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K-La,
First off welcome. I figured out mine was hormonal mostly because I was breaking out on my lower jaw and chin area and cheeks. And that I was using the best stuff the derm could prescribe and I was still breaking out haha. I asked my gynocologist about getting my hormones tested (I'm already hypothyroid so that's a big hormonal setback) but he said it was over $500 to get all the tests done and we should try this first and I have insurance by the way.
Right now I'm on Demulen which is a high dose estrogen birth control. Which helped me get superclear, superfast. Works for me.
Good luck,
Rae
I'm thinking about trying spiro as i have said before Now i'm really worried about it though because lots of people have seemed to written that they've had or are having an initial breakout and i was getting the impression before that you don't get an initial breakout with spiro!!!
I'd dread an initial breakout especially if i started taking it this month as i really couldn't be doing with an initial breakout to contend with through December!!!December is obviously Christmas time and there are all of the social engagments that i wouldn't want to go to if my skin was doing crap,plus it's my birthday in December so it's a busy month.
Help!!!Is there an initial breakout or not?
In a way it seems that the people on lower dosages are suffering with the most problems.Maybe if i went straight in and took 200mgs it'd be ok?It's maybe not an initial breakout for those people but maybe it's that the lower dosage is just not making a difference to their skin and so they're still breaking out as normal?
I'm thinking about trying spiro as i have said beforeNow i'm really worried about it though because lots of people have seemed to written that they've had or are having an initial breakout and i was getting the impression before that you don't get an initial breakout with spiro!!!
I'd dread an initial breakout especially if i started taking it this month as i really couldn't be doing with an initial breakout to contend with through December!!!December is obviously Christmas time and there are all of the social engagments that i wouldn't want to go to if my skin was doing crap,plus it's my birthday in December so it's a busy month.
Help!!!Is there an initial breakout or not?
In a way it seems that the people on lower dosages are suffering with the most problems.Maybe if i went straight in and took 200mgs it'd be ok?It's maybe not an initial breakout for those people but maybe it's that the lower dosage is just not making a difference to their skin and so they're still breaking out as normal?
^ Yeah maybe start after the New Year when all the social events die down.
I was also just wondering, how long will the initial breakouts last? I'm about halfway through my second package of Diane-35 and I have a huge bump right on my lip to deal with. SOOO UGLY. How long does it take for Spiro to kick in and actually clear the skin? I understand everyone is different but knowing my body, I will probably get an initial breakout..lol...damn stubborn skin.
OK, for all the confusion about breakouts, Spiro will PROBABLY give you an initial breakout. But with ANY drug of acne medication, you get an initial breakout so it's not like it's any different.
Update: my jawline looks horrible. I've been on Spiro for 7 weeks now and the jawline acne STILL isn't getting any better....like that other girl said, I'm getting cystic acne on the jawline and I have NEVER gotten cystic acne in my life. I would only get comedone acne (whiteheads and blackheads).
On a serious note, i have broken blood vessels/capillaries all over my entire body and they started after taking Spiro. I went to the dr and am getting blood tests done tomorrow. He thinks that Spiro is causing a blood clotting disorder and my blood won't clot now, therefore making the blood vessels fill up and burst, causing broken capillaries which look like tiny red dots, all in clusters. Most people get them only on their legs, but they're all over my backside, thighs, legs, abdominal area and ankles now. The dr. mentioned me having to go off Spiro if this is the case. I'm getting the blood tests done tomorrow and will know by the end of the week whether Spiro has been the problem. If it is, that is a serious side effect ladies, so watch out and look for tiny red dots in clusters. They're flat on your skin, they don't look anything like pimples at all, they don't itch and aren't irritating at all. They're just marks on your skin.
Yikes, blue_eyez, so sorry to hear what you are going through. Please post your results, I would be interested to hear what your doctor will say about this. That isn't a side effect of Spiro that I have read before.
I am in the same boat as you all with the cystic acne. My acne was almost always cystic (pre-Sprio), then it went away for a few weeks after starting Spiro and now I'm back up to it all being cystic again. I wonder why this is happening!? My face is on the mend now as my cycle ends. I have a new cyst forming to the right of my nose, above my lip, but the last 2 weeks of cysts are finally fading. Maybe I will be clear by Friday. My boyfriend's parents were in town this weekend and wanted to take pictures, what am I supposed to say? I try to look happy but I know face looks awful right now, I've never had my cheeks look like this before.
If it doesn't clear up by next week I'm going to call my derm and see what the heck is going on.
Hope things start looking up for ALL OF US!!
Hey Surfergirl,Good to hear you didn't get a blood test. I was worried that my doc was being too easy going about the meds. Do you take your 100mg all at once? I called my doc and increased my dosage to 50mg (plus the Yasmin) a day. I would like to up it to 75 mg. (plus the Yasmin) but will do it slowly. Are you getting an initial breakout? I got HUGE cysts for awhile, but those have subsided (but left horrible scars
Let me know how you are doing!
I hope you get the results you want before your wedding too! That's so exciting!
Snoopy
Blue Eyez,
Jeez, what's going on? I did some research on the safety of spiro last night and looked for possible freak side effects and didn't find anything dealing with burst blood vessels on the surface of the skin.
WHAT KIND OF BC ARE YOU ON?
BC tends to increase your chances of blood clots, depending on your age, health and if you smoke or not. Maybe that's the problem.
Keep us posted on what's going on, on your hopeful diagnosis.
Thinking of u
L.
Hi Lucy and Shortee,
I'm not on any bc pill. BC pills DO cause blood clots. That's why the dr was so surprised at the blood vessels. I got the blood test this morning. I will have the results later this week and will post again. The dr mentioned maybe i should go off Spiro and see if the capillaries clear up, but i dont want to unless i know that's what is causing it. We will see!
Anyone else getting cystic acne while on Spiro who didn't have it previously? This is really odd for me. I dont understand why Spiro would be causing cystic acne on my skin.....i know Snoopy has the same problem.
keep us posted on your progress ladies!
Sometimes I just skim through these threads for lack of time to read them all thoroughly unfortunately, but from what I gather most of the girls that are on spiro and post on this thread are also taking birthcontrol pills? (correct me if I am wrong on that). Could it be possible that its not actually the spiro causing the initial breakouts, but the birthcontrol pill. I personally had NO initial breakout when starting spiro, but way back when I was taking BCPs I had horrible initial breakouts every time I would start a new brand. Just a thought. I guess if you are taking a pill that you have been taking for a while and then start spiro, that would blow my theory out of the water.
Yeah,i'd really like to know that too.Are you guys on BC pill too?Have you just started the BC pill with the spiro?I had a massive breakout when i first started taking dianette.My skin was worse then than it has ever been!!!I hope it'll never be that bad again!!!
I'm really put off going on spiro now.I remember that i started dianette around November time all those years ago and by Christmas/New Year i was crying nearly everyday because i felt so bad about my skin.It was around the Millenium so i had loads of parties to go to.I just don't want to go through that again.
Those who've experienced an initial breakout;
Is it mainly in the second month or right away in the first?
hey girls, im new. i am wondering how much spiro costs? I am thinking about it. I know people says this all the time, but i have literally tried everything. i have taken accutane 5 times and am currently only a low weekly maintainence dose and have been for over a year. i have taken birth control for 3 years now and have tried all topical formulas, perscription and non. spiro is the one med i have yet to try. i have amounted over 12,000 $ in my skin over the last 7 years. i really cannot afford accutane again. thanks.
I take BC and have been on it for almost 10 years now. I switched to Ortho Lo 3 months prior to starting Spiro, so I don't think that my initial breakout (if I had one) was a result of the BC. I don't think I would call what I just went through the last 2 weeks an initial breakout, but my skin sure was horrible.
Amylynn ~ Welcome!! I have the state insurance and they pay for my Sprio, but the receipt says it would have been $60 w/o insurance. This kind of ticked me off when I saw that because my derm told me it was cheap, and OK on his salary maybe $60/month is cheap, but not for most people!! I hope you find something that works for you!!
Best of luck to you all!
my insurance pays for my Spiro so i dont know how much it costs. I live in Canada.
I am NOT on the bc pill and i got an initial breakout. I'm still not clear, i have a bunch of hormonal cysts on my jawline.
Oh! for Lucy and Shortee, I got my blood test results back from the dr about those broken capillaries. They didn't find anything abnormal with my body, ie. liver/kidney malfunction, rhumatoid arthritis, white blood cell count, protein deficiency. They think it IS Spiro that is causing the marks so i'm instructed to book another appt with my dermatologist to go over it. There's my update!
Oh, and I had not initial break out with spiro. Prior to starting it (1 month) I started a new (i was on Ortho tri) bc pill (diane 35) with no break out as well.
I am almost one month into spiro, with great and encouraging results and no freakish break outs. I have no active pimples right now (a firstin a long long time)(i hope i didn't just curse myself, yikes!), my pores are clearing out and my oil production is much less abundant.
I'm at 100mgs (2nd week and 2 weeks prior to this at 50mgs).
good luck to all
Blue Eyez keep us posted.
Lucy;that's very encouraging to know.Glad it's going well for you When i first started taking dianette i had a massive breakout but after 4 months my skin began to clear and it got crystal clear and really soft.The problem was the spots came back afew months later
I'm still on dianette to this day after 5 years now.Maybe it still helps a little,i don't know really.I think you'll get good results from dianette and spiro together though.I think you'll have clear skin in afew months time
How long have you been on the dianette and the spiro now?
Hi all. Well it's the third week on Yasmin and Spiro and my progress is amazing! I only have one small red bump on my left cheek and that's it! Three weeks ago my chin was covered in small little whiteheads and red bumbs, and my left cheek just as bad. I was also starting to break out on my forehead and my skin and hair were so oily. By lunch time i was practically dripping oil off my face and i swear you could see the pimples forming.
But after years of harsh topics and antibotics i think i've finally found the right combination. I was on Diane 35 for almost 10 years and it never really cleared me up completely, in fact i think the only times I was almost clear was when I was off it?? Go figure! The side-effects were also starting to get annoying - mood swings, sore legs, headaches and nausea. I don't seem to have any of that with Yasmin.
I've also changed my cleansing routine. This is how it goes. I use Proactiv cleanser (which has little micro BP exfoliators) mixed with clearasil face and body cleanser. I then wait ten minutes and apply Proactiv 2.5% BP (like Dan says in his regime, a generous portion). While there's plently of alternate BPs on the market I like the Proactiv one because it moisturises also. I then wait another ten minutes and then apply neutrogena oil free moisturiser for senstive skin. I do the same routine at night. I've changed my diet slightly in that I am eating very very little dairy products, no fried or fatty foods, lots more fruits and vegetables and plenty of water. And I take evening primrose oil, zinc tablets and milk thistle two to three times a day. I also try to get in as much exercise as possible, even if it's only a walk after dinner.
All in all, I feel great and my skin is practically flawless! I'll update again in a few weeks and hopefully will be able to report that that nothing has changed.
p.s i was prescribed 100mgs of spiro but I upped it to 200mgs to hurry things along and it seems to have worked. I will now alternate btwn 100/200mgs every second or third day.
Lucy: i have booked another appt to the dermatologist for next thursday (9 days from now). They will look at my broken capillaries and hopefully determine WHY spiro is causing this. They are all over my body, including my hips and butt, stomach, legs and back. I will update in 9 days after i have visited my derm.
It's really great to hear that some women are having tremendous success with Spiro. I'm surprised i am not....i wonder if it could be something else then? i've tried antibiotics, creams, proactiv, etc. but nothing! I think Spiro would work for any women's acne considering it reduces oil production in the skin so i dont understand why i'm still getting cystic pimples on my jawline!
Where did most of you ladies get your acne? on your cheeks? forehead? jawline/chin?
Lucy: i have booked another appt to the dermatologist for next thursday (9 days from now). They will look at my broken capillaries and hopefully determine WHY spiro is causing this. They are all over my body, including my hips and butt, stomach, legs and back. I will update in 9 days after i have visited my derm.
It's really great to hear that some women are having tremendous success with Spiro. I'm surprised i am not....i wonder if it could be something else then? i've tried antibiotics, creams, proactiv, etc. but nothing! I think Spiro would work for any women's acne considering it reduces oil production in the skin so i dont understand why i'm still getting cystic pimples on my jawline!
Where did most of you ladies get your acne? on your cheeks? forehead? jawline/chin?
Hey surfergirl we have the same regimine almost! I have been taking 100mg Sprio for almost 2 weeks and Yasmin for about 3 or 4 months. And I just started usin Neutragena Oil free moisture w/ sunscreen, I think I like it so far, does it ever give you any probs? However I dont like bp, it makes my face red (but works well!) I like this reduction in oil alot I used to have to wash my face 3x per day and now i dont so that's wonderful. However, ever since I started Yasmin months ago, I get a 1 big inflamed whitehead on my chin once a week, no joke! I I used to not have chin acne.