Official PDR on propecia shows impotence at 20%?

[rtpatter]

I spoke to my doctor about propecia he said the sides are minimal had never heard anyone complain. However, when he looked at the PDR for sides it showed impotence at 20% ! He seemed somewhat shocked and said actually that is kinda high. My question is how can mereck claim 2% sides when the PDR shows 20%. Everytime I think of risking the drug you come across something like this.

Here is the side effective profile from the PDR:
>10%:
Endocrine & metabolic: Impotence (19%; combination therapy 23%), libido decreased (10%; combination therapy 12%)
Neuromuscular & skeletal: Weakness (5%; combination therapy 17%)

1% to 10%:
Cardiovascular: Postural hypotension (9%; combination therapy 18%), edema (1%, combination therapy 3%)
Central nervous system: Dizziness (7%; combination therapy 23%), somnolence (2%; combination therapy 3%)
Genitourinary: Ejaculation disturbances (7%; combination therapy 14%), decreased volume of ejaculate
Endocrine & metabolic: Gynecomastia (2%)
Respiratory: Dyspnea (1%; combination therapy 2%), rhinitis (1%; combination therapy 2%)

<1%, postmarketing and/or case reports: Hypersensitivity (pruritus, rash, urticaria, swelling of face/lips); breast tenderness, breast enlargement, breast cancer (males), prostate cancer (high grade), testicular pain

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

I have no sexual problems at all.

Take the leap of faith, get on finasteride, stop worrying.

 

[FSHGLD]

What's a PDR...seriously, I don't know

 

[rtpatter]

PDR is a Physican's Desk Report. I beleive this is the data that is accumulated from various doctors as the effects are reported to them. The 2% is simply from the clinical trial the Merck ran. If you ask your doctor to look up the side effects he will pull up the PDR. Which obviusly comes from a much larger sample than the clnical trials. I just don't see how the difference can be so diffferent from the trials and the PDR. 20% sounds much more accurate based on these boards.

 

[timbo]

PDR is a Physican's Desk Report. I beleive this is the data that is accumulated from various doctors as the effects are reported to them. The 2% is simply from the clinical trial the Merck ran. If you ask your doctor to look up the side effects he will pull up the PDR. Which obviusly comes from a much larger sample than the clnical trials. I just don't see how the difference can be so diffferent from the trials and the PDR. 20% sounds much more accurate based on these boards.

The reason the two numbers are so different is because of the placebo effect. The men in the Merck clinical trials didn't know what the side effects of the drug were going to be, so most of the men didn't have any problems. But nowadays, people who decide to take Propecia get paranoid. They are constantly blindsided with information on the internet and horror stories, so they anticipate side-effects. Anyone expecting side-effects from a drug is going to get them.

 

[dougfunny]

I spoke to my doctor about propecia he said the sides are minimal had never heard anyone complain. However, when he looked at the PDR for sides it showed impotence at 20% ! He seemed somewhat shocked and said actually that is kinda high. My question is how can mereck claim 2% sides when the PDR shows 20%. Everytime I think of risking the drug you come across something like this.

Here is the side effective profile from the PDR:
>10%:
Endocrine & metabolic: Impotence (19%; combination therapy 23%), libido decreased (10%; combination therapy 12%)
Neuromuscular & skeletal: Weakness (5%; combination therapy 17%)

1% to 10%:
Cardiovascular: Postural hypotension (9%; combination therapy 18%), edema (1%, combination therapy 3%)
Central nervous system: Dizziness (7%; combination therapy 23%), somnolence (2%; combination therapy 3%)
Genitourinary: Ejaculation disturbances (7%; combination therapy 14%), decreased volume of ejaculate
Endocrine & metabolic: Gynecomastia (2%)
Respiratory: Dyspnea (1%; combination therapy 2%), rhinitis (1%; combination therapy 2%)

<1%, postmarketing and/or case reports: Hypersensitivity (pruritus, rash, urticaria, swelling of face/lips); breast tenderness, breast enlargement, breast cancer (males), prostate cancer (high grade), testicular pain

By the looks of it, your doctor made a mistake.

Whatever you are quoting above is not a study of finasteride for hair loss, because there is no "combination therapy" available.

 

[rtpatter]

I beleive you are right about the studies not being for hairloss. I could find the original PDR reference but here is a link to the same information. Either way it seems these numbers are more inline with the research I've done.

http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/lexicom ... eride.html

 

[dougfunny]

I beleive you are right about the studies not being for hairloss. I could find the original PDR reference but here is a link to the same information. Either way it seems these numbers are more inline with the research I've done.

http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/lexicom ... eride.html

That is really interesting.

My guess would be that age explains the discrepancy. The average age for people in the Propecia trial was probably around 30-40years.

In the trials you are looking at, which are for men with BPH, the average age is probably 50-70 years.


When I typed "finasteride side effects" into google, the first three hits were websites about sexual side effects from finasteride.

This makes me think the 20% number might not be so far out there.

A similar thing happened with antidepressants when they first came out. Studies all showed less than 10% sexual side effects and doctors all saw around 50%.

Now 50% is the accepted number.

 

[Bryan]

PDR is a Physican's Desk Report.

Actually, it's the "Physician's Desk Reference". It's basically a compilation of all the package inserts for all the FDA-approved drugs in this country.

 

[BitchBoy]

I've said it before but my urologist said in his personal experience it's more like 30%.