Category: Drugs

Dear Doctor,
I have been taking Propecia for years. My wife and I are trying to have our first baby. She has gotten pregnant twice, however both have resulted in her getting a D & C. There have been problems with cell growth after conception in that an empty sac forms with nothing inside. Could finasteride be affecting the genetics of my sperm?

There are many potential reasons why your wife may have trouble conceiving. There are two issues that are known with regard to sperm while taking Propecia —

• Reduced semen volume is very common, but usually the presence of sperm is good.
• A recent report in the medical literature suggests that Propecia may cause reduced sperm counts, so I would have your sperm tested for this.

I would think that Propecia is low on the list of many more common possibilities.

hi – i have been on propecia since it was first introduced (fall of 1998) – so about 10 years now – i stopped taking it abruptly about 6 weeks ago because i just decided to stop taking a chronic medication and wasn’t sure what kind of potential side effects there were – a few weeks after stopping, i started feeling very depressed and anxiety ridden – something i’ve never felt before – a few stressors WERE present in my life at the time but nothing more than what i’ve experienced before – any chance this is linked to my abrupt termination of taking propecia? – i’ve restarted it recently in the hopes of mitigating my mood but has anyone heard of this?

It is very difficult to answer your question. There have been reports of finasteride causing mood changes. You need to see your doctor for help. Were you also taking other medications that you abruptly stopped? Are there other stressors in your life (independent of stopping Propecia)? Could this be coincidental? There are many unknowns here and BaldingBlog is not the appropriate venue to discuss all of your issues. The only thing I can tell you is that after a few months of stopping Propecia you may find that your hair loss will accelerate and this may add to your depression.

Hi Dr Rassman,

After taking 1mg propecia/day for about a year, i dropped my dose to about .5mg/day due to side effects I was having. I recently jumped back up to 1mg/day, but have noticed an increase in acne and hair oiliness. Also my hairloss seems to have gotten much worse. Could this be due to a case of reflex hyperandrogenicity? My sex drive/body hair hasn’t changed, but im worried that continuing finasteride could make my hair loss worse – is this possible?

While your theory seems possible, I really do not have a good idea if that is what is really going on. You have two options:

1. Go back to the 0.5mg finasteride dose
2. Continue with the 1mg finasteride dose

Either way, you should discuss the plan with your doctor.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

Hello,

I take one 0.5mg generic dutasteride capsule (Duprost) daily for hair loss purposes.

The capsule is made from gelatine, an animal product, and as I am vegetarian would there be any negative effect on the effectiveness of this product if I bite down on the capsule to release and swallow only the contents but do not swallow the gelatine capsule?

Thank you

Honestly, I don’t know for sure. The contents of the pill can likely be ingested without the gelatine capsule — I can’t say how good or bad the taste is, though. I’d ask your prescribing doctor, however. I’ve prescribed this very few times and the pills I’ve prescribed aren’t in a gelcap, as far as I know (though they might not be generic). I’m not ready to recommend dutasteride yet in treating hair loss, as you would probably have more negative side effects from dutasteride over something like finasteride.

Update:
The official Avodart labeling I found on the FDA site specifically says, “The capsules should be swallowed whole and not chewed or opened, as contact with the capsule contents may result in irritation of the oropharyngeal mucosa.”

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

Dr. Rassman, I urge you to post this account of my allergic reaction to Propecia. Approx. 5 weeks ago I started on daily use of Propecia. In the first 2 weeks I didn’t notice any significant effects except mild loss of libido. Around week 3 or so I started to develop what I thought was a normal Winter time stuffy nose. I also started to hear strange little sounds like crickets and thought that was odd. What were crickets doing out in the Winter ? My so called stuffy nose continued to get worse until on day I was so stuffed my mucous would not drain out of my ear and I developed a severe case of Tinnitus. I also started to experience what I thought was overly sensitive ears.

I went to 2 Dr.’s and both diagnosed me with upper viral infection and eustachian tube dysfunction. I was given oral/nasal cortisone to help open my eustachian tubes, had a audiogram which was o.k. My throat was a little tight and as I continued to take the cortisone oral tabs and spray my symptoms would temporarily get better. I was told that Upper Viral Infection would take as long as 2 weeks so I just kept taking the meds. I noticed late at night my symptoms seem to get a little better and in the morning they would get worse.

This morning I took my Propecia and within no time my Tinnitus had gotten worse. I took my Cortisone and got a little better. I finally made the connection after 2 weeks of this that I was having an allergic reaction to the Propecia, causing the inflamed throat/ETD/Tinnitus and upper viral infection. I also found one other person on the net with identical symptoms. I also experienced a strange pressure in my head as though my head were being inflated and deflated slightly and “brain fog”.

Please help get the word out.

Thank you for sharing your experience, but it is hard to make a direct correlation. Based on what you’ve described, it sounds like an viral upper respiratory infection, as your doctor pointed out. Perhaps you should stop taking Propecia to see if your symptoms go away. I suspect if it is a viral infection, your symptoms will go also away. If you feel that you are allergic to Propecia, check with the doctor who prescribed it and consider stopping it.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

i started on propecia in 06. after 3 months i saw tremedous results and my hair density and quality increased. then i stopped taking propecia for a while and my hair started thining again. now i am back on propecia and its already been 7 months since i started taking it again but i am not seeing the same quick results that i experieced when i took it the first time.Should i stay on it or stop taking it? is propecia not effective for me anymore?

Your experience is common. When you stop the drug and lose the benefits, the process is often not reversible. There is still value in the drug, but the greatest impact is for the initial use period and it must be maintained without interruption.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):