Hi everyone,
I'm new to the board, but thought I'd write about my journey on spiro. Let me first tell you a bit about myself. I'm about to turn 24 and have been struggling with acne since I was 12. I've tried every pill, topical, cleanser, and accutane twice, and nothing works for good. Even the accutane only kept me clear for about 3-4 months. I finally went back to the derm and he put me on 50mgs of spiro twice a day as he thinks my acne is strictly hormone related because I seem to primarily breakout on my chin and cheeks. That was about 4 weeks ago.
After the first week, I thought wow, this may actually be working, but then weeks 2-4 have been MEAN. I had a bad breakout on my right cheek (like 5-6 painful cysts) that are still lingering. I know its only been a month, but I'm really down. To make matters worse, I'm getting married this September and all I can think about is how my pictures are going to be extremely photo shopped and I won't be able to go in the water on my honeymoon because my makeup will wash off (and nobody wants to see that).
If anyone has any advice or tips I'd really appreciate it. I really want to keep posting my journey in hopes that once I get to the second or third month things will get better. I know I can't be the only bride to be who fears how she'll cover her face on her wedding day... help a girl out!
Thanks BMarieWantsNoAcne...I'm definitely trying to stay positive that all will be well by September!
Anyone out there have a good recommendation for a non-clogging and non-oily looking sunscreen??
Hi everyone,
I'm new to the board, but thought I'd write about my journey on spiro. Let me first tell you a bit about myself. I'm about to turn 24 and have been struggling with acne since I was 12. I've tried every pill, topical, cleanser, and accutane twice, and nothing works for good. Even the accutane only kept me clear for about 3-4 months. I finally went back to the derm and he put me on 50mgs of spiro twice a day as he thinks my acne is strictly hormone related because I seem to primarily breakout on my chin and cheeks. That was about 4 weeks ago.
After the first week, I thought wow, this may actually be working, but then weeks 2-4 have been MEAN. I had a bad breakout on my right cheek (like 5-6 painful cysts) that are still lingering. I know its only been a month, but I'm really down. To make matters worse, I'm getting married this September and all I can think about is how my pictures are going to be extremely photo shopped and I won't be able to go in the water on my honeymoon because my makeup will wash off (and nobody wants to see that).
If anyone has any advice or tips I'd really appreciate it. I really want to keep posting my journey in hopes that once I get to the second or third month things will get better. I know I can't be the only bride to be who fears how she'll cover her face on her wedding day... help a girl out!
I feel your pain and anxiety because I was the Broken Out Bride. I have had acne all my life. It was somewhat under control around the time of my engagement in Dec. 2005. A few months later, my skin got really bad...probably due to the stress of planning my Sept. 2006 wedding. So I did the worst thing I could have done...I started switching products, which sent my skin in a downward spiral. What I should have done was try to work on stress reduction (easier said than done for a bride to be!). But no, I jumped from one product to another, convinced I would find a miracle cure. It didn't happen. On my wedding day I had a huge pimple between my eyebrows, and two cysts on my chin. I had become quite the makeup artist and I covered it all pretty well. My family insisted that no one knew the acne was there but me. But that's just it. I knew it. And to this day, when I look at our wedding photos, it's the first thing I can see. I know where each bump and mark was and how hard it was to hide them. And really, I don't think anyone was fooled. My intention is not to discourage you or bring you down. It's a plea to you to please not do what I did! My advice is to stick with the Spiro and a gentle skincare routine. Try not to let wedding stress get the best of you. It really is only one day, and it will all be beautiful. Including you! Learn from my mistake. I really think if I had stuck with the products that had been working for me and learned to relax, I would have gotten over that bad breakout that made me start changing everything...and maybe my skin would have been as clear as the blue sky on my wedding day...
Hang in there, keep a positive attitude, and stick to one simple skincare approach 
Man, I totally feel ya on this one. Except my wedding is in a month and I swear if my skin looks like crap I don't know how I can possibly drag myself away from the mirror to get there. I count down the days not because I'm excited, because I can see how many "healing days" I get. It sucks because all during the planning I was clear. If I would have known this was going to happen I wouldn't have even started. I'd do anything to push it back just a month to give me more time, but everyone is already booked. Good luck!
Man, I totally feel ya on this one. Except my wedding is in a month and I swear if my skin looks like crap I don't know how I can possibly drag myself away from the mirror to get there. I count down the days not because I'm excited, because I can see how many "healing days" I get. It sucks because all during the planning I was clear. If I would have known this was going to happen I wouldn't have even started. I'd do anything to push it back just a month to give me more time, but everyone is already booked. Good luck!
you know before i got married i broke out too so i went tanning for 2 weeks before the wedding and it cleared up pretty well and then all my red marks blended in well too. i know tanning is bad but a few weeks shouldnt really hurt. also you can schedule an appointment with the derm like the week of incase any cysts or anything pop up so that you are covered. dont worry it will be ok i promise. you should get your makeup professional done too because they can cover anything. i went to clinique and had mine done for free but MAC does it too and that MAC makeup will cover so well. i went there once feeling awful about my skin and when i left i felt like a million bucks. not sure how the lady did it but you wouldnt have known i had acne when i left there. i think it was the studio fix foundation they used on me. great stuff!!
Yeah I was actually thinking about doing that. I should get some color anyway because my dress is super white and had a cutout in the back. I'm going to the derm Monday to see if maybe I can get a round of antibiotics to calm everything down (bad I know but I really need something). I do plan to make an appointment at MAC also because, yeah, amazing at covering everything!
Someclearday how did the dermatologist appointment go?? My dermatologist put me on Prednisone before my best friends wedding a few years ago when i just wanted things to calm down. You could look into it... it definitely did the trick for me in terms of not letting any more pimples appear, but unfortunately you can only be on it for like 10 days. Could be worth it for the wedding though!
RJT623 thank you so much for all the advice! I've really been trying to just stick to a very basic skin care regimen so hopefully that will work out.
Week 5 Spiro Update: I woke up this morning with 2 cysts forming ... they don't seem to be as big as they have been in the past so fingers crossed they will subside quickly! I still feel as though my skin is pretty oily. Anyone on spiro know about how long it took for the slick look to start decreasing??
Thanks to everyone that's been posting on here... it's so great having a community of people going through the same stuff.
So good news is the cysts both came to a head fairly quickly so I was able to extract. Now I just have a bunch of little white bumps along my cheeks and chin... not sure if this is normal, like a way of my skin purging...
Still pretty oily throughout the day and having to blot, but hopefully that will subside soon, heading towards summer I'd really like not to look like a grease ball, it really makes trying to cover up my acne impossible
My derm appt was pretty good! I got a round of antibiotics to calm everything down and I'm on the 30 day waiting to possibly start Accutane (not sure if you saw my other thread)
Wedding is in two weeks:/ all I can hope is that I don't have any new breakouts so the ones I have can subside. I'm committing to leaving my hand off my face as much as possible until then
Two of the cysts came to a head so hopefully they will heal fast. The other is just sitting there taunting me.
Confession Time: I live with my fiance and sometimes I make up excuses to go to bed before him or after him so he doesn't have to see me without my makeup. Obviously he knows I have acne.. the make up isn't magic, but for some reason I hate him seeing me with red marks all over. I know he loves me, I mean my gosh he asked me to marry him, and he always tells me he doesn't care about my skin, but I know he's just being nice. I want to be able to wake up in the morning and him tell me I'b beautiful before I bolt to the bathroom and put on my mask... insecure moment 500 sorry all 
I completely understand. I feel the exact same way. My biggest dream is to wake up with no makeup on and feel confident that my skin looks good. It's natural to want your fiance to think you are beautiful, in and out. I hope the Spiro works for you! I'm trying it again after using it on and off for the last year...
In regards to your confession...I think a lot of us can relate. I've been with my husband for 13 years and when my skin is bad, I dread for him to see me without my makeup. But he reminds me that my skin needs a break from the makeup and it needs to breathe, especially when it's bad. So we usually compromise...I wash my face, but keep the lights dim 
On a slightly related note, I'm getting married young to the love of my life. The only problem is, I'll probably still have acne because I'll be barely 19. Nightmare just waiting to happen. I've actually thought about asking to wait simply to see if my skin will clear up more (which is funny because that's my only reason! 
)
I completely understand. I feel the exact same way. My biggest dream is to wake up with no makeup on and feel confident that my skin looks good. It's natural to want your fiance to think you are beautiful, in and out. I hope the Spiro works for you! I'm trying it again after using it on and off for the last year...
Did it work for you before? Why haven't/didn't you stay on it??
In regards to your confession...I think a lot of us can relate. I've been with my husband for 13 years and when my skin is bad, I dread for him to see me without my makeup. But he reminds me that my skin needs a break from the makeup and it needs to breathe, especially when it's bad. So we usually compromise...I wash my face, but keep the lights dim
I guess that's true... our skin does need to breathe, if only it wasn't so embarrassing! How is your skin now? Are you on spiro?
I've had an interesting experience with Spiro and quite different from what most people seem to go through. When I first started taking Spiro, my skin cleared up right away. I had suffered from mild/moderate acne around my cheeks and chin. In the past I had used Minocycline, which worked quite well for awhile and then would stop working after 3-6 months. After being on Spiro for 6-8 weeks, I began to break-out on my chin and jawline- areas that I never had acne before. However, the rest of my face was pretty clear. It seemed like a trade-off and the Spiro would not stop my break-outs, but just change where on my face it happened. When I tried to stop the Spiro all together, I had really bad break-outs on the rest of my face and would start taking it again.
Recently, I've gotten my hormones tested and found out I have very low levels estrogen and progesterone. Since then I've begun taking oral estrogen and progesterone. I hope that this in combination with a low dose of Spiro will help to balance out my hormones. I believe that the Spiro did not work for me because of my low estrogen. It's different for every person- I hope it works for you!
About to hit the 7 week mark and I have about 2-3 cysts and a bunch of mini pimples/white heads along my chin and cheeks(I think thats what they are). Getting frustrated..wishing my skin texture was smoother. Still fairly oily too... I'm already on 100mg... maybe I need to up my dosage?? Not sure if the doctor will let me until I've been on it at least 12 weeks... any thoughts?
About to hit the 7 week mark and I have about 2-3 cysts and a bunch of mini pimples/white heads along my chin and cheeks(I think thats what they are). Getting frustrated..wishing my skin texture was smoother. Still fairly oily too... I'm already on 100mg... maybe I need to up my dosage?? Not sure if the doctor will let me until I've been on it at least 12 weeks... any thoughts?
I wish I had better news for you, but there really isn't much you can do with spiro alone at this point. Spiro is a SLOW medication. Always has been. 7 weeks just isn't enough time to see real improvement. A smart derm would not up your dosage past 100mg that fast, unless you weigh 180+lbs, because a higher dose would then be appropriate for your weight.
If you are impatient you can always add topicals. I wouldn't recommend Retin As before a wedding because they have a purging period, but perhaps some potent salicylic acid peels or AHA peels could help both the texture and the acne.
I may have said this already, but please cut out dairy, sugar, and go low carb if you are trying to clear your skin up. These three things (dairy, sugar, even high "good" carbs) stimulate hormonal imbalances that cause acne. See Dr. Hyman's article
About to hit the 7 week mark and I have about 2-3 cysts and a bunch of mini pimples/white heads along my chin and cheeks(I think thats what they are). Getting frustrated..wishing my skin texture was smoother. Still fairly oily too... I'm already on 100mg... maybe I need to up my dosage?? Not sure if the doctor will let me until I've been on it at least 12 weeks... any thoughts?
I wish I had better news for you, but there really isn't much you can do with spiro alone at this point. Spiro is a SLOW medication. Always has been. 7 weeks just isn't enough time to see real improvement. A smart derm would not up your dosage past 100mg that fast, unless you weigh 180+lbs, because a higher dose would then be appropriate for your weight.
If you are impatient you can always add topicals. I wouldn't recommend Retin As before a wedding because they have a purging period, but perhaps some potent salicylic acid peels or AHA peels could help both the texture and the acne.
I may have said this already, but please cut out dairy, sugar, and go low carb if you are trying to clear your skin up. These three things (dairy, sugar, even high "good" carbs) stimulate hormonal imbalances that cause acne. See Dr. Hyman's article
When you say spiro is slow do you think it's even slower than the 3-4 months I've heard from other people?? I don't weigh 180+ so upping is obviously not an option. Also I'm really scared of pretty much all topicals because I feel like every one of them has that purging effect like you say.
Do you have more info about the peels? I can't really take time off of work so do you need major down time when you do them?
Well I'm 8 weeks in and my skin is OK. The right side of my face has mostly cleared, but the left side of my face still has some active cysts and lots of healing ones. womp womp. I'm hoping I'm past the worst of it, but I guess time will tell. I just keep counting down the weeks hoping that in another month or so I will look back and know this was all worth it!
Also on my period this week which is making me more irritated and emotional (not a great combo with bad skin)....