Side effects of Finasteride

[ca_hairloss]

I was doing some more research on this and came across this...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finasteride

 

This says..

Finasteride is not indicated for use by women. Finasteride is in the FDA pregnancy category X. This means that it is known to cause birth defects in an unborn baby. Women who are or who may become pregnant must not handle crushed or broken finasteride tablets, because the medication could be absorbed through the skin. Finasteride is known to cause birth defects in a developing male baby. Exposure to whole tablets should be avoided whenever possible, however exposure to whole tablets is not expected to be harmful as long as the tablets are not swallowed. It is not known whether finasteride passes into breast milk, and thus should not be taken by breastfeeding women. Finasteride may pass into the semen of men, but Merck states that a pregnant woman's contact with the semen of a man taking finasteride is not an issue for concern.[2]

 

I have been taking 1 mg twice a week since Jan 2007. My wife had a miscarriage in June..I am hoping that this was not the reason...

 

Should I stop taking the pills for the time being, anyone ?

 

Thanks for you valuable input.

 

I also read this...

Some users, in an effort to save money, buy Proscar instead of Propecia, and split the Proscar pills to approximate the Propecia dosage. Doing so is generally considered unadvisable if women of pregnancy age are in the household; this is because finasteride, even in small concentrations, can cause birth defects in a developing male fetus.

But the ones that I have are 1 mg tables so is not an issue I believe....

[ca_hairloss]

I was doing some more research on this and came across this...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finasteride

 

This says..

Finasteride is not indicated for use by women. Finasteride is in the FDA pregnancy category X. This means that it is known to cause birth defects in an unborn baby. Women who are or who may become pregnant must not handle crushed or broken finasteride tablets, because the medication could be absorbed through the skin. Finasteride is known to cause birth defects in a developing male baby. Exposure to whole tablets should be avoided whenever possible, however exposure to whole tablets is not expected to be harmful as long as the tablets are not swallowed. It is not known whether finasteride passes into breast milk, and thus should not be taken by breastfeeding women. Finasteride may pass into the semen of men, but Merck states that a pregnant woman's contact with the semen of a man taking finasteride is not an issue for concern.[2]

 

I have been taking 1 mg twice a week since Jan 2007. My wife had a miscarriage in June..I am hoping that this was not the reason...

 

Should I stop taking the pills for the time being, anyone ?

 

Thanks for you valuable input.

 

I also read this...

Some users, in an effort to save money, buy Proscar instead of Propecia, and split the Proscar pills to approximate the Propecia dosage. Doing so is generally considered unadvisable if women of pregnancy age are in the household; this is because finasteride, even in small concentrations, can cause birth defects in a developing male fetus.

But the ones that I have are 1 mg tables so is not an issue I believe....

[pushing 40]

Be careful with this "knowledge". Don't scare yourself. As you probably know, a developing fetus is controlled by chemicals; they do millions of different things a million times per second, and hormones (different combinations of proteins) control a LOT in a developing fetus. Finasteride blocks conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone. The proper functioning of both these hormones are are VITALLY important in development of a fetus. However, there has been NO data in any way shape or form that a man taking propecia when impregnating a woman has ANY impact at all in the development of the fetus. None. It is the direct contact with the chemical itself by a woman that is of concern: absortion by her of the actual chemical finasteride is the thing needing to be avoided. In that case, the chemical would direct itself to the blood stream as it should and go to the fetus where it would do what it is supposed to do: interfere with testosterone conversion. That could be very bad for a fetus.

 

Now, can it do this through the actual impregnating semen? Nobody truly knows but supposedly it is a VERY remote chance if its possible at all. Very remote. Remember: only one single sperm cell fertilizes the egg. All the other ones work hard to get thru that cell wall, but the INSTANT, and I mean instant, ONE sperm cell penetrates, a chemical reaction in the egg cell occurs which basically hardens the cell wall making it impenetrable to the still living sperm cells left out in the cold. So how much finasteride can one single sperm cell actually carry and contribute to problems? Not much I'm sure. But, keeping in mind we are walking bags of chemicals doing millions of processes every second of every day of our lives, is is possible to still cause problems? Well, I guess anything is possible. Just not probable.

[MrJobi]

You think Propecia has bad side effects or potential ones. Look online at diet coke, smoking, being over weight, not exercising, etc. etc.