4 replies to this topic

[mommabear]

Hello everyone. My daughter(15) just started her 4th week on spironolactone. We are like a lot of people on this board, we tried EVERYTHING(except acutane) to get rid of her severe acne that has plagued her since she was 10 years old
The first three weeks were horrible, so many whiteheads, pustules literally couldn't count them all. Yesterday she had a microdermabrasion and salicylic peel, which seemed to help break up the congestion. She started at 50 mg and her GYN upped her to 100mg. I have made the decision to get this new script at wal mart instead of rite aid. Rite aid gets their generic spironolactone from Qualitest and I have read to many reviews on this board saying they think this med could be defective.
Anyways it has been so heart wrenching to watch my beautiful daughter lose her self confidence due to something that seems out of here control. I would trade places with her in a heartbeat so she wouldn't have to go thru this (
Thanks to everyone on this board, it' has helped so much!

[sadformydaughter]

Hi mommabear. I joined the site (after being a long-time lurker) just so that I could respond to your post. I'm sorry, I don't have any experience with spironolactone, but that and birth control are close to the only things my daughter (17) hasn't tried to help her acne. What you said about your daughter losing her confidence and wishing that you could trade places with her made me teary, because that is exactly how I feel also. My daughter just finished a nine month course of accutane nine days ago. She was never clear for longer than a week and a half the whole course, although the acne she did get wasn't leaving any red marks or scars anymore, thank God, and it did amazing things for her existing marks and scars. She seems to already be breaking out a bit more frequently than when she was on accutane, and we're both terrified that the acne she gets will progress to being as bad as it was pre-accutane.The uncertainty is agonizing.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that there's another mom here who is struggling to get through all of this, too. It's truly the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with, and I'm so sorry that you are having to deal with it also.

[the uphill battle]

Tell her to hang in there! I saw a lot of improvement after 6 months and then even more drastic results at about 9 months. I've been on it for 3 years now and it has really changed my skin for the better. It hasn't been a "cure," but it's been the closest thing to it. I do have clear days and I never get deep painful cysts anymore..NEVER! That in itself is a God-send. Just reassure your daughter to be patient and that it will be worth the wait. Oh, and I didn't see real results from taking any less than 200mg/daily..so that's what I've been doing and plan on continuing until my husband and I decide to try to conceive. So if you do find that she's not improving, you may need to up the dose. Hope that's helpful! I'm glad she found it at this age. I didn't discover it until I was 24, so many physical and emotional scars by that point.

[mommabear]

Hi mommabear. I joined the site (after being a long-time lurker) just so that I could respond to your post. I'm sorry, I don't have any experience with spironolactone, but that and birth control are close to the only things my daughter (17) hasn't tried to help her acne. What you said about your daughter losing her confidence and wishing that you could trade places with her made me teary, because that is exactly how I feel also. My daughter just finished a nine month course of accutane nine days ago. She was never clear for longer than a week and a half the whole course, although the acne she did get wasn't leaving any red marks or scars anymore, thank God, and it did amazing things for her existing marks and scars. She seems to already be breaking out a bit more frequently than when she was on accutane, and we're both terrified that the acne she gets will progress to being as bad as it was pre-accutane.The uncertainty is agonizing.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that there's another mom here who is struggling to get through all of this, too. It's truly the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with, and I'm so sorry that you are having to deal with it also.

Hello, thanks for your reply, sorry that you are going thru this too.
I hope your daughter is doing better, I have heard that accutane does a great job in clearing acne!
Please give us updates, I would like to compare our journeys since we went different routes for a cure.
This morning my daughters face was definitely dryer, large peeling flakes of skin, it looks bad! Could be from the acid peel or spironolactone, who knows. She has no other side effects from the meds, so far.
How about your girl, any side effects?
Trying to stay positive, and good luck to you guys!

Tell her to hang in there! I saw a lot of improvement after 6 months and then even more drastic results at about 9 months. I've been on it for 3 years now and it has really changed my skin for the better. It hasn't been a "cure," but it's been the closest thing to it. I do have clear days and I never get deep painful cysts anymore..NEVER! That in itself is a God-send. Just reassure your daughter to be patient and that it will be worth the wait. Oh, and I didn't see real results from taking any less than 200mg/daily..so that's what I've been doing and plan on continuing until my husband and I decide to try to conceive. So if you do find that she's not improving, you may need to up the dose. Hope that's helpful! I'm glad she found it at this age. I didn't discover it until I was 24, so many physical and emotional scars by that point.

Thanks for the encouragement, love a great success story!
Wow! 200mg, I'm assuming your side effects are minimal? I know it was a long time ago, but do u remember when you first started seeing results?
No cysts ever? Yah!
We can't wait for this to work, it would be great to not have to think, analyze, worry and buy make up every time we go to the store! We would like a new "hobby" Lol!!

[the uphill battle]

I saw results around 6 months but then more drastically so at 9 months and it just continued to get better and better. I remember a bad breakout at around 5 months that was discouraging, but smooth sailing after that. Not stressing about acne is a beautiful thing! I now worry about my scars... but since she's getting treatment early, hopefully she will prevent that problem. She will get to enjoy life I'm very happy for her. No one deserves that turmoil that comes with severe acne.. I always felt like it was my own personal hell that no one could understand or help resolve.