{"id":379311,"date":"2025-11-14T22:25:31","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T22:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/379311\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T22:25:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T22:25:31","slug":"hair-loss-drug-finasteride-causing-psychological-side-effects-in-some-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/379311\/","title":{"rendered":"Hair loss drug finasteride causing psychological side effects in some men"},"content":{"rendered":"

WARNING: This story discusses depression, suicide and suicidal ideation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two months ago, at his best friend’s wedding, Andre Eid was doing a last-minute run-through of his speech when he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.<\/p>\n

“I was like, f***, I really hope I don’t get the urge to panic. If I do, it’s all on camera and I’ve f***ed up this whole wedding,” he says.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old says this never would have happened three years ago.<\/p>\n

“I was the guy who had charisma; I would carry the room,” Andre says.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Finasteride has been on the market for hair loss since the 1990s. (ABC News: Rachel Clayton)<\/p>\n

“I was a very extroverted person socially, but it’s now accompanied with this anxiety.”<\/p>\n

Andre believes the change can be attributed to finasteride, a hair loss medication he used for three weeks in 2022.<\/p>\n

The drug works by inhibiting the conversion of testosterone to the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT).\u00a0<\/p>\n

DHT is responsible for shrinking hair follicles, which can lead to baldness.<\/p>\n

For the majority of users, finasteride is safe and effective, but a vocal minority say the drug can cause serious, long-term side effects.<\/p>\n

Andre is one of half a dozen Australian men who have told Background Briefing the side effects of finasteride were not properly explained to them, and they are now paying a heavy price.<\/p>\n

\"Andre<\/p>\n

When doctors would not take his symptoms seriously, Andre turned to social media. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)<\/p>\n

Some patients say they were never warned about side effects<\/p>\n

Andre was prescribed topical finasteride when he was 25 from Ashley & Martin, a hair loss company he knew from television ads.<\/p>\n

“I left that place thinking this is great, I’m sorted. I’ve tackled it early,” he says.<\/p>\n

But his elation quickly turned sour.<\/p>\n

Within a few weeks, his nipples enlarged, he felt numb, tired and sexually muted.<\/p>\n

“When I reached the point of climax, I realised that there was no pleasure. It was very bland.”<\/p>\n

Andre cancelled his prescription and threw away the remaining medicine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Andre<\/p>\n

Andre does not have a lot of hope a solution to his symptoms will be found. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)<\/p>\n

But instead of improving, he says he developed psychiatric side effects like anxiety. His sexual symptoms worsened, too.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Ashley & Martin said patients were provided with a treatment agreement that detailed potential adverse medical events associated with the prescribed medications.<\/p>\n

But Andre says he was not told the side effects could persist.<\/p>\n

His own doctor offered little help. When he asked for a blood test to check his DHT \u2014 the hormone that is blocked by finasteride \u2014 his doctor said no, “it couldn’t be done”.<\/p>\n

“I respect that [they] know more than me, but I’m explaining that I feel this way, and you kind of get gaslit,” Andre says.<\/p>\n

The rejection of his symptoms led him, like many who feel ignored by medical professionals, to social media.<\/p>\n

He found various online forums about finasteride. A lot of the content promoted the drug as life-changing and labelled those who complained about side effects as hysterical.<\/p>\n

Laughing through the pain<\/a><\/p>\n

“You’re going bald” seems to be one of those things people think they can just say to you while sporting a wry grin, like they’ve just made a clever joke.<\/p>\n

But he also noticed comments from finasteride users reporting the same side effects he was experiencing, especially after they stopped the medication.<\/p>\n

The name post-finasteride syndrome (PFS) kept popping up.<\/p>\n

PFS is a collection of persistent sexual, physical, and psychological side effects some men say continue long after they stop taking finasteride.<\/p>\n

While the condition is poorly understood and its existence is contested, it’s beginning to gain attention in medical research communities.<\/p>\n

Andre eventually found an endocrinologist who listened to him and believed some of his symptoms.<\/p>\n

“He did acknowledge that it was a thing; he didn’t really dismiss it or anything,” he says.<\/p>\n

Blood tests were ordered, he was prescribed erectile dysfunction medication and told to give it time. But Andre says his poor mental health was not addressed.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Andre now takes erectile dysfunction medication due to the side effects of finasteride. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)<\/p>\n

Some physical symptoms disappeared, others didn’t, and the anxiety and other mental health issues never really went away.<\/p>\n

One reason Andre is speaking up is because he believes the volume of hair loss ads on social media is minimising the side effects he and others have experienced.<\/p>\n

He says these ads are much more sophisticated and pervasive than the Ashley & Martin TV ads he saw as a teenager.<\/p>\n

“I will watch to see how they’re targeting these young men \u2026 they’re quite good. It’s targeted as a men’s health thing \u2014 it’s a good marketing tool,” he says.<\/p>\n

“\u200aI think the fact that it’s online makes it \u2026 far easier for men to be in my situation.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Some users experiencing adverse side effects have found solace in online forums. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)<\/p>\n

Melbourne man Angus (not his real name) first learnt about hair loss medication through online advertising.<\/p>\n

He says he asked his doctor if he could try finasteride after being convinced by ads that his thinning hair was a problem he needed to “get ahead” of.<\/p>\n

“That definitely played a huge role for me. Years of seeing all those ads and thinking it must work,” Angus says.<\/p>\n

“It didn’t even really enter my mind that it could be dangerous.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Angus experienced side effects after five days of taking finasteride.<\/p>\n

“I sort of got very, very agitated and kind of ‘ragey’. I was really, really irritated with just everything,” he says.<\/p>\n

“I thought I was kind of having a nervous breakdown or something from work.”<\/p>\n

Now 37-year, Angus says he was never warned about any side effects. He made the link with finasteride himself when he started to experience erectile dysfunction.<\/p>\n

He stopped taking the drug, but just like for Andre, Angus’s symptoms got worse.<\/p>\n

\"Andre<\/p>\n

Finasteride can be taken as a pill or a topical cream. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)<\/p>\n

“My body just felt like it was crumbling a bit. I felt very weak and sick, and my stomach was bad for a long time,” he says.<\/p>\n

He experienced brain fog and depressive symptoms.<\/p>\n

“I was like living in colour and then all of a sudden \u2026 everything was black and white. You just kind of can’t enjoy [anything],”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he said.<\/p>\n

“Even if somebody told me that I had won the lottery, I wouldn’t really feel excited.”<\/p>\n

Angus says he developed such serious depression that he contemplated suicide.<\/p>\n

“I was Googling the most painless ways to do it,” he says.<\/p>\n

While he managed to retreat from the depths of that dark place, he still experiences bouts of serious depression three years on.<\/p>\n

He has since had some of his symptoms recognised by a GP and a urologist, and has made an adverse drug report to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).<\/p>\n

There are three reports of suicide linked to finasteride on the TGA\u2019s database of adverse event notifications. These reports do not mean a causal link has been established.<\/p>\n

Angus says he does not recognise who he is now. He struggles to maintain a social life, to crack jokes, to find the motivation to do anything outside the necessary.<\/p>\n

Finasteride created unbearable ‘hell’ for one man<\/p>\n

In September 2020, Canadian man Marc Turner spiralled after taking finasteride.<\/p>\n

“I had days where I felt so exhausted,” he wrote in an essay published on Medium.<\/p>\n

“I literally felt like a 90-year-old man.”<\/p>\n

\"Marc<\/p>\n

Marc took his own life after losing a battle with mental ill-health he believed was due to using finasteride.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n

In one update, almost 10 months after starting the medication, Marc wrote: “I continue to deteriorate”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A year in, he described himself as living “in the depths of hell”.<\/p>\n

And then, in 2022, around 18 months after taking his first dose, Marc took his own life.<\/p>\n

The final words of his essay were for his family and friends: “I love you all. I’ll miss you. I’m sorry for whatever impact this has on you.”<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs help:<\/p>\n

Mark’s mother, Denise, told Background Briefing her son had become convinced his body and mind would never recover.<\/p>\n

“He had decided early on he would not be able to survive this,” she says.<\/p>\n

“He said nobody should have to go through this. It was a living hell. No other family should have to go through this.”<\/p>\n

For Denise, the tragedy has become a mission to push for better warnings and more research.<\/p>\n

“We don’t know what’s causing it,” she says.<\/p>\n

“It’s patients and families who are the only ones stepping up to this. It’s very hard to get answers \u2014 or to get the money for the research to get answers.”<\/p>\n

Funding their own research<\/p>\n

Melbourne man Mitch Sabine is on a mission to solve these problems.<\/p>\n

He created some of the forums Andre and Angus found after experiencing his own persistent side effects from finasteride.<\/p>\n

“\u200aI think quite frequently you see this characterised in the media or medical literature as being primarily sexual symptoms, but [there are] symptoms across, physical, neurological, and sexual domains,” Mitch says.<\/p>\n

The online forums help men talk to one another about their experience of the drug.<\/p>\n

One forum called Propecia Help has more than 7,500 members. Another on Reddit has more than 8,100 weekly visits.<\/p>\n

\"Andre<\/p>\n

Many men have told the ABC they are suffering in similar ways to Andre. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)<\/p>\n

Mitch says people on the forums report experiencing penile shrinkage, changes to the shape of their genitals, and muscle wastage within days or weeks of taking finasteride.<\/p>\n

“Insomnia is a big one, things like anhedonia, which basically means the inability to feel pleasure or reward, difficulties concentrating,” he says.<\/p>\n

“Patients very frequently [report] quite severe anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.”<\/p>\n

For more stories like this follow the podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen for free on ABC Listen\u00a0on your mobile device.<\/p>\n

Mitch’s forums blew up; he saw hundreds of posts published each month and a consistent stream of new members.<\/p>\n

But talking about it was not creating any solutions.<\/p>\n

So he began a charity called the PFS Network (Post-Finasteride Syndrome Network) to raise money and gain support for research.<\/p>\n

Today, the network has seven board members and a research advisory team of six scientists and clinicians. The charity has raised about $535,880 through donations via its website.<\/p>\n

It has helped launch two studies looking at whether finasteride could change gene expression, and whether some men have a genetic predisposition to experiencing long-term side effects.<\/p>\n

“This is important too because these side effects are rare,” Mitch says.<\/p>\n

“Most men tolerate the drug well, but no-one really knows why some people don’t.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“So maybe this will shed some light on it.”<\/p>\n

The PFS community has also welcomed recent action from health regulators around the world regarding finasteride’s potential side effects.<\/p>\n

In 2023, Health Canada found a possible link between the use of finasteride and the risks of suicidal ideation and self-injury.<\/p>\n

In May this year, the European Medicines Agency issued a warning, stating it had confirmed suicidal thoughts as a side effect of finasteride 1 milligram tablets.<\/p>\n

In September, the French regulator concluded that the risks of taking finasteride 1mg outweighed the benefits when treating male hair loss.<\/p>\n

Despite these updates, some Australians worry the risks associated with finasteride are being drowned out by online advertising.<\/p>\n

Telehealth exacerbating the problem<\/p>\n

Telehealth is now a multi-billion-dollar industry. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in four people had a telehealth consultation in 2023-24.<\/p>\n

However, public data is not available on how many people are prescribed finasteride by telehealth providers.<\/p>\n

Pilot is one of the larger online providers of finasteride in Australia. The company is owned by Eucalyptus Health, which aims to be the world’s largest digital healthcare provider.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Andre worries for others who are bombarded with social media ads for hair loss solutions. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)<\/p>\n

Over the course of this investigation, Background Briefing saw dozens of its advertisements on social media, some featuring five-star testimonials and celebrity endorsements.<\/p>\n

Angus believes those ads present a lopsided picture of the realities of finasteride use.<\/p>\n

“You can see the results \u2026 you see the before and after shots. I just got them for so long that maybe subconsciously I started to believe that it was foolproof,” he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

University of Sydney pharmaceutical policy researcher Barbara Mintzes worries that telehealth clinics like Pilot have made it too easy for people to be prescribed scheduled drugs.<\/p>\n

“That’s not the intention of prescription-only status,” Professor Mintzes says.<\/p>\n

“The intention is to say these are semi-controlled substances; the company is not allowed to sell [finasteride] directly to you because it’s considered to have the potential for creating serious harm.”<\/p>\n

A key part of the process of prescribing scheduled medication is seeing a doctor in person.<\/p>\n

“[Telehealth] is bypassing the need for you to have an appointment where you’re with the doctor, and the doctor might say: ‘Actually, it looks like you have quite a good head of hair. For somebody like you, is this really the right choice.'”<\/p>\n

Eucalyptus Health clinical director Matthew Vickers says all its patients go through a comprehensive consultation with a practitioner before a prescription is granted.<\/p>\n

“Many patients are deemed unsuitable for medical hair loss therapy for a number of reasons, with many more electing not to proceed once they understand the risks and benefits of a proposed treatment plan,” Dr Vickers says.<\/p>\n

He says when prescribing finasteride, practitioners provide information about the rare risk of serious mental health side effects, which went “above and beyond” the information provided by pharmaceutical companies.<\/p>\n

He adds Pilot would welcome any additional guidance on addressing emerging clinical concerns from Australian peak bodies or regulators.<\/p>\n

Investigation reveals \u2018shocking\u2019 inconsistencies<\/p>\n

Product information on the safe and effective use of medicines is written by sponsors – often the drug manufacturer – and approved by the TGA.<\/p>\n

Manufacturers are supposed to align their information with the original Australian brand, which for finasteride 1mg, is Propecia.<\/p>\n

Following a 2017 review, the product information for Propecia was updated to include the risk of depression and suicidal ideation.<\/p>\n

However, Background Briefing discovered that two generic brands of finasteride 1mg tablets do not mention these risks.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Professor Mintzes says it has become too easy to be prescribed scheduled drugs like finasteride. (ABC News: Teresa Tan)<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the regulator told the ABC it is now examining whether there are any potential compliance issues, and says it will take appropriate action to address any non-compliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the product sponsors, Accord Healthcare, says it submitted updated versions of its product information to the TGA earlier this week.<\/p>\n

The other sponsor, Sandos, say it is currently investigating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Professor Mintzes says the failure to update this information is\u201cshocking\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEuropean men are being warned to stop taking finasteride right away and get in touch with their doctors if they start feeling depressed or suicidal,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAn Australian man taking the same medicine is getting no warning at all that this could be because of finasteride.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WARNING: This story discusses depression, suicide and suicidal ideation. Two months ago, at his best friend’s wedding, Andre…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":379312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1736,181951,6017,181957,181956,181952,181954,181950,4633,210,181955,1060,156159,27716,115375,57315,181953,1197,77108,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-379311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-anxiety","9":"tag-ashley-and-martin","10":"tag-depression","11":"tag-dysfunction","12":"tag-erectile","13":"tag-erectile-dysfunction","14":"tag-eucalyptus","15":"tag-finasteride","16":"tag-hair-loss","17":"tag-health","18":"tag-libido","19":"tag-medication","20":"tag-minoxidil","21":"tag-panic-attacks","22":"tag-pfs","23":"tag-pilot","24":"tag-post-finasteride-syndrome","25":"tag-suicide","26":"tag-telehealth","27":"tag-united-states","28":"tag-unitedstates","29":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115550403962154639","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}