Not to be taken if any of the following apply:

You have Hypersensitivity to the active substance(s) or to any of the excipients or trace residuals in finasteride 1mg tablets. See section 2 and 6.1 of the relevant SmPC.

• You are Under 18 years of age.

• You are Female 

• If taking finasteride 5 mg or any other 5α-reductase inhibitor for benign prostatic hyperplasia or any other condition

.•You have severe liver disease.

• You have Chronic medical conditions which may be associated with hair loss - i.e. cancer and chemotherapy.

• You have hepatic impairment.

• You suffer with obstructive uropathy.

• You use anti-fungal, anti-seborrhoea, psoriasis or steroid creams on the scalp

• You are using any medications associated with hair loss.

• If taking taking medications that would contraindicate the supply of finasteride 1mg tablets (see 2. Product interactions)

Psychiatric disorders

• Treatment is not recommended if you have a history of psychiatric disorders. Mood alterations including depressed mood, depression and, less frequently, suicidal ideation have been reported in patients treated with finasteride 1 mg.

• You should report any signs of depression during treatment. If signs of depression are exhibited, treatment must be discontinued immediately, and seek medical advice.

Partners of pregnant women 

• Crushed or broken tablets of finasteride should not be handled by women when they are or may potentially be pregnant because of the possibility of absorption of finasteride and the subsequent potential risk of abnormalities to a male foetus. Finasteride tablets are coated to prevent contact with the active ingredient during normal handling, provided that the tablets are not broken or crushed.

• Small amounts of finasteride have been recovered from the semen in subjects receiving finasteride 5 mg/day. It is not known whether a male foetus may be adversely affected if his mother is exposed to the semen of a patient being treated with finasteride. If your sexual partner is or may potentially be pregnant you must wear a condom during sexual intercourse with your partner whilst taking Finasteride.

PSA levels 

• In clinical studies with finasteride 1mg in men 18-41 years of age, the mean value of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decreased from 0.7 ng/ml at baseline to 0.5 ng/ml at month 12. If you requires a PSA assay, doubling the PSA level when taking finasteride should be considered before evaluating this test result.

Breast cancer

• Breast cancer has been reported in men taking finasteride 1 mg during the post-marketing period. We advise you to  promptly report any changes in your breast tissue such as lumps, pain, gynaecomastia or nipple discharge when taking this medicine.

Fertility

• Long-term data on fertility in humans are lacking, and specific studies in subfertile men have not been conducted. The male patients who were planning to father a child were initially excluded from clinical trials. Although, animal studies did not show relevant negative effects on fertility, spontaneous reports of infertility and /or poor seminal quality were received post-marketing. In some of these reports, patients had other risk factors that might have contributed to infertility. Normalisation or improvement of seminal quality has been reported after discontinuation of finasteride.

Effectiveness of treatment

• Finasteride 1 mg is more effective in the early course of androgenetic alopecia development and is much less effective when alopecia is established.

• Efficacy of treatment in bitemporal recession and end-stage hair loss has not been established.

• Some medicinal products contain lactose-monohydrate. You should not take this medicine if you have rare hereditary problems of galactose intolerance, the total lactase deficiency or glucose-galactose malabsorption.