Can a man take this medication? Someone asked and I recommended these to him.

_{I think 50 mg is fine but more than that can cause him to get feminine features like enlarged breasts. Also could cause loss of hair, and no sex drive. The medicine suppresses the male sex hormones which some females have more than needed but if a guys male sex hormones are suppressed, they could be in trouble. this medicine is actually used for guys that want to change their gender! However, 50 mg wont be strong enough to suppress too much male hormone so he should be fine with that and people do have success clearing their skin with that dose; it just takes longer to help clear. He could try it but tell him to give it 6-9 months to clear up and it might get worse before it gets better! I was reading reviews online and some elderly men take this medicine for blood pressure and they have no problem with that dose but higher than that, they start explaining their bad side effects like some I listed.}

_{I think 50 mg is fine but more than that can cause him to get feminine features like enlarged breasts. Also could cause loss of hair, and no sex drive. The medicine suppresses the male sex hormones which some females have more than needed but if a guys male sex hormones are suppressed, they could be in trouble. this medicine is actually used for guys that want to change their gender! However, 50 mg wont be strong enough to suppress too much male hormone so he should be fine with that and people do have success clearing their skin with that dose; it just takes longer to help clear. He could try it but tell him to give it 6-9 months to clear up and it might get worse before it gets better! I was reading reviews online and some elderly men take this medicine for blood pressure and they have no problem with that dose but higher than that, they start explaining their bad side effects like some I listed.}

He has said that he likes big breasts so that shouldn't be a problem!

Please be patient! I didn't see real improvement probably until 6 months.. at 5 months I got a bad breakout too and felt discouraged. I have seen this drug take about 8-9 months to kick in for others, but it is worth the wait!

Has anyone experienced a higher sex drive on this med? I feel mine has been higher which I take as a bad sign...

the uphill battle,

How are you doing now with spiro? are you clear and what dose are you on? Thank you for posting your experience on this forum!

michi31,

im sorry but i cant really help answer that question for you because my sex drive has been the same on spiro as if im not even taking it and its not high either!

From what I've read, sex drive should actually decrease since its blocking excess androgens

Hi, my name is Cynthia. I have been on spiro. going on 4 months. 50mg to 100mg now. I have hormonal acne, I'm 33, exercise at least 5 hours a week, & have tried so many meds! Sprio works for me & skin looks great. When waiting for a refill for another 3 months supply I went off for about 3 weeks to 4. During that time some acne came back. My breast were really really sore & hard like I was preggo. Now that I'm back on meds. with a higher doasge I've notice that I bruise easliy, my back aches badly, I do get light headed with it. My sex drive is totally screwed since being on spiro. My husband & I would have sex @ least 3 times a week now the minimum maybe 2! I have an appointment w/ my Obgyn on Monday to see if we can counter act this issue! Also, my period cones earlier than normal. And, I can't focus as I used to either! Anyone with these side effects?

Cynthia: I have heard it lowers your sex drive :-/. I've only been on it for almost 3 weeks and can tell its lowered mine. I also feel light headed, but only when I'm dehydrated. I have to drink a ton of water!! Try drinking more.

When did you start seeing results? I actually feel pretty dry now. But still keep getting little clogged pores.

Jeannabean I saw results w/I 2nd month.

Cynthia: I'll be on week 3 this Wednesday. Guess I have a little longer to wait. Did u experience an initial breakout like some people did at the one month mark?

I'm 22 and just started on the spirolactone almost a month now. My acne was moderate when I started but now I feel like my face has completely flared up since being on it? Is this normal? I'm getting the breakout on my cheeks to my jawline and everywhere around it. I feel like every morning I've been getting 1 or 2 new bumps...please let me know if I should be having this

Bay breeze: I have heard that an initial breakout does happen with some women. What milligram are u on?

I've been taking 100 mg. I just feel like it's been getting worse and most people said it only took 2 weeks for it to start going down and looking better.

See, I've actually heard more of the opposite. I've seen more women that have an initial breakout with it. Maybe you could lower your dose? My doc has me on 50mg so my body can get use to it. Then after a month, bump me up to 100mg if needed. You should tell your doctor about the breakout and see of their is anything she/he can do

I wish my skin would get use to it. It's just been getting more inflamed and I went to the docs when I had a large cyst and got a cortisone shot and then went back again and she said since its still breaking out to bump it up from 50 to 100 so that's what I'm on now. I just don't know if I trust her with it because I've seen so many mixed reviews.

you need to be patient and you shouldn't have bumped the dose to 100 mg so soon. I was on spiro for 5 months and only saw improvments at the very end of the 4th month, almost at 5 full months. it takes forever and my skin got worse and worse the whole time. I was clearing up finally but stopped taking it cus my hair was falling out from the 100 mg. try to stay on 50 mg for 6 months and then increase. stronger doses will bring more side effects. I learned the hard way. we need to be more patient or else we will bring ourselves into more trouble. I might go back on it and just stay on 50 mg for a while if my hair stops falling out!

If your acne is hormonal I would trust the fact that it will work. You have to be patient like Sumisee says.

Acne is so frustrating because it gets worse before better in some people when you start treatment.

Even with accutane, it gets worse before better in some people. It's still frustrating that they can cure soooooo many diseases except acne!! I don't get it

You're right I need to be patient. My derm was the one who suggested me to bump it up to 100 so I hope it's not too much for me. If this is hormonal I'm just not use to this type of breakout, it' almost feels sore so I guess I have to get use to it

Bay breeze: have u had any blood work done to test your hormones?

Yeah, hormonal acne is usually cystic and painful

Sometimes it helps to support the liver while on spiro, or any medication really. Acne patients put their liver through lots of abuse with all the meds and birth control and whatnot we put it through. I've been clear on spiro for a while now. A persistent side effect has been increased cramping and sore breasts before my period. I've been taking Jarrows Milk Thistle, two capsules daily for two months, and this last cycle no side effects. Leads me to believe some of us need to help our liver process the medication. The liver also helps us process our own hormones and toxic waste.

Yeah I think one of the unknows about Spiro is why it would cause worse breakouts. If you read up you will see that Spiro is partially androgenic and can activate your androgen receptors if not binding with androgens ad it is meant to. Surely worse breakouts are a sign of this. For some reason this changes over time for many people and Spiro starts blocking androgen instead.

Posting this update on this forum too!

I have good news to share with everyone: the hair shedding stopped! I ended up stopping the spironolactone for just a week because my mom urged me to get back on it and just stay on a lower dose to see if the hair shedding would stop. She didn't want me back on birth control pills unless I gave Spiro a second chance. So I have been taking 25 mg of Spiro for just about a week now and the past few days of combing my hair, showering, etc. I have not lost an unusual amount of hair!!! Yay!!!!! I stopped taking 100 mg on August 7 and then lowered it to 75 mg until August 19 and then quit on the 19^th because I was freaking out about all the shedding. What was causing this was the 100 mg so I will never go back on that dose. Also, my skin broke out that week that I quit Spiro cold turkey (19^th 25^th) but since starting the 25 mg about a week ago (August 26^th), my pimples are all drying up and I haven't gotten any new pimples since starting and this is on 25 mg!!!! I noticed that I was clearing on the higher doses at the 5th month but I never gave the lower doses a chance to work. We need to be patient ladies. If I just took 25- 50 mg for 6 months I could have been clearing and could avoided all that hair loss. I know that my healthy hair will grow back in time but this could have been avoided if I had patience!!!!! I thank my mom so much for forcing me to get back on Spiro and not start bc pills!!!!!!! I just wanted to share my experience so that other women starting Spiro can avoid this dred shed (or any other awful side effects) and just know that being patient will be well worth it in the end. I will update how my skin is doing in a couple months from now again!

Sumisee that's great they're starting to dry up and it's going better your second round. I've been on 100 mg for a month now and I feel like its still just been getting worse day by day. I see a new one pop up everyday. I just don't know if this is normal, I thought it may not clear up what I had but would start preventing new ones. It's really making me depressed from how much worse its gotten

Sumisee: that is wonderful news! So happy for you! I go to my derm on Tuesday and I'm wondering if I should tell her that I want to stay on the 50mg. I was going to show her my blood work (testosterone levels) and see what she thinks.

Bay breeze: I'm so sorry to hear that (. Honestly, I would ask your derm and maybe go on antibiotics for even just a few months. And just slowly wean yourself off them. I know a lot of people on here are against antibiotics but I think for short term, while u have the IB from sprionolactone, it would be a good idea.