Balding Blog

Good question. There is no evidence that men who were on Finasteride have impacted their male babies. We know that Finasteride does not cross into the fertilized egg, so that alone suggests that there is no relationship to cause a smaller penis.

Finasteride Question from tressless

Some men find that taking finasteride, reduces their sperm count. This seems to be reversible by stopping the medication according to this authoritative source: https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/92/5/1659/2598215

Could Finasteride Help Prevent Heart Disease? from tressless

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.

In my experience, when I put a man on finasteride, it is not uncommon to reverse this process if they have crown thinning. I have seen this happen as men in their 50-80s, who were put on Proscar (finasteride 5mgs) for their prostate, and they were considering a hair transplant only to come in and show me the of the reversal of their crown thinning from the prostate drug that they were given.

Finasteride for 3 months with good early results showing nicely. I would expect more filling in over the months ahead

If finasteride works, it often takes 6-15 months to see a gain. You are over 40, so men over 40 get less frequency of hair loss reversal. Its immediate effect is to slow down the hair loss, something you may or may not notice.

Your hairline responded as I would expect in a young man under 25 with 1mg of finasteride daily.

From a practical point of view, yes it does lose effectiveness as the genetic balding process advances beyond what finasteride can help. This often takes time, but even though it may lose effectiveness, it still has value and if you should stop it, you will see that you may undergo significant loss, not only what you gained, but what you would have lost had you never taken the drug.