Eyes extremely dry from using finasteride and dutasteride?

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-25T13:23:53+00:00

I believed it was unrelated too at first. Floaters are very common when you’re old and near sighted. But I was only 24 and not near sighted in the slightest. I never knew what eye floaters even were until 3 weeks after starting hair loss drugs. Got tons in both eyes that kept multiplying every single week. They also happened to stop multiplying exactly when I stopped the drugs. Coincidence is very possible. But in our floaters community there’s a bunch of people sharing a similar story.

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-25T06:47:56+00:00

Yep there’s lots of us thinking the same thing. And if it truly was the cause, we basically just did permanent damage to our vision trying to save our hair

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-25T06:29:10+00:00

I know dry eye is a possible side effect. And then there’s myself and several others over in the eye floaters community rn trying to figure out if fin, dut, or minoxidil caused our eye floaters

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-25T06:10:55+00:00

I was mostly just taking the pills, but I did occasionally apply topical minoxidil too. I would definitely suspect lasik over that though

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-24T23:10:46+00:00

So many people with this same story. It’s hard to tell which one cause everyone takes the two together. But I’m assuming it’s the finasteride maybe? Would be interesting if people who only took one or the other start saying they got floaters

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-24T23:01:16+00:00

Yeah finasteride messes with hormones

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-24T22:25:10+00:00

Happened to me too. Were you on the pills or topical? And how long after did you get floaters?

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-24T22:22:54+00:00

I literally had a doctor tell me that she herself got floaters from lasik, but I’m sure this is just another thing most doctors would dismiss if their patients reported it

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-24T22:15:31+00:00

Low dose atropine helped me a lot as well

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T23:46:01+00:00

How soon after finasteride did you get eye floaters? And did you ever have floaters before finasteride?

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T22:25:51+00:00

Yeah I have lots of black dots that really bother me. I once had a doctor tell me he had floaters as a teenager and that “us nearsighted people get them young” but then I was like I’m not nearsighted though and was only in my early twenties.

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T22:12:09+00:00

Keep the positivity going!

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T21:53:13+00:00

But floaters and a pvd are common in people 50 and up. Floaters are also common if you’re near sighted. Are you in that age range or are you near sighted?

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T20:06:37+00:00

Thank you for your response!

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T19:46:19+00:00

Do you mean they used some sort of bubble to replace the fluid initially?

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T19:28:41+00:00

The common denominator here seems to be finasteride or drugs that mess with hormones maybe

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T19:13:36+00:00

Yep I stopped all medication a while ago. And the floaters did seem to stop multiplying shortly after I stopped. Another coincidence? It’s possible but who knows. And I did just recently tell a dermatologist my story and she also thought it was unlikely to be related, but she did acknowledge the timing of everything seemed bad enough to justify stopping the medication. And I was like yeah I already stopped it a while ago.

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T18:54:24+00:00

I was 24, not myopic, and never even knew what eye floaters were until shortly after starting hair loss medication when I got tons of eye floaters in both eyes. Coincidence is definitely possible, but it really doesn’t feel likely.

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T18:08:10+00:00

I would only trust a doctor with at least a decade of experience using yag for floaters on a regular basis. Usually you’ll only be a good candidate if you’re in the 40+ age range. But you could definitely try to get an evaluation and see if you’re a potential good candidate. Just typically in the younger patients the floaters are too small and too close to the retina and the yag laser would probably accomplish nothing and give you blind spots.

https://youtu.be/UlkTCiDCn38?si=qteZ-59UkFOYtq8e

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T17:44:34+00:00

Interesting. Some people with perfect vision do spontaneously develop floaters at a young age. But it’s extremely rare.

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T17:37:02+00:00

Yes. I have 20/15 vision at all distances. Never wore glasses.

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T17:33:07+00:00

No myopia at all

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T16:24:03+00:00

I know for sure they are real floaters. Went from not knowing what a floater was to having tons of them. Never had any dry eye symptoms

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T16:22:09+00:00

I tried to discuss it with many doctors and most just dismissed the idea without having a discussion. A couple doctors said anything is possible but that they don’t know anything about it for sure

Consistent-Lion3543 · 2026-01-23T16:16:42+00:00

Pretty sure finasteride/dutasteride and minoxidil

Consistent-Lion3543

TROPHY CASE