Pregnancy and Finesteride

[hairport]

I thought I will share this info with you guys especially those who are planning to start a family. I read in the British National Formulary that Finesteride is also excreted in semen. Therefore I would suggest to those of you who are planning to have a baby, to come off Finesteride for more than 2 weeks before attempting. You can go back on it once pregnancy is achieved but to use condoms thereafter.

[hairport]

I thought I will share this info with you guys especially those who are planning to start a family. I read in the British National Formulary that Finesteride is also excreted in semen. Therefore I would suggest to those of you who are planning to have a baby, to come off Finesteride for more than 2 weeks before attempting. You can go back on it once pregnancy is achieved but to use condoms thereafter.

[ttaco]

Is what you read in the British National Formulary results of a new study? I've heard very differing opinions on the subject of "should you be taking finasteride while trying to get your wife pregnant" issue. Here is a website that says you don't have to get off it.

 

http://www.otispregnancy.org/pdf/propecia.pdf

 

I'd like to hear what doctors who frequent the site think.

 

Thanks.

 

Results of my 1424 FU transplant procedure on 8/16/02 can be viewed at...

http://community.webshots.com/user/ttaco

 

[This message was edited by ttaco on July 14, 2003 at 01:22 PM.]

[hairport]

The caution note regarding use of Finesteride in pregnancy is not drawn from any new study. I read it in the BNF.

BNF( British National Formulary) is a joint publication of the British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. BNF contains info about drugs that are prescribed in UK. Info is drawn from the manufacturers' product literature and from pharmaceutical and medical literature. It is also available on the internet www.bnf.org

[ttaco]

I asked Dr. Richard Lee about what hairport had read and here is what he said...

 

Dr. Lee, I just read this posting from someone on the Internet. WHat are your thoughts?

 

"I read in the British National Formulary that Finesteride is also excreted in semen. Therefore I would suggest to those of you who are planning to have a baby, to come off Finesteride for more than 2 weeks before attempting. You can go back on it once pregnancy is achieved but to use condoms thereafter."

 

Dr. Lee's response:

 

"It is true that small amounts of finasteride is excreted in the semen, but the important question is how much is excreted?

 

I've called Merck, and they informed me that the absorption rate of finasteride via the semen is 750 times lower than the 'no effect rate' tested on Rhesus monkeys. In essence, there is no risk, because it would be impossible to have a

ejaculate of 3750ml. The average volume is 5 ml.

 

There is no correlation between taking finasteride and birth defects. While it

is known that women who have a congenital 5-alpha reductase deficiency can give birth to a male child with hypoplasia of the external genital tract, it does not happen by taking finasteride to reduce the DHT.

 

That's why the package insert in the U.S. doesn't include the warning anymore. To be on the safe side, it is still recommended that women in the child bearing age do not take finasteride."

 

FYI, Dr. Lee's website is www.minoxidil.com.

 

 

Results of my 1424 FU transplant procedure on 8/16/02 can be viewed at...

http://community.webshots.com/user/ttaco

 

[This message was edited by ttaco on July 15, 2003 at 04:55 PM.]