The Prostate.....

[Chesleyt (imported)]

about 5 years depending on how fast your prostate is growing it can be longer also they can repeat it again if needed in the future.

[AnneK_TG (imported)]

As far as I know, any kind of chemical castration will shrink the prostate.

I have been on Dutasteride, for BPH for about 2.5 years and Estradiol for almost 6 months. Hopefully that will shrink mine.

[Riven (imported)]

Thanks Chesleyt. Thanks AnneK_TG. Could you tell us about any side effects you experienced with Dutasteride?

[HumanFly (imported)]

As far as I know, any kind of chemical castration will shrink the prostate. I tried Cyproterone Acetate (CA) about 10 years back (to lower my sex drive) and within a day of starting I could feel my urine flow was increasing so that meant my prostate was shrinking already. I didn't stay on CA because the side effects bothered me badly (hot flushes were bad, and I was losing sleep) and have not used any since. But my prostate is now enlarged and my urologist has offered TURP (surgical procedure to 'core' out the prostate) or Finasteride to make it shrink. I'm nervous about the possibility of TURP causing urinary incontinence and/or impotence, so I think I'll opt for Finasteride.

Have they offered bicalutimide? That is the anti-androgen they use nowadays on people with prostate cancer rather than cyproterone (I know this as my Dad had it while he was being treated for prostate cancer this year).

[AnneK_TG (imported)]

Thanks AnneK_TG. Could you tell us about any side effects you experienced with Dutasteride?

Not much, other that reduced libido. One benefit is it's often used as the T blocker with Estrogen, so I don't need another. This means I get to avoid the problems with spiro.

[Riven (imported)]

Hi HumanFly. It looks like bicalutimide has quite a few side effects, including gynecomastia and I don't seek feminisation so I don't think it would suit me. But thanks for the thought.

[erikboy (imported)]

I am 45 and just recently, about a year ago started to notice that peeing is slightly restricted. But at about 2 months after being on androcur, this symptom started to vanish. By now restriction is completely gone. Also psa has dropped more than 5 fold