**will keep updating as I go** I will be getting married in 9 months. That being said I'm hopeful that'll give my skin enough time to a just to this medication. when i was in my teens (14) i started suffering from acne. i mostly had it in my T-zone with the occasional cystic out breaks on my forehead. at the time my reg. doc gave me a scrip for Duac. this ended up being the wonder drug for me! after being on it for two years, i noticed i had "grown out" of my out breaks and was easily treated with otc so i stopped taking the duac. Fwd to around 20 and i was getting more mild out breaks around my cheek area, my doc then decided it was hormonal and put me on a low dose Birth control pill to balance me. This set my skin over the edge! I've never been so badly and painfully broken out in my cheeks while on the pill. I had black heads, white heads, and cystic acne. I was on the pill for 3 months trying to give it a chance. i couldn't take it and stopped taking it. i then requested to be put back on the duac. unfortunately, duac isn't working as well as it did. it cleared up the black heads and the white heads about 85%, but not the cystic. my cheeks are starting to get a couple of "pits" and its depressing to look at. no amount of make-up will hide them... on top of it my skin has been very oily and my pores are enlarged. reading other reviews on this drug is giving me hope. most everyone else who is posting reviews on this, were having the same problems. my acne isn't as bad as most. i usually have around 2-3 cysts in my cheeks, the duac is keeping the white heads at bay. the cysts come around 1.5 weeks before my period and then finally subside after. then i'm for the most part "clear" of the cysts for about a week or so, till the cycle starts again. I'm nerves about the huge out break everyone describes, but I'm hopeful by summer my skin will finally be clear and i don't have to worry about doing a full face of make up any more.

Going to give it 3 stars because I want to be hopeful! Ever since starting the Spironolactone, it seems to just keep getting worse and worse. Now huge cystic acne under the skin and it's getting red, and seems more irritated. I will keep holding out, because I know it's all hormonal. I don't think my period helps when it's that time of month. However, I really am getting depressed over it, and want to cry. My kids want to go out and play, I don't want to go do anything. I'm getting so sad, I feel so ugly. The package says to drink alot of water, and I have been to see if it helps. NOTHING IS WORKING. Anyone else have any hope? I started the pill on November 17th, 2014. I'm now learning, from reading different reviews it's going to get worse before it gets better. This is just disheartening, however hopeful all at the same time. I don't know how to feel. I'm really upset about it, and cry everytime I feel how bad my face is. Hope this all pans out, and I don't have to wear makeup anymore.

Im posting this, much less as a review and more so for answers and support. I have been on spironolactone for 3 months in total. For the first 6 weeks i was on 50mg, and since january 8th, I have been on 100mg. And continuously throughout this entire 3 months I have been breaking out worse than ever. I keep sticking it out because I kept hoping that the next month would bring clear skin, but as I hit exactly 3 months on this medicine, I am extremely depressed because three months ago I got myself through the hard times by saying "middle of february and I'll be clear" and here I am sobbing every few hours over the tragedy on my face (I had to go get 8 lesions injected today, and have had 2 more pop up in the 12 hours since). I'm just wondering if this is still a result of an IB from upping my dosage to 100mg (although that was over a month ago) and if so, is it only once I've been on this final dose for a full 3 months that I might see results? And I was also wondering if people saw gradual improvements over time, or if pimples just stopped appearing all at once at a certain point. Any tips/advice/your own stories would be so appreciated. I need some hope

I have never posted on here before but feel like I am at the point to do so. I am 29 years old and battling with hormonal acne since I was 12. As we all know, it can really take a toll on your self confidence and it has made me so insecure over the years. I have tried numerous things along with everyone else and in the past Proactiv worked for me but now makes me skin burn and no longer works. Birth control also helped me but I stopped taking it when it was getting too expensive. About 6 months after I stopped my face started breaking out like crazy possibly worse than I can remember. I tried clarisonic, multiple cleansers, to no success. I finally broke down and went to the dermatologist hoping for a cure and interested in Spironolactone because of all the good reviews. She started me on Spiro 50 mg for one week then bumped me up to 100 mg daily and it has only been 2 and a half weeks since I have been on it. I am also on Atralin gel at night and Aczone in the morning. I feel like my skin is very slowly improving but it is hard to tell and I know it takes time with this medicine so I will continue to be patient. I hope for the day I can wake up and see no acne looking back at me. I seem to tolerate the medicine okay so far with no crazy side effects.

Hello so I will be 30 days on Spiro 50mg a day on 11/27/14 I haven't noticed an impact yet but I am trying to stay patient even though their are days I feel hopeless.. a bit of background of myself I will be 21yrs old in December I was on the birth control implanon (implant on arm) since 2012 of june recently got off of it in May 2014 because I wanted a break from b.c but I have never suffered from acne problems just the normal breakout (2-3 small ones a month) just started breaking out in the end of august 2014 lower of my face mild acne around mouth on jawline n chin so I figured it had to be hormonal sincr I got off the implanon so my gyno put me on orthotricyclen lo I been on that since Sept 21, 2014 but I still have mild acne on lower of my face get new pimples evevery day can SOMEONE give me SOME ADVICE OR SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH spiro. Please and thank you I have become so unhappy and my confidence has decreased alot! ************8months on pill Hello everyone so I have now been on spironolactone 50mg a day for about 8 months now i did have an initial break out but after the 4month on it i cleared up i didn't have any breakouts just a few small ones that werent noticeable i do still have my red n dark marks from post acne but recently i have noticed that i have been gettin new ones out of nowhere and Im scared that my skin will go back to what it was..I only missed one pill which was on april 27th so what i did was take 2 pills the next day since i missed one the day before..could that have anything to do with why im starting to break out? Can someone plz help me or give me some advice, im freakin out

I've been on Spiro for 41 days and I'm just now seeing the results I'd hoped for. I have one pimple on my cheek but my entire face has cleared. I used to have cystic acne all around my mouth jawline and cheeks. I was on 100mg for 1 month and just bumped up to 125mg the last 10 days. I would recommend to anyone struggling with acne!! It does take time though and I am still hoping for more improvement over time.

I was diagnosed pcos 2 years ago and they put me on this drug. Worst mistake of my life. I've recently discovered( change doctor)I don't have any pcos( weight 110 lbs, height 175cm, no hirsutism, perfect blood exams,no insulin issues, perfect testosterone and dhea levels even before this cure, no issues with menstrual cycle)and the previous doctor was totally wrong and gave a wrong diagnose. My acne was never completely cured while on this drug despite being on 100 mg per day and despite my acne was mild, never more than 5 pimples/ papules per time. Beware of the side effects which aren't mentioned like drying of the skin and scarring. My skin became superdry in the last few months but my acne is still there. I'm weaning off of it but it's still dry. Scarring, which I never experienced before, is caused by dry skin and the fact that skin wounds take more time to heal if the skin is dry. Acne is not only caused by oily skin but it has to do with the oil and the pores of your skin. That's why you don't cure acne just by suppressing oil, because even the smallest part of oil can get stuck in your pores if they don't work properly. Moreover this drug is not a cure for your acne, because even if it works when you stop it your acne will come back. You'd better give accutane or exfoliators a try, this is just a waste of time and no permanent Fix. My skin has scars now Thanks to a wrong diagnose, a wrong cure and a stupid doctor who told me to stick with it for almost 2 years. I'm considering a lawyer and will start accutane in a few weeks. Even my periods went totally crazy,came every two weeks, and I needed a progestinic 4 days a month to fix it. Stay away unless you have real pcos or you are looking for troubles.

hello all, this is my first ever product review & i want to share my story. I'm a 24 y.o. female who has suffered with severe/moderate acne since about 12 or 13. BCP helped my skin for 6 years, keeping my acne under control (I was taking YAZ/YAZMIN). I went off bcp when I was 20, to give my body a break and broke out horribly. (As in over 15 inflamed pimpes and more than 2 or 3 cystic). Going off YAZ, it took me 6 months to get a period back. In this 6 months, I was so worried I had permanently messed up my body, that I swore off of BCP forever, even with my acne troubles. My doc said "YOU WANT A PERIOD? I can give you a pill to induce your period?" (No doctor that is not what i want...) "you might have pcos, but I dont know go see the gyno". Couldn't get a gyno apt. For 7 months where I live. My period returned after 6 months, I got checked out and I do not have pcos. BCP just messed with my hormones. I tried accutane for 3 months, and couldn't handle the dry flakey skin. Every time I would go to the bathroom, my face would be covered in visible white dry flakes. My lips were cracking no matter how much moisturizer/ChapStick. It was awful, and unhidable so I went off. Clearish skin after this (3 pimples on avrg) for about 2 months, then my acne returned with a vengeance! Before I tried spiro , I used proactive for 5 months, (with horrible results, made my acne way worse) then the acne.org regime for over a year and it worked at first but started losing its affect. In the beginning acne.org worked " good enough" leaving me with about 6-8 inflamed & 1 or 2 cystic at once. Near the end of the only acne.org use for a year, before Spiro I was around 20-30 inflamed pimples, whiteheads all over nose and cystic acne all over jawline. Such a mess. I waited about a month after getting a prescription for Spiro to try it, because I was scared of the initial breakout. I already had 20-30 inflamed zits and to think of it getting worse was almost unbearable. I also work in the remote wilderness so I was afraid of possible side affects during this time. After one horrible breakout in this month, I had over 30 pimples. I was so embarrassed. I didn't want to leave the house even with coverup on and working out in the bush I couldn't coverup my acne so I was always so embarrassed when I would wakeup with oozing zits everywhere everyday and new ones would form during the day while ide be working. I was miserable about my face, but I have suffered about my acne so much in my life I tried to just not care what I looked like. My last job of the season was 2 weeks alone with a cute boy, so I dreaded having my usual acne filled face. I started taking Spiro about 1 month before this trip. My acne reacted almost immediately. I had a few patches of bad breakouts but nothing worse then my usual horribleness. My face SLOWLY has improved. The first 2 weeks I saw about a 10% reduction, I started in 25 mg. Week 3 I went up to 50, small improvements continued, about 20-30% better. Week 4, the week of the trip with the cute boy.. I uped it to 75 mg. My face slowly continued to improve. After 2 more weeks I now had maybe 10 or less inflamed zits at this point, still not perfect but WAY better than around 30! Holy crap! That was about the 2 month mark. I have now just finished month 3, and currently have ONLY 4-5 pimples. (And alot of scarring from my 30 pimple breakout). I am still taking 75 mg. I am going to get my blood tested and get some docs advice before going up any further. This med. Has been known to be tumorigenic in mice in high doses which scares me, but I hate my acne and am clearly willing to take chances just like a lot of you. -My skin is still regularly greasy but I can handle that. -I'm still breaking out here n there but that is a dream compared to what ive been through. -I get regular headaches on this med. but I have deemed the headaches worth the cause. -I had an extra period last month because of the med. Hopefully that will not happen again. -sometimes I get nausea after taking it, but I just try and ignore it -my mood and sex drive are unaffected :) -my energy level is unaffected :) - this med it a diaretic so I have to pee frequently -I have drank alcohol (not recommended) and I am usually a cheap drunk, but I feel this med makes the booze hit you extra hard. I did not experience bad side effects aside from a usual hangover. I don't drink often but I wouldn't recommend trying to keep up with your old limits. TRY THIS BEFORE ACCUTANE! I'm no doc. But I've been on both and this has been way easier on me and less scary. The initial breakout was not as bad but my acne was horrible (worse then when I started accutane) when I started Spiro. Be patient because results are so gradual and you may suffer a bit for them ( initial breakout, headaches, stomach aches, having to pee constantly). But if you are suffering anyhow because of the way you look, and the way people look at you, give this a try. Its a slow improvent that has made me much more happy even though I still have a few zits.

Hi all!Iam 28, and I have pcos&insulin resistance and thyroid problems. I never eat sugar, have a special carbohyrate-diet with wholemeals, oat, fresh vegetables&fruits and meat, drink lots of water, tea, escpecially spearmint tea, because it's antindogenic. I take metformin xr and tryoid medicine, but my face, and my chest have bad, cystic acne. My doctor said my hormones are mostly ok, (except insulin and tsh ) so this is stress. I tried EVERYTHING,- even accutane & friends - but acne comes back. I didn't belive. :( In my country sadly spironolactone never used as an antiacne and antiandogenic stuff, so I can't try this :( BUT! I've got a pack of spiro, so decided to try to make a face-cream with it. Does is work? Have you ever tried spiro as topical on face? Did you ever tried to break the pills and rub it on face with some cream? Sorry if its stupid, but i havent got a better idea, to try spiro.

Each of you writing your reviews have encouraged me to stay on spiro and give it a chance. I have never had an issue with acne in my life at my worst breakout I had one barely showing blemish. I am 40 years old. In my teen years, 20's, 30's my skin has been fantastic, Iv been blessed in that area and never appreciated it until now. About 3 months ago this acne began, out of the blue and for no reason at all. I have had an under active thyroid for 18 yrs. I have been taking only one medicine in all that time and its been synthroid. Now i am actually on 4 prescriptions just for this sudden acne. I have an endocrinolgist who doesnt seem concerned at all and a dermatologist that seems to want to help. When i say i have always had clear skin Im not exagerating in the least. This sudden onset of severe acne has depressed me, changed me in someway. I dont talk to people in the eye anymore, I am more figity than ever before. Most of the time i just want to call into work and pretend I dont have to face people. The doctors havin taken tons of blood work have concluded that I have high levels of testosterone and they have further tested to find that I do not have PCOS which is all the internet research talks about. Neither doctor can tell me whats producing the high levels or why. So in my opinion how do you treat something that you dont know what caused it in the first place.? Anyway so I have been on Spiro for 7 weeks and i had the initial breakout that was awful and now only 4 news ones vs 8 to 10 a day. and the others are still there just less inflamed. I am now also taking Acticlate, sulfer cleaner, and aczone gel. Still after 2 weeks of all of it im still breaking out. I swear I am in my living nightmare.