Do finasteride side effects go away?

Finasteride is used for male pattern hair loss and for an enlarged prostate. The side effects people most often ask about are sexual: reduced desire, difficulty with erections, or changes in ejaculation. These are listed in the prescribing information, and for most people who experience them they are reported to resolve after stopping the medicine.

There are accounts of symptoms persisting after stopping, and this is an area where the evidence is still debated rather than settled. That uncertainty is itself worth knowing about before starting, and worth raising directly with whoever prescribes it.

Some effects are not about sex at all: mood changes and breast tenderness or lumps are both listed, and breast changes are specifically flagged as something to report promptly. Nothing here is a reason to stop a prescribed medicine on your own. Bring the specific symptom, when it started, and how consistent it has been to your prescriber, and let that conversation decide.