Recently my wife became pregnant. I currently take minoxidil and am wondering if I am putting her (and the baby) at risk by sharing the same bed, incidental contact, etc.
Thanks for your help.
You can use minoxidil even if your wife is pregnant. So go ahead and push those beds together and be near your wife.
Your wife (or any woman) should not use minoxidil directly while pregnant, though. See Minoxidil and Pregnancy for more on that.
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Hi Doc,
You are an impressive personality, I have been reading and making my decisions about my hair loss through the research on your website.
My wife is pregnant and and I want to start taking propecia, I am thinking about start taking it after the baby is born which is due on mid Nov. But I would like to know if breast feeding and propecia can create complications to the baby or wife. I think I am a norwood class 4 and have almost good coverage, I am 25 year old male.
Your reply would be a great help.
Keep up the great work.
Nope. Unless you have found a way to create milk from your own breast and are breastfeeding your baby, there is no danger to your wife and your baby as Propecia does not come over to the woman from sexual intercourse. It is not known if Propecia can be found in the breast milk of mothers that are taking Propecia themselves, but Propecia is not approved for use in women anyway. It will not affect your wife or unborn child even if you are having intercourse with your wife while she is pregnant. The pharmaceutical company Merck’s statement on this is, “Available data indicate that the level of PROPECIA in the semen of a man taking PROPECIA does not pose a risk to an unborn child. Accordingly, a man can take PROPECIA while conceiving a child with his partner, or have sexual intercourse with his partner if she is already pregnant.”
If you are still worried, use a condom.
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Hi doctor,
Does taking sexual stimulant tablet or testosterone booster, prevents finasteride to work full?
Ask the doctor that is providing you sexual stimulants or testosterone boosters before starting or stopping any medication (including finasteride). Generally, what do you mean by a sexual stimulant? Viagra? Or some pill you buy from the back of a men’s magazine? There are many items that could qualify as a sexual stimulant.
Testosterone is an anabolic steroid that is generally illegal to use without the supervision of a prescribing doctor due to many side effects, such as liver damage. It can also cause increased androgenic alopecia (AGA) so if you are taking testosterone (or boosters), clearly that will ‘pull’ in the opposite direction of finasteride on your hair loss, thus defeating the purpose of using finasteride at all.
dr rassman,,, shame on you as a medial professional to encouge people to use rogaine,, a drug only desighned for for high blood pressure… even the FDA banned minoxidil for all its sideeffects,, rogaine,,, ie ,, minoxidil is certainly absorbed into blood stream, from topical solution, which can cause heart enlargment amounst many other side effects,, rogaine itself admits they dont event known to how this drug reacts,, therfore cannot say for certain all the posiable sideffects,,what is ceratin that many people have complaine about the side effect ,, even to your site,, why take the parachical evidence and not the prof of the people,,
Thank you for your concern, but where are you getting your information?
It is true that minoxidil is a high blood pressure medicine when taken orally. Some of it may even be absorbed through the skin. When minoxidil is applied topically (Rogaine) it can also have many side effects when absorbed by the skin including a light head feeling, irritation to the skin, etc, but is not banned by the FDA and some patients have good results with their hair loss. In fact, it is only one of two FDA approved medications for genetic hair loss in men, and the only medication that is FDA approved for treating genetic hair loss in women.
In earlier posts you mention that half of men with DUPA receive benefits from propecia, but in more recent posts you seem less certain. In the past few years have you seen DUPA patients receive worse results with propecia, causing your optimism to diminish?
Also, you mention that propecia MAY have a better chance if the underlying cause of DUPA is genetic-what does this mean? In your experience, does the presentation of DUPA differ when “the underlying cause is genetic”?
(My brother, only two years older than me, is losing his hair in a traditional MPB fashion, while I am experiencing DUPA in a presentation similar to FPB). Any insight, at all, would be helpful. Thank you.
With more and more exposure to diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA) patients, I am less convinced that Propecia works for them. If there are no side effects seen though, maybe there is value in taking it. Other industry experts tend to have adopted that view as well.
Hi. I have been using propecia for 8 or 9 years with great success but in the last few months I’ve really noticed loss. This happened a few years ago and the hair seemed to come back after a while . I have read a little on cyclical shedding while on propecia and rogaine. Do you think it happens? I have also been under a ton of stress too. I am considering trying avodart now after reading some people are having success with it after propecia. How does one go about switching meds? I’m worried if I stop propecia and start avodart I might shed more. Also I had no adverse side effects with propecia, am I at greater risk with avodart?
Thanks
ps I love this site, it’s too funny… you have a great sense of humor.. well done
You need to speak to your doctor before starting or stopping any medication. So first have this discussion with the doctor that has been prescribing you Propecia. I hate the idea that people are taking my words and using that as if is is a substitution for their physician, so please consider this a disclaimer (there’s one on every page anyway). That’s a general statement and not directed squarely at you. Remember — I’m not a substitute for your doctor, unless I am indeed your doctor, in which case cyber-Rassman is likely as good as in-person-Rassman.
Moving along — Avodart (dutasteride) is not yet FDA approved for treating hair loss, so doctors that prescribe it for that use are doing so off-label. We’re all waiting with baited breath for clinical trial results, but regardless of whether the benefits are better than those of Propecia (finasteride), I’m concerned over the safety of dutasteride since the serum half-life is measured in weeks, as opposed to hours with finasteride. In other words, dutasteride stays in your system for a long time. They are different drugs, of course, so if you had no side effects with Propecia it doesn’t automatically rule you out for side effects with Avodart. There is just no magic drug that will solve your problem. I suspect Propecia is still working for you and your doctor may increase the dosage of finasteride to handle the problem, as it may show more improvement. It is just that you can’t cheat nature and the gradual process of balding may not be stopped forever.
Are there any topical DHT inhibitors? I know that Propecia blocks DHT and I have tried it in the past, but the sexual side effects were really severe. I’m curious why no company has tried to market finasteride in a topical solution…will it not absorb through the scalp?
There are some doctors and many companies that claim that they have a topical DHT inhibitor for sale, but to my knowledge, there is no such thing on the market at this time that has proven blood levels in any meaningful date. I would want to know how much has to be applied to the skin to get a comparable blood level to the oral counterpart. Again, I have not seen this. Logic does not tell you anything about effectiveness of a drug and that is what we must know. Claiming effectiveness and proving effectiveness are two different things.
It would be nice if there was one that was FDA approved and proven effective, like a Propecia shampoo. That might solve the side effect issue that seems to frighten so many men and cause them to not use the oral form of the drug.
Hello, I am a 26 year old male and have thinning hair in the frontal and top-mid portions of my scalp. I am currently taking Hydrochorot and Lisinopril for hypertension. I would like to know if Finasteride (Proscar) will interfere while taking these hypertension medications? Also, I noticed in a prior blog, I can call(800)-NEW-HAIR to setup a phone consulation and be taken as a patient over distance, with photos provided. Would I be able to get a Proscar prescription this way? If not, can you recommend a hair specialist in Phoenix, AZ that will be able to help me?
Thank you.
You can see your family doctor or just check the yellow pages for hair transplantation and find a doctor. Also, the physician search at ISHRS.org is a good place to find a doctor. I will not prescribe it over the phone for someone I have not met, but I can give you an opinion.
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I take Propecia daily, and have been for the last 2 years. I feel it does work, however I have a couple of worries and concerns. I take the tablet daily between 9-10 in the morning, and I always make sure I have an empty stomach, and for at least an hour after taking the medicine. My questions are, am I being over sensitive with my regime? and…
Some times I am afraid that the pill gets stuck in my throat when I swallow it. If it does, will this decrease the effectiveness of the medicine, as it will not be absorbed? How does the tablet get absorbed into my bloodstream, am I over worrying? If I spit after taking it will I lose some of the medicine? I have heard bad things if I miss a tablet that I will be back to square one!
Many thanks for your help
Where are you hearing these things? You can take Propecia anytime during day or night. As long as you remember to take it once a day is all that matters. I have written in the past you can take it in the morning when generally there is a high testosterone level, but there is no firm proof if this is actually of real benefit. If you feel the pill gets stuck in your throat drink a cup of water. If you miss a tablet, you’re not instantly going back to square one. I wouldn’t make it a habit to miss a tablet, but it isn’t going to negate everything by missing a single dose.
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The World Anti-Doping Agency (and subsequently the US Anti-Doping Agency) will be removing finasteride from its list of banned substances at the start of 2009. I can’t find any news items about this yet in the media, but according to the WADA website, the updated prohibited list won’t be made available until October 1.
So how do I know early? Well, I was forwarded a letter dated a few days ago, written by the USADA legal affairs director that states in part, “USADA has confirmed today that as of January 1, 2009, finasteride, the substance for which your client tested positive, is being removed from the WADA Prohibited List.”
Some background on the World Anti-Doping Agency from Wikipedia — “The WADA is an independent foundation created through a collective initiative led by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was set up on November 10, 1999 in Lausanne, Switzerland to coordinate the fight against drugs in sport.” The WADA had placed finasteride on the list of banned substances in 2005, because it was being abused by some as a way to mask steroids in urine testing. Meanwhile, the ban was punishing those balding athletes that wanted to take control of their hair loss problems. I’m glad they’ve come to their senses about this.
