Can finasteride interfere with a young man’s development of secondary sex characteristics, such as facial and body hair?

I ask because I have been taking finasteride for early onset MPB for about two years now, starting when I was 21 (and still in puberty), and have noticed that I still lag far behind my peers in terms of facial and body hair. Also, temperamentally, I am prone to anxiety and depression, and my personality is marked by many “feminine” qualities. I assume that all these things are largely genetic, but I wonder if the lack of DHT in my body could have anything to do with it. By taking this drug, have I prolonged my adolescence?

I hardly doubt finasteride would interfere with the development of facial or body hair, or the prolonging of your adolescence. You should’ve been done with puberty years ago. Your secondary sex characteristics are most likely genetic, like the hair loss.

Hi i have a question. I just started taking propecia and I have started using rogaine for a week. My question is can I quit rogaine and just take propecia before i become committed to taking rogaine every day?

Sure. If you just started using Rogaine (minoxidil) a week ago, you haven’t seen any benefits from it yet. Stopping it now shouldn’t be a problem.

Hello Dr. Rassman,

Had yet another question about finasteride. I have been using it for a year now, and am quite sure have not progressed (with hairloss) any further, so it has worked quite well in that regard.

Question is this. In your practice have you heard or seen reports from patients who complained of severe tiredness, lethargy due to the use of this medication. Strange thing is that the horror stories they talk about in regards to libido etc. I have not experienced any of those in these 12 months (fingers crosses), in fact I feel I have a higher libido…its strange

The one side effect I feel I am noticing, is this nagging feeling of tiredness lethargy, and a blue sort of mood. I wouldnt say its depression its just an alteration of mood. Its quite annoying, and then you see these reports about suicidal ideation with finasterdie usage … worries me. Just dont know what to do, the pill is doing really good for my hair, but these side effects are quite annoying. Nothing sexual, thats all great, but just a strange nagging feeling of tiredness, lethargy and depressive moods. Comes and goes. And this doesnt seem to be in my head, since I am not going through something too major in my life, or a very stressful time.

Anyways I will definetely discuss this with my doctor, but just wanted to know what your opinion on the above matter is, and if in fact you hear such reports from your own patients…thanks in advance

You have the right idea about discussing this with your doctor. There have been reports where patients (mostly from websites) refer to “fogginess” and symptoms like depression in people on finasteride. In my private practice over the last 10 years with thousands of patients on Propecia (finasteride), including myself and my son, the complaints of mood alteration is probably around 10 people. The complaints of sexual issues in my experience has been around 1 to 2 percent, which correlate with the reported incidence.

It is also interesting to note from my experience, that for those who have been very worried (scared) to take Propecia due to all the materials they have found on the Internet, and eventually did go on to take Propecia, almost all of them ended up with the negative side effect. I do not mean to discount any real and physical conditions, but there is also something to be said about the power of the mind.

Finally, I have seen many patients who were very depressed with other psychological issues, but those patients were not on Propecia / finasteride. I am not sure if there is a clear link, but it is something you need to speak to your doctor about.

Hi there, I am 25 years old and have been using proscar tablets for roughly a year. A few months ago i switched to a a generic brand called finasteride which is the same strength (5mg). I had not had any side effects at all until the past few weeks where i have noticed my libido is severely lacking compared to what it normally is and my partner has noticed a decline for the past month and a half.

I am a little worried as i have read a few stories where people have not regained there sex drive or proper erectile function years after stopping the drug. Is it possible that i stop and i do not regain my normal sexual appetites and functions? Also can i counteract this with something like horny goat weed or another libido building drug?

I dont have much of a bald spot yet as i caught it in time. Mostly just the sides of my forehead are receding. How long does it normally take to lose the hair once stopping. I would really appreciate your advice as i am worried i have done some irreversible damage. Thank you.

The generic 5mg finasteride pills should be the same as the name brand Proscar. You didn’t say what dosage you’re using, but only 1mg is proper treatment for hair loss. If you’re taking the full 5mg pill, that is a prostate treatment.

I am not an expert on horny goat weed extract or other herbals that have inconsistent dosages. If you are having libido problems with the finasteride, speak with the doctor who prescribed it. You might try halving the dose or even quartering the dose by taking it every other day, or even every 4th day. This is something you and your doctor can discuss.

If you have erectile dysfunction (ED), you can consider Cialis or Viagra, which are prescription medications. I don’t know your medical history, but you must also consider that your ED may be unrelated to any drugs.

Dear Dr. Rassman,

I wondered if you could answer a couple of questions I had about Dutasteride (Adovart)?

In the past 6 months, I’ve experienced a rather significant amount of shedding and what seems to be follicle miniaturization from the crown to the hairline (though there are still hairs in this area and need to do something about it if possible.

For the past 2-3 months I’ve been using DS Laboratories Spectral F7, RS/ & DNC-N, and despite their grandiose claims of these products being the most advanced hair loss treatments available, if anything I have a lot less hair/thinner hair shafts than I did before I started with them. However, I’m not sure if this is because I haven’t used them long enough or that simply that they aren’t efficacious.

The other possibility could be hormonal changes as I’ve got symptoms of BPH (last checkup showed some enlargement but benign) and after reading something you wrote about the effect of hair dye, I started to wonder if the combination of these two factors might be the cause? I noticed in the past year or so when using Herbatint (The supposedly “safe” hair color), my scalp would feel burning/itching that would last a couple of days and I began to think it might be involved in the fallout/thinner shafts.

I’ve taken Finesteride some years ago and finding it ineffective for hair loss, I was thinking that the next step might be to try Dutasteride. So I wanted to ask, do you think it is worth a try and would the generic version be as safe/effective as the original manufacturer’s version? I’m kind of at the last defense and hope this might work.

Thanks in advance for any input you could give me on this…

Respectfully Yours

There’s a few issues that immediately stand out to me. First, I don’t know anything about your medical history or even your age. What did you find ineffective about the finasteride when you took it years ago? How long did you take it?

Second, you’re asking me about whether you should take a prescription medication (dutasteride) that isn’t approved for treating hair loss. That’s going to be something you’ll need to discuss with your doctor. The name brand and the generic should be the same medication, but I can’t say whether you should even be taking it.

Third, if you used a hair dye on your scalp that produced a burning or itching, it might be related. I don’t have experience with Herbatint, but I suppose it’s possible you had a chemical or allergic reaction.

Most importantly, if you suspect you may have BPH, I hope you’re under the care of a urologist. Your doctor may prescribe dutasteride (Avodart) for treating your BPH, which could be beneficial for your hair loss, as well.