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What
are the potential side effects of finasteride treatment
Propecia is generally tolerated well with very few individuals
reporting any side effects. Side effects that were reported during
clinical trials for prostate and alopecia treatment are listed below.
Breast enlargement and tenderness, skin rashes, and swelling of
the lips. All are rare events but should be reported to your doctor
as soon as you are aware of them.
The following side effects are rare and usually go away during
treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. However, you should
check with your doctor if any of the following side effects persist.
Abdominal pain, back pain, decreased libido (decreased interest
in sex), diarrhea, dizziness, headache, impotence (inability to
have or keep an erection), decreased volume of ejaculate (decreased
amount of semen). A decrease in the amount of semen during ejaculation
should not affect your sexual performance nor is it a sign of any
change in fertility.
Propecia is well tolerated with doses of up to 80mg a day used
by some individuals with begnign prostatic hyperplasia without any
apparent increase in side effects. Note however, that there is no
point taking high dose finasteride for androgenetic alopecia as
it has been shown tht there is no significant improvement in response
when comparing 1mg finasteride to 5mg finasteride.
What
are the potential side effects of finasteride treatment references
- Sudduth
SL, Koronkowski MJ. Finasteride: the first 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor.
Pharmacotherapy. 1993 Jul-Aug;13(4):309-25; discussion 325-9.
- Overstreet
JW, Fuh VL, Gould J, Howards SS, Lieber MM, Hellstrom W, Shapiro
S, Carroll P, Corfman RS, Petrou S, Lewis R, Toth P, Shown T,
Roy J, Jarow JP, Bonilla J, Jacobsen CA, Wang DZ, Kaufman KD.
Chronic treatment with finasteride daily does not affect spermatogenesis
or semen production in young men. J Urol. 1999 Oct;162(4):1295-300.
- Wade MS, Sinclair RD. Reversible painful
gynaecomastia induced by low dose finasteride (1 mg/day). Australas
J Dermatol. 2000 Feb;41(1):55.
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