I was on spiro for about 4-5 months before it FINALLY started to work. I had mild-moderate acne before, which i had under control for 3 years on Doxycycline. Of course, you can't be on antibiotics forever so I was taken off of Doxy and it came back full force. Then my derm put me on spiro and i started out at 25mg, which wasn't enough. I was bumped up to 50mg (once per day) after 2 months, which cleared everything right up! I never thought anything would work as well as Doxycycline at clearing my acne, but I get even fewer occassional pimples now than I did on antibiotics! I was on birth control for 3 years before I took spiro (and I'm still on it), so I think that really helped minimize side effects.

As we can all see the incredible 5 star reviews obviously means this works for some women. But for myself it wasn't even close to being a pleasant experience. Im not exaggerating , I had to pee ALL the time. I drank a ton of water because I had a terribly dry mouth . I also had no appetite ( I normally LOVE food) . My cycle this month was the worst I had in my entire life, I had a migraine , vomited and cramps like no other. I went back to my dermatologist and she said this is clearly not the drug for me. I am already feeling better and only been off of it for 3 days. ( for those of you wondering about more detail as to what dosage and how long I was on it : I was on 25mg for 2 weeks, 50mg for 2 weeks and then 75mg for a week before stopping it.) I wouldn't recommend this because #1 my experience and #2 you'll have to be on this for life if it does end up working for you, at first i didn't really think that far ahead as I really just want my skin to be clearer but I really would prefer not to be on a pill for the rest of my life that messes with my body the way it did. But its worked for so many women so its always worth a try if you want to.

I am a 38 year old female who has had fluctuating acne for over 22 years. My acne piqued about 4 years ago. I'm talking persistent, mind numblingly painful cystic acne on my chin, jawline and unto my neck, they reproduced and had babies all over my face, forehead and anywhere there was room, including on top of each other (ouchie!!). My face was an oil field requiring face blotting every hour. I had been on the BP regimen for years prior but it did nothing for the the cysts when they came full force seemingly out of nowhere. I still thank the BP regimen for years and years of controlled acne, so no resiment here, it just wasn't a match for for my spastic hormones. I needed a systemic fix, not just topical. A sidebar to reflect on some facts of life: 1) We live in a society that demands a quick fix. You see it all over TV, radio, etc... But the reality is quite different. It took years and years of imbalance for your hormones to turn spastic for a plethora of reasons (age, genes, family history, environment, diet, etc). Your hormonal acne and the underworkings did not just suddenly happen although it feels that way. So give Spirinolactone at least that same amount of time to do its job. It's a systemic drug. It needs to be given months and months of tweaking with the dosage before you can expect it to work. 2) Manage your expectations. This med worked for me but it is not a miracle drug. I had a horrendous initial breakout once the dosage was increased. I was a hermit for months. I started at the lowest dosage and that did nothing for me other than make me go pee a lot. Painfully and slowly, my derm increased the dosage to the max allowed which is 100mg twice a day. That was 8 months ago. I continued to pee a lot, my oil production was cut by 90% , I had headaches, my period was coming every two weeks and my acne decreased by 85%. I was persistent. Even though I wanted to quit because I wanted perfect, glowing skin and microscopic pores right now (see bullet point #1 ;))! 3) At 8 months out with the 200mg daily dose and having been on this med for almost 2 years with incremental dosage increases, I now have zero oil which requires copious amounts a daily moisturizer (because I'm dry now 🙂). I still get a few pimples around ovulation and my period. I still pee a lot but I'm used to it now. Headaches are gone once my body got used to the increase in dosage. My period has normalized although my cycles are shorter but the flip side is that my periods are lighter. Win/win. 4) Quality of life: improved! I still have a few pimples but I'm ok w that. I have improved 90% overall and I can live w that considering where I started. Conclusion: Be patient ladies. Hormonal acne is vicious and soul sucking but you are not alone and you can push through! These blogs and positive reviews inspired me and helped me suck it up on days I just wanted to stay in bed and eat lime flavored chips all day long 🙂. I promised myself I would pay it forward and write a review once my acne was under control. If only to inspire one person to push through and be persistent with the medication, I feel like it was worth it. Each individual person has to reach their own conclusion on the risk/benefit of any drug they are taking. There is no risk-less medication out there, do your due diligence, inform yourself and be comfortable in your decision. Most importantly, remember that you are not alone and there are others out there dealing with the same thing. I'm sending you all happy vibes and a wish for glowing, acne free, with maybe the occasional little pimple 😉 Skin! Persevere, you got this!

First of all, I apologize for my English which is not very good because I am French. I am 23 years old, I have been taking the Jasmine pill for 5 years and I have never had acne in my teens. Since June, acne has invaded my face only but very importantly with medium-sized white buttons and a rough set. All summer I lived the hell you trying all the parapharmacie creams ... In September I went to see a dermatologist who put me under Doxiciline and, from the first week, I had practically nothing any more I did not believe ... Then every week I had hundreds of small pimples that grew on the chin and lower cheeks. The dermatologist believing that I was having an allergic reaction to the sun, prescribed cortisone cream ... Indeed it worked rather well, but it came back every week again and again until the day it no longer had any effect .. . I started to develop acne on the forehead and days again. I therefore go back to consult this dermatologist who made me do a biopsy (thinking that it could be a mushroom of the repeated use of cortisone cream) which demonstrated the absence of fungi. I also did a hormonal blood test showing no abnormality either ... She did not know what to do for me ... So she sent me to a colleague who specializes in acne. My acne covered my face, forehead and cheeks with a grainy set, buttons bigger than others not piercing and an oily layer. This new dermatologist then prescribed Spironolactone in addition to my 4th generation Jasmine pill to control androgens. After 5 weeks at 100mg no results except that the oily aspect has disappeared. My skin is always covered with this grainy layer with pimples at the bottom of the cheeks and in the middle of the forehead. As for the side effects that this medicine gives me I would say that I go to the toilet every hour but it is not really annoying (well it would not be if I had good results on my skin ...). I lost 2kg being already very lean it is all the same boring ... So I drink a lot of water to compensate for this loss. After 5 weeks at 100mg without results, I went back to see the dermatologist who passed me at 150mg a day ... It is now a week that I take this dose, and I really feel tired, dizzy, nauseated ... If the results on my face would be visible I will take on me without problem. But you forget no results. Always this rough coat and those bigger buttons on the front and lower cheeks. And still as many tears every day for two months now ... Do you think this is normal that after 6 weeks under Spironolactone there are no results? I see your opinions and this drug is prescribed to adult women having acne with big cysts which is not my type of acne. Can Spironolactone work on my type of acne? While knowing that I have no visible hormonal disorder on the blood tests ... Thank you for your answers ...

Hi. I am a 21 year old female with hormonal acne. All throughout college I have dealt with non stop acne on my chin and mouth area. After trying many different birth controls and topicals I was beginning to feel like I couldn't do it on my own. I have been on 100 mg for a month and my skin has transformed. It definetly got worse before it started getting better. Please understand that this pill is no joke I have lost 7 pounds and my appetite. I am hoping that after 6 months I can start to slwoly go off of it. For the time being tho the results are great.

Perfectly clear skin now! Haven't had skin this good since I was a child! It doesn't work overnight, it really kicked in at about the 2-3 month mark, but absolutely it worked for my constant hormonal cystic acne which I've had for years!

Hi, I'm new on this site and actually very new on Spiro. I have never been through the acne thing in my whole life, I would get maybe 1 or 2 pimples a year, had very pretty skin. I just turned 50 and I noticed that I started breaking out on my jawlines and chin pretty bad, never had this ever before. I have tried everything from Clearasil to home-made products, nothing has helped me at all, I tried mostly everything. Finally my daughter told me to go and see a skin doctor, which wasn't cheap at all, my co-pay is $40. When I saw the dr, he asked me a couple of questions, looked at my skin and said that I have Hormonal and Cystic acne, he gave me a prescription of Spironolactone, 25 mg. twice a day and a prescription for some facial cream which cost about $100 a tube. I filled the Spiro but couldn't get the cream because I didn't have enough money for that. I started taking the Spiro 2 days ago which is too early to tell any results yet. Could anyone tell me more about this Spiro, the side effects and how long would it take to work, please tell me everything I would appreciate this so much, I have heard a lot of negative things about this drug and I'm pretty scared about taking it, but I desperately want my clear skin back, please help. (dede)

Okay so I started taking spiro one n a half months back, I was dealing with cystic kinda acne on my jawline n cheeks n some pimples on my forehead , all of these things use to get worse around the period, so I think it's hormonal plus my doc told me that I hv pcos but I never did a hormone test. I had skin during my life but since last year I started getting acne, and slowly and steadily everything went to cystic and painful bumps, I am 23 now.. I did a lot of research and got encouraged from this website only, for results I could say as people say you could have an IB, yes I had it for like for the first three weeks since beginning, it's too early to say anything but I can see my pores are less clogged, my period is coming every 15 days. Peeing problem yes I had it though I guess my body is adjusting it to it now. Will get back next month to share what's going on for now spiro is worth trying!

Long story short - I have had normal skin all my life. Even when I had terrible acne as a teen, I never had issues with my skin being too oily or dry. Suddenly, at age 23 I went through some weird hormonal change and developed super oily skin & hair along with cystic acne along my jawline. Went on the birth control pill (Ortho Tri-Cyclen) which completely cleared my acne in 3-4 months. However I was still struggling with this abnormal oiliness & it was being to take over my life. So, I added in Spiro to the mix. My hair would get so greasy that I could barely go 2 days without washing. My skin would get SO shiny that I looked like I was sweaty and gross all the time. I could never relax - I was always worried about blotting my skin & my makeup never looked normal. Because my skin was so oily I developed a red rash along my cheeks & a skin condition called Seborrheic Dermatitis. I also had a nose full of blackheads and little red bumps/clogged pores that would appear in my t-zone. As an adult working a professional job, it was seriously taking a toll on my confidence and my work. Trying to talk to clients with a face that makes me look like a 14 Year old going through puberty was almost impossible. Even though I had conquered the acne, I felt like I hadn't really made any progress because having such oily skin felt just horrible. Spironolactone has finally relieved me of this issue. I started on 100 mg, which actually ended up making my skin too dry (NO complaints there). So, I bumped it down to 50 mg and things have been great. I no longer have to worry about my skin constantly, I no longer even need blotting papers, and I feel normal again. It has been about 4 months, and for me it started working within the first month. I personally have not experienced any weird side effects. It made me have to pee more frequently when I first started, but once my body got used to it I didn't have an issue. I take it with food, because if I don't I sometimes wake up with a stomach ache (I take mine at night). Otherwise, everything has been good!

I always had some acne around my period (sometimes cystic), but in January 2016 (at 25) my acne went crazy. I was breaking out in cycts every other day. Deep painful cysts that were leaving indented scars (which I knew were permanent). A dermatologist prescribed 50 mg of spiro, upped it to 100 a month later, and 3 months later my skin MAYBE looked worse, maybe was exactly the same. Switched to a new dermatologist (if ur in NYC, her last name is mikhail) and she was an absolute angel. She suggested taking 50 in the am, 50 in the pm, exactly 12 hours apart. She told me to throw out the tazorac and start veltin gel (which is so much more gentle). Incredibly, thank you God, my skin cleared up a few weeks later. It was unbelievable. Truly. I haven't broken out at all. My skin has scars (& im considering my option$$$ in that regard) but NO acne, NO cysts and almost no white heads. She says spiro works best when you take 2 doses at the same time everyday. And tazorac was making me peel and burn for months so she did it was clear my skin just couldn't handle it. I'm so happy. It's the end of December, 5 months after starting spiro. The spotting has also gotten so much better. I cried all the time, skipped work/class/dates, bc I felt so awful. Acne shouldn't rule your life but it did rule mine and if anyone reading this is a woman with cystic again who suspects her skin is very sensitive to hormonal changes then please try spironolactone. Good luck