Hey, thanks so much for your message! Sorry it's taken me a few days to reply, my internets been down.
You are lucky, my GP looked at me like i was crazy for asking for a blood pressure medication so she referred me to a derm who took a lot of convincing!
And I have been on the Spiro for about 3 months now, and the differin for about 3 weeks or so, and I have to say, i think i am finally seeing improvements!! Not had a new spots for a few days so feeling positive! What dose did they start you on?? xxx
hi, how are you getting on? i am from the uk and just got a prescription from my gp for spiro. luckily he said he was aware of it being used for acne but it's his first time prescribing it to someone for this purpose lol. i am just glad i am getting to try this as I have previously done 2 courses of roaccutane and acne keeps coming back.
i was going to suggest as retin a is discontinued in the uk, u should ask for topical isotretinoin which is sold as Isotrex. it pretty much works the same way as retian and is as strong where as differin and other retionoids are said to be abit milder, so if you wanted something as strong as retin a, definately look into isotrex.
from what i have read the skin converts the isotretinoin into tretinoin once applied, so it should work the same as retin a which is tretinoin.
hey, thats good to hear you are seeing some improvements. I know doctors need to be more educated on this, atleast you got it in the end. I am only on day 3 but getting impatient already as my skins so oily lol. I have started on a very low dose on 25 but in the next few weeks I want to work it up to atleast 50-75mg. What dosage is working best for u?
I have started taking 100mg alongside using the differin, and i am finally seeing improvements. I think because our doctors here don't prescribe it much they are very cautious to start with. I have been given lots of blood tests to check my pottasium and blood pressure tests. When they came back though they upped my dose. So hopefully when they see you are okay on the smaller dose they will up it for you. Are you using topicals too??
Hey, thanks so much for your message! Sorry it's taken me a few days to reply, my internets been down.
You are lucky, my GP looked at me like i was crazy for asking for a blood pressure medication so she referred me to a derm who took a lot of convincing!
And I have been on the Spiro for about 3 months now, and the differin for about 3 weeks or so, and I have to say, i think i am finally seeing improvements!! Not had a new spots for a few days so feeling positive! What dose did they start you on?? xxx
hi, how are you getting on? i am from the uk and just got a prescription from my gp for spiro. luckily he said he was aware of it being used for acne but it's his first time prescribing it to someone for this purpose lol. i am just glad i am getting to try this as I have previously done 2 courses of roaccutane and acne keeps coming back.
i was going to suggest as retin a is discontinued in the uk, u should ask for topical isotretinoin which is sold as Isotrex. it pretty much works the same way as retian and is as strong where as differin and other retionoids are said to be abit milder, so if you wanted something as strong as retin a, definately look into isotrex.
from what i have read the skin converts the isotretinoin into tretinoin once applied, so it should work the same as retin a which is tretinoin.
I have started taking 100mg alongside using the differin, and i am finally seeing improvements. I think because our doctors here don't prescribe it much they are very cautious to start with. I have been given lots of blood tests to check my pottasium and blood pressure tests. When they came back though they upped my dose. So hopefully when they see you are okay on the smaller dose they will up it for you. Are you using topicals too??
Hey, thanks so much for your message! Sorry it's taken me a few days to reply, my internets been down.
You are lucky, my GP looked at me like i was crazy for asking for a blood pressure medication so she referred me to a derm who took a lot of convincing!
And I have been on the Spiro for about 3 months now, and the differin for about 3 weeks or so, and I have to say, i think i am finally seeing improvements!! Not had a new spots for a few days so feeling positive! What dose did they start you on?? xxx
hi, how are you getting on? i am from the uk and just got a prescription from my gp for spiro. luckily he said he was aware of it being used for acne but it's his first time prescribing it to someone for this purpose lol. i am just glad i am getting to try this as I have previously done 2 courses of roaccutane and acne keeps coming back.
i was going to suggest as retin a is discontinued in the uk, u should ask for topical isotretinoin which is sold as Isotrex. it pretty much works the same way as retian and is as strong where as differin and other retionoids are said to be abit milder, so if you wanted something as strong as retin a, definately look into isotrex.
from what i have read the skin converts the isotretinoin into tretinoin once applied, so it should work the same as retin a which is tretinoin.
hey, thats good to hear you are seeing some improvements. I know doctors need to be more educated on this, atleast you got it in the end. I am only on day 3 but getting impatient already as my skins so oily lol. I have started on a very low dose on 25 but in the next few weeks I want to work it up to atleast 50-75mg. What dosage is working best for u?
you know my GP hasnt heven mentioned doing any tests so I think I am going to have to ask him to read up on that lol. I am using isotrex with it, its basically like retin a. iv used that for just over a month now and it hasnt been too bad. I think once my skin starts to becme less oily, i will be more satisfied. how long did it take to see your oil go down?
Aww Abby! Hang in there sweetie! Give it more time, I know it is difficult when your not seeing improvement and you have been consistent for so long. I am confident you will see results with more use. You just might be one of the unlucky girls who don't see improvement until the 8th month time period. I am convinced that your acne is indeed hormonal and this treatment will help you. If you are still taking the higher dosage then it might be your body just dealing with the hormonal changes all over again.. I know when I went from 100 to 125 I started to breakout all over again and I got scared and went back to 100. Seems like dosages are all over the board in what is the magical number for users. Keep at it girly!
Aww Abby! Hang in there sweetie! Give it more time, I know it is difficult when your not seeing improvement and you have been consistent for so long. I am confident you will see results with more use. You just might be one of the unlucky girls who don't see improvement until the 8th month time period. I am convinced that your acne is indeed hormonal and this treatment will help you. If you are still taking the higher dosage then it might be your body just dealing with the hormonal changes all over again.. I know when I went from 100 to 125 I started to breakout all over again and I got scared and went back to 100. Seems like dosages are all over the board in what is the magical number for users. Keep at it girly!
Thanks so much for replying, you're lovely!! I think i was disappointed as I had had a few days with no new spots, then today was faced with about 5, it is coming up to my totm tho, blah!!! I will carry on being patient 
YAAAAAAAAAAAAA it's about time right?? I'm glad you decided to stick with it Abby!!
I know! It's been 3 months and I am finally getting results, so so glad I stuck it out even through the horrific break outs! I think the differin has also helped speed things up a bit. Just praying no more set backs! Gotta have some more blood tests to check potassium and what not. Can't wait to see my derm, she really didn't wanna prescribe it so can't wait to show off my clear face!!!
Hey abby,
I just wondered if your derm is private or nhs? I have really bad hormonal acne, deep chin spots at that time of the month. I can't find anyone who will prescribe me spiro which is fustrating! I have been on antibiotics for ages but noone is monitoring my health which I find scary so I'd like to try spiro. Just thought if your derm is private I could try her. Hope you are still seeing good results. 
Sorry I havn't updated in ages!!!
So, I have been on spiro for 10 months now!!! I have also been using differin every night.
My skin is MASSIVELY improved. It can be flawless if I take 75mg but I find I get less side effects (dizziness, having to wee alot) on 50mg. So I take 50 and put up with a few small spots around my period.
I would really recommend spiro, it can take a while to work but i am thrilled i stuck at it.
My problem now is marks and scars left over from previous acne. I really want to use topical tretinoin on my skin as it is better than differin for skin repair. However. retin a was discontinued in the uk and the only topical I can find with any tretinoin in is called Aknemycin Plus.
Aknemycin plus is an alcoholic solution (not ideal) with tretinoin and erythromycin. I am gonna give it a try and see how I get on. I have been looking into dermarolling for my scars but the idea of all those needles in my face scares me!
I am trying to start a facebook campaign to being back Retin-A to the uk, come join me!!!
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Hi everyone! I havn't updated this in ages so thought i would let you know how i am getting on.
Basically, i managed to clear my skin up on Spiro and Differin. However, once my skin was clear i started worrying about mark and scars left behind so i stopped using the Differin and started trying to use different products with things like glycolic acid and all sorts to try and fade the marks.
The result of that being that the spots came back! I didn't realise how much the Differin was helping. I am now getting myself back on the Differin, gonna try the cream form this time though as i have made my skin dreadfully sensitive with all the other products i have been trying.
So yeah, i need to get back on the regime that was working for me!!!!!
