Join the 'Finasteride' group to help and get support from people like you. How it works

Finasteride Blog

Blog (7)

FDA Adds New Side Effects to Finasteride Label

Posted 13 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

From Associated Press (April 12, 2012) NEW YORK – The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday expanded the warning label on the drug finasteride, which is used to treat enlarged prostate and male pattern baldness, saying some men who took the drug continued to have sexual side effects after they stopped taking it. Finasteride is the main ingredient in Merck & Co.’s prostate drug Proscar and its baldness treatment Propecia, and in generic equivalents. The drug has been linked to other sexual side effects, but the FDA said it was making further changes to the warning label because some side effects have been noted to continue after patients were no longer taking the drug. The revised warning label for Propecia says some men who took the drug experienced libido disorders, ejaculation disorders, and orgasm disorders that persisted after they were no longer taking it. The label for Proscar ... Read more

Related support groups: Finasteride, Propecia, Proscar

Baldness Drug May Cause Sexual Side Effects: FDA

Posted 12 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, April 12 – Two Merck & Co. drugs – one to treat hair loss in men, the other to treat an enlarged prostate gland – will get revised labels warning of potential sexual side effects that can last even after patients stop taking the drugs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday. The two drugs – Propecia to combat male pattern baldness, and Proscar, to treat enlarged prostates – share the same chemical compound, called finasteride. One dose of Propecia contains 1 milligram of finasteride; one dose of Proscar contains 5 milligrams. The new Propecia label will include a warning of "libido disorders, ejaculation disorders, and orgasm disorders that continued after discontinuation of the drug," the FDA said in a news release. The Proscar label will include a warning about "decreased libido that continued after discontinuation of the drug," the agency said. The labels ... Read more

Drugs to Make You Look Beautiful -- But at What Price?

Posted 4 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Nov. 4 – Skimpy eyelashes, balding pates and wrinkles aren't diseases, but they may as well be in a society that "medicalizes" normal conditions by producing drugs not to cure or heal, but to enhance, some health experts contend. So the news that a cosmetic company is developing a pill to prevent hair from graying will offer Americans more options than ever to not only turn back the clock, but – as experts note – to eliminate common differences that make individuals distinct. The booming worldwide "lifestyle" drug market – which was estimated to surpass $29 billion in 2007 – pits problems of a social or cosmetic nature against conditions threatening physical health or well-being. But all drugs in the United States must undergo the same rigorous approval process whether they are designated for disease prevention or treatment or to alter people's looks or behavior. This ... Read more

Related support groups: Botox, Finasteride, Propecia, Proscar, Latisse, Botox Cosmetic, Onabotulinumtoxina

Drugs for Enlarged Prostate May Raise Risk of Aggressive Cancer

Posted 9 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, June 9 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is calling for new warning labels on a class of drugs used primarily to treat enlarged prostates, because the medications may raise the risk of developing an aggressive form of prostate cancer. In a statement released Thursday, the agency said the drugs involved include popular medications sold under the brand names Proscar and Propecia (sold by Merck & Co.) and Avodart and Jalyn (sold by GlaxoSmithKline). According to the FDA, almost 5 million men were prescribed one of these medications between 2002 and 2009. Of these, nearly 3 million men were between the ages of 50 and 79. The agency is advising doctors not to start patients on these drugs until prostate cancer – which can mimic the symptoms of an enlarged prostate – and other urological conditions have been ruled out. According to the agency, this new warning is based on ... Read more

Related support groups: Avodart, Finasteride, Propecia, Jalyn, Proscar, Dutasteride, Dutasteride/tamsulosin

FDA Medwatch Alert: 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs): Label Change - Increased Risk of Prostate Cancer

Posted 9 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com

Drugs in the 5-ARI class include finasteride and dutasteride. These drugs are marketed under the brand-names Proscar, Propecia, Avodart, and Jalyn ISSUE: FDA notified healthcare professionals that the Warnings and Precautions section of the labels for the 5-alpha reductase inhibitor (5-ARI) class of drugs has been revised to include new safety information about the increased risk of being diagnosed with a more serious form of prostate cancer (high-grade prostate cancer). BACKGROUND: The new safety information is based on FDA’s review of two large, randomized controlled trials––the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) and the Reduction by Dutasteride of Prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE) trial. Proscar, Avodart, and Jalyn are approved to improve symptoms of an enlarged prostate gland (benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH). Proscar and Avodart are also approved to reduce the risk of urina ... Read more

Related support groups: Avodart, Finasteride, Propecia, Jalyn, Proscar, Dutasteride, Dutasteride/tamsulosin

FDA Medwatch Alert: Citalopram And Finasteride by Greenstone: Recall - Possible Mislabeling

Posted 16 Apr 2011 by Drugs.com

ISSUE: Greenstone LLC announced a recall of medicines with lot number FI0510058-A on the label. Bottles labeled as Citalopram (used to treat depression) may contain Finasteride (used for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia). Women who are, or may become pregnant, should not take or handle Finasteride due to the possible risk of side effects which may cause abnormalities to the external genitalia of a developing male fetus. Citalopram is contraindicated in patients taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) or pimozide; it is also contraindicated in patients with a hypersensitivity to Citalopram or any of the inactive ingredients in the tablet. Patients who discontinue Citalopram abruptly by inadvertently taking the mislabeled product may experience discontinuation symptoms and/or worsening of depression. BACKGROUND: This includes Citalopram 10mg Tablets (100-count bottle) and ... Read more

Related support groups: Celexa, Citalopram, Finasteride, Propecia, Proscar

Sexual Side Effects From Propecia, Avodart May Be Irreversible

Posted 10 Mar 2011 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, March 10 – Drugs frequently prescribed to treat hair loss or an enlarged prostate may contribute to irreversible sexual dysfunction in men, new research finds. Use of dutasteride (Avodart) and finasteride (Proscar and Propecia) were linked to erectile dysfunction, depression and loss of libido in a review of existing studies. In a small percentage of cases, symptoms persisted even after the medication was stopped. For those men, "it's a life sentence," said lead researcher Abdulmaged M. Traish, a professor of biochemistry and urology at Boston University School of Medicine. "No sex. No desire. Potential depression," Traish added. Almost everyone who takes these drugs experiences some of these side effects, Traish said. "But, some experience it more drastically than others," he added. The drugs – prescribed to treat a common urological condition called benign prostatic ... Read more

Related support groups: Avodart, Finasteride, Propecia, Proscar, Dutasteride

Docs Shying Away From Drug That May Prevent Prostate Cancer

Posted 12 Aug 2010 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Aug. 12 – Even though a major study found that the drug finasteride could reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 25 percent, it is still not being widely prescribed for that purpose, Veterans Administration researchers report. Under the name Proscar, finasteride is commonly prescribed to treat the non-cancerous condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia, also known as enlarged prostate. Finasteride is also sold under the brand name Propecia, to help treat male pattern baldness. In 2003, the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT), involving more than 18,000 patients, found that finasteride cut the incidence of prostate cancer by 25 percent – the first drug to do so. But a much-publicized follow-up analysis undercut that good news when it suggested that the drug might actually boost the odds of particularly aggressive prostate tumors. At the time, "there was a concern that ... Read more

Related support groups: Prostate Cancer, Finasteride, Propecia, Proscar

Study Revives Debate on Prostate Drug

Posted 2 Apr 2010 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, March 31 – A new study to determine whether a drug prescribed to fight the problems of an enlarged prostate gland can also reduce the risk of prostate cancer promises to prolong a debate that started with an earlier study of a similar drug. The renewed debate plays out in the April 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, which carries not only a report saying that the drug dutasteride (Avodart) may reduce the risk for prostate cancer but also an editorial that counters the upbeat conclusions of the study point by point. The results of the four-year study of the effect of Avodart on prostate – financed by Glaxo, which markets the drug – seem to mirror those of a 19,000-participant study in 2003 of finasteride (Propecia), which found a 25 percent lower incidence of prostate cancer among men who took that drug than among those who took a placebo. But that study has ... Read more