Shrinks the prostate over months rather than weeks — and halves your PSA, which anyone interpreting that test must know.
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Dutasteride is a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor. It blocks the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the hormone that drives prostate growth.
Unlike finasteride, which blocks one of the two forms of the enzyme, dutasteride blocks both — so it lowers DHT more completely. Whether that produces a meaningfully better clinical result is debated; the side effect profile is broadly similar.
It shrinks the prostate rather than relaxing it, which is why it works slowly and why it is used differently from tamsulosin.
It takes three to six months for a noticeable effect, and up to a year for the full one. That is genuinely how the drug works — it is shrinking tissue, not relaxing muscle.
Most people who abandon it did so at eight weeks. If quicker relief is needed, tamsulosin works within days and the two are often started together.
Do not donate blood while taking it, or for six months after stopping, because of the risk to a pregnant recipient.
Sexual side effects, or a strong wish to avoid them, are a reasonable basis for choosing a different treatment.
Few significant drug interactions. Ritonavir, ketoconazole and diltiazem raise levels, usually without practical consequence.
Dutasteride roughly halves the PSA reading within six months. Anyone interpreting a PSA test in a man taking it must double the result to compare it against normal ranges.
Failing to account for this can hide a prostate cancer. Equally, a PSA that rises while on dutasteride is significant even if the absolute number still looks normal, and warrants investigation.
Get a baseline PSA before starting, and a new baseline at six months.
Yes, to continue established treatment for an enlarged prostate where the diagnosis is documented.
We will not start it without a proper assessment, which includes a PSA test, a urine test, an assessment of symptom severity, and — importantly — a prostate examination, which we cannot perform by video.
Urinary symptoms in men are not automatically a benign prostate. Blood in the urine, unexplained weight loss, bone pain, or symptoms developing rapidly all need investigating rather than treating. Getting that wrong delays a prostate cancer diagnosis.
Dutasteride is available as a generic and costs more than finasteride but is no longer expensive.
Finasteride is considerably cheaper and, for most men with an enlarged prostate, works comparably. Cost is a legitimate factor in the choice.
The combination capsule with tamsulosin costs more than the two taken separately, though it is simpler.
It can be stopped without tapering, but the prostate regrows over months and symptoms return.
Reducing caffeine and alcohol, avoiding fluids in the two hours before bed, and double voiding all help, and are worth trying first for mild symptoms.
Three to six months for a noticeable difference, up to a year for full effect. If you need relief sooner, tamsulosin acts within days and is often taken alongside.
Yes — it roughly halves it. Anyone interpreting the result must double it. Make sure this is known, because otherwise it can mask a cancer.
It can — reduced libido, erectile difficulty and reduced ejaculate volume are all recognised. Most resolve on stopping; a minority report persistent effects. That is worth weighing honestly before starting, particularly for hair loss.
Dutasteride blocks both enzyme forms and lowers DHT more; finasteride is cheaper and works comparably for most men. Side effects are broadly similar.
Intact capsules are fine. A leaking or broken capsule should not be handled by anyone who is or may become pregnant.
No — not while taking it or for six months after stopping.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 30, 2026
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It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
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