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I haven't been on Acne.org in a very long time, but I just wanted to create this topic about Spironolactone and what it's done for me. I'm a young female in the NY state area, and I have had moderate acne for about five years. My acne ranged a LOT in its severity. I got cystic zits on occasion, and I seemed to break out around my period each month. No matter what, my face was never consistently clear. I always had at least a few bad red marks or zits, usually quite inflamed because I would mess with them. I had one really bad breakout my freshman year of college where I had red marks and zits ALL over both my cheeks. I looked like I had a severe case of the chicken pox. I went on Doxycycline and it cleared it up for the time being, but my acne soon came back.
I had heard about Spironolactone for years on the Acne.org board, but none of the doctors I saw had ever heard of it being used for acne. Eventually, during my fifth year of dealing with excessively oily skin and deep, painful zits, I was fed up and searched for doctors with experience prescribing Spiro for acne. I found one who did and got prescribed 50 mg of Spiro first, but after finding that it did nothing for me, my doctor bumped it up to 100 mg a day. I've now been on 100 mg a day since August 2013.
To say it's been a miracle worker is an understatement. My skin hasn't been this consistently clear since before I got acne. My oiliness has decreased incredibly, to the point where I do not need to blot my face anymore. My skin is not PERFECT by any means; I do still get a zit every few months or blackheads once in a while. But it is not nearly as bad as it used to be. I am quite happy with Spiro and plan to be on it as long as I can, since my doctor said it is safe for long term use.
If anyone has any questions feel free to ask me. I personally think every female (or even male if you get a lower dose) should give Spiro a try. I never even thought I had hormonal acne since I didn't really have cystic acne, but I decided to try it anyway and it has really worked. I have to thank the user Green Gables for her help in finding Spiro. She was how I found out about Spiro in the first place!
Your skin sounds a lot like mine-- lots of variety, occasional zits. I've been on Beyaz (birth control) for about 5 1/2 months now and Spiro for about 1 1/2 months and my skin is only improving! It's such a great feeling! I do get small zits, but nothing that I can't handle. I haven't had a full-blown breakout for months now!
Congratulations!! 
This post gives me so much hope! I have been using 100mg spiro for one month and increased to 150mg for another month..I have also been using aczone and tretinoin. I have seen alot of improvement but I hate topicals so i would like to stop those! Is that an option? Were any of you on topicals..or did you see full results without? Please please please let me know! Thank you so so much you are all so helpful and give me hope to just wait a bit!
This post gives me so much hope! I have been using 100mg spiro for one month and increased to 150mg for another month..I have also been using aczone and tretinoin. I have seen alot of improvement but I hate topicals so i would like to stop those! Is that an option? Were any of you on topicals..or did you see full results without? Please please please let me know! Thank you so so much you are all so helpful and give me hope to just wait a bit!
Wave, I'm also using Differin, but that's mostly for my red marks that are left over from my acne. I don't NEED to use it in order to not have new active spots. 
I just started spironolactone yesterday. I was on it before for a month and didn't notice any improvement in my acne except my face was less oily. I was on 50 mg but now I'm going back on it with 100 mg. I can't explain my frustration enough. I've tried everything. I loved doxycycline because it gave me the best skin I ever had until 2 years later when it stopped working. At first, my derm suggested that I stop it since my skin was so clear to see if my acne cleared up permanently but of course it didn't and when I tried to get back on it it gave me red, flat, pinpoint spots all over my body in sporadic places. The same thing happened with minocycline except this reaction occurred after about 3 weeks on minocycline.
Now Ive been taking azythromycin 3 times a week (after my derm suspected that I'm allergic to doxcycycline and minocycline) and it's been 5 weeks. I saw a slight improvement during the first 3 weeks and now my skin is more broken out and inflamed than it has been in a while. I typically struggle with acne on my checks. Whether it's hormonal or not is hard to say because I seem to break out randomly. So I asked my derm to try spiro again at a higher dose. I just want something to work soon because I'm drained from the trial and error process but I know that won't happen. I need to wait and see if this combo works at all. If not I'm out of many options. I'm also using benzaclin and aczone in the morning and tazorac and aczone at night. Tazorac seems to prevent my skin from scarring, helps my hyperpigmentation since I'm tanned skin, and keeps it so soft. Aczone helps reduce the swelling of my breakouts fast. Benzaclin seems helpful due to the benzoyl peroxide but not so sure about the topical antibiotic. I've been on all this topical stuff for 5 years. Now I'm 25 years old and ready to give up....
I am now a 46 year old who has been suffering from moderate to severe acne since I was a teenager. It has greatly contributed to my major depression and low self-esteem. I have tried everything over many years from OTC products, ProActiv, antibiotics, oral contraceptives, Accutane (as a young adult and again recently), topical ointments, etc. Nothing has helped. My acne has definitely appeared to be hormonal as it was always the worst right before menstruation. I also use CeraVe PM as previously recommended by my dermatologist; I really like it and have continued with this facial moisturizer. My dermatologist previously put me on a low dose of Spironolactone, but no improvement, so I discontinued its use. I have been using Torazac for awhile which has helped reduce scarring. I found the CeraVe AM (has sunscreen in it) left the typical greasy feeling after application, so I only use the PM.
After reading several comments on here about Spironolactone, I am now on 100 mg daily as suggested by my new ob/gyn. She also suggested that I try Zinc. So, I now take 50 mg of Zinc picolinate daily. It has only been one month, but I think I am experiencing some improvement finally. The Spironolactone has side effects of sleepiness, and of course as a diuretic, I frequent the bathroom and drink tons. I did experience severe, painful cystic acne after starting this medication early on, but that did eventually pass. I almost gave up taking it during that time because the acne was SO bad. Most recently, I notice that I am feeling hungry more often which causes concern about weight gain.
Let's hope for the best. Good luck everyone!
Going on my 4th month of Spiro and my skin is looking good! I even stopped using Retin-A and that's a huge deal to me since I have been using it for 14 years!! Every time I attempted to stop the Retin-A my skin would get horrible flare ups and now I haven't used it in 2 weeks with NO BREAK OUT! I still use Aczone in the mornings and evenings since my skin seems to really like it without the drying effect. Wishing everyone great success on Spiro 