “Studies are under way to understand the safety profile of […]

Southwest Brain Bank Launches PFS Brain and Spinal Cord Donation Program

SOMERSET, N.J., July 15, 2015 – The Southwest Brain Bank (SWBB) in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio has received its first donation of the brain and spinal cord of a post-finasteride syndrome (PFS) patient and formed a program to collect and study post-mortem human brain […]

U.S. National Institutes of Health Adds PFS to Genetic and Rare Diseases Info Center

May 19, 2015 Dear Public Health Official: The U.S. National Institutes of Health recently added post-finasteride syndrome (PFS) to its Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center, noting that: “Studies are underway to understand the safety profile of 5-alpha reductase inhibitor drugs with respect to adverse events…and their permanency.” This federal listing of PFS comes in […]