Spironolactone Reviews
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Prescription summary (379 votes) |
How well it works
 
4.1/5 |
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Agreeability
 
4.1/5 |
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Affordability
 
4.6/5 |
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Additional ratings |
Consistency
  
3.5/5 (843 votes) |
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Packaging
  
3.6/5 (824 votes) |
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Fragrance
 
4.0/5 (816 votes) |
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Read reviews
38 pages
2 of 2 visitors found the following comment helpful.
PharmD, Canada
Jul 1st, 2007 |
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| Pros: | Realizing that most medications need at LEAST 3 weeks to start working. Also, side effects are starting to subside at week 2 and drug is really cheap. |
| Cons: | GI side effects (upset stomach, pain), palpitations, dizziness, cystic zits! |
| Bottom Line: | I started this after being on Diane 35 for about 7 years. Diane 35 made my skin absolutely beautiful. I couldn't handle the side effects (headaches, chest pains, worsening eye sight, risk of DVT, etc.) anymore so I got off it thinking my "high school" acne would be gone by now.
My face broke out again and I have been battling it for almost 2 years now. I have tried everything and when used "consistently" it works (especially benzoyl peroxide) but I hate putting "extra" things on my face and burn like crazy when I got out in the sun.
I started with 25mg per day for one week and now use 50mg per day on week 2 which I am going to maintain for at least a month before bumping up the dose again because the side effects were horrible. Upset stomach, palpitations, chest pain, cystic acne on my jawline and cheeks (never had this before), etc. It took Diane 35, 3 months to "fully" kick in so I am giving this a "trial" for 3 months too. I will up my dose from 50 to 75mg in 3 weeks.. |
| Recommended: | Yes |
| Usage: | PharmD has used this item for a few weeks. |
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5 of 6 visitors found the following comment helpful.
Lisa, Santa Monica, CA
Jul 1st, 2007 |
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| Pros: | Great for adult acne. I started to breakout when I hit 45 (hormones?. Started taking it a week ago and I have had no new breakouts. Skin is looking back to normal! |
| Cons: | If you don't have health insurance, it's a bit pricey. Am I going to have to this forever now? |
| Bottom Line: | I'm 45 years old so I suspect my sudden "breakout" was due to hormones. Tried retin A, over-the-counter products and nothing worked. My dermatologist put me on Spiro and an antibiotic. Since I can't go on birth control pills, Spiro was the best choice. I am gaining my self-confidence back. Having acne made me late for work (having to cover them takes forever) and I was even afraid to even look at my face in the morning. Now the question, will I have to be on this forever, or will my hormones balance themselves out? |
| Recommended: | Yes |
| Usage: | Lisa has used this item for a few weeks. |
| Price Paid: | 80.00 |
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5 of 6 visitors found the following comment helpful.
Jenny, NYC
Jul 1st, 2007 |
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| Pros: | This is the only thing that has cleared my acne. |
| Cons: | My dermatologist never mentioned anything about potassium issues so I am a little concerned - but the effects are so incredible that I will do just about anything to keep taking these. Also, you need to keep taking it -once you go off it,acne returns |
| Bottom Line: | I have tried the following:
*Almost everything/anything topical
*Photodynamic therapy w/ Levulan (cost $1300)
*Antibiotics
*Doing everything "right" - washing w/ Ovace, all products noncomedagenic, etc
Spironolactone is the only thing that works. Proves that acne in caused internally. I was warey of it at first but was ready to try anything to clear up my skin for my wedding - it made a remarkable difference. After the wedding I stopped taking it... skin went back to it's normal ways. A month ago my skin was so horrible that I decided to resume it -- and here I am again at almost 2 weeks into the treatment and pores are smaller, skin is clearer...no plans of getting off of it anytime soon. |
| Recommended: | Yes |
| Usage: | Jenny has used this item for a few months. |
| Price Paid: | 10.00 |
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5 of 6 visitors found the following comment helpful.
SJ, LA
Jun 21st, 2007 |
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| Pros: | Works better than anything I have tried for hormonal acne and oily skin which I have had since I was 12. |
| Cons: | Remembering to take it twice a day. |
| Bottom Line: | I am 43 years old and have suffered with oily skin and acne seems like most of my life. Nothing has worked this well. I take 25 mg twice daily. My skin is less oily w/no breakouts. What more could I ask for. A little oil is ok. I don't want to dry up and look older. I would recommend this med under doctors orders for anyone who has tried it all. You will be amazed. |
| Recommended: | Yes |
| Usage: | SJ has used this item for about a year. |
| Price Paid: | 8.00 |
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3 of 4 visitors found the following comment helpful.
tt, socal, california
Jun 10th, 2007 |
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| Pros: | spironolactone was the only thing that worked for me |
| Cons: | you gotta maintain taking it |
| Bottom Line: | i had been on every topical, antibiotic, and even accutane. in 2002, i convinced my derm to put me on spironolactone after doing research on the internet. back then, it was rarely prescribed for acne. i had been tested for out-of-whack hormones, but the lab results always came out okay. however, i only ever got pimples along my jawline, lower cheeks, and onto my neck right on the sides of the the windpipe. the derm put me on 25 mgs/day, and i had to push to get it up to 50mgs/day. it took a while, but my skin cleared up. i lost my health insurance and went off spironolactone and within 3-4 months, acne was back on. i've since ordered spironolactone off the internet and started 100mgs/day about a week ago. so far, oiliness is decreasing. i'm confident things will get a lot better within the next couple months. i STRONGLY recommended for women, probably even before any antibiotics. |
| Recommended: | Yes |
| Usage: | tt has used this item for about a week. |
| Price Paid: | 20.00 |
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2 of 5 visitors found the following comment helpful.
s.d., cbus, ohio
May 27th, 2007 |
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| Pros: | Oil reduction |
| Cons: | Really really really bad breakouts in the first month or so. |
| Bottom Line: | When I started out taking Spiro I had one zit on my chin. Just one. During the course of taking it (it's been a little over 3 weeks) I have gotten *dozens* of zits. Now I have red scars all over my chin and forehead area. Seriously. I hardly ever leave the house and never ever look at myself in the mirror because I'm too afraid I'll start crying. When does this stuff start working? I am sick of looking awful. I'm just about at my wits end with this drug. |
| Recommended: | No |
| Usage: | s.d. has used this item for about a month. |
| Price Paid: | 28.00 |
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1 of 1 visitors found the following comment helpful.
Anonymous, USA
May 25th, 2007 |
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| Pros: | My skin is clear, not oily, my period is regular again, and I don't have leg/ankle edema at the end of the day anymore!!! |
| Cons: | If I drink alcohol, the combination makes me pee like crazy. Sometimes I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. |
| Bottom Line: | I had moderate, non-cystic acne in high school. I went on accutane when I was 17 and it cleared my skin up great. No one in my family has had cystic acne. Then, all of a sudden, when i was 24 I started getting cystic acne. I would get 2 or 3 BIG nodulo-cysts a month. They would take 6 months to come to the surface and would scar. I went on accutane again for 8 months, which helped somewhat, but I was still breaking out while on the accutane up until the last month on it. I was really demoralized. I was also having a lot of problems with bleeding when I wasn't supposed to while on birth control pills. Then, 3 months ago my derm put me on 50mg twice a day of spironolactone. This stuff is great!!! My skin is PERFECT again, dry, and my periods are normal again. I've also stopped getting ankle edema by the end of the day. I wish I had tried this sooner.
I would recommend this to any woman who has adult-onset cystic acne. |
| Recommended: | Yes |
| Usage: | Reviewer has used this item for a few months. |
| Price Paid: | 30.00 |
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5 of 5 visitors found the following comment helpful.
Cris, Viana, Portugal
May 17th, 2007 |
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| Pros: | I'm 30.Started with 50mg for hormonal acne and hirsutism.After one month raised it to 100mg, which I take every other day. It cleared my skin like accutane without drying it and without the super nasty side effects. Use it without the BCP. |
| Cons: | the fact it messes with you potassium and sodium levels in the body can create letargy and lack of energy. You need to control your diet when on Spiro and never eat food rich in potassium (bananas, nuts etc) otherwise you might develop hyperkalemia |
| Bottom Line: | If you are over 25 and still with acne,, or you are younger but have other simptoms as well (alopecia, oily skin, hirsutism) chances are you have hormonal acne. That means that you can either have too much production of masculin hormones (androgens/testoterone) or your skin receptors are too sensitive to a NORMAL (within the range) level of hormones. So the skin converts the normal level of masculin hormones circulating in your body into a greater amount of acne, oil, body hair etc. Don't let the doctors convince you that if your hormones levels are within range that you do not have hormonal acne. There are lot of respectable reaserch atesting to that. Spiro is a great way to get rid of acne (hormonal or adult) acne, with almost no negative side effets and can be taken during a long period of time. Much better than pill. I take it without BCP, and i take 100mg 4 to 5 times per week. You don't need to take it every day mind you!Apart from a bit of lack of energy, no side effects for me! |
| Recommended: | Yes |
| Usage: | Cris has used this item for about a year. |
| Price Paid: | 15.00 |
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Anonymous, PA
May 16th, 2007 |
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| Pros: | It works !! and cheap. |
| Cons: | None |
| Bottom Line: | I have only been using this for 2 weeks now. I am a 52 year old perimenopausal female and having a problem with acne for the last five years. Been on everything imanginable except for Accutane. Steroids, antibiotics, creams, pills, Elidel you name it. It started out causing the whiteheads to come to the surface, but then they slowly decreased. This is my second week and I can see a big difference. Please try it it cannot hurt to see if it works for you. No side effects either. |
| Recommended: | Yes |
| Price Paid: | 10.00 |
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lalafa, Florida
May 11th, 2007 |
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| Pros: | Clears up, just slowly. The pills even have a little bit of a minty taste. They also make you go to the bathroom a lot, which made me lose weight, so I am not complaining. |
| Cons: | A little lethargic, especially in the morning for me. |
| Bottom Line: | Talk to your derm and see what he/she says. I have had very little side effects, and if I did have some, I didn't mind them. Yes, it did make me break out worse at first, but be patient. Just make sure and drink plenty of water.
Basically, I have battled awful complexion for years now, done all of it (accutane, antibiotics, and everything else), I have only been on this for about 6 weeks, I am still not clear, but I am seeing a glimmer of hope that I will be (my face and scalp are so much less oily). I am sticking in there and seeing this pill through, I have seen improvments, patience is the key! I will post again in a few weeks. |
| Recommended: | Yes |
| Usage: | lalafa has used this item for about a month. |
| Price Paid: | 15.00 |
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38 pages
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