Cassidy Morrison, Senior Health Correspondent, DailyMail.com
Updated May 25, 2024 13:35, May 25, 2024 13:49
A healthy 22-year-old man who noticed his testicles were mysteriously shrinking. A 23-year-old man who suddenly developed erectile dysfunction and the subsequent breakdown of his relationship. And a man in his 20s who suffered from severe genital pain.
These men have one thing in common: Like 2 million Americans, they’re taking the hair-loss drug finasteride to reverse thinning hair.
In letters sent to DailyMail.com, men from all over the world reported that while the drug worked to reverse their hair loss, it had a devastating effect on their sex drive and performance in the bedroom.
The mass email comes on the heels of a recent report from DailyMail.com about long-term sexual side effects in men and women who take antidepressants such as Zoloft and Effexor.
These patients described a complete loss of libido, a condition that did not resolve even years after they stopped taking the medication.
Unpleasant side effects of finasteride include infertility, erectile dysfunction, decreased libido, decreased ejaculation volume, and loss of sensation in the genital area.
Finasteride is a prescription medication that prevents hair loss by blocking the production of a chemical called dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which causes male pattern baldness.
It’s sold online by men’s health companies like Hims and is available as a pill or topical for just $22 for a month’s supply.
The typical dose is 1 milligram, but even at that low dose some customers report experiencing sexual side effects that affect their personal and relationships.
Sumar Ahluwalia, 22, of Illinois, said the topical agent likely caused permanent injury.
He told DailyMail.com he was prescribed the medication through online prescription platform Hims and his symptoms began just two days after it was prescribed.
“At first I felt a burning sensation in my genitals,” he says, “but then I experienced genital atrophy, loss of libido, brain fog, slowed beard growth, muscle loss, muscle spasms and a receding jaw.”
When he stopped taking the drugs, the burning sensation subsided, but he then noticed he became sexually disinterested. “It was like a part of my brain had been ripped out.”
Meanwhile, Eric (23), who lives in Sweden, started taking the medication in October 2022 because he had lost his hair due to type 1 diabetes.
He said: ‘[The doctor] I was never told about side effects and was told it was a very safe drug… I asked the doctor about side effects and he said there were no side effects to consider so I wasn’t worried at all.”
Starting in May of the following year, he began experiencing brain fog and erectile dysfunction.
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He said: “Over the next few months my symptoms got worse and worse so I consulted my doctor, who suggested I increase my dose to five milligrams a day. I refused, trusting my doctor that it wasn’t the drugs that were causing it.”
He stopped taking the drug in October 2023 after hearing that a friend was having similar issues, at which point neurological abnormalities began to appear.
Eric added: “Doctors have since discovered neurological problems, brain damage, inflammation in the eyes, gut and sinuses. They believe it’s due to my body reacting to the finasteride and causing me to panic after stopping the medication.”
“This drug has been proven to have a positive effect on hair loss, but it is odd that so few side effects have been reported.”
Several men wrote anonymously to DailyMail.com, with one saying that after taking the drug twice, it had a significant impact on his sex life.
He said: “When I first picked up the fins [sic]It took me about 18 months before I started having problems with erections. I could get erections but they were only around 75-80 percent strong. I got scared so I stopped taking fins but within 3 months everything was back to normal.
“I started finning again at the end of last year to see if things were the same, and they were.”
He added: “When I was having sex while taking Oral-Fin, the sex itself was definitely worse. I could make it to the end, but there were times when I had to take a break.”
A 37-year-old man from Türkiye said: After taking finasteride For four years he had been experiencing problems with low libido and inability to get adequate erections.
He said, “Trees aren’t as strong as they used to be.”
Oddly enough, personal trainer Jose Alferez said: Initially experienced an increase About a month after I started taking finasteride, my libido increased.
He said: “It wasn’t until the fourth month that I started to experience the side effects of reduced libido.”
“My doctor told me I had to choose between my hair and my gonads.”
In 2017, consumer watchdog group Public Citizen filed a lawsuit on behalf of patients, asking the FDA to either add a warning about sexual side effects to the drug or remove it from the market.
So far no ruling has been made and the drug remains available.
The scientific evidence supporting the men’s claims is mixed.
Some experts believe erectile dysfunction could be related to other medications a man is taking, such as antidepressants, or even to untreated mental health issues.
Nevertheless, a 2011 report in the journal Sexual Medicine It was found that “some men have reported long-term adverse effects on sexual function, including erectile dysfunction and decreased libido, which may be a causal relationship.”
Another report, this time published in a journal Fertility and Infertility“Finasteride, even at low doses, can cause a decrease in sperm count in some men. In this population, the majority of men’s sperm counts improved dramatically after they stopped taking finasteride.”
The safety of this drug is uncertain and requires more thorough study and documentation.