Kelly ~ I couldn't say exactly what week I had a breakout that wasn't normal from what I usually had. I just went back and reread my log I have posted on here. It looks like I was fairly broke out for the first 2 months, with maybe a week or so in there of being clear. I know that is not the most encouraging news, but everyone says it takes months for Spiro to kick in. The biggest problem I had prior to Spiro was cysts, and they seemed pretty much constant, but always horrible around the time of my period. Now I am staying fairly clear in between periods with off&on breakouts the week before my period. I had a fairly bad breakout around Christmas time, which would have been month 3 for me, but all of January so far I have been crystal clear.

I guess that doesn't really answer your question, but the best I can say is that I was having less breakouts overall in month 3. I didn't get anything I would say was an 'initial breakout' on Spiro.

I have been increasing the dosage in 50mg stages.I was taking 100mg for the first 2 weeks,then 150mg for the next 2 weeks and now i've just started 200mg at the one month mark.

I'm hoping it'll be alot better by the third month I'm already into the second month now so if it clears up soon,even better

Oh,i forgot;

I went to the new derm this morning and i cam away with a mixture of disheartenment and anger.They would perscibe spiro for me!!!!!!!!!! Looks like i'll just have to keep taking it from the internet.They said that spiro is not legalised for the treatment of acne and so they can't treat acne with it.They said they have no experience of it and so would not perscribe it for me.Basically they said you can have some creme and that's it!!!!!!!!!!Prats!

I'm just going to carry on taking things into my own hands.I'll go back in two months;don't think i'll use the creme,just carry on with what i'm doing.

Hi Kelly (and everyone else), if you haven't had results with the spiro, don't lose patience. My doctor (endocrinologist) said that it takes between 1 to 4 months for it to start getting into your system. I understand your impatience, I'm going thorugh the same thing. This is my third week, some days better than others, and I notice less oil. But nothing like a miracle, it's too soon. So we just have to wait and see. And not obsess too much.

Your derm maybe doesn't know too much about spiro, maybe he's afraid of giving you something he doesn't have experience with. Why don't you go to your gyno? Maybe she (or he) can prescribe it for you. Good luck!

Ah Kelly, I forgot to ask you where are you from? If you're not in the USA, there is another medication, with similar effects to spiro, called Androcur. I think it's even stronger than spiro, and it's used in Europe, South America, I guess Canada too. So if you're not in the US, that could be another choice....

Yes, Spiro DOES take 1-3 months to notice an improvement, but if you've been on it for 4 months and see NO improvement, it wont help you. I did it for 4 months and nothing.

Curly Q i'm on 40 mg/day starting tomorrow for Accutane, so we'll have to keep each other posted on our success/failure (hopefully success!).

I'm guessing none of you women got spotting from Spiro? i had spotting all throughout the month, it was like i had my period all month long. I guess that's because i can't take the bc pill and most of you are taking a bc pill right?

Blue Eyes, I'm also on Diane, so my first period on spiro was normal.

I have a question for all of you: the spiro is making my skin a bit dry. I currently use Clinique's dramatically different gel (something like that), but I think I need something richer. Any suggestions?

I'm on dianette BC pill too so my first period on spiro was normal too.My cycle seems same as normal;no spotting.

Though i've been on dianette for years now and it did work in the beginning but maybe not as much now.I don't know what it'd be like without it though so i'm not going off it,plus it'll keep my periods regular on spiro.

I asked my doctor to refer me to a gyno but he said there would be no point as he contacted them and they said they wouldn't perscribe spiro.

I've heard of androcur;is it cyproterone acetate(the ingredient in dianette)?

Yes, it's the same ingredient, but in a more concentrated form. I took it once, with great results...

Why aren't you still on it?

hello spiro ladies!

blue eyez- yep, seems like we are totally in the same boat. i tried upping my dosage (by myself) to 200mg, and it still didn't work.

now, i've been off spiro for about 3 weeks! no more cysts~ woohoo! and no new acne~ yahOo! but there are a bunch of red marks still.

oh, and just FYI, i was taking ortho-tri-lo at the same time, but i had been on ortho tri lo BEFORE going on spiro and i was OK (well, i thought my skin was still pretty bad, but compared to what it was after spiro, i would consider pre-spiro CLEAR...)

anyways, as always good luck to the rest of you. my derm is hounding me for missing my appointment. oops~

Hey blue- i'm on my second day of accutane at 40mg/day. I was disappointed with Spiro because I hoped it would be my saving grace. Anyway I'm excited to finally get rid of cysts forever!!!! I am taking 40 mg for the first month and then 60 mg for the rest of my course. Are you starting a log? Keep me posted...

Wow,i'm really worried about all of the unsuccessful goes with spiro When i was thinking about taking it all i seemed to see were successes.Oh well......i suppose i just have to try it for myself for a while longer.For some it works;for others it doesn't work i guess.

My skin is wierd at the moment.I'm coming up to 5 weeks on spiro now.My chest has broken out and i never get spots on my chest!!!!!!That's pretty depressing Then i'm still breaking out on my face but along with it i have really dry,SCALY!,irritated skin.Last night i went to a party;the air was dry and hot and there was cigarette smoke everywhere.My skin went bright red and my cheeks were like scales and there were spots intermingled with the scaly skin that looked like scabs.Bleurgh!!!!! I'm going to use alot of moisturiser this week and see if it helps.I could be breaking out actually because of the dry,irritated skin????Then again it was like that for a while before spiro.It came with the winter and it seems an after effect left from roaccutane.I'm confused......i really don't know to be honest.The spiro could be adding to the dryness but it's not necessarily made it this dry by itself.

I'm getting through the days by telling myself that i have to expect to still breakout at this point;i could have initial breakouts during this time in the second month;and i have to wait and see and hope it's doing better in the third month

is it possible to take spiro and diane at the same time? i read somewhere that it's more effective

Hazelnut: I'm taking spiro with Diane. My doctor said it was OK. What he said is that birth control pills should reduce breakouts by 50%, and combined with the spiro it would be more effective. I've been on Diane for 1 year, with lots of improvement (still, not enough for me), and spiro for 20 days (around 3 weeks). It's too sonn to see results, but my skin is less oily, and it seems to habe reduced blotchiness, too.

Kelly, 5 weeks is very little time. Just use a richer mosturizer for your dry skin. Be gentle to it. And we have to be patient!!!! I now it's difficult!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kelly ~ Hang in there. You're on a higher dose in a short period of time. It takes 3-4 months for you to see results, and you're only on month 1, so be patient. The Spiro will definitely make you dry. Maybe you should try cutting back for a while if you're getting to dry. Good luck!

aliciany, did you ever take accutane? i haven't been on that either, and i don't know which is better, birth control or retinoids. so you think 2 b. controls are better than 1? thanks

Hazelnut, no I never took accutane, my acne is not so bad. And about the birth control, spiro is not a birth control pill, but it works as an antiandrogen. It can lead to birth defects if you become pregnant while taking it, so it's always better to make sure you're protected.

I know i have to be patient

I'm also still taking the dianette along with spiro.I've been taking dianette since i was 16 and i'm 22 now.

I've just read through your journal again shortee,and that's gave me some inspiration.It seems you broke out alot in the second month and your skin started to get better in the third month so i'll see how it goes

Blue Eyes, I'm also on Diane, so my first period on spiro was normal.

I have a question for all of you: the spiro is making my skin a bit dry. I currently use Clinique's dramatically different gel (something like that), but I think I need something richer. Any suggestions?

 

 

 

 

Hazelnut, my skin was "combination", you know, a bit oily in the T zone. But now it is dryer. That's what spiro also does, it regulates oil production, I guess. Good luck!

OH MY GOD!!!!!!! I feel lie crawling into a hole in the ground and hiding away.Its not a joke actually because i am hiding away.I'm not leaving the house unless i really have to while it's like this!!!!!!!!!

My skin is terrible!!!!!!I'm really breaking out on my chest now where i never get spots,the sides of my face have spots that just look like they're joined together,i'm even getting spots on my arms and ears!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel really depressed!Along with that i have an eye infection and so my eyes are puffy and red and have lumps underneath!!!!!!!

This must be being caused by the spiro.It must be from increasing the dosage to 200mg.If it gets any worse i think i might lower the dosage to 150mg again because it wasn't like this on that.But this might just be an initial breakout while my hormones adjust.

I can't put up with this for long.I'll give it until the start of next week to see and if it's any worse i'll lower the dosage.If it gets into the third month and it's still terrible i'll have to stop the spiro.

I hope this is just a breakout for a couple of weeks that i have to ride out because it's so bad.It's much worse than before i started spiro and i even wonder why i'm taking it if it's just making it like this!!!!But i'll try to hold on and see how it goes i guess.Is this normal at all?!

Aliciany I am taking 10mg/day of Accutane. That's the lowest possible dosage....my acne is only on my jawline so my derm wants to see how i react to the small amount of Accutane before moving upward. I've been on it for a week now. I noticed that after stopping Retin-A and Spiro, my skin clarity is much better, no more redness....very even skin tone. I'm getting breakouts right now though, but my derm said that was going to happen. he said in the first month, your skin purges all the crap to the surface, but after a month, Accutane will show an improvement. Other than the breakout, i'm not experiencing any dry lips or anything. How are your side effects?

CurlyQ As for moisturizer, a rich night cream would probably help, rather than a day cream. Neutrogena has a good night moisturizer, can't remember the name though, or Neostrata or Reversa. But the problem with heavy moisturizing is that you'll clog your pores. If you're getting severely dry skin while on Spiro, cut your dosage down by 50mg. You're taking too much. I used to get dryness at the bottom of my nose and if i took an extra half pill of Spiro, i would notice patchy dry spots, so i was obviously taking too much.

I think all of you who are on bc pills were lucky not to get the spotting like i did. That was the worst side effect of Spiro for me. The bc pill neutralizes your cycle I assume. Also, the bc pill with help w/ acne alongside Spiro...so you're getting double the acne fighting.

Be patient w/ Spiro but i suggest if you've been on it for 4 months and are still getting cystic breakouts, Spiro wont work for you. I was hesitant to start Accutane, but I've tried antibiotics, creams, etc. Nothing worked.

I think Shortee mentioned about the hormone acne still coming back after Accutane....I asked my derm and he said generally your system needs a shock in order to re-set your hormones and Accutane gives your body that foreign shock.

Hi blue eyes, good luck with accutane! I'm on almost week 4 of spiro. I'm not clear, but I think that this month that I started taking it my skin has been better than before I started it. I hope it improves more.

Kelly, If you're breaking out more than what you did before the spiro, I think that's strange. My doctor said women continue to break out as they did until spiro starts kicking in (1-4 months), but he said that it should not get much worse than what you were experiencing. So, if before you had bad breakouts like this, don't worry, spiro still has to start working. But if they are MUCH MUCH worse, then I think someting is wrong and you should speak with your doctor. Anyway, good luck, keep me posted. And don't be sad.

It is MUCH worse than before spiro.Really bad.I've never,ever seen my chest like this for one I can't talk to my doctor because i've ordered it off the internet.I just do not know what to do.When i first started dianette all those years ago i had a terrible breakout but then afew months later my skin was crystal clear.I'm hoping that's how it's going this time because spiro is a hormonal treatment too even though it's not a BCP.

It's really strange because last night i thought that my skin is actually oilier now than before spiro!!!!!!!!Could it be that my hormones are being caused to go all over the place with spiro.This must be because of spiro.I'm here thinking why the heck did i ever go on spiro?!What have i done?!But then again it could just be an initial breakout and i have to at least give it until 3 months into the treatment.I might reduce the dosage if it gets any worse though.This has flared up with the 200mgs.If it's not better by 3 months then i'm off it but gosh it feels so long to wait And now i notice a new spot on my SCALP!!!!!!!!!!!!