Hi folks,
Some of you may have seen me refer to a wobbly period with my HRT.
What I didn't mention was that this was physiological not merely a 'wtf' emotional moment.
5 weeks ago, despite being monitored by my GP and GIC I thought it would be a bright idea to switch from Finasteride to Dutasteride. I didn't think it would be that big an issue. After all it's just another T to DHT blocker, right? And to be fair to me, I ran out of F.
Well a week after starting the Dutasteride I started getting light-headed spells. I tried eliminating a load of other possibilities and I'm now pretty convinced it's Dutasteride. Today I googled 'dizzy' and 'Dutasteride' and discovered that this is a very common side effect that Glaxo Smith Kline hardly mention. Now admittedly, I have a susceptibility to dizziness with some meds e.g. minocyclin spins me out but I thought I should warn people. GSK may not like me mentioning this to you but it must be done for health and safety. Some of my light-headedness has been quite nasty. It's probably exacerbated by living in a very hot climate, the hottest city in the world, but be careful folks.
Now I have to wait a very long time to get it out my system. It has a huge half-life of up a month.
x
Dutasteride (similar to finasteride) also reduces concentrations of neurosteroids important for mood, learning and memory, such as tetrahydroxydeoxycorticosterone and allopregnanolone. This is why in some people (including women), depression/anxiety is noted, even after discontinuation, with finasteride. Had I known this years ago, I would never have taken either drug.
Please see https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,206700.0.html