Proscar Packaging Says I Need to Use a Condom Now?
Hi Dr. Rassman,I’ve been taking finasteride (1 mg tabs of propecia) for 3 years with great success. Recently however I switched to Procar with a pill cutter and am horrified to read from the proscar finasteride package information for users leaflet:
“If you partner is pregnant or planning to become pregnant you should use a condom or other barrier method of contraception when taking proscar. This is because your semen could contain a tiny amount of the drug and may affect the normal development of the baby’s sex organs.”
This is news to me after 3 years of using fin. I know of the dangers of women handling tabs but have never read anything about this. Is it only relavent to the 5mg doses of proscar? Your professional opinion is highly respected. Please advise.
Kind regards
This is news to me, too.
We have known about problems arising from a fetus exposed to finasteride — the US leaflet for Propecia states, “If a woman who is pregnant with a male baby absorbs the active ingredient in Propecia, either by swallowing or through the skin, it may cause abnormalities of a male baby’s sex organs.” — but this is a warning for women that want to take finasteride or handle crushed pills.
As I’ve understood it, finasteride does not have any significant concentration in a man’s ejaculate. In my searching, it appears that this line about a condom is only in the UK Proscar leaflet. This wording is not seen in the US or UK Propecia leaflet, and I’ve not seen this in any of the literature before. Although it is the same drug (finasteride), Proscar is 5 times the dosage of Propecia. Merck’s official word is that Propecia poses no risk to unborn children.
I will have to ponder this one for a while, as it is against what has been revealed to me in the past.
I just found out my wife is pregnant.
Hopefully this is just the drug company being overly cautious.
Dr. Rassman, please update us on this issue as you learn more.
Yes if you could please help clarify this as this is very important to those of us trying to have children. thank you.
Lazerfish,
Thank you so much for for sharing your experience.
I’m feeling a little OCD at the moment, though I know that this warning is probably overblown…
Yeah, I mean if Merck have been forced to admit it then it must be overblown.
Do yourself a favour and get off the Finesteride before it starts causing real problems (it will, give it time) and ask yourself this, do you think blocking one of the most critically important male androgens in the human body is a good idea?
Hey Mark! No worries man! As drugs go, finisteride is quite safe and side effects
are very minimal if at all and in most cases if you experience them, they go away with continued
use. I myself took Proscar 5mg for 14 yrs and now on dutasteride for 5+years.
To John: dht in men has been linked to heart attacks, blocking of the arteries, acne, prostate enlargement, prostate cancer, and ofcourse mpb.
I see nothing but advantages in blocking that.
Ofcourse in childhood it is needed for the development of masculine features but
in adulthood nothing but bad news in my opinion.
Ofcourse dht is essential when developing male features