I’m a 23 year old male with mild hair loss. I started taking finasteride 12 months ago (1.25 mg from generic proscar pills) and have not particularly noticed any benefits or side effects. I knew when I started taking it that gynecomastia was a possible side effect, but I have had gynecomastia since I was 13 so it didn’t concern me. Soon I will be getting surgery to correct that and my surgeon told me that I should discontinue taking finasteride. I definitely don’t want to undo a $4,000 surgery but I was under the impression that those sorts of side effects are pretty rare and if they did happen, usually go away with discontinued use.
Does having had gynecomastia make it more likely that it will return if I continue using finasteride? Since it doesn’t seemed to have done a whole lot does it make sense to even risk it, or should I just switch to rogaine?
If you did not notice any change in your gynecomastia for the past 12 months on finasteride, then I would assume that your breast tissue is not finasteride sensitive. That said, in the face of your doctor’s recommendation, I am at a loss. You should usually follow the advice of your doctor, but in this particular case, it might be something you also talk to your prescribing doctor about (assuming your gynecomastia surgeon and your hair loss doctor are different).
I don’t know that if finasteride would nullify the surgery completely or at all.