Strange Finasteride side effect

[1982man]

Hello Forum,

I am a new member, long time user (of Finasteride and Rogaine foam). I just re-read the PI sheets for Finasteride lately online, and noticed a warning which I presume is NEW,..didn't see it back in 2007 when I first started this drug.

It is now contra-indicated to have unprotected sex with a woman while you are on Finasteride if it is suspected she is pregnant, as, if the fetus is female, your Finasteride affected semen could cause genital defects in the baby girl. Woah!!!

That has me quite angry, my wife just gave birth to a baby girl and I of course had no idea of this risk and wasn't using protection for 9 months. Of course the girl is ok (so far as we know so far) but just saying...anyone know the chances of an issue?

Thanks

BRad

 

[wackyhead]

Hello Forum,

I am a new member, long time user (of Finasteride and Rogaine foam). I just re-read the PI sheets for Finasteride lately online, and noticed a warning which I presume is NEW,..didn't see it back in 2007 when I first started this drug.

It is now contra-indicated to have unprotected sex with a woman while you are on Finasteride if it is suspected she is pregnant, as, if the fetus is female, your Finasteride affected semen could cause genital defects in the baby girl. Woah!!!

That has me quite angry, my wife just gave birth to a baby girl and I of course had no idea of this risk and wasn't using protection for 9 months. Of course the girl is ok (so far as we know so far) but just saying...anyone know the chances of an issue?

Thanks

BRad

Of course one more scary thing. If it is any consolation, I did just that the entire time my wife was pregnant with my daughter. No issues with her.

 

[Quantum Cat]

this 'strange' side effect is not new - it's been on Merck's list of possible side effects pretty much as soon as they started marketing Propecia AFAIK, and it has been discussed many times over the years on forums like this. The warning to make sure pregnant women don't handle the pills has always been printed clearly on the boxes

I wouldn't be too concerned, as I think it's just a precautionary (***-covering) thing - it's highly unlikely that Finasteride can pass through the semen to damage the baby - or at least that seems to be the general consensus reached when it's discussed.

To be absolutely safe though, you could stop taking Finasteride for several months around the time you are trying to conceive a child.

 

[elephant_knight]

It is true, this has always been know. But I think the problem comes if the baby is male, not female...

 

[1982man]

Things guys, good to know! I seem to hear so many crazy things about finasteride but so far it hasn't effected me..not a single side effect I can think of after 6-7 years.

 

[Wuffer]

I haven't seen a single documented case of finasteride affecting the development of a fetus. And millions of men take the stuff. I really wouldn't worry about it. The warning is that pregnant women should stay away from tablet residue, but semen isn't shown to contain significant enough amounts of sperm to affect a fetus.

 

[wackyhead]

Things guys, good to know! I seem to hear so many crazy things about finasteride but so far it hasn't effected me..not a single side effect I can think of after 6-7 years.

Right. I know it can make you go especially crazy if you think you may have harmed your own child due to vanity As others have said, I have never heard of a case where that has happened, or that it was even claimed that it happened. The warning about women handling broken tablets has been on the bottle as long as I can remember as well and I imagine is a good rule to follow. Cannot imagine why a woman would ever be handling the stuff.

 

[Rawtashk]

There is literally no way that any trace amounts of finasteride in you semen could hurt a fetus. Don't worry about it.

As for handling the finasteride pills, it's not that big of a deal, but a preggers woman shouldn't do it anyway. I can't find the testing reports now, but they did tests on this with pregnant monkees. Something like 10mg directly injected into the bloodstream daily was required to see any birth defects, which is FAR more than your skin would absorb. But, the fact that finasteride can cause birth defects (but only in EXTREME DOSES) means that they have to put it on the label.

 

[Mew]

I haven't seen a single documented case of finasteride affecting the development of a fetus. And millions of men take the stuff. I really wouldn't worry about it. The warning is that pregnant women should stay away from tablet residue, but semen isn't shown to contain significant enough amounts of sperm to affect a fetus.

Yawn...

Aphalangia possibly linked to unintended use of finasteride during early pregnancy


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2813641/


FDA Propecia Clinical Trials
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/nda/97/20788_PROPECIA TABLETS, 1MG_MEDR_P2.PDF
pg 32

 

[Quantum Cat]

Yawn...

Aphalangia possibly linked to unintended use of finasteride during early pregnancy


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2813641/

ummmmm.... that case is of a woman who took Finasteride herself!

Nobody debates that if enough finasteride gets into a woman's body it could damage a baby.

The question raised in this thread is whether finasteride can be passed through semen in enough quantity to potentially harm a baby, to which the answer is - there is no evidence of that fact.

I actually know of several people who have conceived perfectly healthy babies while on Finasteride

 

[Mew]

whether finasteride can be passed through semen in enough quantity to potentially harm a baby,

See screenshot I attached previously. finasteride does accumulate in semen. Review the FDA Clinical Trials document for more info.

 

[Quantum Cat]

See screenshot I attached previously. finasteride does accumulate in semen. Review the FDA Clinical Trials document for more info.

all that review states is that traces of Finasteride may be found in semen. It doesn't prove that:

A - it would get transferred to a foetus, or B - would do a foetus any harm, especially at those trace quantities.
Also those figures are for men who take 5mg. Propecia is 1mg so it will be even less.


Do you have any documented cases of babies born with deformities or irregularities because the father was taking Finasteride when it was concieved?

 

[Rawtashk]

Yawn...

Aphalangia possibly linked to unintended use of finasteride during early pregnancy


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2813641/


FDA Propecia Clinical Trials
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/nda/97/20788_PROPECIA TABLETS, 1MG_MEDR_P2.PDF
pg 32

View attachment 20163

You're linking things about a female TAKING finasteride while pregnant. I'm talking about any potentially trace amounts in semen.

People, if you read this, please the the whole community a favor and rate his post as "not helpful". It helps for future people who read these comments so they don't buy into this misinformation.

 

[Wuffer]

Speaking to the post I made, Mew was technically right. I shouldn't have to rephrase my question since most people would take into account the context of this thread, but I forgot that Mew and others try to trick people, and try to win arguments based on technicalities.

So please, let me rephrase that, even though I shouldn't have to:

I haven't seen a single documented case of adverse fetal development resulting from finasteride exposure contained in semen.

Yes, if females take finasteride then get pregnant, it's probably not going to turn out well. However, the link you provided couldn't even conclusively state that finasteride was responsible for the deformities.

- - - Updated - - -

all that review states is that traces of Finasteride may be found in semen. It doesn't prove that:

A - it would get transferred to a foetus, or B - would do a foetus any harm, especially at those trace quantities.
Also those figures are for men who take 5mg. Propecia is 1mg so it will be even less.

It makes sense if you use propeciahelp logic. One small study said A = B. Another small study says B = C. Another one says C = D. We can immediately jump to the irrefutable conclusion that A = D in all cases!

 

[Admin]

I haven't seen a single documented case of adverse fetal development resulting from finasteride exposure contained in semen.

The study related to this involved injecting hundreds of times the dose of finasteride directly into the uterus of a pregnant monkey with a *male* fetus. In that setting, the underside of the urethra did not fully close like a "seam" as it normally would.
Admin

 

[Rawtashk]

Can you post the link? I've read it before, but for the LIFE of me I can't find it again.

Hopefully then Mew would STFU about this when he's proven wrong...........again.