So I was on 100 mg of spironolactone for about 8 years and then down to 50 mg for the last two years. I have hereditary high cholesterol ( 28 years old female) and my cardiologist has been tracking my levels and within the last 10 years my levels even on cholesterol medications have been slowly going up. 6 months ago she told me to stop taking the acne medication ( spironolactone) as that has been shown to possibly raise LDL cholesterol. Now, I didn't even think about it and I Just quit taking the medication and within a few weeks the breakouts started coming and coming hard! Not just that but my hair turned real oily and I would often find myself needing to double wash my hair and take a shower every day when I used to get away with it every 3 days ( my hair is curly in nature and shouldn't be washed every single day)
SO my question is... did I royally screw myself by going cold turkey? I was really hoping my body hormone levels would re-balance and maybe I would adjust to this level. But reading comments on this website I realized most people coming off of spironolactone are weaning themselves off of this medication for this purpose probably to avoid what I am currently experiencing. I am currently getting white head after white head, and then redness in the spot that the whitehead was.
What should I do? I have been off of it for about 7 months now, I am going to see my dermatologist and she said maybe I should start a trial of accutane and she said I may never re-adjust to being off of spironolactone and that greatly distressed me. I am using a new topical ( aldapelene) and that seems to be helping the emergency white head to at least shrink it but not prevent it from turning red after it goes away.
Any help or anybody who has a similar experience, I would love to hear the suggestions or support!
I went off spironolactone cold turkey back in the nineties -- from a dose of 200 mg down to 0. I had no side effects. Of course my skin broke out again soon after, since spironolactone is a treatment of symptoms and not a cure. I'm back on it now at age 62 (cystic acne can worsen after menopause, due to loss of estrogen).
If I were you, I would get a second opinion from another cardiologist. Most studies indicate that spiro does not affect cholesterol levels. Here is one: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/16856970_The_Effect_of_Spironolactone_on_Lipid_Glucose_and_Uric_Acid_Levels_in_Blood_during_Long-Term_Administration_to_Hypertensives
Also, there is now a topical spironolactone out, which I have not tried, but I read about it on this board. If they won't let you go back on the spiro, you could try that. Or, if you're young enough you could try a birth control pill.
One last thought -- you can drastically lower your cholesterol by cutting out saturated fat from your diet -- that means no (or few) animal products. There is abundant epidemiological data on this, as well as many double-blind studies. Right now people are reversing heart disease by eating low on the food chain. You could try going back on the spiro and controlling the ldl with backing off the saturated fats.
