Should I taper off Finasteride or quit cold turkey?

Question

Is finasteride withdrawal syndrome real or not? I am 26 years old and after being on F 1mg/day for two years (with no side effects) I have decided to stop. I read online that quitting suddenly can damage the HPG axis and cause PFS. there has been rare reports of this online. I know that PFS is really rare and unlikely to happen. but i was wondering is there any harm to gradually taper off F and reduce the risk of damage to HPG axis? How should i gradually taper off ? i only have 1mg tablets and apparently you should not cut the tablets

Konstantinos Anastassakis, MD, PhD · Answer

If you have no symptoms, as 99% of users actually, there is no reason to stop. period. PFS is probably a made-up syndrome, very weakly supported by low-quality data, biased articles and hidden agendas. If you are worried about long-term effects, despite lack of proof from quality studies, you can retain adequate efficacy by even lowering the dose down to 0.2mg/day. if you insist to stop, cold-turkey or not,  you will have no issues whatsoever besides losing all gains in a matter of months.

Jonathan Kulbersh, MD · Answer

Yes, if you stop taking finasteride you will lose your results. I suggest a consultation with a cosmetic dermatologist with experience in hair restoration and maintenance. Some great options for hair restoration and maintenance are prp injections which can stimulate hair growth. Hope this helps.

Robert Jones, MD, FISHRS · Answer

Hi, If you have been on finasteride for 2 years with no side effects I would suggest you stay on it. I have lots of patients that have been on it for 10 or 15 years with no side effects. If you go off it now you will experience hair loss over the next 6 months to a year. You will continue to lose until your loss is the same as if you never took this medication. Tapering off this medication or going off cold turkey makes no difference.Dr. Robert Jones

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

The hair you held on to, has developed a dependency on finasteride by this time and if and when you stop it, you will lose all of the hair that was saved by this drug plus what you would have lost had you not gone on the medicaion

Should I taper off Finasteride or quit cold turkey?

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