No, finasteride, although it may slightly increase the amount of testosterone in your body, will not impact or cause acne.
Spironolactones and Hair Loss in Women
Are you familiar with using spironoclactone topically for hairloss???? one DR. said it might be the closet thing to cure we have. IT is antiandrogen , which stops DHT at the point on scalp with attacking the follice. I would like to know if you think it worth trying in a lotion on the scalp??? Please respond With you professional opinion. THANKS
Yes, I am familiar with Spironolactones use for hair loss. They have been around for some time. Medline states “Spironolactone, a ‘water pill,’ is used to treat high blood pressure and fluid retention caused by various conditions, including heart disease. It causes the kidneys to eliminate unneeded water and salt from the body into the urine. Spironolactone is also used to treat certain patients with hyperaldosteronism and in certain patients with low potassium levels.”
This is a potent medication and has had some reported impact on fascial hair in women. There are some doctors who use this in conjunction with other medications including Minoxidil, which is an anti-hypertensive medication. Although side effects from spironolactone are not common, they can occur and include: upset stomach, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, frequent urination, dizziness, headache, enlarged or painful breasts, irregular menstrual periods, drowsiness, muscle weakness or cramps, rapid, excessive weight loss, fatigue, slow or irregular heartbeat, sore throat, unusual bruising or bleeding, yellowing of the skin or eyes, skin rash, vomiting blood, fever, and confusion. I do not believe that this is a viable treatment for hair loss as there is no objective evidence that it works in female hair loss, but it is used by some doctors to treat women with hair loss.
2005-10-25 08:29:552005-10-25 08:32:02Spironolactones and Hair Loss in Women
Finasteride and Gynecomastia When There Is Pre-Existing Gynecomastia or Breast Nodules in a Young Man (Risks
I appreciate the level-headed, professional commentary that you provide. I have learned much from reading through pages of your comments. I had a question regarding side effects. I am not so worried about ED or sexual side effects, but more so about gynecomastia.
To set the stage: I am age 27, early N2 with diffuse loss and thinning from front to back, concentrated at the top and the crown. I have been experiencing hair loss since age 17. Body fat percentage is about 20%, and I live an active lifestyle and lift heavy. I also have extremely mild pubescent gynecomastia (bilateral), with the telling disc-shaped nodes present underneath each nipple. The right side is larger than the left. My nipples do get itchy occasionally, with the right side being more sensitive.
My current regimen: Minoxidil: about 2.5 years, OTC (USA) ketoconazole shampoo: 4 months, Finasteride: just started and ramping up to 1.25 mg dosage,
From your posts, and others, I have read that gynecomastia caused by Finasteride is very rare, with most professionals agreeing upon estimated rates between 1:250 to 1:1000 individuals.
However, I cannot find any information on whether or not having pre-existing gyne increases risk for exacerbation?
The Finasteride dose I started with is 1.25mg, and I am taking zinc 50mg as a supplement, and will soon start a DIM supplement. Is there any merit to either zinc or DIM having mild aromatase inhibitor effects?
People like you with existing breast nodules are at the same risk as people without breast nodules for gynecomastia secondary to Finasteride. I would not take any medications to prevent what is so rare, about 1:1000 risk.
Started Taking Finasteride When I Had No Hair Loss — Now I’m Scared to Quit!
First of all I would like to thank you doctors for allowing time out of your days to answer questions. I began shedding more hair than normal 3 years ago at age 22. I received the opinion of two dermatologists that I was not experiencing male pattern baldness. Even with these opinions I became paranoid based on the increased shed and my maternal grandfather and uncles baldness so I began using finasteride.
I showed no visible signs of hair loss then and do not now at the age of twenty-five. I am scared to stop using finasteride because if I am genetically predisposed I know I will lose what I have prevented the past three years. My question is, based on my age and beginning the treatment early do I have a good chance of keeping my hair well into older age and is it worth suspending the treatment just to see if I need to be taking the drug or not?
Paranoia is clearly not a good reason to take a prescription drug meant for treating something you might not even have.
At 25 years old, you still might see hair loss if you have the genes for it, but I have no way to know if finasteride is protecting your hair or if it is an unnecessary daily medication. I would see a doctor first and foremost, so that you can have an exam and any hair loss that is observed can be noted. Your doctor may decide to discontinue your medication and just have you keep your fingers crossed that there’s no loss that finasteride was delaying.
Finasteride long-term question
So somebody who continues to take finasteride and does not stop like in the example you gave, it will often continue to provide it’s benefits in retaining hair and won’t necessarily lose its effectiveness?
Correct; however, hair has its own agenda with genetic codes for Apoptosis (cell hair suicide) which is delayed by finasteride but not always a guarantee that each hair may take its own course. Generally, finasteride slows this process down for the time you take the drug. I have had patients on finasteride for 25 years. When they stopped it along the 25-year history, they always lost hair. This tells me that finasteride works if you take it for anyone losing hair.
Stem Cells, Hair Loss Treatment, and Politics
I was curious what you’re views might be on stem cell research legislation and how political decisions might impact future progress, since stem cell therapies seem to hold the best promise for a cure to baldness. From what I have read, restrictions placed on research during the socially right-leaning Bush years have set cures back by years. Again, just wondering how you think the political climate can/will affect a cure or better treatments for things like baldness.
Thank you
Although there’s enough political tension in the news lately to cause me to not want to delve into policy talk, I can avoid this topic fairly easily as I really have no idea about the political climate for stem cells. While it is an interesting question, I don’t even know that stem cell therapies hold the most promise to be first across the finish line in cure development. There’s rumblings from Histogen about their stem cell therapy being available “as soon as” 2013, but it could just be more wishful thinking. I recall people supposedly in-the-know saying, “hair cloning will be available within 5 years” — and that was a decade ago.
Timelines in treatment development are constantly in flux during the early stages and I wonder if some of those target dates are hinging on everything going right on the first try. In a perfect world that might be the case, but the reality is that there is a lot of trial and error and many promising technologies never get beyond the development phase. With all that being said, if I had to guess I’d say better drugs will get us closer to the elusive hair loss cure.
2009-11-24 14:31:032009-11-24 13:43:13Stem Cells, Hair Loss Treatment, and Politics
Finasteride does not cause cancer and probably prevents it
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-05-finasteride-prostate-cancer-death.html
With almost 300,000 person-years of follow-up and a median follow-up of 18.4 years, they found 42 deaths due to prostate cancer on the finasteride arm and 56 on placebo.
Stopped Finasteride and Dutasteride and Got My Sex Drive Back and It’s Stronger
I recently hopped off Finasteride (2.5yrs) and Dutasteride (3 months) because I didn’t feel they were helping my hair at all. I figured that if I were to have any real results, I’d need surgery. I’ve been off them the last 3 months and I miss the “side effects”. My facial hair grows much quicker now and thicker. I miss when I rarely having to shave. My libido is also ANNOYINGLY high. I’m feeling way more sexual these days, especially compared to the past. Now when I see attractive strangers, I can’t help but think sexual thoughts. It’s the most annoying thing. I feel distracted! Anyways, just a rant about things some of you guys might consider “side effects.” I need to think further if I can get this mindset back with a Dr.’s help.
Interesting comments.
2018-08-17 06:02:412018-08-17 09:18:05Stopped Finasteride and Dutasteride and Got My Sex Drive Back and It’s Stronger
Finasteride Shedding
My hairline has receded at what I’d call an accelerated rate since I began finasteride. Would that be a bad sign or considered natural?
It should stop shortly, but that is assuming that the shed is the result of the medication and not your balding process itself.
2019-01-04 08:11:532019-01-07 08:54:07Finasteride Shedding
Stopping Finasteride?
I have been on finasteride for over 2 years with good results, but I’ve been dealing with pretty bad sleep/energy/anxiety issues the last ~18 months. (No sexual sides, though.)
I’ve made a lot of lifestyle changes to try to address those issues, but nothing’s really worked. I’m beginning to wonder if the issues are finasteride-related.
I’m thinking about cutting down from 1mg/day to 0.5mg per day for a month or two. Depending on how that goes, I might stay there or continue tapering off.
Is there any general advice regarding lowering/tapering off finasteride dosage?
Reducing your finasteride to half the dose may not have an impact on your hair; however, the more you cut, the greater your risk of losing the hairs you retained. If that happens, you might not get it back. I have seen many patients stop the drug for a couple of months and then lose ground so bad that they never get back to where they were before stopping it. Reducing the dose to every other day or every third day still keeps the drug effective above 50% of the full dose, so this is a reasonable approach if you think that your symptoms are drug-related.
2019-02-19 05:15:432019-02-25 09:52:53Stopping Finasteride?