Post-finasteride syndrome

Treatment options for androgenetic alopecia: Efficacy, side effects, compliance, financial considerations, and ethics

“…Due to the risk of sexual side effects, clinicians should exercise caution when treating AGA patients with finasteride. In addition, there is a recognized conglomerate of sexual side effects accompanied by neuropsychiatric effects including depression that have been grouped into a term known as post‐finasteride syndrome (PFS) 55 . In the majority of patients, this “syndrome” is reversible; however, there is a subset of patients that develop irreversible sexual dysfunction and depression 51,52,57 .…”

Sexual Dysfunctions Related to Drugs Used in the Management of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Due to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A Narrative Review on α-Blockers and 5-Alpha Reductase Inhibitors

“…Kaplan et al [104] reported that a chronic treatment (5 years) with dutasteride induces a higher incidence of erectile dysfunction and gynecomastia than finasteride. Cases of persistent sexual dysfunction have been recently reported after the discontinuation of finasteride [32,60,97,99,100,129,131,134,141,147,149,166,170]. Irwig and Kolukula [99], using the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) validated questionnaire, interviewed 71 healthy male (21-46 years) finasteride-users, finding a high incidence of sexual dysfunction (Tables 6 and 7).…”

“…Gur et al [30] report instead that the true prevalence of sexual side effects with 5-ARI treatment is currently unknown. (D) There have been recent reports of persistent sexual dysfunction after discontinuation of finasteride treatment [32,56,60,97,99,100,129,131,134,141,147,149,166,170,237]. Several authors have considered gynecomastia as a sexual dysfunction.…”

Pharmacological Management of Pattern Hair Loss

“…Postfinasteride syndrome (PFS) is a collection of adverse effects causing sexual, neuropsychiatric, and physical symptoms which develop with use of finasteride for MPHL or BPH and which persist after discontinuation of treatment. 97 98 99 Majority of the studies which reported on PFS were found to be of low quality, having come from doctors who are not treating hair loss, and most of them suffered from a strong selection bias and nocebo effect. 100 Although most individuals who suffer from PFS have homogenous symptoms, the medical community is still not recognizing this as a medical condition, as most reports cannot deny nor confirm its existence as a nosological entity.…”

“… 100 Although most individuals who suffer from PFS have homogenous symptoms, the medical community is still not recognizing this as a medical condition, as most reports cannot deny nor confirm its existence as a nosological entity. 98 101 Nevertheless, it has been added to the Genetic and Rare Disease Information Centre by the United States National Institutes of Health. 62 One of the studies has labeled PFS as a delusional disorder of the somatic type, in a person with probably a personality disorder, with the potential of a mass psychogenic illness due to its media coverage.…”