Zinc
Zinc is an essential mineral involved in hundreds of enzymes and plays key roles in immune function, wound healing, DNA/protein synthesis, and many aspects of cellular signaling. Most people can meet zinc needs through diet, but supplements are commonly used for “immune support.” The main downside of supplementation is dose-related: higher doses can cause gastrointestinal upset (nausea, stomach pain), and long-term high intake can impair copper absorption and contribute to copper deficiency, which can cause neurological symptoms and fatigue.
In PFS/PSSD/PAS discussions, zinc comes up because laboratory research has reported 5-alpha-reductase–inhibitory activity at higher concentrations in certain experimental models (including work cited in human skin-related assays). This does not prove that typical dietary zinc intake or low-dose supplementation meaningfully lowers DHT in real-world humans, but it provides a plausible pathway that some community members consider relevant. Anecdotally, some people report symptom flares after zinc—particularly at higher supplemental doses or when stacked with other hormone-active supplements—so zinc is often framed as a “caution” item rather than universally harmful.
(1) https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/
(2) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3207614/
Crash Anecdotes (Community Reports):
https://www.reddit.com/r/FinasterideSyndrome/comments/1fib3ay/who_crashed_because_of_zinc/
How to Interpret This Page
This page summarizes anecdotal reports and community observations, not medical evidence. “Risk” here refers to how frequently severe or prolonged symptom worsening is reported, not to proven causation or population-wide probability. Individual responses vary widely, and absence of issues in some users does not rule out significant reactions in others.
Risk Signal Based on User Reports
Reports of Symptom Flares in Some Users (for PFS/PSSD/PAS):
Among individuals who already have PFS/PSSD/PAS, zinc supplementation is occasionally mentioned in community reports as preceding symptom flares, with reports more often involving higher doses. Many users report no issues, and zinc is an essential nutrient, but reactions appear highly individual. Because zinc also has real-world dose-related downsides (GI upset and potential copper deficiency with long-term high intake), some in the community prefer to avoid high-dose zinc experimentation and focus on dietary intake or lab-confirmed deficiency correction.
For individuals without these conditions, zinc is widely used and generally well tolerated at nutritional doses, though high-dose supplementation can still cause side effects and imbalance trace minerals over time. Given the uncertainty and the variability described in anecdotes, some people judge a cautious, dose-aware approach to be prudent.
Evidence basis: Established nutrition and safety guidance; mechanistic/lab findings on 5-alpha-reductase in experimental systems; anecdotal reports (online forums, self-reports); no controlled studies examining PFS/PSSD/PAS-specific outcomes.