All I can say is have patience. It took 4 months for Spiro to kick in for me. I started out with 50 MG and after a month went to 100 MG. In those 3 and half months, my chin and jawline never looked and felt so bad. It's finally GONE!! Thank the Lord in heaven :) Thanks for everyone that posted on here, it helped me out alot. My dermatologist was already giving up, she was ready to put me on Accutane but, thanks to this website, I still had hopes Spiro would work out for me, I dragged the process out a little. I'm happy to say, my skin is beautifully clear. I did get the horrible breakout everyone was talking about!! My current routine is simple, I drink a full glass of water with my Spiro every morning. During the 4 months of bad breakout, I did find one product to work descent on my face. It's called Renee Rouleau Anti-Cyst Treatment. It's a little pricey, but I was happy to have something to put on those bumps. Most of the other products dry out that area and does nothing for the cyst deep down inside. Good luck to everyone out there!! If you're frustrated and reading this, most likely, Spiro will kick in for you too!! Don't give up on it. A closing thought, I am in my 40's and have been battling cystic acne ever since my 30's. I've been putting Tretinoin on my face for the past 10 years. The good news, no wrinkles!! I don't know if it's my genetic makeup but I'm thinking my continual use of Tretinoin is keeping the wrinkles away.

just started taking this drug about 3 weeks ago not really any improvement with acne, just skin is a little less oily! we will see what happens in the next 6 months I will keep you guys posted

I had developed horrible cystic acne when I decided to stop taking birth control pills b/c of the horrible side effects that I had including hair loss, depression, acne, weight fluctuations, and breast reduction, facial hair. I went on Spiro in July of 2012 at 50mg 1xd and my acne actually got worse. A month later in August 2012 my derm put me on 100mg 1xd and after a few months my acne and other post birth control symptoms got better. By March of 2013 my acne was completely clear and my skin was better than it ever was, I also saw a reduction on my facial and body hair. I was having normal periods every month and the other side effects like dry mouth were east to deal with. By April I had noticed that I gained a lot of weight. Atleast 10lbs. So I was determined to loose the weight. I ate healthier even turning to a gluten free diet and was trying to walk and stay active but I could not even budge the weight. I would loose a few pounds and then a few days later I would gain it all back. Id never gained some much weight in my stomach, butt and legs. It was horrible. So in June my derm bumped me down to 75mg but I haven't lost a pound. This month August I'm going to see if she'll bump me down to 50mg since my skin is holding up and my weight isn't going down. I am hoping I can get on a lower dosage that seems to work for my acne and also will allow me to loose some of this weight. Has anyone had a similar problem and if so what did you do? My email is koconnell.lbpl@[link removed]

I have been suffering with acne since around 5th grade (currently 21). I have tried many topical treatments, every antibiotic under the sun, lasers, peels and even Accutane. Accutane terrified me and though it began to clear my skin, I had to stop due to a number of side effects. Antibiotics also make me a little weary due to supposed side effects as well as a few different allergies I have. I started taking 50mg of Spironolactone twice a day and started seeing results within a month after adding a mild topical prescription. [Note: I take with an oral contraceptive: Reclipsen] I had severe acne on my chest, arm and shoulders and that cleared up for good in less than a month. My face was virtually perfect and my doctor suggested to start gradually weaning off the dose. I did not want to give up my little miracle pills but it has been almost two weeks since I began lowering my dose and though I have had a few very small blemishes I am happy to see that my skin is still incredibly clear. I have also stopped using my topical prescription and have switched to a gentler over the counter facewash/ lotion system. I began taking this in the winter and thought my dry mouth had something to do with the dry air in my home but the more I read the more I realized that was probably due to the pills diuretic nature, so if you go this route be sure to drink tons of water! This pill has done nothing to reduce pore sizes for me but I am definitely not complaining. Truly the best regimen I have been on in my ten year struggle with acne!

I used Spiro for 8 months and had great success. I had to ease into the full dose of 100 mg. I started with 25mg and each month took more and more. The bad thing about this medication is just that, you cannot use it without any side effects. My mouth was more dry than usual and I got constipated easily. If I didn't get enough water that day I would get headaches and sometimes a slight ring in my ears. Now don't get me wrong, all of these mild side effects were bearable and better than the crippling cystic acne I once had but then I decided to dig deeper. In the past 4 yrs ( I developed cystic acne at age 30) I seen 5 different dermatologists. All of which said this condition came from a hormone imbalance for which they did not fully understand. They only can recommend medications to mask the effects but can not cure it. So I thought and thought and thought about this. Finally a light bulb went off. What do I eat everyday that has hormones. Meat and dairy. Even hormone free meat and dairy has natural hormones from the animal. Not to mention cholesterol. Once I came to this realization I thought how can I live without meat or dairy. I searched for support. It was then I adopted a whole-food plant based diet. For my protein I eat tofu and beans. I eat many different vegetables and yummy fruit. I eat soy ice cream and almond milk. After 1 month of eating this way I seen the remaining acne disappear. I decided to slowly get off the spironolacton. I will admit I was very scared. After 3 months of weaning myself off my skin was flawlessly glowing. Not only that I lost 7 lbs, my skin was softer and I for the first time in several years felt free of developing a huge cyst. It is 6 months later and I continue with my whole-food plant based diet. No meat and no dairy. My skin is glowing and I take NO medication. This change has been the best thing I could have ever done. If you want to try this watch the movie Forks Over Knives also check out you local vegan society online to find cooking classes. There are many books available. Also a great blog: she glows.

I have had acne since I was 11. It is mild, and only on my face, but very stubborn. I took minocycline and sulfa drugs, as well as using topicals like retin-A and clindamycin to combat it, but the only thing that made a dent in it was birth control, which cleared me about 70%. However, I was still getting breakouts on my chin and jaw line and I had black heads on my nose and chin. I didn't want to start college with poor skin so I went to a new dermatologist. She immediately gave me Spironolactone (50 mg/day) and differin (topical). I did get the initial breakout. I got new pimples for about 2 days, about 7 separate large pimples and then I just had to wait for them to heal. I called my Dr. again and she prescribed Doxycycline (200 mg/day) and clindamycin. It was over and done with in about a week. The initial breakout acne was different acne than I had experienced, it was cystic and in different places than I was used to, but once it cleared, with help of the Doxy, the Differin at night, clindamycin in the morning and of course, my BFF spironolactone, my skin looked so great. I love my skin now, I am so thankful for everything this drug has done. The black heads are gone, my pores are so much smaller, my skin feels so soft and smooth and it glows! People have even commented on it "glowing." And this is only my 3rd week! I love this drug SO MUCH and its so cheap! Ask your doctor!

My dermatologist prescribed Spironolactone 25mg because I have a history of Liver disease and he said this pill is "water based" and wouldn't cause any damage to my liver. However, he said I couldn't get pregnant because of the serious birth defects in the male fetus, so I didn't want to have any babies back them and started taking Spironolactone. My acne was gone, my face wasn't oily at all. I had pretty nice skin and I didn't have a "purging" stage at all. Acne just started clearing up. I was the happiest until I had irregularities with my periods. I was scared, but I didn't know what was causing it until my dermatologist explained the pill could be the reason. He suggested to go back on antibiotics and give Spironolactone a break. Then, my nightmare began again. So far I've tried Solodyn, Doryx and now I'm on Bactrim. My acne slowly started to come back. I have huge pimples and I've had huge cysts on the side of my cheeks that without thinking it too much, I have my derm inject some cortisone on them because those suckers hurt (not to mention the fact that they look disgusting.) I recommend it (Spironolactone,) but maybe it is a good idea to take breaks because some side effects can become more serious. In my case, I would like to get pregnant within this year, so definitely I can't take it.

I've been on spiro for 5 months I have been taking 100 mg daily and am currently still at this dosage. I started spiro three months after completing my accutane course. Unfortunatly I broke out after the accutane. I started the spiro and started to clear up after a month of use. Since then I'm not getting cysts or big pustular acne. I get a couple white heads here and there but the full benefits of spiro can take up to 9 months to show themselves. So I'm looking forward to having clear skin long term!! UPDATE: I've now been using Spiro daily for 14 months now. Still at the 100mg dose. It's managing to keep my skin nice and breakout free. I can't thank this medication enough. It completely rid me of the paranoia and fear of looking in the mirror in the morning and not knowing what I was going to face. I will admit I get a white head every couple of months. That's nothing to complain about! I do not have any side effects from the medication at all. All my blood results have come back perfectly. I love it!

have been using spironolactone along with doxycyxline and clymadicin topical gel for 2 months exactly, and my acne has worsened. Used to only have acne on my forehead and the occasional chin spot, and now i seem to have a lot more on my chin area and the forehead remains the same as before if not a little worse, none of the treatments seem t have worked. Think spiro may have prevented the antibiotic from working, as im concerned my acne is not hormonal, or at least not caused by excess androgens. when i went on dianette earlier this year, i was on it for 3 months and it also significantly worsened my skin and caused severe bloating and mood swings. Does anyone know if the spironolactone is the cause for worsened acne/ lack of effectiveness of the antibiotic (i previously took tetracycline which cleared my skin after about 2 and a half months, and have used zineryt , both which seemed to clear it previously)

This pill has been a miracle drug for me! I am 23 and have suffered from horrible cystic acne for as long as I can remember. Like everyone else, I have tried everything. I have seen multiple dermatologists but nothing ever worked for me. Finally, I decided enough is enough and I made an appointment at a dermatologist office in downtown Chicago. I explained to her that my acne has always been pretty severe. I have always broken out on my face, back, chest, and arms. It has always seemed to flare up right around my period and then it would clear up the week after my period. As soon as I mentioned this, she recommended Sprio. She told me that it would take 3-6 months to see the full results, so I needed to be patient. I was hopeful! She started me on 50mg of Spiro for the first two weeks and then bumped it up to 100mg in combination with Atralin gel and cerave lotion. The first two months were hell. My chest and back flared up the worst I have ever seen and my face was a mess. I went back to see her after two months and she added the antibiotic Monodox and bumped up the Spiro dosage to 150mg. Now I was finally starting to see some results. By 3 and a half months, my chest and back were perfect. Not one single blemish. My face is now the best it has ever been! I still get a few small bumps on my face, but I am confident that those will clear up as time goes on. I went back to see my derm and she added Aczone gel to use in the morning. She compared this gel to microdermabrasion. She said all my scarring should be gone within 12 weeks. I am absolutely thrilled with my results!!!