How long does dutasteride stay in your system?
Dutasteride can stay in your blood for up to six months after the last capsule. Side effects can last longer. That is called post-finasteride syndrome.
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Dutasteride (Avodart) can still be found in your blood for as long as four to six months after your last capsule, its official US information says. Side effects can last longer. The UK leaflet says the sexual ones may continue after stopping. When they do, it’s known as post-finasteride syndrome (PFS).
If you’ve stopped and something still feels wrong, the drug may not have left you yet. But that can’t tell you whether the problem will pass. PFS is named after finasteride, a related drug, but the checklist doctors and researchers proposed in 2022 covers dutasteride too. PFS is more than sex. The checklist also lists problems with concentration and memory, depression and suicidal thoughts, even with no sexual change.
The story in 3 lines
- With one capsule a day, half the dutasteride in your blood takes about three to five weeks to go (UK information for doctors).
- UK blood services turn donors away for six months after dutasteride, compared with four weeks after finasteride (UK donor rules).
- The UK leaflet says erection, sex drive and ejaculation problems may continue after stopping. Patients call it PFS.
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Michael took finasteride for six months, then dutasteride capsules for two and a half years. About a month after his last capsule, he says, he had “ice cold genitals” and a burning feeling in his penis. The day before he stopped, he’d injected testosterone, hoping it would cancel out the side effects. It didn’t, he says. In the clip, he describes what eased in the months after, and what stayed.
Much of it eased over “four or five months”, he says, with good and bad days. About eight months after stopping, he was still living with what he called “minor erectile dysfunction”.
How long does it take dutasteride to leave your body?
Months. If you’ve taken one capsule a day, the amount in your blood halves roughly every three to five weeks once you stop, says the UK information for doctors. That’s called its half-life. Halving that slowly is why the drug can still be found months later. Finasteride halves in hours.
Dutasteride works by lowering DHT, a hormone made from testosterone. Neither the UK nor the US information says how long DHT takes to climb back once you stop.
Took only one capsule? After a single dose, the UK information gives a shorter half-life: three to nine days. It doesn’t say what happens if you took it for a few days or weeks.
Why do you have to wait six months to give blood?
Because the drug stays in your blood, and your blood could go to a pregnant woman. UK blood services won’t take your blood if you’ve had dutasteride in the last six months. After finasteride, the wait is four weeks.
Dutasteride can harm how a male baby’s sex organs develop in the womb. Both drugs “remain in the blood even after treatment has stopped”, the rules say.
Will the side effects go once dutasteride has left your body?
Not always. The UK leaflet lists erection problems, a lower sex drive and ejaculation problems, and after each one adds: “this may continue after you stop taking Avodart”.
The UK information for doctors describes one study. Men with an enlarged prostate took dutasteride plus a second prostate medicine for a year. Six months after stopping, about half of their sexual side effects had cleared. The rest hadn’t, though by then the drug may have gone from their blood.
Dutasteride after the last capsule
The 2022 checklist counts problems still there three months after stopping as one sign of PFS. With dutasteride, the drug may still be in your blood then. The checklist doesn’t say whether dutasteride needs longer. In some cases, it adds, a lasting problem “may only appear when the drug is stopped”.
Here, a doctor describes PFS plainly. Cobi Reisman, a Dutch urologist and sexologist, explains the three-month rule and says nobody knows the cause yet.
You don’t have to wait for the drug to clear before you see your GP or report it. Our article on dutasteride side effects covers how common they are.
What can I do?
These medicines help many people. If you have side effects, what to do next is a decision for you and your prescriber.
The MHRA, the UK medicines regulator, says to talk to your doctor if you have sexual problems on dutasteride, and as soon as possible if you get depression or suicidal thoughts. If you’re struggling, Samaritans are on 116 123.
If something hasn’t lifted since you stopped, write down your dates and what changed: “Avodart, one capsule a day from June 2022, last capsule 14 March 2025. Cold, numb genitals since April 2025.”
Three questions for your GP
- Could anything other than dutasteride explain this, and how can we check?
- The leaflet says these problems may continue after stopping. Could this be that?
- Can this go on my record and be reported to the Yellow Card scheme?
You could start with: “I stopped dutasteride months ago, and this still hasn't gone.”
Many people say it took time to be taken seriously. Take the leaflet’s words with you. You can report it without a doctor agreeing.
Report it: it helps everyone
A doctor’s note helps you. A report to the medicines regulator helps everyone else: it is how patterns get noticed.
- No proof needed. A suspicion is enough, even years after stopping.
- Where: the Yellow Card scheme in the UK, MedWatch in the US.
- Use the right words. If symptoms continued after stopping, write Post 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor syndrome (MedDRA 10082430).
Our reporting guide walks you through it
What else do people ask?
Can I get dutasteride out of my system faster? Neither the UK nor the US information describes a way to speed it up. If you’ve read about ways to flush it out, ask a pharmacist or your GP first.
Is dutasteride still in my semen after I stop? The UK leaflet says it has been found in semen, and tells men to use a condom if their partner is or may be pregnant. It doesn’t say for how long after stopping, so ask your prescriber if that matters.
Does dutasteride still affect a PSA test after stopping? For a while. Dutasteride roughly halves your PSA result. PSA is a blood test used to check the prostate. The UK information for doctors says it’s back to normal within six months of stopping. Tell whoever checks your PSA when you last took it.
Michael calls the months after his last capsule “definitely scary”. If something has outlasted your last capsule, read about post-finasteride syndrome and report it.
Sources
- Avodart 0.5 mg soft capsules, UK summary of product characteristics, electronic medicines compendium (emc), text revised 11 August 2026 (last updated on emc 19 August 2026). Section 5.2: “Single doses of 5 mg or less showed evidence of rapid clearance and a short half-life of 3 to 9 days. At therapeutic concentrations, following repeat dosing of 0.5 mg/day, the slower, linear elimination pathway is dominating and the half-life is approx. 3-5 weeks.” Steady state reached after about 6 months of daily dosing. Section 4.8: sexual adverse events “may persist after treatment discontinuation. The role of dutasteride in this persistence is unknown.” Section 5.1, effects on sexual function: dutasteride-tamsulosin fixed-dose combination against placebo in sexually active men with an enlarged prostate (243 and 246 men), 12 months; “approximately half of these resolved within 6 months post-treatment”. Section 4.4: PSA falls by about 50% after 6 months of treatment; “Total serum PSA levels return to baseline within 6 months of discontinuing treatment.” Section 4.6: dutasteride recovered from semen. Section 5.1: dutasteride “reduces circulating levels of dihydrotestosterone (DHT)” by blocking the enzymes that convert testosterone to DHT. Neither this document nor the US label gives a time for DHT to recover after stopping, or a way to speed elimination.
- Avodart 0.5 mg soft capsules, patient information leaflet, emc, last revised March 2026. Section 4, common side effects, each followed by “this may continue after you stop taking Avodart”. Section 2: “Use a condom during sexual intercourse. Dutasteride has been found in the semen of men taking Avodart. If your partner is or may be pregnant, you must avoid exposing her to your semen”. The leaflet gives no time after stopping for this, and does not mention blood donation.
- Avodart (dutasteride), US prescribing information and patient information, revised October 2023. DailyMed, US National Library of Medicine. Section 12.3: terminal half-life “approximately 5 weeks at steady state”; serum concentrations “remain detectable (greater than 0.1 ng/mL) for up to 4 to 6 months after discontinuation of treatment”. Section 5.5: men “should not donate blood until at least 6 months have passed following their last dose”. Patient information: “You should not donate blood while taking AVODART or for 6 months after you have stopped AVODART.”
- Joint UK Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC), Whole Blood and Components Donor Selection Guidelines, Anti-androgens, edition 203, release 82, 17 September 2026. Must not donate if “Dutasteride (Avodart®) taken in the last 6 months” or “Finasteride (Propecia®, Proscar®) taken in the last 4 weeks”. Both “can cause abnormal development of the sexual organs of a male baby within the womb”; “They remain in the blood even after treatment has stopped.”
- Healy D, Bahrick A, Bak M and colleagues. Diagnostic criteria for enduring sexual dysfunction after treatment with antidepressants, finasteride and isotretinoin. Int J Risk Saf Med 2022;33(1):65-76. Proposed criteria agreed by an expert panel. Section 5: “Finasteride, dutasteride and saw palmetto are 5 alpha-reductase inhibitors that can trigger an enduring sexual dysfunction”; criterion 6, “The problem is present for ≥3 months after stopping treatment”; cognitive impairment, depression and suicidality “can occur independently of any sexual difficulties”. Section 9: “In some cases, an enduring sexual dysfunction may only appear when the drug is stopped”. The paper does not discuss dutasteride’s half-life or a longer wait for it.
- MHRA, Finasteride and dutasteride: updated safety warnings for psychiatric side effects and sexual dysfunction, Drug Safety Update, 11 May 2026. Patients on dutasteride “should consult their healthcare professional as soon as possible if they develop suicidal thoughts or depression”, and “should contact their healthcare professional if they experience sexual dysfunction”.
- Moral Medicine, Man Continues Dealing with Sexual Side Effects even after Stopping Dutasteride, interview with Michael, published 31 May 2024, 24 minutes, quoted from YouTube’s automatic captions. Finasteride for six months, then oral dutasteride for two and a half years, at 7:25 to 7:37. Testosterone injected the day before he stopped, at 10:20 to 10:33. “Ice cold genitals” and a burning sensation about a month after stopping, at 11:06 to 11:14. “Four or five months” at 12:38 to 12:41; “it was definitely scary” at 12:54 to 12:55; “today I’m dealing with the minor erectile dysfunction” at 13:26 to 13:30; about eight months off the drug at 13:33 to 13:36. Embedded from 12:37 to 13:52. His story on our site: Michael’s story.
- ISSM International Society for Sexual Medicine, What is post finasteride syndrome, and how do you treat it?, video, 5 May 2023. Speaker, as named on screen: Cobi Reisman, urologist and certified sexologist, the Netherlands. The three-month marker at about 0:44; the cause not known at about 1:33. Embedded to stop at 1:46. ISSM’s description says speakers give their own views.
- MedDRA term and code: Post 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor syndrome, 10082430 (covers finasteride and dutasteride;
meddra.ts). - Image: Editor182, Avodart, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, served from this site.
Sources checked on 27 October 2026. AI-assisted writing and review, not clinical review.
This information does not replace medical advice. Talk to your doctor before you make any decision about your treatment.
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Dutasteride: what the official texts say, country by country
For the 5α-reductase inhibitor dutasteride (Avodart), the product information we read in the United Kingdom, in the United States, in Canada, in Australia, in France, in Italy, in Spain (where it is called Avidart) and in Brazil, and that of another product in India, says that the sexual side effects linked to dutasteride may persist after treatment is stopped, and that it is not known what part dutasteride plays in this. In each of those texts the sentence is a footnote to the sexual side effects in its tables of side effects. In Canada, the text also has a paragraph in its warnings section saying there have been reports of sexual dysfunction that continued after medicines of this kind were stopped. Patients call lasting effects after dutasteride and finasteride post-finasteride syndrome (PFS). The wording a European Commission decision set for the EU in 2025 is about mood, and has no sentence about sexual side effects continuing after the medicine is stopped.
This is a record of what each text says and of the date it prints. A text is quoted in its own words, or summarised where the row says so. It is not a comparison of countries. All medicines and countries
Dutasteride: the official texts, country by country (29 texts read)
| Country or region | What the text says | Document | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.8 Undesirable effects · AVODART AS MONOTHERAPY Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.8 Undesirable effects · AVODART IN COMBINATION WITH THE ALPHA-BLOCKER TAMSULOSIN The same text also says5.1 Pharmacodynamic properties · Effects on sexual function: The words about continuing after stopping stand among the adverse reactions. The warnings section of this text has no entry on sexual function. This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. | Text for professionals Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC): Avodart 0.5 mg soft capsulesAvodart 0.5 mg soft capsules, GlaxoSmithKline UK Limited · Read in a compendium of product information: emcAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence; 2 related documents, with no such sentence | Text revisedChecked |
| European Union | This text has no sentence about sexual side effects continuing after the medicine is stopped. This is wording for national product texts. There is no single EU product text for this medicine. | Document from the regulator Finasteride- and dutasteride-containing medicinal products, Article 31 referral: Annex III "Amendments to relevant sections of the Product Information"Read on the regulator's site: European Medicines AgencyAlso on record: 3 more related documents, with no such sentence | The text prints no dateChecked |
| United States | A general sentence about side effects that may continue. It does not name sexual function.5 WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS · 5.6 Effect on Semen Characteristics Sexual side effects that continue after stopping6 ADVERSE REACTIONS · 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience · Monotherapy · Table 1 Sexual side effects that continue after stopping6 ADVERSE REACTIONS · 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience · Combination with Alpha-blocker Therapy (CombAT) · Table 2 The words about continuing after stopping stand among the adverse reactions. The warnings section of this text has no entry on sexual function: the paragraph shown from it is about semen. This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. On 20 October 2026 we searched the labels in openFDA, the FDA's open database. The footnote that these sexual side effects may persist after treatment is stopped, which this row shows, stood on 52 of the 72 labels in that database that name dutasteride, each time among the adverse reactions and in no warnings section. The line for patients that some of these events may continue after stopping stood on 63 of the 72. On 9 of the 11 labels that have that line and not the footnote, the tables are printed as pictures, so the footnote could not be searched in their text. | Text for professionals AVODART (dutasteride) soft gelatin capsules: Full Prescribing InformationAvodart soft gelatin capsules 0.5 mg, Waylis Therapeutics LLC · Read in the government's medicines database: DailyMedAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence | Text revisedChecked |
| Canada | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping7. Warnings and Precautions · Reproductive Health · Sexual Function: Sexual side effects that continue after stopping8. Adverse Reactions · 8.2. Clinical Trial Adverse Reactions · Dutasteride Monotherapy · Table 2 The same text also says8. Adverse Reactions · 8.2. Clinical Trial Adverse Reactions · Dutasteride Monotherapy · Table 2 Sexual side effects that continue after stopping8. Adverse Reactions · 8.2. Clinical Trial Adverse Reactions · Combination with Alpha-Blocker Therapy (CombAT) study · Table 3 Spelling and punctuation are the document's own. This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. | Text for professionals Product Monograph Including Patient Medication Information: AVODART dutasteride capsulesAVODART capsules 0.5 mg, GlaxoSmithKline Inc. · Read in the regulator's own database: Drug Product DatabaseAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence; related document, with no such sentence | Text approvedChecked |
| Australia | Sexual side effects that continue after stoppingSection 4.8Section 4.8 of Australia's product information for Avodart says, below its tables of side effects, that the sexual side effects linked to dutasteride may go on once treatment ends, and that it is not known what part dutasteride plays in this.Summarised, not quoted, because of the TGA's access terms. The regulator's site asks readers to accept its terms before it shows this text. | Text for professionals AUSTRALIAN PI – AVODART (DUTASTERIDE) SOFT CAPSULESAVODART, GlaxoSmithKline Australia Pty Ltd · Read in the regulator's own database: TGA eBSAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with no such sentence | Text revisedChecked |
| New Zealand | We could not open this text on 20 October 2026: the site did not answer. This says nothing about what the text contains. | Text for professionalsWe tried: www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/Datasheet/datasheet.htmAlso on record: patients' leaflet, could not be opened | Tried |
| Germany | We could not open this text on 20 October 2026: the holder publishes no text; the site asks visitors to accept its terms first, which we did not do. This says nothing about what the text contains. | Text for professionalsAvodart 0,5 mg Weichkapseln, GlaxoSmithKline GmbH & Co. KGWe tried: de.gsk.com/de-de/produkte/Also on record: 2 patients' leaflets, could not be opened; 2 related documents, with no such sentence | Tried |
| France | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.8. Effets indésirables · AVODART en monothérapie Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.8. Effets indésirables The same text also says5.1 Propriétés pharmacodynamiques · Effets sur la fonction sexuelle The text itself prints no date of revision. The words about continuing after stopping stand among the adverse reactions. The warnings section of this text has no entry on sexual function. This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. | Text for professionals Résumé des Caractéristiques du ProduitAVODART 0,5 mg, capsule molle, Laboratoire GLAXOSMITHKLINE · Read in the government's medicines database: Base de données publique des médicamentsAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence; related document, with such a sentence; 2 related documents, with no such sentence | Updated by the regulatorChecked |
| Italy | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.8 Effetti indesiderati · AVODART IN MONOTERAPIA Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.8 Effetti indesiderati · AVODART IN COMBINAZIONE CON L’ALFA BLOCCANTE TAMSULOSINA The same text also says5.1 Proprietà farmacodinamiche · Effetti sulla funzione sessuale The text itself prints no date of revision. The words about continuing after stopping stand among the adverse reactions. The warnings section of this text has no entry on sexual function. This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. | Text for professionals Riassunto delle caratteristiche del prodottoAvodart 0,5 mg capsule molli, GlaxoSmithKline S.p.A. · Read in the regulator's own database: Banca Dati FarmaciAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence | Made available by the regulatorChecked |
| Spain | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.8. Reacciones adversas · AVIDART EN MONOTERAPIA Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.8. Reacciones adversas · AVIDART EN COMBINACIÓN CON EL ALFA-BLOQUEANTE TAMSULOSINA The same text also says5.1. Propiedades farmacodinámicas · Efectos sobre la función sexual Spelling and punctuation are the document's own. The words about continuing after stopping stand among the adverse reactions. The warnings section of this text has no entry on sexual function. This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. | Text for professionals Ficha técnica Avidart 0,5 mg cápsulas blandasAvidart 0,5 mg cápsulas blandas, Glaxosmithkline S.A. · Read in the regulator's own database: CIMAAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence | Text revisedChecked |
| Brazil | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping9. REAÇÕES ADVERSAS · Avodart® como monoterapia para HPB Sexual side effects that continue after stopping9. REAÇÕES ADVERSAS · Tratamento Combinado com Avodart® e tansulosina para HPB This is the holder's own copy. The regulator's database refused our requests (it blocks by country; we asked from Denmark). The words about continuing after stopping stand among the adverse reactions. The warnings section of this text has no entry on sexual function. This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. | Text for professionals Avodart®: Modelo de texto de bula – Profissional de SaúdeAvodart 0,5 mg cápsulas gelatinosas moles, GlaxoSmithKline Brasil Ltda. · Read on the holder's own site: GSK BrasilAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence | Text approvedChecked |
| India | Sexual side effects that continue after stoppingUndesirable Effects · Clinical Trials Experience · Monotherapy This is the holder's own copy. This regulator publishes no database of such texts. The originator product's text could not be opened. This is the text of another product, the one named in this row. This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. | Text for professionals DUPROST capsulesDUPROST dutasteride 0.5 mg soft gelatin capsule, Cipla Ltd. · Read on the holder's own site: Cipla (ciplamed.com) | Text revisedChecked |
Brand names
These are the brand names of dutasteride we saw in the official lists, compendia and regulators' pages we opened on or after 20 October 2026. A country may have more.
- Avodart
- United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Germany, Italy
- Duagen
- Italy
- Prodirexan
- Italy
- Decuster
- Italy
- Vivister
- Italy
- Produxen
- Italy
- Produtal
- Italy
- Dutas
- Italy
- Durital
- Italy
What is not known
- The texts for professionals we read say these sexual side effects may continue after treatment is stopped, and that the part dutasteride plays in their continuing is not known. (source)
Code and reporting
In a report to a medicines regulator, the term is Post 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor syndrome (MedDRA code 10082430). Where to report, country by country
Every row in this table was checked on or after . To quote this record, name SIDEfxHUB and give this page's address. All medicines and countries · The whole record as a file: JSON · CSV · How these texts are checked
You may reuse this record under CC BY 4.0 if you credit SIDEfxHUB and give this page's address. The licence covers our compilation, not the texts quoted in it, in the original or in our translation, and not the article above.