Yes, my daughter's creatinine levels were borderline high also. Her doctor told her to cut her dose in half. She hasn't been retested as of yet but she has been weaning herself off of spiro and her plan is to get off of it. She's a dialysis nurse and the levels freaked her out pretty badly because of what she sees day in and day out. She also feels better when not taking it i.e. less tired. My advice would be to be regularly tested while you are on this med.
So glad this post is here. Perfect timing.
I had my blood drawn yesterday, and the results came back today. The receptionist told me the doctor wants me to come back in 3 days to get another blood sample. I asked her why and she said some levels were high, one of them being creatinine.(didn't give a number, but I guess high enough to warrant another test). I don't know if I'm getting another regular panel, or maybe one specific for kidneys. I think if things were really bad, the doc himself would call, or the main receptionist.
I've been on Spiro since June 2011 (50mg BID). I completely forgot to get my blood tested 3 months after that (test was in June 2011), So it's been 6 months. I'm really scared. I keep thinking "OMG what if I'm in kidney failure/kidney disease???" So as of this morning, I'm not taking the Spiro, eating someone decently, cutting down on salt, and drinking a lot of water. Hopefully next week, my numbers will be better.
I love having clear skin, but I think my kidneys come first *sigh*
YES! I have been on Spiro for a little over 2 years (100 mg/day) and it has basically done away with my cystic acne. It's been a miracle! However, my creatinine levels have slowly crept up and after a routine blood test a week ago, my doctor recommended I STOP taking Spiro! Noooo!! I am a healthy female in my mid twenties and my kidneys are, in his words, "functioning like those of a 70 year old woman" despite a healthy diet and lots of water. My kidney function has decreased by 30%. I am crushed. Now it is a slow, inevitable wait until the acne returns. It's a bummer, but obviously healthy kidney function is most important here. I will have another blood test in a month to get a baseline reading and then we'll discuss trying 50mg/day (I think mostly because I cried and he felt bad), but I'm not sure how effective 50mg will be for me. I've tried cutting it down to that level before and the acne starts returning. For now I'm just focusing on taking extra good care of myself and praying that through some miracle the acne wont return. I really wasn't comfortable with the idea of being on this stuff forever anyway and knew I'd have to quit when we decide to have children, but it sure was nice while it lasted. I'm at a loss now as to what avenue to explore next...
I know this was like 7 years ago, but in case anyone comes back to this...
I have been on spiro (50 mg/day) for 9 years now. My creatinine has been increasing year to year for the last three years, which is worrying me. Has anyone gone off the spiro because of this, and if so, did your levels going back down to normal? Just wondering if the creatinine increase is reversible. I may try cutting back to 25 mg per day and see if that makes a difference.