I had the bad cystic acne and i had nodules too and the spiro worked for me. You need to get thosd cysts injected right away to avoid scarring in those areas. It will work just give it time. If only you could get the keflex it was the only thing that stopped the cysts till the spiro kicked in. Doxy just didnt touch it. Message me and i will send you a pic of my skin last year.

Week 8: So things seems to be stabilizing a bit, not really better, not worse.. I went to my gyno to get some words of advice about my pcos and she pretty much told me nothing. Said she knew already that I had it (which was a lie because when I asked earlier she said nothing and didn't even tell me to get the sonogram to check). Asked her what I could do to help it and she said, since I didn't need to lose weight, there was nothing I could do. So, I asked for birth control and she tried to blindly give me ortho tri cyclen because its advertised for acne. I told her I wanted a monophasic pill, and since yasmin gave me pretty bad stomach pain, I got ortho cyclen (generic: sprintec) in the hope that maybe a different pill might not lead to the same side effects. Not really a fan of bcp, but I figured I needed to stabilize hormones more and I possibly might go on accutane if my skin doesn't start improving. Going to dermatologist again on thursday so I got to inform him on the latest developments.

so as of now, I'm taking

- Spiro 25mg 2x a day

- Doxy 100mg 2x a day

- Ortho cyclen

I've been taking spiro for 7 yrs now. I read about it on a health forum. Then I got a book The hormonally vulnerable woman. It says to clear acne and excessive hair you need a full dose of 100mgs to 200mgs. Sometimes 75mgs will work. It will take at least 2 to 4 months to see a change.

I talked to my derm and said I wanted 200mgs. I took 200mgs for about 1yr. my acne completely cleared. After that one yr I went down to 150, 125 to now 100mgs per day. I was having side effects that's why I cut it down. Spiro really does work. Just make sure you are taking enough! I tried taking 75mgs but started breaking out so 100mgs is what I need to take for it to work for me.

I am on this site be/c I am looking for a good skin care reg. I started the kit w bez for two days and am now seeing little bumps(not really acne) on my forhead. Is this happening to anyone else? and if so does it go away?

I forget if you already posted, but have you gone to an endocronologist? If not, I would suggest this so that you can have someone to monitor your hormone levels with PCOS. I am going to one that specializes in this. Not only do I have the normal high testosterone etc from PCOS but I also uncovered other hormone imbalances from the blood tests- specifically low Progesterone, Pregnenolone and estrogen dominance. While testosterone is a major factor in acne, other hormones such as estrogen play a large role. If you research estrogen dominance this might be helpful. You are on a pretty low dose of Spiro, I am on 50mg and had very mild but persistent acne and it's taken me 3+ months to stop breaking out and starting to heal the intial breakout from month 1-3. I would strongly urge you to keep on Spiro even if you go the accutane route so this does not come back to haunt you when the course completes. I am also taking Pregnenolone an all natural form to balance out my other hormones along with Yasmin.

Its such a delicate balance and very different for each person. I am happy to hear things aren't getting worse, because even though it doesn't feel like it, that in itself is progress. Hope you have a good derm appt!

Week 8: So things seems to be stabilizing a bit, not really better, not worse.. I went to my gyno to get some words of advice about my pcos and she pretty much told me nothing. Said she knew already that I had it (which was a lie because when I asked earlier she said nothing and didn't even tell me to get the sonogram to check). Asked her what I could do to help it and she said, since I didn't need to lose weight, there was nothing I could do. So, I asked for birth control and she tried to blindly give me ortho tri cyclen because its advertised for acne. I told her I wanted a monophasic pill, and since yasmin gave me pretty bad stomach pain, I got ortho cyclen (generic: sprintec) in the hope that maybe a different pill might not lead to the same side effects. Not really a fan of bcp, but I figured I needed to stabilize hormones more and I possibly might go on accutane if my skin doesn't start improving. Going to dermatologist again on thursday so I got to inform him on the latest developments.

so as of now, I'm taking

- Spiro 25mg 2x a day

- Doxy 100mg 2x a day

- Ortho cyclen

I wish I could do both but my dermatologist is making me choose and both my PA and dermatologist both want me on accutane even tho they now know I have pcos. They are convinced that the Spiro isn't going to make that significant an improvement and they don't want to up my dose so I'm sure 50mg isnt going to significantly improve me. I said I'd do accutane even tho part of me is still unsure about it =[ I just dont want this skin anymore. I'm starting to taper down, ive been on 25mg the last few days. My derm wants me to be off both doxy and spiro for 2 weeks before tane. It's going to be a warzone on my face... I've started to get a few breakouts/ small cysts. Not that they are that significant compared to what I have already. If I can go back to a few normal pimples a week like I used to have before these crazy cysts, I think I can be happy. I can live without total clearing for the rest of my life, as long as it just fluctuates from mild to moderate. Everything that comes out of my face now is a cyst T_T

About the endocrinologist, I actually wanted to see one last year and the one I called wouldn't take me without a referral so I'm in the processes of getting one from my gyno as well as requesting copies of blood work and sono. I'm looking for one that specializes in hormones. Its crazy that none of these other so called professionals know of anything that could help me, when this crosses into their domain of expertise and so many women have this condition.

 

I forget if you already posted, but have you gone to an endocronologist? If not, I would suggest this so that you can have someone to monitor your hormone levels with PCOS. I am going to one that specializes in this. Not only do I have the normal high testosterone etc from PCOS but I also uncovered other hormone imbalances from the blood tests- specifically low Progesterone, Pregnenolone and estrogen dominance. While testosterone is a major factor in acne, other hormones such as estrogen play a large role. If you research estrogen dominance this might be helpful. You are on a pretty low dose of Spiro, I am on 50mg and had very mild but persistent acne and it's taken me 3+ months to stop breaking out and starting to heal the intial breakout from month 1-3. I would strongly urge you to keep on Spiro even if you go the accutane route so this does not come back to haunt you when the course completes. I am also taking Pregnenolone an all natural form to balance out my other hormones along with Yasmin.

Its such a delicate balance and very different for each person. I am happy to hear things aren't getting worse, because even though it doesn't feel like it, that in itself is progress. Hope you have a good derm appt!

Week 8: So things seems to be stabilizing a bit, not really better, not worse.. I went to my gyno to get some words of advice about my pcos and she pretty much told me nothing. Said she knew already that I had it (which was a lie because when I asked earlier she said nothing and didn't even tell me to get the sonogram to check). Asked her what I could do to help it and she said, since I didn't need to lose weight, there was nothing I could do. So, I asked for birth control and she tried to blindly give me ortho tri cyclen because its advertised for acne. I told her I wanted a monophasic pill, and since yasmin gave me pretty bad stomach pain, I got ortho cyclen (generic: sprintec) in the hope that maybe a different pill might not lead to the same side effects. Not really a fan of bcp, but I figured I needed to stabilize hormones more and I possibly might go on accutane if my skin doesn't start improving. Going to dermatologist again on thursday so I got to inform him on the latest developments.

so as of now, I'm taking

- Spiro 25mg 2x a day

- Doxy 100mg 2x a day

- Ortho cyclen

Week 9: So, sadly this is probably the end of my journey with Spiro... I would have gave it more time if it didn't make my face explode past the point of natural recovery. I can't live like this waiting for it to work even tho im pretty much going to be waiting with accutane too... =[ My last pill will probably be in a week from now when my prescription runs out. I'm thinking of switching to more natural anti- androgen such as saw palmetto and a strict spearment tea/ low androgen diet regime. I'm hoping that with bcp could help balance me out more hormonally. At least with those things, I can stick with it forever where with spiro, i was eventually going to be cut off by my dermatologist after a few months anyways. I'm still not even sure if my acne is caused by an excess of testosterone or low progesterone? (kind of just assumed with the pcos and acne and the no boobs and the hair thinning on the back of my head and the hair all over my bodyy...( I thought it was just because I was italiannn and the hairiness was part of the stereotype)) Why can't all this body hair just grow on the back of my head instead??? Least of my problems, I suppose.

Anyways, if anyone knows of any other natural anti- androgen hormone supplements, let me know.

Week 11 (tomorrow): So, this last week or two, has been pretty good. A lot of cysts have gone down and I'm just left with a lot of redness. I'm far from cured. Still counting about 20 actives on my face alone and my shoulders are at its worst with cysts, but the really large clumps of cysts have gone down. As of right now, I told myself, if i do not get worse before my next appointment (which is in two weeks), I'm holding off on the accutane. I'm still taking the Spiro at 25mg but I think the thing that has really helped me was the doxy and the birth control pills which I started a month ago and 20 days ago for bcp. I'm really afraid of getting worse again since I'm coming to my last doxy pills and my inactive bcp both at the same time (my luck). If I make it through this next week and I'm still under control, I decided to stick with my current treatment in addition to starting chemical peel. I've been looking up stuff online about it and think that 20% salicylic acid peels once a week would be a good place to start, since my skin should already be used to salicylic acid. I really just want to start the peels to help the redness. Im not really expecting them to do anything for the active. I'll still have bcp, spiro and doxy to help/ prevent actives. Also bought a bottle of saw palmetto. I dont really know when I should try that... thinking of starting now, since im on my inactive week of bcp. All this stuff is so confusing

Hey I am so glad to hear you are thinking of sticking it out with Spiro. I know things have been beyond challenging for you and I hope you do see some success. Is there anyway your dr will extend your doxy course? When I started bcp on Spiro, I did take the packs back to back to try and keep my hormone levels regular and to try and head off any extra breakouts. Are you on a monophasic pill, perhaps maybe you could do that as well and skip your inactive weeks. They have done many studies that have shown it is not harmful.

I also second your choice for peels. I've been loving them. You may want to look into the Makeup Artists Choice Mandelic peels as they have been wonderful on my redness and even active spots. They have an AWEsome 15% salicylic/15% Mandelic combo that worked wonders after the first time I even used it. Dried out some spots that had been sitting around forever and really helps with the PIH. Lactic is good for PIH but better once the active spots are minimal. Wishing you a better week!

Week 11 (tomorrow): So, this last week or two, has been pretty good. A lot of cysts have gone down and I'm just left with a lot of redness. I'm far from cured. Still counting about 20 actives on my face alone and my shoulders are at its worst with cysts, but the really large clumps of cysts have gone down. As of right now, I told myself, if i do not get worse before my next appointment (which is in two weeks), I'm holding off on the accutane. I'm still taking the Spiro at 25mg but I think the thing that has really helped me was the doxy and the birth control pills which I started a month ago and 20 days ago for bcp. I'm really afraid of getting worse again since I'm coming to my last doxy pills and my inactive bcp both at the same time (my luck). If I make it through this next week and I'm still under control, I decided to stick with my current treatment in addition to starting chemical peel. I've been looking up stuff online about it and think that 20% salicylic acid peels once a week would be a good place to start, since my skin should already be used to salicylic acid. I really just want to start the peels to help the redness. Im not really expecting them to do anything for the active. I'll still have bcp, spiro and doxy to help/ prevent actives. Also bought a bottle of saw palmetto. I dont really know when I should try that... thinking of starting now, since im on my inactive week of bcp. All this stuff is so confusing

Welcome to the Spiro journey!! Have patience and stick with it. It does work!!

I started spiro today! She gave me a prescription for 25mg 2x/day (50mg/day) and said to start at 25mg for ~2 weeks to make sure I don't have too many side effects/to not shock my system since I seem a bit sensitive to hormone changes. And she'd bump me up to 75-100mg if there is zero change in 2 months.

I have a mirena IUD, and now that the cramping is better and the periods are gone and I basically don't have to worry about pregnancy, I really love it. Only thing is my acne is worse on it than on the pill due to the levonorgestrel progestin in it being way androgenic, so she said the spiro+mirena combo could be a first-line and long-term option before I give up on the IUD, since it would offset the most probable cause of my acne (retin-A and antibiotics only cleared the top half of my face and it dries out my chest and back really badly). I refuse to take antibiotics long term, too.

Fingers super crossed on this one.

Thanks! It's nice to see that it's working really well for quite a few people on here. I took some pictures of my skin today so I have something to compare it over the next few months.

Welcome to the Spiro journey!! Have patience and stick with it. It does work!!

Seriously, this board and the women on here are what encouraged me throughout the past four months. Try to be easy on yourself and know that everyone is different, it could work in just weeks or may take a bit longer, but it does work. Make sure you have a really good cleansing routine and exfoliation lined up wether you decide on Retin a or doing AHA/BHA route. It will help combat any breakouts you might get and help with the hyper pigmentation. Sending you lots of positive thoughts!!

 

Thanks! It's nice to see that it's working really well for quite a few people on here. I took some pictures of my skin today so I have something to compare it over the next few months.

Welcome to the Spiro journey!! Have patience and stick with it. It does work!!

Hi Spiro ladies I've been reading everyone's journey to give me a push to keep going with the Spiro! I'm still not clear at almost 6 months!!! As I type this I have a nasty cyst right under my lip and it hurts like hell !! I have a derm appointment next Tuesday and I'm sure he will up my dosage but I cant stand the thought of going thru anymore initial break out I'm mad and frustrated at the moment but we all must keep the faith that Spiro will work. Good to see I'm not alone and we all can lean on each other to cope with all this.

Hey Valerie, Has the Spiro helped you at all since you first started or are you still waiting for any results?

Hi Spiro ladies I've been reading everyone's journey to give me a push to keep going with the Spiro! I'm still not clear at almost 6 months!!! As I type this I have a nasty cyst right under my lip and it hurts like hell !! I have a derm appointment next Tuesday and I'm sure he will up my dosage but I cant stand the thought of going thru anymore initial break out I'm mad and frustrated at the moment but we all must keep the faith that Spiro will work. Good to see I'm not alone and we all can lean on each other to cope with all this.

Week 12: I feel like I have been changing my routine a lot in the last few weeks. A few days ago, I dropped spiro completely and replaced it with 480mg of Saw Palmetto extract since I felt like it wasn't the main thing helping my skin and figured saw palmetto was a close equivalent without the blood pressure changing side effect. I feel like the bcp had helped stabilize me enough on its own. I haven't had many new breakouts since the bcp and feel like taking doxy a little longer might help me. Started my first week of salicylic acid peels. The one I'm using is pretty week so I was able to peel twice this week and it hasn't really irritated my face at all. Hoping a few more peels will help with this redness.

Here's a comparison pic of my face so far. The first one is from March 27. The second one is today, April 22.

Hello cellardoor9!! The Spiro has helped me a whole lot, I went from getting 3 or 4 painful cysts at a time down to one and as of now im completely clear! My derm told me yesterday that at 6 months it starts to get better and better from here on out so im not going to be stopping it any time soon Like a lot of ladies on Spiro I had many ups and downs n even wanted to stop but im sooooo glad I didn't. Your skin looks like its improving, is it from the spiro or saw palmetto extract? I read your also doing peels, Im thinking of trying a peel so if any one has any recommendations I would really appreciate that

That's great that the spiro works for you! Unfortunately I had a lot of cysts before the spiro and things got so much worse after I started the spiro. I gave it some time, but it seemed like my face only got better as I stopped it My face is probably back to my pre-spiro state right now, which for me is a lott better than how it looked on Spiro. So, I'm slightly regretting starting it because now I have a lot of discoloration and still have a few cysts (mainly where I had them pre-spiro which is under my jaw). I think birth control pills might be whats helping me to not break out as much. Too soon to notice is saw palmetto is doing anything. I'm using Salicylic acid peels right now 15% and 20%. I'm not sure how much they are helping the discoloration as opposed to my skin naturally healing but the redness seems to be going down a bit

Hello cellardoor9!! The Spiro has helped me a whole lot, I went from getting 3 or 4 painful cysts at a time down to one and as of now im completely clear! My derm told me yesterday that at 6 months it starts to get better and better from here on out so im not going to be stopping it any time soon Like a lot of ladies on Spiro I had many ups and downs n even wanted to stop but im sooooo glad I didn't. Your skin looks like its improving, is it from the spiro or saw palmetto extract? I read your also doing peels, Im thinking of trying a peel so if any one has any recommendations I would really appreciate that

its been two months since my last post. I still get breakouts, but I think the major part of the battle is over. Just stuck waiting for these scars to heal.

So conclusion:

Spiro did NOT work for me!

Sprintec (bcps) helped me a lot!

Saw Palmetto helped!

Chemical Peels take a long time but I believe they are helpful in the long run.