This popular hair loss pill may have cost me my sex drive: I broke off my relationship and now avoid dates whenever they get intimate… but I refuse to stop

With a bald older brother two years his senior, Samer Saah was becoming increasingly worried about his hair.

The 45-year-old had watched notable thinning emerge around his temples over about a year and feared his balding would only get worse. 

It was at his annual health check-up that he first heard about Minoxidil, a medication used to treat balding. To him, it sounded like a no-brainer way to restore any hair he had lost. 

He started to take the oral version of the drug in December, setting an alarm on his phone to remind him to pop the 2.5mg tablets at the same time every day.

Almost immediately, he was thrilled with the results. ‘My hair grew back so much thicker,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘Even my hairdresser noticed it was getting fuller’.

But about three to four months into taking the drug, Saah experienced something unexpected: He suddenly lost his sex drive.

A loss of libido is not listed as a side effect of minoxidil, but it is for finasteride, a hair loss drug that prevents balding by interfering with testosterone, where it is far more commonly reported among users.

There are emerging anecdotal reports among minoxidil users, however, of decreased sex drive, erectile dysfunction and even ejaculatory issues while on the drug.

In studies on finasteride, between two and four percent of men on the drug have experienced these issues, with erectile dysfunction being the most common, followed by ejaculation problems and a loss of libido. Doctors say this happens because it interferes with male sex hormones to prevent hair loss.

But physicians have not, so far, made the same connection for minoxidil.

Minoxidil works by causing blood vessels to widen, boosting the nutrient and oxygen supply to hair follicles and causing them to regrow. 

Doctors say they are not certain how the drug could cause sexual dysfunction, but Saah is not the first to make the connection. The FDA has received reports of more than 100 cases where people took the drug and said they experienced sexual side effects.

At the time his side effects first appeared, Saah was six months into a relationship.

‘My sex drive just went away,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘Arousal was not an issue, intimacy was not an issue, I just wasn’t interested.

‘[My partner], he was a great guy. He was attractive, had a good job, lived on his own, was responsible, was funny, I liked being around him. But, when he would want to hook up, I would be like, I am not in the mood.’

At first, Saah thought his issue was just exhaustion.

He drives four hours every day to and from Palm Springs, California, to his job in Los Angeles. Working as a public relations specialist, he is always answering calls from clients or journalists. When he does manage to steal an hour or two for himself, he works out to stay in shape, before collapsing at home.

But after a three-day weekend off, when he still didn’t feel in the mood, Saah began to believe his minoxidil was at fault.

He had never experienced a loss of libido before, or any other sexual complications. The drug was the only thing he had recently changed. 

‘Even after that weekend, I still wasn’t in the mood,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘That’s when I decided it must be the drug.’

The FDA’s drug side effects monitoring system has recorded 72 cases of sexual dysfunction among patients on the drug since 2017, including seven where patients said they had lost their libido.

In a 2016 study from Chinese researchers, who analyzed the agency’s data from 2004 to 2014, they said 92 cases of people losing their libido on the drug had been recorded.

Reports to the FDA’s system are not verified and anyone is able to submit them. It was not clear whether the patients were using the oral or topical versions. (Minoxidil is also available as Rogaine, which is applied to the scalp to prompt hair growth).

The Daily Mail spoke to three doctors who prescribe minoxidil, and all said they had not previously heard of this happening to their patients.

While finasteride mentions potential sexual side effects on its warning label, none are mentioned for minoxidil. 

Despite the complication, Saah told Daily Mail that he continued to take the medication, insisting it was important for him to preserve his hair. Amid the problems with his libido, however, his relationship ended after seven months.

He is still experiencing a loss of libido now, and isn’t sure when it might recover, but has no plans to stop taking the drug and is actively dating. However, the drug continues to take its toll. 

‘There has been times when I will meet a guy out in West Hollywood with friends… and then we will go on a date, and the date is fine,’ he told the Daily Mail.

‘But when the time comes to take the next step… I am just like, “hey, can we reschedule, I am not feeling well or up early or whatever again.”‘

His doctor, Dr Patrick Davis, a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, said he is surprised his patient is experiencing the side effect.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘For minoxidil, there are no documented side effects with regards to libido with that medication. 

‘I would say it likely does not cause these complications, simply because it has been extensively studied already and prescribed to many individuals the world over.’

Dr Aziz Elgindi, a hair transplant surgeon in the UK, also told the Daily Mail that he had not previously heard of the link.

He said that the drug could potentially leave someone feeling tired and disrupt hormones that are linked to sex drive, but only in cases when it causes a dip in blood pressure.

He said this only happens when someone takes 10mg of the drug, used to treat severe high blood pressure, which is more than double the maximum dose for when it is prescribed for hair loss.

Libido is complex and affected by numerous factors.

Testosterone levels peak in men in the early 20s, and then begin to drop by one to two percent per year consistently – which may affect libido. 

Estimates suggest about 40 percent of men report sexual dysfunction in their 40s, with a loss of erectile function being the most common. Doctors often link this to shifts in testosterone levels.

Elgindi added that with sex drive, the biggest aspect that can lower it is normally anxiety. He said many men experience it at least once in their lives. 

‘My reaction is that this is an uncommon side effect that is not usually seen in Minoxidil, it is normally related to finasteride,’ said Davis.

‘But it is also clear that the benefits Samer is getting from the medication suggest it is worth him continuing on it.’