To start this off, I want to mention that my doctor did blood tests and found that my DHEA sulfate was very high (622 when it should only be 400 something) so I had some pretty clear evidence that my acne was hormonal. Anyway, one week on the meds! (And three weeks back on birth control). My face is a lot clearer, I haven't really had any new pimples show up, though it does still feel like there is stuff under the surface. As far as side effects, I haven't had many. At first I had to pee a lot of course, but that pretty much went away after the first day (though I did wake up in the middle of the night last night to pee, but I'd had a lot of water before bed). I felt very slightly dizzy once, but I drank some water and it was gone, so I'm not sure if I even was feeling dizzy. I've had some heartburn a couple of times (once after having a glass of whisky) but I'm not sure if I can attribute that to the meds. The thing is, it was a different kind of heart burn, like pressure more than burning. I've also had some super dry skin on my face since starting. I bought cerave in the tub and have used it at night (as well as aquaphor once) and also used a 2% glycolic acid wipe one night, and that seemed to take care of most of the flakes. I'm also still using my pocket derm meds every couple of nights, and washing my face with water once a day and cerave foaming cleanser once a day. I'm going in for blood work next week to make sure there's no problems, and I'll update with any new information then!

The medication I took was called ALDACTONE which is the same thing I highly do not recommend this!!! Be extremely careful with this medication. I took it for a period of 9 months. First three months now that I look back I didn't realise just how clear my skin was, probably the clearest since I first started to get acne. After the three month mark things went downhill. My acne came back worse and since then it's been over a year since I still have acne to this day, it never went away and I'm stilling struggling to get rid of it. But that isn't the worse part. I developed severe depression from this medication, I know some people don't believe medication gives people depression although I never had depression before taking this and I've still got it a year and a half later. It got so bad I was becoming suicidal. The depression was not from the acne just to note, I started getting depression before my acne got worse. Due to depression I put in a lot of weight and still have not lost it. On top of all that I started having lighter periods and then eventually they just stopped. Also I'm losing hair currently, not sure if this is related to long term side effects from this medication I didn't look into this medication before I took it and I have never regretted anything more in my life. Taking this medication for such a long time I can easy say was the worst decision of my life. Please please be extremely careful.

Little background: It was the end of my Junior year in high school and I got extremely extremely bad acne. It covered my ENTIRE face. I couldn't run my hands over my skin or even wash it without wincing in pain. I became deeply depressed over the summer and barely left my room. I knew I needed help and my mom took me to the doctors. They said I had severe acne and needed medication to help clear it. The first medication I had been on was doxycycline. I was on that for about 4 months and things got clear, not completely but enough. I decided to get off but of course, the acne came back. So I revisited my doctor and got prescribed minocyline and a birth control. I liked mino much better than doxy, one less pill and easier on the stomach. Finally I went to the doctors again for a check up and they decided to check my blood. I have irregular hormone levels, which was causing the acne. In order to correct the levels I needed a medication of course. So I was prescribed spironolactone! I have been on this for about 4 months and absolutely love it. It is 100 times better than any other medication I have tried. It took awhile to get started, maybe 3 months. But my skin was clear, no bumps, no cysts. One thing I would recommend is not waiting to refill.. The past week I forgot and haven't taken the pill in 5 days, and I now have multiple breakouts and cysts around my chin.. Of course I am discouraged but have faith that the pill will fix it all up quickly :)

I have been eager to write this review but wanted to wait until the three month mark to report my results. You really have to give this medicine at least three months, if not more, to reach full effect. I know how extremely difficult it is to suffer from excessive acne, and I NEVER thought I'd find anything to help me. I thought I was doomed for life since it kept getting worse and worse and NOTHING would help in the slightest. I hope that my review can give others hope that they can overcome their hormonal acne. My story is like many others. Suffered from acne since puberty, I am now 22. Over the last year, it had gotten so bad that I was having constant cysts and spots on not only my face, but down the sides of my neck. It was all over my face, but mostly concentrated on my jawline and cheeks. Huge spots that would shoot onto the mirror if I popped them. I would have 20+ spots at a time (of all different kinds, not including blackheads and clogged plugs) with 5-10 new spots a day. It was exhausting and effected my self-esteem severely, and no one understood why. I tried everything over the last 10 years of course. I started wasting A LOT of my free time doing extensive research on why acne happens. I don't trust dermatologists. I came across spironolactone and printed out scientific studies and such to bring to my gynecologist that has been seeing me since I was 15. I cried to him about how unbearable my acne was and begged him to let me try spironolactone even though he said my testosterone levels were in normal range. I've had extremely irregular periods since puberty, excess hair growth, and cysts on my ovaries... so that led me to believe that spiro could work since those are all symptoms of excess testosterone or testosterone sensitivity. He was familiar with the medication, and agreed. Thank GOD he did. I started on 25MG twice daily for 2 or 3 weeks, then I got anxious and upped in to 50MG twice daily. I started spironolactone in late September(3 months ago and it is now late December. I broke out consistently and constantly during this. Now, finally, within the last week I am noticing definite results. I only have 4 or 5 active spots right now, which is obviously a major improvement. I still have a lot of blackheads, clogged pores, and scaring, but I am confident that will all clear up with time! I'm not at the end of the road quite yet, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Spiro works, but PLEASE give it time. And don't reviews it after 2 weeks because that's not how this medicine works.... I've had no negative side effects except for frequent urination... but honestly I can deal with that if that means that my skin doesn't look like a mountain range anymore. I dealt with some heart palpitations and anxiety the first few weeks... but determined that it was just from dehydration and electrolytes imbalance since I'm peeing out all my salt and retaining potassium. I just try to drink more water and increase my salt intake... all has been good! I will update in a few months.

Overall: I do recommend giving this medication a shot, especially if you are suffering from acne that's caused from internal issues/hormonal/PCOS and you're down to your wits about getting results for a better/normal complexion. I will say, however, that I honestly don't want to depend on this medication for the rest of my life. The side affects are a big nuisance and hindrance at times and sometimes I still suffer from bad breakouts. I'm just okay with it at this point until I can find a different solution once and for all. Below I have attempted to compile a detailed review of my experience with this drug so far. I suffered with acne and cystic acne around chin, jawline, and partial neck area severely, sometimes forehead but not often and sometimes around nose area as well. I was also a bit more hairy on my upper lip and chin area. These issues started once I turned 19 back in late 2011. I was using ProActive for a few years prior, which helped tremendously during the time I was in high school, but stopped working and actually destroyed my face once starting college. I was prescribed various topical treatments including retinol and have also been given several types of antibiotics, all of which did not work. I have also been on 3-4 different brands of BC that really screwed me up emotionally and physically. I refuse to take any now. At that point I knew there was something deeper and internal causing my issues so I was sent to an Endocrinologist. 2012 ' Diagnosed with PCOS. Main issue was androgen levels too high (as of summer 2015 also found out I do get ovarian cysts). I also have a Vitamin D deficiency. 2012-2013 ' Began Spironolactone (started off with 50 mg and eventually bumped up to 100 mg) and generic Junel BC. 2013 (Towards the end of summer/sometime in fall) ' Stopped taking both, as my face was clear, and I was given the clear to stop. Over time my face began breaking out awfully in cysts again (also didn't help I was stressed at a new college I transferred to). Decided to begin both medications again, only to find that BC was causing me to break out awfully, ditched it and only remained on spironolactone. Seemed to be helping, but not by much at all. Stopped taking it altogether as well considering the side effects were greatly affecting me. 2014 Spring ' Suffering from awful, hormonal cystic acne with rarely a break, in between. Even if my face were mostly clear, would always have 1 or 2 or more cysts/acne present. Bore through it all just trying to finish my semester until I could see a specialist back in my state again. 2014 Summer ' Started back on spiro again, really made a difference once more. Maybe I needed those several months for it to be effective again. Today (12/16/15) - Still on 100 mg spironolactone, been on it for over a year, although I have noticed I am starting to break out still even while on it. Could possibly be due to stress from school, but I am on break now and relaxed but still breaking out. The cysts and acne go away within a matter of time, only to have one or two new ones pop up on the other side of my face. Right now they're slowly subsiding. - I do get blood work done at 1-2 times a year to make sure my potassium levels are fine, as well as other blood work to help make sure nothing goes wrong. My last blood work from over the summer states I'm still Vitamin D deficient and now I'm low on B12 as well (which I have been taking vitamins for). Side Effects I have and continue to experience while on this drug: - Please note that Spironolactone is a diuretic. It prevents you from retaining salt, which also prevents you from retaining water, which is why you're constantly drinking and using the bathroom. That also explains some of these side effects: - Constant, constant urination (the biggest culprit). I find myself visiting the restroom a lot, which I've become accustom to (though I don't like it), but it makes it really difficult if I'm at an important event and I'm constantly having to step out to relieve myself every 5 minutes it feels like. Even if I'm doing something as simple as drinking water, I will need to unload about 15 or so minutes later. There are times at work where I literally hold my pee in for about an hour before I use the restroom again or else I would be going constantly. This forces me to drink more as well because I'm losing fluids at the rate I'm drinking them, which is extremely annoying. - Constantly thirsty. This coincides with the dryness and constant urination. - Dry skin. My face at times, especially around my chin and jawline area, tend to get more dry now which is where most of my breakouts occur. It's also around my nose. - Weight fluctuation. I don't gain weight as badly, fortunately, but I don't lose it as easily either. It's really difficult. I will continue to monitor this once I start working out again later this month and next year. - Hair is not as thick as it used to be. Fortunately, I'm not experiencing hair loss to the point where I'm balding, but there is a significant difference in my hair than what it once was. I used to have a decent amount of thick hair and the texture of it felt a lot stronger and now it's more normalized and thinner. - Digestive problems. Sometimes I'll be excreting at least 3 times a day or more, others none at all. I've been suffering from constipation a lot lately as well. I never realized or noticed that spiro could cause this as well until I looked it up again. - Periods are odd. My period doesn't last as long while on this medication, however I occasionally have messed up cycles. Recently I had my period and not even a week or two later I had it again. :/ Things I plan on trying to see if they make a difference: - Eating habits, especially cutting dairy out of my diet - Exercising more I try and will update in the future.

Was on it for a year and a half and it works awesome for people with severe cystic acne like myself, but the frequent urination was a lot to deal with. My derm put me on 100 mg daily and I was up at least 4 times a night going pee and every 10 minutes during the day I felt the strong urge to pee. Very annoying side effect of the medication so now I'm switching to Yaz birth control for the anti androgen ;) Lost 25 pounds on this drug probably from water loss :/ I look great but I know the medication is unhealthy for me. No side effects other than the frequent urination though would recommend to give it a shot!!

Hormonal acne for last 3 years.. Tried it all. Doc suggest spiro end of Feb 2015. I started at 100 for 4 months (end of June) and saw some difference, then upped to 150 and by the 7/8th month (August/sept) there was a huge difference. Zero acne. Zero! No deep cysts that were painful or needed to be drained, no more thick cover up, no more puss. I decreased to 125mg in October and skin has been clear the whole time. Be patient and don't be scared of higher dosages. I'm 5'1, 105lbs. This is the only thing that has completely cleared my acne. I'll take peeing more and monitoring my potassium levels over accutane any day. In my opinion, people give up way way too soon. You've struggled with acne for how many months or years? What's a few more? Be patient. It works.

I have been taking it for three months. I love it my skin is clear. The only problems i have noticed are breast tenderness and i have had a period twice a month for two months ,which i dont like so not sure if i want to stay on it if that continues. I am going to ask my ob about if i should continue or not. I also use Retin A which as long as i keep using it my skin stays nice.

Giving this drug 4 stars because I haven't been on it for 3 full months to see complete results yet. My story is similar to many others; I'm 27 and have had serious acne for about 13 years now. I've been through every medical treatment I possibly can, including two rounds of Accutane. Accutane worked for me while I was still on it, but once I came off, my acne was back to where it was. About two years ago, I was prescribed Spiro for the first time. I took it for about 6 months with great results, but had to stop because I began getting severe headaches and migraines. Because the only drug I was on was Spiro, I assumed my migraines were related to the dehydration caused by the drug. For the last year and a half I've been under the treatment of a neurologist for hormonal migraines. A few months ago it clicked- my acne must be hormone related too! Fast forward to today. I've been on Spiro for about two months now, also taking doxy and using Retin-A at night and Aczone gel during the day. After a month, my skin dramatically went downhill. My derm said this was the Retin-A purge. I had about 10 cysts around my mouth/chin and about 10 cysts on my forehead for two weeks before I finally went to the derm and told her I couldn't take it anymore. She injected them with cortisone and they went away in about 3 days. Today, my skin looks AMAZING. I have only one cyst on my cheek and a TON of milia on both sides of my chin. This is a HUGE improvement from where I was 2 months ago, 6 months ago, 1 year ago, 2 years ago. Today my skin looks the best it has in about 5 years. I think the combo of Spiro and Retin-A is what is working for me. I've noseyed around the acne.org message boards for nearly 8 years now searching for hope. I want you girls with hormonal cystic acne like me to know that IT WILL GET BETTER. Don't settle for expensive OTC methods and sub-par skin. Please, please, please give Spiro a shot, and if your derm thinks you can also use Retin-A- even better!!

I take 150 of spiro daily and it took me about 3 months to see total clearance of my skin. My oiliness is now normal. It didn't work overnight but it WORKS. I'm very impatient when it comes to my appearance, but my persistence paid off and I highly recommend spiro for women experiencing hormonal acne.