Stomach Pain and Bloating from Propecia

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I just wanted to say thank you for providing some very useful information and answers to questions on your website.

Although I have full coverage, I have been experiencing thinning hair throughout the top of my head since my early 20’s (Im now 25). Finally, I decided to visit a dermatologist last year. After asking questions about my family history (my father has experienced hair loss), he recommended that my hair loss is from genetic factors and prescribed Propecia. However, there was no miniaturization performed.

My 6 month experience with Propecia has been fairly unique. Within the third month of taking Propecia, I experienced a pretty good shed. I also noticed after a few weeks that my hair was becoming very oily (I have never had oily hair in my life). Around that same time, I was noticing that I had some abdominal bloating which was very uncomfortable. In the 4th month, I stopped taking the medication (due to the stomach pains) and within a week these pains went away.

My dermatologist encouraged me to resume propecia as I was simply “connecting the dots” to link cause and effect. After doing so, within a couple of weeks the stomach problems returned. At that point, I discontinued the medication. It seems I am worse off then when I started as the hair caused by shedding never fully returned and the scalp is now more visible (however, my hair is no longer oily).

Have any of these problems been reported or am I experiencing a very unique situation?

Thanks for your help.

Although what you are describing is not common and is not usually one of the side effects of the medication, you may be having an adverse reaction to the medication. With the half life of Propecia (finasteride 1mg), one would expect your side effects to disappear sooner than one week after you stopped taking the medication. Have you tried taking half the dose you were taking to see if you have any side effects? I would also make sure you have a miniaturization study done by a specialist in order to properly diagnose your hair loss problem.