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Mimi...
Don't loose hope yet! You have only been on it for a short time right? I have been on it for months now! There is a girl on here who didn't see her oil go away until like the 3rd month, and I have read others say it took some time for them also. I am losing hope tho! Maybe just need a higher dose. Maybe the 50 was way to low, and it's like I am really starting when I upped it to 100mg a day. If that's the case, then I have only been on it a month and a half. This is driving me crazy already! I am still nervous to look in the mirror in the morning for fear that the pimples will be coming back! I did get a little one on my chin yesterday tho. I am also using differin, but sparingly, and just a bit here and there, so I am pretty sure that it's not the differin that's clearing me. I am going to stop using it so I can make sure!
By the way, I also had oily skin before the acne kicked in, so I don't know what it means
I've been on spiro nearly two weeks, and retin-A for about 3 months. My skin is getting clearer, but I don't know if it's the retin-A kicking in, or the spiro. I'm eagerly waiting for my skin to get less oily, but I'm fairly sure that isn't happening yet.
Anyone here who takes spiro and had it take longer than 2 weeks to work? If so, how long?
Thanks!
Mimi
I've been on spiro nearly two weeks, and retin-A for about 3 months. My skin is getting clearer, but I don't know if it's the retin-A kicking in, or the spiro. I'm eagerly waiting for my skin to get less oily, but I'm fairly sure that isn't happening yet.
Anyone here who takes spiro and had it take longer than 2 weeks to work? If so, how long?AA
Thanks!
Mimi
It took until the start of my second month for my skin to stop producing oil.
I am happy the dialogue here is continuing! That's awesome. We really do have a great support group.
I had a quick question: did any of you women who have been on spiro for a while suffer from body acne (i.e. back, shoulders, chest, even butt)? For those that did, what has your experience with spiro been on the acne in these areas?
For the longest time since I began spiro, my skin here was perfectly clear. In the last couple of weeks though, it has somehow managed to break out incredibly, although my face is clear. I hadn't been eating well or exercising very much as I usually do, so perhaps that has a role to play here. I am hoping this subsides because my derm said all I can do now is apply topicals here, which I am not so enthusiastic about... anyways, if anybody out there has somthing to share, that would be appreciated. Thanks and I hope everyone is doing well!
I am happy the dialogue here is continuing! That's awesome. We really do have a great support group.I had a quick question: did any of you women who have been on spiro for a while suffer from body acne (i.e. back, shoulders, chest, even butt)? For those that did, what has your experience with spiro been on the acne in these areas?
For the longest time since I began spiro, my skin here was perfectly clear. In the last couple of weeks though, it has somehow managed to break out incredibly, although my face is clear. I hadn't been eating well or exercising very much as I usually do, so perhaps that has a role to play here. I am hoping this subsides because my derm said all I can do now is apply topicals here, which I am not so enthusiastic about... anyways, if anybody out there has somthing to share, that would be appreciated. Thanks and I hope everyone is doing well!
Hi to all!!
I've been on spiro now for almost 2 mos. My first and a half month was pretty good, although i did have an allergy/itchiness, it went away after a week, and i stopped spiro for 2 days, then started taking them again. My face was totally dry-as in no oil until a week ago, i noticed that my face is starting to get oily again. The other day when i was walking under the sun, i accidentally saw a reflection of my face from the wall glass, i really noticed how my face has gotten oily again. Although, not that oily as before. I'm just wondering if anyone else here had experienced this? the oiliness comes back, and what did you do? I've been taking 100mg/per day. I'm thinking if i should up my dose to 200mg?
Thanks!
I was on Spironolactone for about 4 months. Sadly I did not have good results. I fell into the may cause menstural irregularties catagory, and it was the worst 4 months of my life! I wish my derm would have suggested going on the pill, but I am assuming she did not because I have an IUD. It also would have been helpful if she and my OBGYN would have realized that the issue I was having with my period were caused by the Spiro. Once I stopped taking it my period was back to normal and my skin was back to looking like an oil slick!
Good luck to all taking Spiro I hope it keeps working for you!!
I was on Spironolactone for about 4 months. Sadly I did not have good results. I fell into the may cause menstural irregularties catagory, and it was the worst 4 months of my life! I wish my derm would have suggested going on the pill, but I am assuming she did not because I have an IUD. It also would have been helpful if she and my OBGYN would have realized that the issue I was having with my period were caused by the Spiro. Once I stopped taking it my period was back to normal and my skin was back to looking like an oil slick!
Good luck to all taking Spiro I hope it keeps working for you!!
Hi . I am a guy who satred to take sprio. dr. shaw the leading researcher says men can take.
is there intial flare up? and if you stop taking it , the skin will go back to how it was before? meaing a mainteacne dose is needed until natural hormonal chnages occur ususally after 35.
thanks
Just wanted to add my experience with Spiro:
I have been taking spiro. since last February, and I also started taking Yasmin in May, and have just been switched to Marvelon. The combination of the two has significantly reduced the oiliness of my skin, and definitely reduced the redness and eruptions. Also, my chest has completely cleared up.
However.
While my acne has improved, it has by no means gone away. I still have many comedones across my forehead and cheeks, and I still get significant pustules on my chin, cheeks and forehead (especially around my eyebrows!?) I continue to scar, and lets not even talk about the discolouration. Things definitely get worse just before my period. Also, my periods are totally fucked up, even with the birthcontrol, and they have been ever since I started taking the spiro.
One other thing to add is electrolyte loss. I started taking 25mg and by the end of February was up to 100mg. Going to the bathroom was never really a problem, but I became incredibly weak and was dehydrated all the time, despite guzzling tonnes and tonnes of water. By the end of May I had cut the dosage to 50mg, and then I stopped taking the spiro altogther for about a month or so. I started feeling better and began taking 50mg again about a month ago, and now, at the end of August, I'm back to feeling weak and dehydrated.
So, is the spiro worth it? I'm not sure. It has definitely improved my skin, but I'm absolutely nowhere near being clear. And I'm not sure if the irregular periods, weakness and dehydration is worth it. In the end, after 7 months, it is still quite obvious that I'm a 26 year old woman with bad acne.
I took 150 mg of spiro for almost 2 years it worked great for the first year and half and then it just stopped working. I would still get the occasional breakout while I was on it, but that was it. Spiro did make me lose a few pounds because because I was constantly thirsty and had to urinate a lot. I guess that was okay, not like I really needed to lose weight, but whatever. One thing I hated about spiro was after I had been taking it for a while it actually made hair grow on my face, a very common side effect. Even almost a year later I still have to wax off the excess hair I didn't have before the spiro. After I stopped taking the spiro my face became so broken out that I am currently on Accutane for the second time. If you have any more questions let me know.
Pocahontas, I'm a little suprised (okay, I'm a lot surprised) about the hair growth thing. You need to know that it is not an extremely common side effect of Spiro. Quite the opposite actually. Hair growth is most often an effect of too much testosterone at the level of the hair follicle, which Spiro is supposed to treat.
Spiro is very often given to reduce excess hair and is quite effective in that regard (as it blocks testosterone at the hair follicle - which is also why it sometimes works for acne). The fact that it worked for you initially tells me that you had some androgen excess; the fact that it stopped working may be because your androgen levels increased and became high enough to outdo the effects of the Spiro. That is concerning for more reasons than acne alone.
I would ask your doctor A LOT of questions, especially if he or she is responsible for telling you about Spiro causing excess hair. And if that's the case, I would also get another doctor. Because it's not at all a common side effect. It should be the other way around! There is something very wrong if Spiro is causing you to grow excess hair.
See an internal medicine doc or an endocrinologist and they can administer the appropriate tests.
Good luck!
)
Pocahontas, I'm a little suprised (okay, I'm a lot surprised) about the hair growth thing. You need to know that it is not an extremely common side effect of Spiro. Quite the opposite actually. Hair growth is most often an effect of too much testosterone at the level of the hair follicle, which Spiro is supposed to treat.
Spiro is very often given to reduce excess hair and is quite effective in that regard (as it blocks testosterone at the hair follicle - which is also why it sometimes works for acne). The fact that it worked for you initially tells me that you had some androgen excess; the fact that it stopped working may be because your androgen levels increased and became high enough to outdo the effects of the Spiro. That is concerning for more reasons than acne alone.
I would ask your doctor A LOT of questions, especially if he or she is responsible for telling you about Spiro causing excess hair. And if that's the case, I would also get another doctor. Because it's not at all a common side effect. It should be the other way around! There is something very wrong if Spiro is causing you to grow excess hair.
See an internal medicine doc or an endocrinologist and they can administer the appropriate tests.
Good luck!
Hey Leigh,
Congratulations! I am sure you feel so good being clear. I just posted in my regimen log to say.... I am also extremely clear... Loving it!
Hope all those out there who have begun to take spiro stick with it for a while at least.... Shortee was right- it could take a while (for me 4 months!). Good luck, all and keep the updating.
Hi everyone. I'm new here. I have never had acne my whole life. In fact, I had a creamy, even complexion. And then when I hit 23, I started having mild breakouts but nothing serious. They were persistant however. Can't really remember if my breakouts coincided with my periods or not. I decided to go on tetracycline and my face cleared up beautifully. I was radiant. When it was time to go off the tetracycline, within a month, my mild acne was returning, and a little worse. So I decided to give Yasmin a go. Within two weeks of starting my first pack, Cystic Acne!! Everywhere! In places I've never broken out before! I stayed with it in case it was just the initial breakout. Then pack 2, worse cystic acne!! So I stopped the pack right in the middle because the acne around my mouth was so bad I couldn't open my mouth to eat! That was two months ago and I am still breaking out but nothing like that!
I am currently seeing a wonderful dermatologist in NYC. He put me on spiro a little over 3 weeks ago. In the first 2 weeks my skin cleared up a lot. This past week though, I broke out. I also got my period this week so I'm wondering if that is why. Anyway, I am anxiously awaiting results. I am also on tetracycline just to reduce the acne as much as possible. No difference in oil production. I'm hoping this works. The acne is really starting to take a large emotional toll on me.
HI everyone. I'm glad to see that, for the most part, SPIRO has been working. I must have searched everywhere for some type of real feed back from this medication and I finally found it here.. thanks everyone!
My main concern though is the BC that everyone seems to be taking along with SPIRO (used to prevent its side effects). I am almost certain that I have hormonal acne because I found that when I was on BC that that was the clearest my face has been in 2 years. However, after only a year of BC I decided to put a halt to it because I feared the side effects, so I wanted to look for another alternative.. which brought me to SPIRO. But now that I hear that it is normally prescribed with BC I've become a little hesitant. So i was wondering if anyone Has tried SPIRO w/o the BC?
Hi,
I found this board while searching for info on spiro and potassium intake online. I have pcos and been prescribed 100 mg of Spiro. I've been on it for four months. While I was put on it to help my facial hair issues vs. acne (have mild breakouts occassionally), not only has spiro diminished my facial hair, it has gotten rid of my acne. I truly feel like my skin looks great. It took a couple of months before I started to notice a difference and at the four month mark, I feel that it's working even better.
I am also taking Yasmin. I had been on Yasmin previous to spiro, but my ob/gyn didn't want me to take both and thought I would get better results w/ spiro. I then tried two different bc pills and my period was all over the place. After three months I went to a different doctor who put me back on Yasmin and last month my period was normal along w/ the spiro. Yasmine has 3 mg of drospirenone which I read online (so don't know if it's true) is about 25 mg of spiro . . . so I guess altogether I'm taking 125 mg. I know some doctors won't combine those two pills together and it sounds like a couple of members have had problems w/ the combo, but I have found very good results with the combo, and I just went to a different doctor who would put them together.
I do watch my potassium intake, but from my understanding, the overdosing on potassium tends to take place in people who already have kidney problems. Still, I am cautious and hey, it's a good thing I don't like bananas.
My sister has bad acne but she won't go on spiro cause she's afraid of the issues w/ getting pregnant and birth defects. That is true. She has no plans to get pregnant but she is afraid what if she accidentally does. But she is on Lipitor and I read the warnings that Lipitor can cause birth defects if you get pregnant on it, so I feel her reasoning doesn't make sense.
I have not found my skin to be drier, just no pimples or rosacrea (which I have flareups of), but I guess at the higher doses that may be a side effect, but it's easier to lotion than to get rid of acne.
Okay, just wanted to write in my story. Thanks for the info I found here.
hey guys i ve actually read a lot of posts on this forum but i haven't really posted before..well ive been battling acne for like ten years and it seems as if it got worse when i got to college...i kept trying topicals and even went to a plastic surgeon who did mesotherapy (injections with medication into the dermal layer directly) which helped for about four months and then the pimples came back just as bad as before..so i went to med school and as we were doin the female reproductive cycle i totally realized that one of our clinical cases we did in class sounded just like me...so i went to the doctor and was like check my hormones i know they are out of wack...i was kinda mad no doctor put everything together before..
anyways i was put on yasmin and have been on it for four months and started spiro a month ago...i did spiro on my own which isnt good i know but i knew i needed a little more antiandrogen cause bcp wasnt gonna clear me up completely and docs wanted me to wait six months on yasmin before spiro..i dont have that kinda time..hi i already wasted like 13 years of my life with bad skin...
so i have only done 150 mg spiro for a month and after a small intial outbreak im not getting anymore new zits..i have three tiny pimples im trying to get rid of but thank god i dont wake up to huge pimples anymore..knock on wood..i ve read that with time it gets even better so im keeping my fingers crossed..i truly am glad im on yasmin and spiro i really think this is my answer and i think i may not go for the accutane anymore...makes sense to treat the internal problem instead of just the acne..sorry for the long post but i thought id share
hi all
well I have been on 100mg of Spiro daily for about 10 months now
every day I pop one of those pills I say a little thank-you,
for what it has done for me is beyond words.
I still get the occasional breakout...they are small, and sometimes
I end up fussing with them and make matters worse (bad bad bad)
but for the most point my face has improved greatly.
Sad that at 36 I am still in the problem skin mode, but I guess we
all need to have something to complain about other wise being too perfect
would be boring....right ?
I enjoy putting on my face in the morning...and by noon not
having to see a bumpy oil slick staring back at me in the mirror.
If you have the means to try this...please do...what do you have to lose?
Hey Everyone
just wanted to say things are still looking good. Leigh (and others who are on 200 mg and have been for some time), do you feel you are very sleepy with these pills? I feel in the last couple of months the energy has totally been sucked right out of me... There have been a lot of changes in my life the last couple months (moving, new work schedule, roommate who goes to bed late, etc...) so I am not sure if it is that or the spiro. If anyone has any thoughts, I'd love to hear! Thanks.