Finasteride comes in packs of 28 tablets. You should take 1 tablet every day, either with or without food, and you should swallow them whole. 

You should take Finasteride for as long as our doctor prescribes it. They can help you to assess if the tablets are working for you over your treatment course.

If you miss a tablet, don’t worry. Just take the next tablet as you would normally. Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed dose. 

It starts working in the body immediately, so it’s likely that your DHT levels will be lower as soon as you’ve taken your first dose. Generally speaking, finasteride reduces DHT in the body by around 70%. 

But it can take longer before you see any results. Because male pattern hair loss is a condition that develops slowly, it may take between 3 and 6 months before you see any improvement in the density of your hair, or any reduction in hair loss, with Finasteride. And it may be up to 12 months before you see the best results. 

It’s easy to stop taking Finasteride if you’re not noticing any improvement relatively quickly, but you should keep taking it as prescribed by your doctor. Your DHT levels will return to normal if you interrupt your course of treatment, and you may start to lose hair once more. Patience can be the key with it. 

It’s also important to note that Finasteride doesn’t always trigger hair regrowth. It’s a treatment that’s often taken to stop any further loss of hair, rather than as a means of getting hair to grow back. 

Your hair will still fall out when you’re using Finasteride as part of its natural growth cycle (stray hairs being replaced by new hairs), so you’ll continue to see stray hairs in the shower or the bath, on your comb, or in your hands. This is totally normal and nothing to worry about.

Although they’re both treatments for hair loss, Minoxidil works in a different way to Finasteride. 

Rather than stopping testosterone from being converted into DHT, Minoxidil is what’s known as a vasodilator. This just means that it helps blood vessels to widen, and improves blood flow in certain parts of the body. It causes more oxygen and nutrients to travel through the blood to your hair follicles, which can lead to hair growth. 

Minoxidil doesn’t actually prevent hair loss as such, but stimulates hair growth by causing hairs in a resting state (the ‘telogen’ phase) to shed, and replace these hairs with new hairs (the growing, or ‘anagen’ phase). 

So while Finasteride handles the hormone side of things well and primarily stops you from losing hair, Minoxidil can really excel at promoting the growth of hair. On this basis, the two products can be very effective when they’re taken together, and in most cases, they’re safe to use together. You should always discuss taking the two treatments at the same time with your doctor first though, so they can assess if they’re both suitable for you. 

No, but they are very similar. Propecia is a hair loss tablet that contains the same active ingredient (finasteride) and it works in the same way in the body. But the two treatments do contain different inactive ingredients, so the side effects that you may get with Finasteride may not be the same as the side effects you can experience with Propecia, and vice versa.

Propecia is also the branded treatment, whereas Finasteride is the generic option. This means that the tablets themselves, and the packaging, may be different. Finasteride, as the generic, is also slightly cheaper too. 

Dutasteride is not a licensed treatment for hair loss in the UK. It is licensed for the treatment of  prostate enlargement, or BPE, in the US, but there have been no clinical trials in the UK to test its safety and effectiveness for the treatment of hair loss. 

So if you’re looking for a hair loss treatment, the likes of Finasteride and Propecia are safe and reliable options.

Side effects aren’t common with Finasteride, but some men (up to 1 in 100) have reported difficulties getting an erection, a reduction in their sex drive and depression whilst taking it.^[2] 

These side effects sometimes disappear once the tablet has taken effect in the body, but if you find that they persist, or if you’re concerned about them, drop our doctor a message via your EveAdam account. They may recommend trying a different hair loss treatment.

If you experience any serious side effects, such as signs of an allergic reaction (swelling of the face, lips, tongue and throat, difficulty swallowing, hives and breathing difficulties), depression, or any changes to breast tissue (lumps, pain, breast enlargement or discharge from the nipples), you should contact a doctor immediately.

Although Finasteride is usually prescribed for men rather than women, it can still potentially harm an unborn baby. Small quantities of it can pass into semen, so if you’re having sex with your partner, you should always wear a condom if you’re taking it. Women should also be careful not to touch any crushed or broken tablets if there’s any possibility that they may be pregnant, as they can get into the bloodstream. Finasteride tablets have a protective coating on them to help guard against this.

You may find that the amount of ejaculate you produce is less than normal with Finasteride, or that you don’t produce any semen. These are common side effects, and tend to clear up after a while. But if they persist, or they bother you, let our prescriber know.