Dutasteride – One year update

I can hardly believe it has been a year since I started taking dutasteride. I reviewed my dutasteride journal this week and summarized my findings by quarter.

1^st Quarter

• I was flying high because there was an immediate improvement in strength.
• Improvement in leg strength was the most noticeable.
• I felt stronger and had very little pain.
• Many of my muscles felt alive again … tightness after exercising.
• Exercised seven days a week.
• Continued to add exercises and weight until my longer program was two hours long.
• No apparent side effects.

2^nd Quarter

• Stabilized at the new stronger level.
• Didn’t notice quite the same level of high (strength) that I experienced in the first quarter.
• For a week in May I had a significant amount of neck pain.
• Continued to exercise for 120 minutes every other day and 15-20 minutes on the off days.
• No apparent side effects.

3^rd Quarter

• Exercised for 115-120 minutes every other day and 15-20 minutes on the off days.
• No apparent change in strength. Continue to feel I am stronger than I was six months ago.
• No apparent side effects.

4^th Quarter

• I felt that I was over-training and was no longer enjoying my long exercise program.
• I reduced my long program to 90-95 minutes and it seemed to help.
• I began to experience neck weakness and cramping, often severe.
• In the 11^th month I noticed a slight weakness in the arms.
• In the 12^th month my right arm was weaker
• No apparent side effects.

Final Thoughts:

This has been an interesting twelve month ride. I believe that dutasteride helped initially and that I ended up being stronger than I would have been without it. Over the last three months I have experienced neck pain as well as arm and neck weakness that I had not experienced earlier. What these means for my future only time will tell.

Conclusion:

I am glad I tried dutasteride and will continue to take it for the foreseeable future.