Good morning all! I thought that I would come back to continue to update my journey, reach out for some support and remember the place that got me through a very challenging period in my life. I've been on Spiro since 12/2013 after being diagnosed with PCOS. Earlier in 2015 I had to come off Yaz due to severe migraines with aphasia. I upped my Spiro dose at that time from 75mg to 100mg and stayed that way throughout 2015. My skin was good, but I noticed towards the end of the year, the week before my period I would get a painful breakout, I was anxious, skin oilier and fine light hair growing back on my face, peach fuzzy. All signs of PCOS. Before the last few months I had been clear t with only a minor clogged pore from time to time. So, I talked with my Endo and she suggested upping Spiro as hormones start to find their new balance off the pill.
I upped my Spiro dose to 125mg 1/5/2016 and have experienced a minor breakout/purging. It's been 3 weeks and I've started to feel a sense of hormones balancing out, I had migraines last week and my oil production has slowed. My breakout is along my right jaw line and I hate it. Reminds me of how depressed I was during the first 4 months on Spiro. I actually got a cyst injected for the first time 2 weeks ago, as I was fearful of scarring or hyperpigmentation. As of this moment, I've got a few clogged pores left and some HP that will need to fade. Luckily MUAC peels are the best. I find it hard to stay away from the mirror or pick, but those both will do damage to my self-esteem and my porcelain white skin.
In the meantime my diet is gluten, sugar, caffeine, dairy and alcohol free until this all calms down.
Moral of the story is when you have PCOS the struggle may continue and you have to stay strong, fight and keep that pretty little head up. XO
Would love to hear from anyone at all on their Spiro journey, anyone upped their dosage, how did things go for you?
Carpe!!! So glad to see your back. Not glad you are experiencing problematic skin tho. I just needed to comment to keep faith and to stay strong. You've made it through before and you can do it again. I totally can relate on the pcos struggle. Ive been dealing with bad skin for 3+ years now all due to pcos. I have the hair troubles aswell which is so depressing. But we gotta keep fighting. Currently I've been on ortho cyclen for almost 5mnths with little improvement on my face which sucks. Anyway good luck keep strong!
4 hours ago, Krissy990 said:Carpe!!! So glad to see your back. Not glad you are experiencing problematic skin tho. I just needed to comment to keep faith and to stay strong. You've made it through before and you can do it again. I totally can relate on the pcos struggle. Ive been dealing with bad skin for 3+ years now all due to pcos. I have the hair troubles aswell which is so depressing. But we gotta keep fighting. Currently I've been on ortho cyclen for almost 5mnths with little improvement on my face which sucks. Anyway good luck keep strong!
Thanks Krissy! I think it is so helpful to hear stories about success, trials and failures on here. So many people join and give their time when their obsessed over it, so I thought it would be nice to give back. Information and this community meant so much to me to get clear.
Things are going much better this week. No migraine so far (I had two within a span of 5 days last week) and feeling a bit more settled. I am sleeping thanks to Magnesium and my breakout is almost healed. a few minor clogged pores and then need to use peels for the hyperpigmentation. Next week is the week before my period, so we shall see how the diet, supplements and spiro can attack that. I have minor oil throughout the day (dewey appearance), and when I wake up in the morning not much at all, which is nice. My mind just went back to that depressive time period and I felt my small breakout was the doom of me. It's sad how much acne affects you mentally, I wish everyone in the world had acne, at least one time. Then none of us would actually care. We'd just be like, oh hey 
I vaguely recall you may have tried Spiro, did you go on it?! Ortho did crap for me when I tried it, I am sure you are at wits end with the pill. I had to come off it. did they offer you anything else? Trying peels at all?
So it's been about 3 1/2 weeks since upping my Spiro dose to 125mg. I had a swollen spot on my cheek pop up Friday and luckily it's almost gone. I had another migraine as well, I think from stressing about every tiny lil spot, I feel obsessed trying to control and just when I think I'm on my way to clearing again, I have two small clogged pores on my right side of my chin that I'm trying to fight from inflaming. They so want to join the party and it's killing my spirit. Ahhhhh im digging deep to be strong and not get sucked into a depressive state. The rest of my skin looks great, I'm just working on clearing the hyperpigmentation with Mandelic peels along my right jaw line. I ordered the pumpkin enzyme today and look forward to seeing what that does. Head up high, prayers and lots of faith that my hormones will regain balance. Probbbbaly doesn't help that I'm getting my period this week. So tis another day in this battle against hormonal acne. PCOS you suck :)~
Hi honey. I've followed your past logs as I am a recent user of spiro (4 months in). Its been horrible to say the least and it shows no sign of letting up. I too am about to increase (to 150mg) at the 6 month mark as i am not seeing any further improvement at 100 mg and I'm getting cystic flares and regularly acne every day.
I know you can get a hold of this and will be praying for some relief for you.
12 hours ago, leelowe1 said:Hi honey. I've followed your past logs as I am a recent user of spiro (4 months in). Its been horrible to say the least and it shows no sign of letting up. I too am about to increase (to 150mg) at the 6 month mark as i am not seeing any further improvement at 100 mg and I'm getting cystic flares and regularly acne every day.
I know you can get a hold of this and will be praying for some relief for you.
Thank you SO much for your encouragement. It's beautiful how we can come together during something that is so lonely and depressing and help uplift with words and support. The first 4 months were a nightmare for me and remember the anxiety waking up everyday to rush and wash my face to feel for any new sore spots coming through. Spiro does work, slowly and really can take a toll mentally (my acne got way worse on Spiro before it got better). It was probably the 5th month that I started to relax and let be, BUT that could also have been the Celexa I started taking for anxiety lol I don't encourage that, because that was a nightmare to come off. NIGHTMARE! Are you on BCP right now as well"?
I realized I am SOOOOO hard on myself to be this perfect glowing face again and the reality is that I am not perfect and I have to be okay with that. Or maybe I need to just realize it is ok to have these moments were I am flawed and people see that. Being vulnerable is hard pill to swallow.
Leelowe, I am still at 125mg and am hesitating going to 150. Reason being, I've heard at 150mg the period can go whacky. So I am going to stick this out for another month on 125mg as things calm down and the HP clears. If I continue to have challenges I may then go to 150mg. These migraines I know are more from stress and my nonstop obsession. I am just so scared of breaking out I am causing more stress. It feels so good to have a place to write about the challenges. Look forward to hearing about your progress and sending lots of prayers and self-care and compassion your way.
On 1/26/2016 at 3:30 PM, CarpeMomentum said:Thanks Krissy! I think it is so helpful to hear stories about success, trials and failures on here. So many people join and give their time when their obsessed over it, so I thought it would be nice to give back. Information and this community meant so much to me to get clear.Things are going much better this week. No migraine so far (I had two within a span of 5 days last week) and feeling a bit more settled. I am sleeping thanks to Magnesium and my breakout is almost healed. a few minor clogged pores and then need to use peels for the hyperpigmentation. Next week is the week before my period, so we shall see how the diet, supplements and spiro can attack that. I have minor oil throughout the day (dewey appearance), and when I wake up in the morning not much at all, which is nice. My mind just went back to that depressive time period and I felt my small breakout was the doom of me. It's sad how much acne affects you mentally, I wish everyone in the world had acne, at least one time. Then none of us would actually care. We'd just be like, oh hey
I vaguely recall you may have tried Spiro, did you go on it?! Ortho did crap for me when I tried it, I am sure you are at wits end with the pill. I had to come off it. did they offer you anything else? Trying peels at all?
I totally feel you on the migraine front I too suffer from them off of hormonal birth control. They are terrible I can't believe your having them on such a regular basis. As for ortho I'm done with that it has done NOTHING for me in 4+ months. Still getting cysts still oily as ever. I just started yasmin 5 days ago so fingers crossed. I also was supposed to start accutane and my insurance denied me coverage. It's so depressing here I am with cysts and scars all over my face and they don't deam it "medically nesecarry". I'm appealing it but otherwise I'll go to spiro. I did try it but each time I'd break out in cysts. At the time I wasn't getting cysts regularly so it freaked me out. At this point tho its like my face looks like shit already so w.e. thank god for makeup tho lol!. Are you completly off of birthcontrol now? Stay strong I know how hard it is spiro will work just painfully slow.
I tried Ortho Tri in my teens and that made my skin a mess. Yasmin did wonders for me in my early twenties, I had that glowy skin, but would still get minor period breakouts like a cyst or so. I had to come of BCP forever due to the intensity of Migraines, no Estrogen allowed so my only other option is an IUD and I refused.
Yasmin and Spiro were wonderful for me together. Yas unfortunately caused migraines so that was a no go for me. I'm just going to continue to focus on Spiro working as well as it did before and realize that upping my dose in the past always created a breakout and this is really no different. I pray that your move to Yasmin is a good one and what the heck on the accutane? Maybe it was meant to be and Yasmin is your way to go? Especially with all of the side effects of Tane. Wishing you a really good day, despite all of this skin crap. This week I am going to work on reboosting my self esteem and realizing it really isn't that bad, it's just a change from my recent good run of skin. This is a disease we have to battle and we will fight together until we find some peace and balance 
About 4 weeks into my increased dose of Spiro and still having minor breakouts, 1 inflamed today on my right jaw and two small on my chin that came up Sunday and yesterday. They were clogged pores prior to inflaming. Getting my period in the next few days, or supposed to so assuming these are the friends that have showed up to welcome it. Overall working on not being upset by it, and realizing this too shall pass. No one really cares as much as I do about my face, I just look forward to this calming down. I've got some good products on the way, Pumpkin Enzyme mask to help with clarity moving forward. Ordered the AHA to add to my moisturizer Cerave PM because that helped a lot in the beginning as well. Peels are a savior in times like these, Mandelic 25% is the best.
Spiro has this way of making every clogged pore come to the surface and all around the same time. The small clogs that I had just sitting unnoticeable have all started coming out over the last two week on my right jaw/chin line. It's what happened before when I first started Spiro, just at a much much more manageble and smaller scale. My hyperpigmentation seems to be moving along with the peels as well. Trying to keep super hydrated, lots of veggies, fish, zinc and trying to destress. I am too tired to get upset over this crap anymore. It's part of my journey currently and need to continue to keep my head high, because we are beautiful people despite a few spots.
So today is a tough one. I made a derm appt to get some cortisone injections this morning so I feel good about that. This will only be my second time going, but I can't handle the swollen spots on my chin and jaw right now. The chin spot came up Tuesday night, iced and used mandelic peel but it's angry today. There is an underground spot that arrived last night, between one healing spot and one active spot. The majority of my face is clear, glowing due to oil production, but this chin area sucks. I picked one spot last night after I said I wound';t, its on jaw near neck/ear and is unhappy. Staying away from touching anything on my face, gentle treatment and healthy eating. Annnnd staying away from mirrors, they make me sad. I don't wear makeup, just spot concealer. The only other thing I could do for myself right now is to quit touching anything, at all and to be kind to myself. Oh the struggle. I dream of my clear complexion
My derm appt yesterday was with a new girl and I loved her. She was so kind, understanding on how terrible PCOS and subsequent breakouts can be. She gave me 3 shots and they all went to work quite quickly. Less than 24 hours later and I am so thankful that I went, grateful for the insurance, the means to get there and a doctor willing to help anytime. Told her I would keep her on speed dial. Basically this breakout was a month after my last bad one started, pre period time. Waiting for my period and I will surely do a period dance. One more day in the fight.
Started using Dan's regimen BP this morning and liked the consistency over neutrogena. not white and tacky feeling. Going to start using the AHA at night mixed into my moisturizer.
The sun is shining and I'm happy to be in this journey towards beautiful clear skin. I'm thankful that I have you all to support me on those rough days, and remind me there is brightness awaiting. I believe and know I will be clear again, very soon. I'm on the meds, I'm taking care of myself diet, sleep, exercise and lifestyle. It was my mind that's been holding me back from making it all the way there. We are beautiful today, spots or not. We are beautiful because our struggles have made us deeper, stronger and more understanding. We come here to share, ask for help and support. But we also come here to show you how to get clear skin and that it is possible. Cheers to that!
Well happy Monday to me! One of my clogged pores I've had an eye on for weeks on my right jaw has inflamed and is alive. Afraid one of my last cortisone shots indented so I will be letting this one come to life and die all on its own. Today, I wish I could just go to sleep for a week and be done. I'm fighting depression over this and feel like I am back where I was 2 years ago. Thanks to a snow day, me and this beauty will be hanging out working from home. How do you all fight the depression and obsession with perfection? I'm feeling a bit alone and going up and down in how I feel about this journey. Yesterday was an ok day, mentally and my skin was ok no actives and just pigmentation. I know this will pass, I need to quit fighting and accept that I'm going through the hell to reap the benefits on the other side. I wish I didn't care what others thought of me.
Working on being thankful again today for many things and to stay away from the mirror as much as possible. I did a 25 % Mandelic peel last night with spot treat of 40% mandelic on the inflammed spot and 55% lactic on two areas with hyperpigmentation. The next day after a peel things are usually a bit yuck, but I applied a tiny bit of coverup on my spot and on the HP areas. Can't notice much anything from far away, but up close my spot has it's own zip code. Clearly I am exaggerating but this tiny clogged pore is now ridiculous compared to its first start. I have to remember how important extra gentle exfoliation is during Spiro breakouts. Going to call my derm to see if I can get this shot tomorrow morning before work. Its too inflamed and unhappy right now. 
So cheers to another day in this journey of spiro acne treatment. Dreaming of that clear smooth complexion, all over. This one patch on my right side is relentless... just be done with it already. And nope, no period as of yet with this increased dose. yay PCOS
hi there. Just wanted you to know that I can relate to you and understand allyou are saying. I've battled with my skin since adolescence (I'm now almost 40). I had times of clear skin, due to Yasmin and pregnancy, but now I'm finding what used to work isn't. I have endometriosis and PCOS and my body and hormones sometimes just won't quit. I allow this to impact me emotionally, and unfortunately my mothering and every other role I have.
I don't have advice, just wanted to say I understand. The only thing that has gotten me this far is my faith and God's grace to see that no one cares about my skin. They care that I am fully present (not preoccupied with my skin), having a loving and kind heart, and joyful. I still have days where I fail miserably at this and days where I am angry and bitter at my lot...but I'm trying hard to overcome.
Prayers for you and all of us.
23 hours ago, LikelyTempo said:hi there. Just wanted you to know that I can relate to you and understand allyou are saying. I've battled with my skin since adolescence (I'm now almost 40). I had times of clear skin, due to Yasmin and pregnancy, but now I'm finding what used to work isn't. I have endometriosis and PCOS and my body and hormones sometimes just won't quit. I allow this to impact me emotionally, and unfortunately my mothering and every other role I have.
I don't have advice, just wanted to say I understand. The only thing that has gotten me this far is my faith and God's grace to see that no one cares about my skin. They care that I am fully present (not preoccupied with my skin), having a loving and kind heart, and joyful. I still have days where I fail miserably at this and days where I am angry and bitter at my lot...but I'm trying hard to overcome.
Prayers for you and all of us.
Thank you SO much for reaching out and lending your care and concern. I do agree I pray quite often as I find myself losing hope, but I know this too will pass. I have to learn to accept the vulnerability of people seeing flaws in me. I think a lot about how we can hide our "flaws" with makeup, clothes, hair, but they are also what make us beautiful, interesting, deep people. I am so sorry to hear that it impacts you as a mother. Sometimes I think if I had a child maybe my hormones would settle, but then the thought of having to care for someone when I am so hard on myself scares the crap out of me. I look forward to hearing about your journey and anything you share as well. Thank you to GOD for bringing us all together so we are not alone in this fight.
So today is another day in the battle. Started taking 1000mg Berberine daily, it is supposed to be similar to Metformin for treating PCOS and helping level out insulin sensitivity. It needs to be taken carefully, 6 days on 1 day off for 2 months and then 1 month break is what has been suggested. I am looking forward to see how this added to Spiro 125mg may play a role in calming my PCOS symptoms. Still no period, last one ended about 30 days ago. Hoping it comes soon. Dealing with one swollen spot that I thought came to a head last night, sadly wrong. Won't be touching that baby at all. Treated it gently with ice, honey and its just not looking so hot. But it's what it is and will be nice to it. Noticing some peeling now from the Mandelic on Monday, helps to smooth the overall complexion. I pray I pray and pray that I have turned to corner. The clogs on the right side have now all come up and out and is smooth to the touch, minus that one angry one. I will continue to rotate peels weekly to ward off congestion during these rough winter months. I am using Dan's AHA mixed into my CeravePM and that has been helpful to combat dry skin and also help exfoliation, my biggest nemesis. Thanks for being here today as a place that I can go, vent and share. Hope you feel the support too.
On 2/13/2016 at 8:30 AM, LikelyTempo said:Thinking of you and hoping you are having a good day.
Thank you!! I actually went away on a beautiful surprise vacation that was much needed for my sanity. I went away with a guy that I have been dating for some time and was so nervous. My skin was fine, 2 small spots came and went and then my skin stayed clear for 4 days after coming home. Have one active swollen spot, there's 3-4 clogged pores on my left side that need to clear and move on before that left side is gone. The right side is clear, one spot that is not active is just still raised and needs another week or so to heal, it was a cystic spot. I've got a nice tan and glow that really took away any noticeable redness. I am meditating morning and night to videos and that has caused a positive outlook. I know Spiro works so well for me, and I hate how long it takes to clear any clogged pores before it calms things down again. I am working every day to keep my head up, that this is temporary and that I can see the end of this cycle in sight. I am finally (fingers crossed) getting period symptoms, so that would be a huge plus as it's been over 6 weeks.
I've been researching some interesting acne treatments that are in final stages of trial and I have high hopes that our future troubles with PCOS and acne may have really great alternative options. Spiro is good for now, but there are treatments being tested in final stages to attack PCOS internally where it starts. There are also some amazing trials on topical Nitric Oxide treatment with little to know side effects. Exciting stuff and think in the next few years we will be in an even bettter place with an army of resources.
I am still taking Berberine 3x day and feel like it has made a difference. My one swollen spot is the first in 4 days, and I plan to let it die a death and vow to not touch it.
Another day on this beautiful planet. Well it's been about 44 days or so since my last period and since I've upped my dose of Spiro to 125mg. I am still purging out some blocked pores that I've had and I'm SO over it. This is the same process I went through before when I started Spiro, wish I didn't have to deal with it again. But life is all about trials and how we overcome them. I realized that my moisturizer is not helping me and making me more oily, I've decided to change it up for something more calming with tea tree and salicylic. My skin turnover process is so fast, I need to exfoliate daily with toner and products to keep it fresh. My breakouts come from tiny clogged pores that inflame over time. I need to use peels to get them up and out. I have a handful of clogged pores that could cause some problems, but thankfully that is it. It just takes so long for them to come up and hit the road if I don't help them. I've got 2 small actives currently, 1 rebirthed itself and the other is a new on my jaw, slightly inflamed and will let it be. My actives from last week have healed, 2 of them, 1 completely, the other is another day or two and will peel away and possibly just be slightly pink. Using AHA at night and starting to add BHA 2-3 x week at 8% along with Glycolic and Mandelic rotation to keep this winter dry skin at bay. Patience and love, that's what I am working on every day. Hope you all are finding some self love even in the darkest of days.
11 hours ago, DeLovely said:Following your story with interest! I'm sure with your determination, hard work, and awesome attitude that it will have a happy ending!!
Best wishes to you on your spiro journey!!!-hugs-
DeLovely
Thank you!!! Having faith is the one thing that keeps my head up every day. And the support and love from people I've never even met, knowing we've all battled this together.
Today is my second day stopping the use of the CeravePM moisturizer and instead using the AHA lotion. My oil production has reduced drastically. Like insanely. I ordered a nice moisturizer from Paula's choice that I will start using in the AM it has salicylic acid, green tea and other calming ingredients. Will see how that works. Had my first acupuncture appt today and am excited to see how that can impact my balance and issues with sleep, anxiety, migraines and ovulation. Feeling positive and hopeful that things are settling down. My acupuncturist actually said my energy felt good and I seemed in good balance and felt that I was on the right track and we could tweek some small things to help. Yay!
Carpe, I too have stopped using a typical moisturizer and am now only using a toner in the AM, something I wouldn't have thought possible before, especially during the wintertime in Minnesota. Spiro has worked well to reduce my oil production yet my skin isn't dried out at all. I didn't realize before than your skin can be very oily and still dehydrated at the same time; I believe my problem was partly hormonal (helped now by spiro) and the over-use of certain topicals.
Our skin issues sound very similar. My main issue has been clogged pores, as well, tiny things that eventually inflame over time and have to be manually extracted. (Or I just can't leave them alone.) Each time I upped my spiro dose (went from 25mg to 100mg over 4 months), clogs would purge. It's taken months, but nearly everything has surfaced and gone. I am fighting a few spots of PIH on one side due to squeezing out plugs, otherwise I am happier with my skin than I've been in many, many years. I also have vbeam (pulsed dye laser) treatments done to reduce redness which works like a dream. The only downside to the treatments is that they are quite expensive.
Good luck, I'll be following your story!
8 hours ago, MH14 said:Carpe, I too have stopped using a typical moisturizer and am now only using a toner in the AM, something I wouldn't have thought possible before, especially during the wintertime in Minnesota. Spiro has worked well to reduce my oil production yet my skin isn't dried out at all. I didn't realize before than your skin can be very oily and still dehydrated at the same time; I believe my problem was partly hormonal (helped now by spiro) and the over-use of certain topicals.
Our skin issues sound very similar. My main issue has been clogged pores, as well, tiny things that eventually inflame over time and have to be manually extracted. (Or I just can't leave them alone.) Each time I upped my spiro dose (went from 25mg to 100mg over 4 months), clogs would purge. It's taken months, but nearly everything has surfaced and gone. I am fighting a few spots of PIH on one side due to squeezing out plugs, otherwise I am happier with my skin than I've been in many, many years. I also have vbeam (pulsed dye laser) treatments done to reduce redness which works like a dream. The only downside to the treatments is that they are quite expensive.
Good luck, I'll be following your story!
Isn't it crazy how a moisturizer made things worse?!? I should have realized with the change in weather, Winter here in Boston that I should pay attention to my regimen. The oil is light and only on my T zone now. Thank goodness we both figured out our skin. I've read so much about attacking skin from external and internal. Spiro does the job internally with diet, then we need to come with the gentle arsenal for these clogged pores. I loathe clogged pores lol They are so tiny and unnoticeable when they first arrive, then they turn into lil hellians. Today I am thankful for my salicylic acids and other peels. Life savers. Thanks SO much for sharing and would love any other tips you come across to keep on keeping clear pores. Vbeam, is there much downtime with that? Peeling, purging? I've only done at home peels, and have read tons of reviews on other laser treatments, but have felt too scared or uneducated to go through with anything.
Please help! I started Spiro a week ago today and my face is breaking out like crazy!! I am breaking out all over my forehead ( I rarely ever break out in that area), around my nose, tiny under the skin bumps (the kind that never come to a head and you can only see in certain lighting), and I have a couple of deep, painful zits on both sides of my face. Is this normal when beginning Spiro? If so, do you know how long this initial break out typically lasts? It is seriously depressing me and making me even more stressed