My face was still oily but perfectly clear.

Really? Would you say your face was just as oily as before? I feel like mine is. It's just so weird because what other mechanism would Spiro work by other than reducing oil? It doesn't kill bacteria or unclog pores. It reduces the androgens that CAUSE oil. So this is what I don't get. But I am very glad to hear this has been the case for you as well!

Well after 2 years of spiro my skin was a bit less oily but i remember when i used make up with powder i still needed to remove the excess oil after 2-3 hours, so i believe i was still quite oily. You are so lucky to be clear, i wish i hadn't all these comedones, i would be clear again as well. I just can't wait for the time i wil be clear again.

Can I ask why you went off Spiro the first time? I know it worked for you quickly last time but don't give up hope. Most people it does not work that quickly and since you're older now things change and it could take longer.

Because it was anavailable for 2 months and there were no alternative pills but i didn't break out at first so i thought i outgrew acne,stupid me. Then i started breaking out but i thought it was the milk so fine, i will stop drinking milk. Then my breakouts were uncontrollable and now that i think spiro is working (at least to a degree cause i haven't tried dairy yet-my biggest acne trigger) i have a ton of whiteheads that get inflamed and become huge. My downfall doesn't stop since i started breaking out again, stopping spiro just when my skin healed completely from red marks was my biggest mistake. I remember touching my skin and it was so smooth and painless, i hope b.p. and peelings will stop these whiteheads so i will be able to start healing again.

I have been on Spiro 100mg for 9.5 months. I also went on minocycline when I started to help with the IB. The mino helped a lot, and I did become pretty much completely clear after 4 or 5 months or so. However, I was still oily so assumed the Spiro wasn't working yet and continued with the mino. About 2 months ago I weaned off the mino and have been off it entirely for 3 or 4 weeks. I am still clear. But the thing is...I am still OILY. So I am worried that I am clear due to the after effects of the mino, and that I will break out again soon. Or is it possible that the Spiro is doing the work? Has anyone else cleared on Spiro but remained oily? I should add I haven't seen a reduction in sex drive or hair growth.

My experience with antibiotics are that the effect wears off pretty quickly after you stop taking them. I would guess that any acne would have resurfaced (or started to) within a month or so if the spiro wasn't working? I don't think oiliness is necessarily an indicator that the spiro isn't working.

Thank you for your input! I thought the same thing myself, but then I read some posts that scared the crap out of me. People talking about the acne coming back as much as 8 months later. One person said their doctor actually said that you may see the after effects for 6 months. I can't understand biologically why that would happen though.

 

I have been on Spiro 100mg for 9.5 months. I also went on minocycline when I started to help with the IB. The mino helped a lot, and I did become pretty much completely clear after 4 or 5 months or so. However, I was still oily so assumed the Spiro wasn't working yet and continued with the mino. About 2 months ago I weaned off the mino and have been off it entirely for 3 or 4 weeks. I am still clear. But the thing is...I am still OILY. So I am worried that I am clear due to the after effects of the mino, and that I will break out again soon. Or is it possible that the Spiro is doing the work? Has anyone else cleared on Spiro but remained oily? I should add I haven't seen a reduction in sex drive or hair growth.

My experience with antibiotics are that the effect wears off pretty quickly after you stop taking them. I would guess that any acne would have resurfaced (or started to) within a month or so if the spiro wasn't working? I don't think oiliness is necessarily an indicator that the spiro isn't working.

Thank you for your input! I thought the same thing myself, but then I read some posts that scared the crap out of me. People talking about the acne coming back as much as 8 months later. One person said their doctor actually said that you may see the after effects for 6 months. I can't understand biologically why that would happen though.

I have been on Spiro 100mg for 9.5 months. I also went on minocycline when I started to help with the IB. The mino helped a lot, and I did become pretty much completely clear after 4 or 5 months or so. However, I was still oily so assumed the Spiro wasn't working yet and continued with the mino. About 2 months ago I weaned off the mino and have been off it entirely for 3 or 4 weeks. I am still clear. But the thing is...I am still OILY. So I am worried that I am clear due to the after effects of the mino, and that I will break out again soon. Or is it possible that the Spiro is doing the work? Has anyone else cleared on Spiro but remained oily? I should add I haven't seen a reduction in sex drive or hair growth.

My experience with antibiotics are that the effect wears off pretty quickly after you stop taking them. I would guess that any acne would have resurfaced (or started to) within a month or so if the spiro wasn't working? I don't think oiliness is necessarily an indicator that the spiro isn't working.

Interesting, that's never been the case for me! I wish it had been - in a way it's awesome that antibiotics can possibly keep ppl clear for so long after they stop taking them. Of course, in your case, of course it wouldn't be great if that's what's happening.

But your dose of spiro keeps so many women clear and you've been on it for a while... Seems it should be working at this point, but maybe only time will tell.

Sorry, wish I could provide more input, but honestly, if I had to guess, I think you are good. I wouldn't stress about it and assume you are clear unless your skin proves otherwise.

I'm also on Spiro and taking Minocycline....my skin is still just as oily as before I started taking these meds....

Really? Would you say your face was just as oily as before? I feel like mine is. It's just so weird because what other mechanism would Spiro work by other than reducing oil? It doesn't kill bacteria or unclog pores. It reduces the androgens that CAUSE oil. So this is what I don't get. But I am very glad to hear this has been the case for you as well!

1. Oil production stimulated by hormones

2. Sebum viscosity

3. Size of sebaceous glands

Androgens affect 1 & 2. The only thing that will shrink down #3 (overly large sebaceous glands) is Accutane.

I would say for the majority of people, if you control the hormones, the sebaceous glands aren't a real issue. But there are exceptions.

Anyway, reducing androgens can also affect #2 and make your sebum "thinner." Thick sebum is bad. Just a little bit of thick sebum will come up and sit in your pore until it inflames into a zit.

Or in my case, it will sit in your skin for YEARS as a clogged pore, and never go away unless I dissolve it with high strength chemical peels, and even then I may still have to manually extract it.

You can have a lot of thin sebum, and you still may never get any clogged pores because it easily flows out of the pore.

Sorry, I don't have a real answer to why some on spiro stay oily and others dry out. But I have seen both types clear of active acne on the stuff. You can look at my Topicals for Hormonal Acne thread, and find a topical with a different hormonal communicator ingredient, and see if that helps the sheer amount of oil.

I should also add that I get MORE oily on antibiotics. I recently had to take antibiotics for the first time in years because of some major surgery I went through. I was still taking spironolactone. But during the 2 week course of antibiotics I was literally pouring oil out of my pores.

Thanks Green Gables. I had hypothesized that perhaps the sebum quality had changed, if not the quantity. This seems unlikely to me, but who knows. It is interesting that some areas can be oily without acne. For example, underneath and around my nose has always been oily but no acne. I always attributed this to a difference in characteristics of the pore, rather than oil. But again, who knows.

 

Really? Would you say your face was just as oily as before? I feel like mine is. It's just so weird because what other mechanism would Spiro work by other than reducing oil? It doesn't kill bacteria or unclog pores. It reduces the androgens that CAUSE oil. So this is what I don't get. But I am very glad to hear this has been the case for you as well!

1. Oil production stimulated by hormones

2. Sebum viscosity

3. Size of sebaceous glands

Androgens affect 1 & 2. The only thing that will shrink down #3 (overly large sebaceous glands) is Accutane.

I would say for the majority of people, if you control the hormones, the sebaceous glands aren't a real issue. But there are exceptions.

Anyway, reducing androgens can also affect #2 and make your sebum "thinner." Thick sebum is bad. Just a little bit of thick sebum will come up and sit in your pore until it inflames into a zit.

Or in my case, it will sit in your skin for YEARS as a clogged pore, and never go away unless I dissolve it with high strength chemical peels, and even then I may still have to manually extract it.

You can have a lot of thin sebum, and you still may never get any clogged pores because it easily flows out of the pore.

Sorry, I don't have a real answer to why some on spiro stay oily and others dry out. But I have seen both types clear of active acne on the stuff. You can look at my Topicals for Hormonal Acne thread, and find a topical with a different hormonal communicator ingredient, and see if that helps the sheer amount of oil.

I should also add that I get MORE oily on antibiotics. I recently had to take antibiotics for the first time in years because of some major surgery I went through. I was still taking spironolactone. But during the 2 week course of antibiotics I was literally pouring oil out of my pores.