A Limited Physician Survey About Finasteride

I belong to an email group of hair transplant physicians who communicate regularly to share information. Most recently, the group was polled to determine the side effects that these doctors see with finasteride.

Most doctors reported sexual side effects (range from 2-5%), breast enlargement (very rarely, seems like substantially less than 1%), reduction in ejaculate volume (substantially less than the 20% I have seen when I ask about it), bouts of testicular pain (rare), and mood swings (rare). All side effects have been reversed by stopping the medication in 100% of the experience of these doctors.

This was an informal survey, but the general numbers seem to be similar to the instance of side effects reported by Merck. If someone in our group hopefully formalizes this possibly in a publication, I will post the results.

Many of our questions posted on BaldingBlog relate to Propecia/finasteride issues, which we point out may reflect the panic of some posters on the internet. Those in panic mode or those who are very fearful do not reflect the majority of men taking this drug.