Suicidality and Psychological Adverse Events Tied to Finasteride

[Armando Jose]

Recent information regarding problems with finas

Suicidality and Psychological Adverse Events in Patients Treated With Finasteride

This case-control study investigates the association of suicidality (ideation, attempt, and completed suicide) and psychological adverse events (depression and anxiety) with use of finasteride in a global database.

jamanetwork.com

Findings This pharmacovigilance case-noncase study of 3282 users of finasteride used VigiBase, the World Health Organization’s global database of individual case safety reports, and found a disproportional signal of suicidality, depression, and anxiety associated with finasteride use for alopecia in patients younger than 45 years. No such signal was associated with drugs that had different mechanisms of action but similar indications or with drugs that had similar mechanisms and adverse effect profiles.

 

[werefckd]

Man I don't get the scare some people have about fina. I took it for more than a decade and always felt fine. My sperm would get a little watery but it would soon go back to normal after I stoped the medication. Last year I did a spermogram and everything was fine.

I get that people can react differently, but still...

 

[BaldAsshole]

Man, I don't get the scare some people have about cigarettes. My uncle smoked a package a day and died at 90. Tobacco companies claim that it is really healthy and safe to smoke at least a couple of cigarettes a day.

 

[werefckd]

Man, I don't get the scare some people have about cigarettes. My uncle smoked a package a day and died at 90. Tobacco companies claim that it is really healthy and safe to smoke at least a couple of cigarettes a day.

Have you tried fina? Did it give you side effects?

 

[BaldAndBalder]

I thought this was common knowledge

 

[Btg]

not sure if i am getting this wrong but they actually just used a database of online reports to evaluate the safety of the drug ?

Where do the reports in VigiBase come from?​

Health professionals, patients and some pharmaceutical companies, report their experience of suspected adverse effects of medicines

i personally think that finasteride is not a safe drug, but this is like elementary school research , take good reports, take bad reports calculate good reports sum / total sum and you are done .
every online database concerning finasteride is flooded with bad reports because if you dont get sides you are not going to bother with all that, i dont think anyone cares enough to give merck a thumbs up for their good medication

 

[Topher]

How many of these people were depressed and or suicidal prior to taking medication for their hair loss? Probably most.

 

[Milkonos]

Just take some prozac besides the finasteride then !

 

[coolio]

How many of these people were depressed and or suicidal prior to taking medication for their hair loss? Probably most.

The study compared it against some users of Minoxidil only (and also another prostate drug). It's the Finasteride, not the hair loss.



Having a certain hormone imbalance is known to cause certain side effects. That's established. It's not debatable.

Finasteride pushes your hormone profile towards that certain imbalance. That is also not debatable.

A percentage of Finasteride users report getting those same side effects. What part of this is confusing?

 

[Will Be an Egg in 5 years]

Fair. Now search for Suicidality and Psychological Adverse Events Tied to Male Pattern Baldness.

 

[Mighty]

Every treatment has a risk. I tested finasteride and it worked for me.... I didn't worry about the worst possible outcome. But it is a personal choice. You can, for example, refuse a surgery because you heard a doctor butchered someone or you can never get vaccinated because 0,1% of the people had side effects.

The majority of people are happily taking finasteride and enjoying its benefits to their self esteem. If some people have negative side effects while taking the drug, they should stop taking it.

Well, if finasteride gives side effects to some people... life isn't fair.

 

[coolio]

Thought experiment:

Imagine compiling a big list of forum members who first tried Finasteride after they were already members here. What percentage of them reported zero side effects whatsoever?

I don't mean "What percentage of them had side effects that were manageable enough to keep taking the drug?" I'm talking about how many of them reported ZERO side effects at all, and stayed on it, and never got ANY sides.

The drug maker says it's 98% of them.

If you believe that figure, then I've got a bridge for sale.

 

[DogoDiLaurentiis]

Recent information regarding problems with finas

Suicidality and Psychological Adverse Events in Patients Treated With Finasteride

This case-control study investigates the association of suicidality (ideation, attempt, and completed suicide) and psychological adverse events (depression and anxiety) with use of finasteride in a global database.

jamanetwork.com

Findings This pharmacovigilance case-noncase study of 3282 users of finasteride used VigiBase, the World Health Organization’s global database of individual case safety reports, and found a disproportional signal of suicidality, depression, and anxiety associated with finasteride use for alopecia in patients younger than 45 years. No such signal was associated with drugs that had different mechanisms of action but similar indications or with drugs that had similar mechanisms and adverse effect profiles.

My 0.02 on this can be summed up in a few points.

1. People who resort to finasteride are emotionally distressed over their hair loss thus there is a preexisting context for severe depression and suicidality because honestly, hair dysphoria as Janey likes to call it is real, your appearance contrary to all the nice things we like to say is important, it's part of your identity and seeing that prematurely eroded and distorted is highly distressing.

2. Being part of a cohort where finasteride does not work or works albeit with severe side effects including the nasty cardiac and fatigue and shedding that I personally experienced would be enough to seriously exacerbate any preexisting depressive or anxiety related feelings about one's situation. Finasteride was a total flop for me, but I believe I do understand why that is now and because I have that understanding I don't feel like the fight is over. I felt like sh*t after giving up on finasteride, but I had to, the fatigue and cardiac abnormalities along with everything else was just too much I knew something was wrong and that this was not the medication for me.

3. People who take finasteride and it doesn't work or does with awful side effects basically believe they're done for and that can push people over the edge.

If finasteride does not work for you, it is not the end, it means finasteride does not fit you personally, but those who don't have that information (of which I try to provide here based on my experience) could feel very hopeless and could be driven by grief and anxiety to take their own life.

I don't believe it causes suicide, but it not working and only knowing that as a means to solve a life altering hair loss problem most certainly could.