Finasteride 5mg Film-Coated Tablets
Read all of this leaflet carefully before you start taking this medicine.
- Keep this leaflet. You may need to read it again.
- If you have any further questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
- This medicine has been prescribed for you. Do not pass it on to others. It may harm them, even if their symptoms are the same as yours.
- If any of the side effects gets serious, or if you notice any side effects not listed in this leaflet, please tell your doctor or pharmacist.
In this leaflet:
1. What Finasteride is and what it is used for
2. Before you take Finasteride
3. How to take Finasteride
4. Possible side effects
5. How to store Finasteride
6. Further information
1. WHAT Finasteride IS AND WHAT IT IS USED FOR
Finasteride belongs to a group of medicines called 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. It works by shrinking the enlarged prostate gland in men.
Your doctor has prescribed Finasteride for you because you have a condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH. Your prostate gland, which is near your bladder, has become bigger and is making it more difficult for you to pass urine.
Finasteride helps to shrink the enlarged prostate and relieves your symptoms. Finasteride will help reduce the risk of you developing a sudden inability to pass urine (known as acute urinary retention) and the need for surgery.
2. BEFORE YOU TAKE Finasteride
Finasteride is for use in men only.
Do not take Finasteride
- if you are allergic (hypersensitive) to finasteride or any of the other ingredients of Finasteride.
- if you are a woman or a child (the condition for which Finasteride is prescribed occurs only in men. The tablets must not be taken by women or by children).
Take special care with Finasteride
Finasteride can affect a blood test called PSA. If you have a PSA test done, tell your doctor that you are taking Finasteride.
BPH is not cancer and does not lead to cancer, but the two conditions can be present at the same time. Before starting you on Finasteride, it is likely that your doctor will perform some simple tests to check whether you have prostate cancer. Your doctor will evaluate your symptoms and their possible causes. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions.
Before starting treatment with Finasteride, the treating physician should exclude that the difficulty of you to pass urine is due to trilobular growth pattern of the prostate.
The medicine contains sunset yellow. It may cause allergic reactions.
Taking other medicines
Finasteride does not usually interfere with other medicines.
Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines, including medicines obtained without a prescription.
Taking Finasteride with food and drink
There are no data to suggest that Finiol affects the ability to drive or use machines.
Pregnancy and breast-feeding
If the active ingredient in Finasteride is absorbed by a woman who is pregnant with a male baby, it may affect the normal development of the baby's sex organs. Therefore, women who are or may potentially be pregnant, should not be exposed to Finasteride. They should not take Finasteride. In addition, they should not handle broken or crushed tablets or be exposed to the drug through sexual contact with a man taking Finasteride. Therefore, if your sexual partner is or may potentially be pregnant, you must avoid exposing her to your semen which could contain a tiny amount of the drug - for example, by using a condom during sexual activity. If a woman who is pregnant comes into contact with the active ingredient in Finasteride, a doctor should be consulted. Whole Finasteride tablets are coated to prevent contact with the active ingredient during normal handling.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions.
Driving and using machines
Finasteride has no influence the ability to drive and use machines.
3. HOW TO TAKE Finasteride
Always take Finasteride exactly as your doctor has told you. You should check with your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure. The usual dose is one tablet containing 5 mg finasteride to be taken by mouth once a day with or without food.
Your doctor may prescribe Finasteride along with another medicine called doxazosin to help you control your BPH.
If you take more Finasteride than you should
If you take too many tablets by mistake, contact your doctor immediately.
If you forget to take Finasteride
If you miss a dose, just carry on with the next one as usual.
Do not take a double dose to make up for a forgotten dose.
If you stop taking Finasteride
In order to treat your symptoms and control your BPH effectively, it is important that you continue to take Finasteride for as long as your doctor prescribes, even if you do not feel an immediate benefit. Some patients show early improvement in symptoms, but you may need to take Finasteride for at least six months to see if it improves your symptoms. Finasteride works best when taken long term.
If you have any further questions on the use of this product, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
4. POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS
Like all medicines, Finasteride can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.
Side effects due to Finasteride may include:
Common (affects 1 to 10 users in 100):
changes with ejaculation (such as a decrease in the amount of semen released during sex which does not appear to interfere with normal sexual function.), impotence (an inability to have an erection), less desire to have sex
Uncommon (affects 1 to 10 users in 1,000):
problems with ejaculation, breast swelling and/or tenderness, rash
Unknown (frequency cannot be estimated from the available data):
testicular pain, allergic reactions such as itching (pruritus), hives (urticaria) and swelling of the lips and face, palpitation (a quicker and/or irregular heartbeat), increased hepatic enzymes
In some men, such side effects disappeared while the patient continued to take Finasteride. If symptoms persist, they usually resolved on discontinuing Finasteride.
You should promptly report to your doctor any changes in your breast tissue, such as lumps, pain, enlargement of the breast tissue or nipple discharge as these may be signs of a serious condition, such as breast cancer.
If any of the side effects gets serious, or if you notice any side effects not listed in this leaflet, please tell your doctor or pharmacist.
It will help if you make a note of what you experienced, when it started and how long it lasted.
5. HOW TO STORE Finasteride
Keep out of the reach and sight of children.
This medicinal product does not require any special storage conditions.
Do not use Finasteride after the expiry date which is stated on the carton. The expiry date refers to the last day of that month.
Medicines should not be disposed of via wastewater or household waste. Ask your pharmacist how to dispose of medicines no longer required. These measures will help to protect the environment.
6. FURTHER INFORMATION What Finasteride contains
- The active substance is finasteride.
- The other ingredients are: microcrystalline cellulose, pregelatinized maize starch, sodium starch glycollate, iron oxide yellow (E172), sodium docusate, magnesium stearate.
Coating: hypromellose, titanium dioxide (E171), talc, propylene glycol, indigo carmine (E132), quinoline yellow FCF (E104), sunset yellow FCF (E110).
What Finasteride looks like and contents of the pack
Finasteride is available as blue, round, biconvex, film - coated tablets scored on one side.
is available in blister packs of 15 or 30 or 98 or 100 film - coated tablets.
Not all pack sizes may be marketed.
Marketing Authorisation Holder and Manufacturer
Marketing Authorisation Holder
Pharmathen S.A.
6 Dervenakion str.
Pallini 15351
Attiki
Greece
Manufacturers
Pharmathen S.A.
6 Dervenakion str.
Pallini 15351
Attiki
Greece
AND
KLEVA S.A.
189, Parnithos Ave.,
Acharnai Attiki,
13675 Greece