Finasteride and kids

[Upshall]

I’ve seen a few people say they had to quit propecia to have kids. What is the reason? Is it not possible to procreate on that drug? 

[LaserCap]

Here is what I understood when I entered the industry.  Proscar, a 5mg tab, (the parent medication), is used by millions for prostate issues.  These patients were returning to their doctors with more hair.  Merck did the studies and went to the FDA.  They found that 1mg was all that was needed for hair retention.  Here came Propecia. At the time the reps indicated that there were a few side effects involved with the drug and this particular birth defect was discussed.  

Specifically they spoke about hyospadias.  A defect that does happen in real life. 

For this to happen, they said, the woman had to take Propecia, cut it in half, (it became coded after a while), take it during the first trimester, etc.  I just told patients to take it to their job to avoid this issue.  

Can you blame patients for being confused and misinformed?  No.  The internet is a wonderful tool but be careful  Lots of misinformation out there.  Doctors too. Not sure if this is do to complacency. But the fact is some professionals formed an opinion long ago and will tell patients that this med can lead to procreation issues.  Sad.

[Al - Moderator]

5 hours ago, LaserCap said:

Here is what I understood when I entered the industry.  Proscar, a 5mg tab, (the parent medication), is used by millions for prostate issues.  These patients were returning to their doctors with more hair.  Merck did the studies and went to the FDA.  They found that 1mg was all that was needed for hair retention.  Here came Propecia. At the time the reps indicated that there were a few side effects involved with the drug and this particular birth defect was discussed.  

Specifically they spoke about hyospadias.  A defect that does happen in real life. 

For this to happen, they said, the woman had to take Propecia, cut it in half, (it became coded after a while), take it during the first trimester, etc.  I just told patients to take it to their job to avoid this issue.  

Can you blame patients for being confused and misinformed?  No.  The internet is a wonderful tool but be careful  Lots of misinformation out there.  Doctors too. Not sure if this is do to complacency. But the fact is some professionals formed an opinion long ago and will tell patients that this med can lead to procreation issues.  Sad.

The original Merck warning said this

"Women could be exposed to finasteride through contact with crushed or broken PROPECIA tablets or semen from a male partner taking PROPECIA."

This is why Drs tell men to stop using it if they are trying to get someone pregnant. They may have toned the warning down since then, but I don't know.

 

Edited April 29, 2019 by BeHappy

[LaserCap]

4 hours ago, BeHappy said:

The original Merck warning said this

"Women could be exposed to finasteride through contact with crushed or broken PROPECIA tablets or semen from a male partner taking PROPECIA."

This is why Drs tell men to stop using it if they are trying to get someone pregnant. They may have toned the warning down since then, but I don't know.

 

Tablets come coated so you would need to break them.  With regards to the semen, most believe a male would need to ejaculate a quart before this becomes an issue.  I don't think even an elephant can do that.  Agree, since Merck lost the patent I have heard little to nothing about this particular subject.

[harry_potter1]

3 hours ago, spex said:

I fathered twins whilst on it. No issues.

Regards

Spex

For some people that sound like an issue 😂