Are Finasteride And Minoxidil Advisable For Male Pattern Baldness?

Posted on Sun, 28 May 2017

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 28 May 2017 Answered on

Mon, 19 Jun 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello Doc,
I am suffering from male pattern baldness and have been prescribed to take finasteride and mindoxil topical solution .
I see that finastride has some nasty side effects on men's health like impotence ,ED and loss of libido etc..
and there are some docs who say its safe while other say it may affect sexual health.
I am really confused if i should take this med or not ? Please help
Also what side effects can be caused by mindoxil . Also note that i had vit D def which was 6.54 ng/ml,which is NOW 21.6 ng/ml.
Does vit D def aggravate male pattern baldenss
I have been lately experiencing dizziness , which is triggered when i get up after sitting down for a long time or when i climb stairs or run .
Please suggest if this is coz of mindoxil

Answered by Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (10 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Yes it is related

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for using Health care magic.

I read your query and understand your concerns.

Regarding finasteride, there is no doubt that it causes sexual side effects such as erectile dysfunction.

However we need to understand that not everyone gets side effects and same is true for sexual side effects. In my experience only 10-15% of individuals get erection problem while on finasteride.

Regarding dizziness I like to make it clear that it is related to minoxidil. It can be simply overcome by increasing fluid intake and taking more time while changing posture.

I hope this helps you.
If you have more questions feel free to write back to me.
Thanks and regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana