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How safe is finasteride?
Hello, good afternoon. I am 19 years old and am experiencing male pattern baldness. I have heard about finasteride. I have read stories about the potential side effects such as ED, low libido, etc. I want to ask how rare are these side effects from your experience and what are your thoughts on the drug regarding hair loss.
3 Answers
This is a complex question and likely depends on dosing and previous history or issues with ED. Overall, it is a good medication for hair loss. I typically recommend folks try topical minoxidil and or topical finasteride for 6 months unless they aren’t too concerned about the possible ED issue. If the topical doesn’t help stop loss, then we have a further discussion
about oral tabs. Multiple types including finasteride. I recommend you touch base with a board certified dermatologist.
Hope that helps.
Finasteride is effective at improving hair loss. Side effects you mention are not common and disappear upon stopping the drug if they do occur.
Great question and one which is still unanswered. That said, several recent articles link finasteride to depression, so many clinicians are prescribing dutasteride instead.
Stephen Schleicher, MD