After my dermatologist suggested trying Spiro, I remember reading these reviews on here and feeling SO hopeful. I was praying that I was one of the lucky few who saw immediate results. Well, unfortunately... I wasn't. The medication took a couple months to really kick in. It didn't really make my skin any worse, though, which I am grateful for. I've been on it for 5 months, and I've noticed the most difference in the past 2. I'm currently taking 150mg (1 pill in the morning, 2 at night). A couple months in, my dermatologist also prescribed doxycycline to help clear me up quicker. I'm also using aczone topical gel and birth control pills. Before I started spiro, I had just experienced my worst breakout in over 5 years. I wish I could attach pictures to this comment, because the difference between the before and after is unbelievable. I currently have one small pimple on my cheek that is healing, even though I'm due to get my period in just a few days. My face feels super smooth (best feeling ever). I'm dealing with a some post-acne pigmentation, but I will take that over painful zits any day. I plan to start incorporating some AHA products into my routine, and possibly some chemical peels. I am just so happy that my skin is finally clearing up, and I just pray that it lasts. I dread the day when I have to stop taking this stuff!

After taking only two doses of this medicine i ended up int he hospital with a "burnt" esophagus (easiest way to put it). After loads of iv's and injected pain medicines I could not eat real foods for almost a month without pain. Almost a year later and I still haven't taken even an advil due to how scared I am of it coming back again. Took a z-pack 8 months ago and it all came back, my doctor said it will take very very long to go away. Never got to see skin change.

Proactiv, Retin a, malic acid, salicyclic acid, Acne Free, Differin, all Neutrogena products, etc. Those are literally just a partial list of all of the products I've used to try and clear up my acne since I was 16 years old. I am now 25 years old. A year ago, I was speaking with my girlfriend on whether or not I should make the jump to Accutane as it HIGHLY suggested by my dermatologist. My friend coaxed me into trying her prescribed sprionolactone before trying Accutane. I've read about sprio for a number of years and with all of the hormone changes, growth of unwanted hair, and some scary stories, I decided not to do it, but was ready to just give up. After taking my friends spiro at 75 mg/day for 1 month, I began to notice several differences with my skin: 1. Acne was healing much faster 2. My skin became less red 3. Less acne 4. Less shine!! All of this was purely amazing. I had cystic acne, oil skin that would turn into a nasty mess after only 30 MINUTES of washing my face, my skin was so red that people thought I went out for a 10k run. It was just horrible. With all of this, it is simply AMAZING how much my face got better in 1 month's time. Each month following has been more tremendous and now a year later, I can actually *touch* my face without having to worry that acne will pop up. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give this a try. I was once a frequent member of acne.org making vain attempts to clear my acne- I no longer need to be here because of this medication, but I wanted to come back and try to persuade you into at least trying this option. It's worth it. Trust me.

I tried every topical there is with no success. Just before spiro my skin was irritated, filled with red marks and was still breaking out. And then i found out spiro. Changed my skin COMPLETELY. Less oily,less facial hair and the best.. no more acne! My skin was healing and i was feeling great! I tried to get out of it but after a couple of months i started breaking out again. I started it again and will stop only when i decide to have a baby. UPDATE: I am on 7th week, now my problem is basically comedones that get inflamed and of course the red marks. I will take care of them after i am done with comedones.

This drug has helped a lot of people, so I'm a little weary posting this review considering I had a relatlvely negative experience. My acne is hormonal (PCOS). This drug was given to me by my dermatologist who was convinced this would help. I took it from November 2012 to September 2013, only just stopping last week. Not only did this not help my acne at all, it also caused me to be EXTREMELY fatigued. I also had quite a few of the negative side effects listed on the medication's pamphlet, such as irregular, fast heartbeat, dizziness, etc. I always felt like I was going to pass out or fall asleep while driving. I had to quit the gym and I found myself sleeping whenever I could find the time. My job suffered, I gained weight, and I was miserable. Last week I decided that enough was enough, and I stopped the drug. I felt a little better the next day, but every day I get better. I also found that I didn't have to pee a lot on this medicine, no more than I had to before taking this years ago. Try for yourself if I didn't scare you enough! Just make sure it's well regulated. My doctors neglected to tell me about the side effects and I really thought I was terribly, terribly ill. Good luck!

LAST UPDATE FOR SPIRO over 2 months My daughter has been on 100 mg 1xd for 66 days. She is looking and feeling great. Her acne on her face has cleared and she is basically just dealing with discoloration. This is fading but like with everything related to acne it just takes time. She has experienced no side effects at all. Her chin, jawline and forehead are clear just the light discoloration on cheeks. Totally different girl than she was this summer. Back to confident, carefree, happy girl. She is even using her experience to encourage others. Just a fast side note.... When she first started taking spiro she had been on BCP's for two months. When she was on the pill acne got worse and she gained 12 lbs. she could not get the 12 lbs off and she exercises" big time" daily. For her the pill didn't work at all. She easily dropped the 12lbs after 3 weeks of being off the pill and is back to her incredible fit self. Spiro and the pill can work great together however listen to your body. You don't have to be on the pill for spiro to work. She also has some back acne. It was not clearing as fast as face. Back acne can be very stubborn. A month ago she started using BenzEFoam wash (no generic). She tried generic with no results. Her back is clearing faster now with only a few active spots left. Uses the BenzEFoam Ultra wash and OTC bp. She has to use moisturizer as skin is dry but not noticeable if she is on top of it. She washes with gently cleanser in morning and uses a toner that is homemade with witch hazel and omnicef. Omnicef is an antibiotic that was prescribed. She does not take them orally however we opened all the capsules into the witch hazel to make the toner. Her topical is aczone which she uses both in morning and evenings. She also takes her spiro in the morning with a full glass of water and drinks 2 liters of water through out the day. The constant having to use the bathroom has stopped. No more getting up in the middle of night to pee. At night she uses gentle cleanser along with an "oil of Olay" brush and gently cleanses her face and then applies Aczone. During this process she decided to cut out dairy and processed foods totally. Not sure if this helped acne but she feels a lot better and has no cravings for that stuff anymore. She has always been a pretty healthy eater. If she does one bite is plenty for her, again this is just her own conviction. I think her results luckly just happened early because it can take up to 4-6 months for spiro to kick in. Her pores also look small. I'm so glad that I was so anti accutane for her. Her acne wasn't bad enough for accutane in my opinion. Mentally for her it was and physically it wasn't pretty at all however it wasn't cystic severe all over her face acne. Accutane takes just as long to work as spiro does. As both have side effects with accutane the risk can be very high. I know that I sound anti accutane however I believe that there is a time and place for it. It was not meant for moderate acne. It should be used as a last resort and only after you have really given other things a fair shot. It a serious choice! A few months of trial and error isn't worth the possible side effects that can last a life time or putting your body through the process of completely drying up your insides of all oils to the point that your joints ache ( this is a common side effect of accutane). I am now giving 5 stars to Spiro as it has worked great for moderate to severe acne. She has NO SCARRING AT ALL. Stick with it and give it a chance to work! It's amazing to have my wonderful daughter back with her amazing smile and beautiful spirit. Thank God and hang in there!!! UPDATE 31 DAYS ON SPIRO So my daughter has been on Spiro for 31 days. She honestly looks sooo much better with each day. I would say her face is 90% clear and she really doesn't have new breakouts however the old acne is still clearing out. I switched derms ( she is seeing a very well known derm for acne). When she saw her she didn't try to push laser or blue light rather she kept her on the spiro and added a few things to her regimen (prescription washes ect). She took her off BCP as they were not working rather possible working against the Spiro ( the bCP works great for some but my daughter isn't one as she had side effects). Some people have great results with spiro and BCP. She is extremely happy to be off the pill. When I asked if she needed Accutane like the other 2 derms wanted to put her on, her response was " she will clear up without it so NO". The hardest part is that I think this forum is GREAT however everyone's acne is different so just remember that just because something didn't work for one person doesn't mean it won't work for you. I know how hard this is but waiting to let things work is the key. Yes we all want a quick fix and its not there especially if other things have not worked and you have to start at square one. Ugh it was killing me just watching my child go through it. I was just as distrought as she was. Now she isnt as worried b/c i am worried enough for the both of us. She actually sees that it is slowly but steadly working and is much more relaxed. I think her knowing that i am in there fighting this with her gives her great relief however her acne is rarely the topic of our conversations. When she gets ready for school and i tell her how pretty she looks she finally believes me. Plus going to a dermo that was so positive about her progress and future progress was like a 100 lb weight being lifted from her shoulders. Even her dad could tell that the positive and compassionate dermo played a huge role with her stress level. The new things that the new derm put in her regimen seem to be the key to working towards the goal of totally clear skin. The new derm seemed surprised that she was put on spiro without a regimen and I am as well. Again, I feel as thought the old derm just wanted to put her on accutane and be done with it. This new dermo had a completely different angle and was extremely positive regarding her heading to being completely clear.... Not cured but clear. My daughter has self confidence again! One thing I want to mention is that I immediately started to take action when I saw that her acne was getting out of control. This is so important b/c she does not have any scarring which is surprising b/c her breakouts were heavy & thick on chin and along lower cheeks & jaw line (breakout on top of breakout in this area). The derm was very pleased to see that scarring had not started. The sooner you seek treatment the better. Also it is so important not to pick off dry skin, scrub ur face or try to pop pimples. All of that leads to scarring! I will do an update after 60 days on spiro along with her new regimen. The reason for 4 stars and not 5 stars b/c she is not totally clear yet. All take care, have faith, and remember that you are beautiful inside. START OF SPIRO My 16 year old daughter has been stuggling with moderately severe acne for past 8 months. It just seemed to come out of no where. She is an elite athlete and her lack of confidence in the past 3 months has me very concerned. Took her to 1st dermo 6 months ago and she wanted to put her on Accutane before trying anything else. The side effect for an athlete are quite severe. I said "no way"! So they put her on antibiotics and Epiduo. Also during this time we were doing home remedies.... Tea tree oil, zinc, dry vitiman E ect. When she stopped the home remedies in June her acne exploded. I did let her start taking ortho tri cyclen BC. They did say that the BC takes 3 months to start working. After 2 months my beautiful 16 year old went from a confident young lady to someone that was retreating socially and couldn't even look you in the eyes. I made an appointment with a acne specialist ( pediatric dermo). When we went in she just wanted to put

I'm 35, and before I had children I was on the birth control pill for years and had never had any problems with acne. After my children were born, I decided to get a Paragard IUD because it had no hormones. I began getting painful nodular breakouts, which eventually lasted three weeks or so out of every month. My mom has battled terrible acne and cysts for years - even post-menopause. I figured I was doomed and just dealt with it for around eight years. I went to see a dermatologist for a mole check and decided to add my acne to the list. He prescribed me 50mg of Spironolactone once a day - this is an off-label use since this drug is for high blood pressure. After a month or so, my acne got worse and at my three month checkup it was terrible - I was so discouraged. My face hurt and I just wanted to stay home in bed. At that time he increased my dose to 100 mg (50 2xday) and also added Clindamycin gel. I was headed to Florida in a few days and looking forward to some sun to "fix" my face - yes, I know this is bad...Anyway, a couple of weeks later my face was clear and has been ever since - around four months now. It has been so wonderful to be without the pain and embarrassment. As an added bonus, I've dropped a size or two without any effort. It is just water weight, but I'll take it! I am not certain that I needed the increased dose - may have just been coincidence on timing. I don't always take the second pill and am fine. The Clindamycin gel is really great - keeps my face from getting oily and my pores are so much clearer and I rarely get any little surface whiteheads - if I do, they go away super fast.

i have struggled with acne since I was 12. I am 21 now and all I can say is I have tried it all! I started at with topicals (at least 30 I have tried already such as retin-A, differen, duac, ziana, climadycin (sp. ?)). Next was antibiotics like soladyn, minocycline, eurthromycin, doxycycline. after that was birth control Loestrin 24 FE and I took that for 4 months with my skin getting even more severe tat my derm didn't want me to depend on that to clear my face up so she put me on Accutane for 5 months at 60 mg, within 6 months I started breaking out again so she put me on another round of Accutane for 5 months at 60 mg again. 6 months later I was breaking out again so this time I went to my gyno and requested ortho-tri-cyclen (FDA approved to help acne) and I was on that for a year with only 50% relief. then I switched to ortho-cyclen and my face cleared up dramtically. however, my iron levels started getting really high so my doctor didn't want me on bc pills anymore so I went back to the derm and she gave me spiro. this drug did begin to clear my face amazingly at the end of the 5 month and I had horrible breakouts the months before (really bad IB). however, my hair started falling out so much on the 100mg that I lowered to 75 mg and it continued to fall out and thin out. I was freaking out so I stopped it cus I cant afford to lose anymore hair! also 100 mg made my period messed up but 75 mg didn't. if your hair isn't falling out and thinning on this med then def keep at it. it took 5 whole months for me to begin to clear up and I didn't see any improvemnets in the first 4.5 months; no joke. I have also tried to cut out dairy, soy, wheat, and gluten from my diet and take vitamins that are great for acne and nothing helped me. Spiro will help you eventually but if your in a situation like mine, pick your hair over your face! I just stopped it and hopefully my hair stops falling out and grows back!

I am 23 years old and just started getting hormonal acne. In high school I had the odd couple break outs that I could usually use some sort of topical solution like differin and they would clear up. My skin would get use to these medications and they would become un effective so I would have to move on to the next treatment. My doctor prescribed me spiro 25mg 3 times a day (75mg/per day).Within the first couple of days I noticed my hair was not as oily and I could go 2 days without showering, which was unheard of before. I lost 3 pounds and I felt very weak and my breasts are super tender. It hurts when people hug me even. My skin started to break out in horrible huge cysts which had never happened to me before. This lasted for 2 and a half weeks. I am probably going to have to get laser therapy to remove the scars these will leave behind. I would cry, not leave the house and get strength from reading other reviews telling me I just had to wait it out. Now that I am in my third week I have noticed my skin clearing up and only a couple new smaller zits. Its also my time of the month so that could be contributing to this. I am going to keep at it for another couple months and wait to see the results. However I feel as though my acne was more manageable before I started this medication. I also researched it up and down (since I had to stay in on the weekends due too my embarrassment of the large pimples that were taking over my cheeks) and found out this medication is SERIOUS. You really need to watch your potassium intake or it could do irreversible damage to your liver and kidneys. I was up set my doctor never mentioned this and am going back so i can get blood work done(this is very important). Also i have read it only works while you are on the medication, its more of a band-aid than a cure. I am scared to go off of it because who knows what my skin will be like. I have also read reports that if you take this drug for a long period of time it can give you cancer. I would only suggest this as a last resort for desperate people. I wish I had been more informed before I started popping these pills.

Hello, I began using spiro 100 mg in January after BC was not being as effective controlling my cystic acne as it used to be. I had already read about spiro and was interested in the drug before I went to see my doctor and was happy to hear that is what she recommended. My regimen now included Beyaz BC, Spiro 100 mg daily, Cetaphil wash and moisturizer (twice a day), and Aczone Gel (twice a day). After about 5 days of taking Spiro i broke out with a couple of cystic horrors which took forever to heal but after that I did not get any new ones for that first month. I also had an irregular period that lasted for about two weeks, went away, then came back for a week. The doctor said that it could happen and it would be regulated after the first month, especially since I was on BC. After visiting my doctor, who was not happy with my results because I was getting tiny white heads here and there that I wasn't getting before, I was upped to 200 mg a day. At 200 mg, I broke out with 3 huge cystics around my chin area (which is where I always get them) at first. I did not get any big breakouts for two months after that and the small white heads disappeared, however, after a month, I broke out again with two big cystics so my doctor and I decided that I would go on Accutane for 6 months since this wasn't the solution I was looking for. Some other side effects that I experienced are heavy hair loss. My hair thinned so much while I was taking Spiro. I also notice that my breasts were really tender at first and got fuller as I continued to take the medication. I also could go about 4 days without washing my hair without it getting oily. Other than that as I mentioned, irregular (but light) periods at first. I would say that I would def go back on Spiro at a low dose to prevent all the hair loss if the Accutane doesn't work out but I am crossing my fingers that it will! I do believe that spiro greatly helped me control my acne, just didn't eliminate it completely...who knows if it would have if I had stayed on it for longer. This medication def takes a lot of patience that at 26, I just don't have anymore of when it comes to acne! Hope this helps. Lisa