19 replies to this topic

[claytablets]

I've been on 25 mgs of spiro since this june. I have been taking it for about 3.5 months now. Though I do notice an improvement in the oiliness of my skin, my acne just seems to be getting worse. Ever since getting off accutane my skin has gotten slowly (but progressively) worse. I'm torn between upping my dose of spiro to 50 mgs and/or getting on an antibiotic. I keep getting tiny pustules and cysts near my mouth and chin. It's so aggrevating! The rest of my face is relatively clear except this area but it's so embaressing sometimes.

The only reason I'm nervous to up my spiro dose is because I've experienced pretty bad hair loss since I started taking this and it's finally just started to let up a bit. I don't want to up the dosage just to have it start all over again, you know? I also know upping the dose could trigger new breakouts. :/

As far as adding an antibiotic to my regimen, I don't know. I think this would significantly help with the cysts I keep getting near my mouth but I know they are not good to be on long term. I also don't want to make my IBS worse. Grrrrr!

Another irritating aspect of spiro is that I spot almost all of the time! I feel like I almost CONSTANTLY have a period and it's making it nearly impossible to have a normal sex life. I'm starting to consider going on BC pills (to stop the spotting/longer period) but ugh, I hate being on birth control and I really don't want to add to my hair loss.

Any input here would be GREATLY appreciated!

[JMTM18017]

Aaagh! Tell your doctor you're spotting non-stop on spiro, that's not good! It must be putting your hormones completely out of whack!

[claytablets]

I plan to, thanks.

[melissa6980]

You are so beautiful! I know acne can make us feel really bad about our looks, but when I see a beautiful woman with acne, to me, she's still beautiful. Uuurgh, I know having to make decisions about how to treat the acne can be frustrating. What about adding some sort of topical if you aren't already using one like benzoyl peroxide or retinoids? If you used retinoids, you could use an antibiotic when starting the retinoids to head off the initial outbreak and clear up inflammation, then wean off the antibiotic and keep using the retinoids to maintain the clear skin over the long term. A member called cvd did that and it really helped her. Perhaps, looking into food allergies/sensitivities would help. I think a combination approach might be helpful, I'm trying to attack my acne from as many fronts as possible, looking into diet, topicals, etc.

[Natashagirl]

claytablets, on 27 September 2011 - 05:58 PM, said:

I've been on 25 mgs of spiro since this june. I have been taking it for about 3.5 months now. Though I do notice an improvement in the oiliness of my skin, my acne just seems to be getting worse. Ever since getting off accutane my skin has gotten slowly (but progressively) worse. I'm torn between upping my dose of spiro to 50 mgs and/or getting on an antibiotic. I keep getting tiny pustules and cysts near my mouth and chin. It's so aggrevating! The rest of my face is relatively clear except this area but it's so embaressing sometimes.

The only reason I'm nervous to up my spiro dose is because I've experienced pretty bad hair loss since I started taking this and it's finally just started to let up a bit. I don't want to up the dosage just to have it start all over again, you know? I also know upping the dose could trigger new breakouts. :/

As far as adding an antibiotic to my regimen, I don't know. I think this would significantly help with the cysts I keep getting near my mouth but I know they are not good to be on long term. I also don't want to make my IBS worse. Grrrrr!

Another irritating aspect of spiro is that I spot almost all of the time! I feel like I almost CONSTANTLY have a period and it's making it nearly impossible to have a normal sex life. I'm starting to consider going on BC pills (to stop the spotting/longer period) but ugh, I hate being on birth control and I really don't want to add to my hair loss.

Any input here would be GREATLY appreciated!

I guess you should up your dose at first and wait for couple of months. BCp's are an option, but think about what could happen as u stop taking them. I've read that spiro's results are individually different for everyone. My derm says that I have to be patient with this drug, 'cuz it takes log time to work ( 6-8 months).

[claytablets]

Thanks guys. What I really would like advice on is.... adding birth control with spiro, I've read that these two combinations together actually help clear your skin more than just spiro alone. Is this true? I'm terrified because up until I started taking birth control last year, my skin was perfectly clear since taking accutane. As soon as I started the pill my skin started getting more oily again and it triggered the onset of the acne I have now. I'm really afraid to get on birth control just to see my skin get worse! But I can't handle bleeding all of the freaking time, I'm so incredibly sick of it!

melissa6980, on 01 October 2011 - 06:52 PM, said:

You are so beautiful! I know acne can make us feel really bad about our looks, but when I see a beautiful woman with acne, to me, she's still beautiful. Uuurgh, I know having to make decisions about how to treat the acne can be frustrating. What about adding some sort of topical if you aren't already using one like benzoyl peroxide or retinoids? If you used retinoids, you could use an antibiotic when starting the retinoids to head off the initial outbreak and clear up inflammation, then wean off the antibiotic and keep using the retinoids to maintain the clear skin over the long term. A member called cvd did that and it really helped her. Perhaps, looking into food allergies/sensitivities would help. I think a combination approach might be helpful, I'm trying to attack my acne from as many fronts as possible, looking into diet, topicals, etc.

Thank you so much! I agree with you. Acne has such a sad way of making lots of beautiful, healthy girls (in my opinion EVERYONE is beautiful) feel so ugly.

I am using differin... I'm not sure how much it helps. It seems to dry my skin out a lot.

[feebedel]

It depends on what birth control you use. Some people react differently to others. Try a different one and give it time and hopefully it will clear up. It SHOULD make it better than spiro alone.

[claytablets]

Okay, thanks!

[May853]

Hi, you are losing hair? I have been on 50 mg of spiro since early May/late April and I have had serious shedding since about mid August. I am also having breast issues which I think are spiro-related, so I am coming off of it. I didn't have any spotting except when I went up to 100 mg. That was annoying as hell, so I can understand your frustration. I talked to my doctor yesterday, and the breast issues weren't as serious to him until I mentioned that I'm still shedding like crazy. He told me maybe spiro isn't the med for me. I didn't think it was working that well acne-wise anyway. I don't know about bcp. I was on them for a long time, and I think they helped me some with acne, but I can't take them anymore. In my case, I think I need to let my hormones alone. Just wish they'd leave ME alone.

[claytablets]

Yes, I did have a lot of shedding but it finally started to let up. I'm not so worried about it anymore. What do you mean by breast issue?

I just got on birth control yesterday and will probably up my dose to 50 mgs. I hope that doesn't trigger more shedding. Keep my fingers crossed!

[May853]

I have a palpable mass. I have heard that sometimes it can cause cysts. Hopefully it will go away here shortly. They are really sore, much more so than usual. This seems to have gotten worse over time.

How long did your shedding last out of curiosity? Mine is going on 2 months roughly.

[y3rfd0g]

My good friend was taking spiro in combo with bcp. I haven no idea the dosage nor the brand of bcp. She would complain of having random periods and spotting. she tried quitting all medication and complained of breaking out.

Yes, it does depend on what birth control you are on. I think yasmin is good to control acne. For me it is orthotricycline, and I'm deathly afraid of going off of it or switching to a new one!

what is your regimen like?

[claytablets]

May853, on 11 October 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

How long did your shedding last out of curiosity? Mine is going on 2 months roughly.

Hmmmm....mine was shedding pretty badly for a little over 3 months and then it slowly started letting up. I still lose hair (partially because my hair is very long--halfway down my back) but it's let up significantly (thank goodness!)

Hmmm. Well until a few days ago my regimen just consisted of 25 mgs of spiro and I would occasionally use differin (but not often because it dries the hell out of my face).

I started adding birth control with the 25 mgs this past monday. I also plan in the next week to up my dose of sprio to 50mgs (I'm just waiting to get over this nasty cold I just got). So hopefully the combo of upping the spiro and the birth control will start helping my breakouts more.

The birth control is the generic for Loestrin ( Microgestin I believe?)

[May853]

Okay, so my shed wasn't necessarily long. I'm going to see what my GYN says here about my boob issue, because I just feel it's too much of a coincidence. Thanks for the reply.

How is your skin doing? Do you see much change? I didn't see much difference with 50 mgs. I also have IBS issues. I don't want to mess with antibiotics at this point. Everything is pretty stable in that regard, and I'd hate to upset the balance.

[claytablets]

Well, ever since a year ago (after getting off accutane) my skin has just slowly gotten worse and worse. It's still soooo much better than it was before but still. I've noticed the spiro has helped the oiliness of my skin but not so much my acne really. But, I am also only on 25 mgs (which according to some docs isn't even enough to make any significant difference at all) so we shall see.

Goodluck with your boobs! lol

[claytablets]

Ha so for two days now I've been taking 50 mgs of spiro instead of 25mgs. I have no side effects. This makes me want to just bump up to 75mgs to see.

When I first started taking 25 mgs it took me like, 3 weeks until the side effects finally tapered off. I had trouble breathing, my anxiety was through the roof, but idk, maybe I'm used to the medication so I'm not affected by changing the dose (to a certain degree lol)

I was really afraid that if I upped the dose that I'd have to suffer through weeks of side effects again... maybe not!

[May853]

claytablets, on 14 October 2011 - 12:34 AM, said:

Well, ever since a year ago (after getting off accutane) my skin has just slowly gotten worse and worse. It's still soooo much better than it was before but still. I've noticed the spiro has helped the oiliness of my skin but not so much my acne really. But, I am also only on 25 mgs (which according to some docs isn't even enough to make any significant difference at all) so we shall see.

Goodluck with your boobs! lol

LOL, thanks. I hope you have good results with the higher dosage. It's weird with meds, I never thought bcps were doing much for my acne, then when I got off of them last year, for the first time ever, I had, and still have, jawline breakouts. Now since getting off spiro, I've got a nasty breakout there as well and I'm starting to break out more in general. So maybe it was doing more than I thought. I think my problem is, if I'm not almost totally clear on a week-to-week basis, then I think things aren't working. I hope raising your dosage doesn't cause unbearable side effects. But maybe if you give yourself several days with 50 you'll be okay. Are you raising your dosage per the docs orders? You should be careful, esp since you had such SEs at the low dosage. Sorry, that's the mother in me.

PS I think my boob lumps have gotten smaller already. I'm going to see what my dermatologist says. Maybe he'll put me back on it. Or maybe not.

Edited by May853, 21 October 2011 - 07:46 AM.

[claytablets]

See, ever since I went on accutane I'm SO hell bent on having perfectly clear skin because that is what I've been used to for the past 2 years. It's hard to adjust to having acne again. My skin has gotten better already with the 50 mgs. I discussed upping to 50 with my doc, and hopefully they'll agree on me going up to 75 mgs soon. I heard if you want any real results with spiro you have to be on over 100mgs at least.

hopefully you can get back on it!! goodluck!

[May853]

Thanks. Yeah, my skin looks bad right now. I am really upset about it. Ugh ugh ugh. Best of luck to you as well.

It really stinks that Accutane isn't a long-term solution.

[Eradorael]

Good luck! sounds like you are on the right track. I started out on 50mg/day but now I'm on 150mg/day, and I very rarely break out. I just recently started to have spotting issues so I'm on Aviane now (bcp) to take care of that. No issues so far.