Thinking about starting finasteride, but am conflicted about what to do if I experience side effects?

Side effects from finasteride are pretty uncommon in my experience, but they do occur. The most common side effect I see is decreased sex drive, which almost always goes back to normal when the drug is discontinued. Management of a side effect depends on how severe and persistent it is. Sometimes decreasing the dose can be helpful, sometimes not. There is risk with every drug we put in our bodies and sometimes it is best to stop the drug altogether and opt for a drug-free therapy.

Hello, and thank you for your question. I understand your concern, and it's best to do homework on anything you try for the first time. If you do experience harmful side effects, you can always stop taking the medication. First, you could lower the dosage and see how you tolerate that. Best of luck to you.

Dr. T

If you experience the side effects and it bothers you a lot then I would recommend to stop it. However, you can try lowering the dose and see if the side effects disappear. There's no totally write or wrong in adjusting the dose of finasteride.

Side effects are possible with any medication and they are possible with finasteride. Many patients do not have side effects. Some patients have very troublesome aide effects. Side effects are handled on a case by case basis, depending on the side effect. Sometimes the doctor will advise stopping completely and sometimes the doctor will advise reducing the dose. Sometimes no change is made. It all depends on the specific side effect and its severity. One must always keep in mind that hair will be lost if finasteride is stopped. Consider the 21 year old male with outstanding results on finasteride. Hair has regrown considerably. He is referred to see me with worry from his father that his mood is lower. I learn from the patient that he is under extreme stress with school and work and he lost his mother 7 months ago. Is finasteride the cause of the mood issues? Well, it’s hard to know exactly what contribution it has. I may advise consulting a psychiatrist or psychologist if these services are readily available to help the patient address all the issues. In this particular case, the mood was back to normal 6 months later and finasteride was not stopped. In other cases, reducing the dose or stopping is the best plan. Medicine, when practiced properly, is not clear cut. It involves listening to the patient and taking i to account each and every factor that is present. Yes, finasteride most certainly has side effects. If side effects occur, one needs to sit down with their prescribing doctor and review the specific side effect as well as other contributing factors and come up with a good plan.