After years of acne i had crystal-clear skin.. until it became temporarily anavailable. Then i thought i should check if my skin improved by itself, if i grew out of acne. Big mistake.. my skin is slowly going to what it was before spiro, huge frustration. So here i am again, in the 4th week. I wanted to share my results and my fear, that it's not going to work this time... I feel that only people with acne can understand..
The previous days:
1 Oct.: 2 clogged pores inflamed to form zits
2 Oct.: 1 clogged pore inflamed but it's tiny
3 Oct.: 1 huge on my chin (it proved to be multiple small ones, perhaps connected under the skin)
4 Oct.: 0 new
5 Oct.: 1 small
6 Oct.: 1 clogged pore to zit
7 Oct.: 0 new
8 Oct.: 0 new
9 Oct.: 0 new
10 Oct: 1 new zit
11 Oct: 1 new papule
12 Oct: 0 new
Today: 1 new (2 active)
You seem to be doing alright. I'm kinda in the same boat, except this is my first time on spiro. I was clear for a few years after accutane and antibiotics but screwed everything up by going off and back on birth control.
Only now I wish I had the skin pre-spiro because my skin is going through some kind of initial breakout where I have multiple clusters if clogged pores/small zits come up out of nowhere one morning last week all along my jawline, neck, and around my mouth .
You seem to be doing alright. I'm kinda in the same boat, except this is my first time on spiro. I was clear for a few years after accutane and antibiotics but screwed everything up by going off and back on birth control.
Only now I wish I had the skin pre-spiro because my skin is going through some kind of initial breakout where I have multiple clusters if clogged pores/small zits come up out of nowhere one morning last week all along my jawline, neck, and around my mouth .
i hope your ib will stop with the antibiotic because it's a miracle treatment for many. My problem is that after a month there were days in a row without pimples despite my crappy diet. And now this isn't happening and i am so scared..
Today i have an other one, 3 active...
So today there is nothing new thank God..
1 Oct.: 2 clogged pores inflamed to form zits
2 Oct.: 1 clogged pore inflamed but it's tiny
3 Oct.: 1 huge on my chin (it proved to be multiple small ones, perhaps connected under the skin)
4 Oct.: 0 new
5 Oct.: 1 small
6 Oct.: 1 clogged pore to zit
7 Oct.: 0 new
8 Oct.: 0 new
9 Oct.: 0 new
10 Oct: 1 new zit
11 Oct: 1 new papule
12 Oct: 0 new
13 Oct: 1 new (2 active)
14 Oct: 1 new (3 active)
15 Oct: 0 new (3 active)
But there are many clogged pores.. i think that spiro can't do something about them, can it? If they get inflamed, there we are and spiro isn't anti-inflamatory. So perhaps the problem isn't that spiro isn't working but i have many pimples yet to come that it can do nothing about, they have to do their cycle. I will try aha and bha but in about 10 days from now.
Nothing new today... i had some spotting, it's the 20th day of my cycle. This actually happened and the first time but the 2nd week of treatment, not the 4th. I think there was something holding back spiro, perhaps the zinc i took? I know zinc raises testosterone and as a container can bond with some ingredients and maybe it had some kind of interaction with spiro.
1 Oct.: 2 clogged pores inflamed to form zits
2 Oct.: 1 clogged pore inflamed but it's tiny
3 Oct.: 1 huge on my chin (it proved to be multiple small ones, perhaps connected under the skin)
4 Oct.: 0 new
5 Oct.: 1 small
6 Oct.: 1 clogged pore to zit
7 Oct.: 0 new
8 Oct.: 0 new
9 Oct.: 0 new
10 Oct: 1 new zit
11 Oct: 1 new papule
12 Oct: 0 new
13 Oct: 1 new (2 active)
14 Oct: 1 new (3 active)
15 Oct: 0 new (3 active)
16 Oct: 0 new (2 active)
17 Oct: 2 new nodule-like, damned cheese (3 active)
18 Oct: 0 new (2 active)
So no dairy no acne today, the 2 nodules are not yet really swollen but they try their best.. and i do my best to fight them but i think i am loosing... I have to put some weight on and i don't know how to do it without breaking out but i think being underweight interferes with my treatment.
19 Oct. - 5th week: 1 clogged pore to a small zit that aha and spot treatment dried in a day
20 Oct.: nothing new
21 Oct.: nothing new
22 Oct.: i feel another of these red without head but it doesn't seem big like they used to be about 3 weeks ago. I bellieve it's the multigrain bread i ate these days. Anyway it is still early so i believe that icing will do wonders again, it helped the previous nodules not to swell at all but they left their marks. I also have a clogged pore that is going to be a normal pimple with the white head on top but it's not yet inflamed. Tomorrow or the day after it will be, i am prepared.
By now i have the usual side effects of spiro: period irregularity, diuretic effect, dizziness when i stand up quickly. I believe my skin is doing better but it still has a long way ahead.
I couldn't find the cinammon pills i wanted, i will order them online but it will take time to arrive. I feel disappointed (again) and i may arrange an appointment with the derm the next days to ask for an antibiotic.. perhaps i will regret this and spiro only needs time but i feel so bad, the response i have (if i have at all) is nothing compared to the previous time ..
I don't think he will, particularly this time of the year..
End of 5th week today and one new pustule. So the count is..
1 Oct.: 2 clogged pores inflamed to form zits
2 Oct.: 1 clogged pore inflamed but it's tiny
3 Oct.: 1 huge on my chin (it proved to be multiple small ones, perhaps connected under the skin)
4 Oct.: 0 new
5 Oct.: 1 small
6 Oct.: 1 clogged pore to zit
7 Oct.: 0 new
8 Oct.: 0 new
9 Oct.: 0 new
10 Oct: 1 new zit
11 Oct: 1 new papule
12 Oct: 0 new
13 Oct: 1 new (2 active)
14 Oct: 1 new (3 active)
15 Oct: 0 new (3 active)
16 Oct: 0 new (2 active)
17 Oct: 2 new nodule-like, damned cheese (3 active)
18 Oct: 0 new (2 active)
19 Oct. - 5th week: 1 clogged pore to a small zit that aha and spot treatment dried in a day
20 Oct.: nothing new
21 Oct.: nothing new
22 Oct.: 1 new red, 1 clogged pore (2 active)
23 Oct: no new (2 active)
24 Oct.:no new (1 active)
25 Oct: one pustule (1 active)
This week: 4 new, 2 from clogged pores.
Edit: i just got the cinnamon pills and had the 1st one.. i hope i won't break out tomorrow there is a part of me afraid that it may interfere with spiro, i have read about an ingedient in these pills and someone said that it makes a film that covers the gut and prevents absorption..
You need to give spiro time. I'm not sure how long you were off the spiro the first time around, but spiro is correcting hormones. That isn't something that happens quickly. Most women on this medication need to wait months to see any improvement, I'm talking 6 months to a year with some women. My body responded around month 3 where my acne was completely under control. If you research it more you will see its not a quick fix and your dermatologist should have set you up with the right expectations. You need to give ANY treatment atleast 3 months to judge its effectiveness. Topicals, antibiotics, holistic treatments, food allergies, spiro and even accutane.
Also spiro will not clear up active acne at all. You need to treat our active acne with a topical or some other treatment. Like BP or AHA or BHA or retin A. There are a lot of options for that. Anything that was under the skin and waiting to come up will still do so. The spiro stops new acne from forming but it doesn't kill bacteria or anything like that.
If you are impatient with the medication you can see your dermatologist, see if he or she is willing to prescribe a antibiotic like you mentioned in previous posts. I've seem other members use antibiotics to clear up acne. They stay on the antibiotics for a few months to 6 months and give spiro the time to kick in. Once you come off the amtibiotics hopefully the spiro will have started to do its good work.
If it worked for you in the past is likely it will work again. You just need to be patient and Unfortunatly a month isn't enough time.
Another thing to look at. See what manufacturing company was making your spiro on your previous treatment. Some women do not react to other brands. Maybe you were using brand name before and now your on a generic version. Doctors and pharmacists agree that there is no difference with the active ingredients, but the fillers are different and your body may not like the filler as much as the other ones. Give the medication time though, that's my recommendation. Give it a good 6 months to really show its effectiveness.
You need to give spiro time. I'm not sure how long you were off the spiro the first time around, but spiro is correcting hormones. That isn't something that happens quickly. Most women on this medication need to wait months to see any improvement, I'm talking 6 months to a year with some women. My body responded around month 3 where my acne was completely under control. If you research it more you will see its not a quick fix and your dermatologist should have set you up with the right expectations. You need to give ANY treatment atleast 3 months to judge its effectiveness. Topicals, antibiotics, holistic treatments, food allergies, spiro and even accutane.
Also spiro will not clear up active acne at all. You need to treat our active acne with a topical or some other treatment. Like BP or AHA or BHA or retin A. There are a lot of options for that. Anything that was under the skin and waiting to come up will still do so. The spiro stops new acne from forming but it doesn't kill bacteria or anything like that.
If you are impatient with the medication you can see your dermatologist, see if he or she is willing to prescribe a antibiotic like you mentioned in previous posts. I've seem other members use antibiotics to clear up acne. They stay on the antibiotics for a few months to 6 months and give spiro the time to kick in. Once you come off the amtibiotics hopefully the spiro will have started to do its good work.
If it worked for you in the past is likely it will work again. You just need to be patient and Unfortunatly a month isn't enough time.
Another thing to look at. See what manufacturing company was making your spiro on your previous treatment. Some women do not react to other brands. Maybe you were using brand name before and now your on a generic version. Doctors and pharmacists agree that there is no difference with the active ingredients, but the fillers are different and your body may not like the filler as much as the other ones. Give the medication time though, that's my recommendation. Give it a good 6 months to really show its effectiveness.
Thanks for reading and your reply. I use the same brand as before, the first time i saw improvement after 3 weeks.. i would still break out but less and less frequently.. that's what makes me nervous, why the first time my skin started to respond after 3 weeks and now 6+ weeks and almost no results especially now that i have eliminated food triggers? The 4th week of the first time i could eat ice cream and chocolate and the next morning my skin would be fine.. Now i don't even dare to think of dairy and yet today i got another nodule.. I also use clindamycin and aha+bha as topicals. I have an appointment tomorrow and i hope he will prescribe me antibiotics.. i have no other option because i have migraines and family history of blood clots.. if spiro doesn't work i will have nothing to treat acne...
I understand what yor saying, but your body changes and you have to be patient. You could start to see results anyday now. You maybe one of the lucky ones who gets results quickly. Just don't worry about it to much, I'd start to get concerned when you are past the time period it is starts working for most people. Hopefully you can use an antibiotic short term while the spiro gets the chance to work for you.
I understand what yor saying, but your body changes and you have to be patient. You could start to see results anyday now. You maybe one of the lucky ones who gets results quickly. Just don't worry about it to much, I'd start to get concerned when you are past the time period it is starts working for most people. Hopefully you can use an antibiotic short term while the spiro gets the chance to work for you.
Thanks, you are very encouraging The first time i asked for antibiotics my doc refused, it was fall-winter again and i believe she was afraid of multi-resistant pneumonia but that was another derm, when i was still trying topicals without results. I hope he will be more helpful.
Today is another great day.. 2 clogged pores, side by side and guess what, these two are side by side with the previous clogged pore that too seemed to be two side by side. Did you think that that's all? Nooo there is a papule right next to yesterday's nodule. So three new, 4 active. I am going to test my testo levels.. my weight loss, the spearmint i was drinking.. perhaps 100 mg is too much.
i can't believe it my derm wanted to prescribe accutane! He said that it's better than spiro and will clear me completely etc.. well what he didn't know is how well informed i am about these things.
Tomorrow i will test my testosterone to have an idea about what to do next... why did i put myself in this torture in the first place??
when will this nightmare stop? There is a new papule next to the previous one.. not really obvious but i feel it, icing it right now... This is definitely worse than before.. I have to change something now..
28 oct: 1 big papule (wasn't nodule after all)
29 oct: 1 papule, 2 clogged pores inflamed
30 oct.: 1 papule.
In 3 days i had more than the entire previous week. I am going to find a derm that will prescribe antibiotics and drop to 50 or 75 mg.. meanwhile i will stop completely for some days.. let's see my testo levels first.. oh i am paniced..
I like this picture very much. This is my life!
with a range of 8-48 my testo is 27... i will skip it today and tomorrow i will try another dose.. i just don't know which.. this desicion could affect me for many months..
I am afraid to sleep, i am afraid of what i may see when i wake up.. Many people will see me tomorrow, poor people.. Coin flipping decided a dose of 50 mg, until i can see someone to help me with the dosage.. i would like to contact one through my mom because she knows many docs but she doesn't agree at all with hormonal treatment and she is making it sooooooo difficult i want to ask about the dose according to my weight but she always finds an excuse i am so worried and uncertain.
Except a mosquito bite and a strange pain on my jawline, there is nothing new. New dosage experiment today.. knowing my luck i should try 75 mg but then i thought that if 75 don't work i won't know if i should increase or decrease.
If my mother wasn't my mother i would never talk to her again..