Persistent Rash from Generic Finasteride?

Thanks for providing this invaluable site. I am a 22 year-old male, Norwood 2. I have been experiencing a rash over the last month and I’m concerned it is related to finasteride. I do take Cipla’s Fincar (~1.25mg daily for 5-6 months), ordered from one of the semi-legal internet pharmacies, you know the deal. I realize this complicates things. The rash seems to flare up for a period of hours on a near daily basis. It usually appears on my arms, legs, torso and pelvic region. It is in the form of a series of raised bumps surrounded by a reddened patch of skin. It has a strong itch and is sort of painful when scrathed, more so than a mosquito bite. I have tried stopping the Fincar for a week and the rash did seem to stay away. I am concerned because I had one outbreak on my right pelvic region where I broke the skin from scrathing and that left a bad patch of swollen open bumps for days.

I am now trying to get the dose down to 1 to .75mg. On the higher dose I had testicular pain and a notable increase in libido as well as what seemed like a pretty miraculous cessation of shedding, this all after only two months. This makes me think the Fincar probably does contain finasteride though I know there is no way to be sure. I would like to know if you have ever heard of such a persistent rash from propecia in one of your patients. I know its listed as a side-effect… If it sounds like the Fincar is the source do you know if this type of reaction ever resolves over time or if lowering the dose might help.

Thanks again for your help

It certainly sounds like an allergic reaction, but I couldn’t tell you if its from the medication or something else entirely. You may be allergic to finasteride or possibly the one of the fillers in the pills (though that would be very unusual). The fillers do vary from manufacturer to manufacturer so you might switch to see the impact. I don’t recall a patient reporting a rash from finasteride, though.

Since you ordered from one of those “semi-legal internet pharmacies” am I to assume that you aren’t under the care of a physician? You might want to pay a visit to a dermatologist to find out more about your rash.