Antiandrogen
Reviews
4.1
1326 Reviews
Antiandrogen
Efficacy
68%
Based on All Available Studies
Strength of Evidence
1
2
3
4
5
Antiandrogen
Side Effects
High
Antiandrogen
Acne.org’s Real World Take
“Spiro” has been shown to work in a real and noticeable way most of the time. However, messing with hormones is messing with hormones and it’s best to proceed with caution.
Antiandrogen
How to Get It
Have a dermatologist? Make an appointment to get this medication. Don't have a dermatologist? See The American Academy of Dermatology Physician Database to find one.
Read All About Spironolactone
Compare To Other Treatments
5
51.1%
4
28%
3
10.1%
2
4.9%
1
5.9%

Used Spironolactone? Rate It:

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December 21, 2017
starting to give up?
Ive been using it for almost a month and my skin has never broken out this bad, I talked to my derm and they said it gets worse before it gets better but i dont know if i can take it anymore. Im fine with breaking out when starting a medication because i usually do but with this one my face, chest and shoulders are just covered with small itchy pimples. Before this my skin was extremely oily but now its really itchy, dry and flaky and i dont know if i should keep using it or not.
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June 20, 2017
Treating hormonal acne
I had moderate acne so I was prescribed 100 mg a day. After two weeks I had clear skin. I didn't have any harmful effects but after two years I had irregular, almost absent periods and I started to have constant heartburn. Also, Aldactone is very expensive. Definitely its not a long-term treatment.
March 5, 2017
Induced neck acne and comedones
Unfortunately, this drug made my acne get significantly worse. Instead of getting the usual type of acne (chin, cystic) I developed closed comedones for the first time in my life on Spiro, as well as NECKNE and cysts on my back that I've never had. I was completely make-up and moisturizer free at the time, so it was NOT acne cosmetica. I've never experienced such hideous, bumpy skin as I did on this drug...I literally looked like I had grains of sand on my right cheek and the side of my forehead. Better yet, the comedones all ended up having to either be squeezed or turn into papules to go away. I still have some literally three months later. The worst of the Spiro-induced acne disappeared shortly after I quit using it. I now very rarely, if ever get cc's. TLDR: Beware if this drug gives you new, strange breakouts in places you never get acne. Do not confuse it with an 'IB'. An IB is usually in places where you are most acne prone. I've read several reviews elsewhere online where people agreed Spiro caused closed comedones or generally worsened their acne, so this is possible. I suspect Spiro adds to an underlying hormone imbalance, namely estrogen dominance, by totally turning off testosterone receptors.
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February 13, 2017
Inactive ingredients matter
Warning: long but worth it!!! I like many others here have tried and been on everything under the sun. Tried topicals, tried natural, tried prescription. After doing accutane for years and miraculously getting 'clear', I went off of it, My skin stayed clear for a while and I was honestly just super happy to not have drugs in my system. When I hit 33, something in my body went haywire and my acne flared up worse than ever before. I was devastated. Not to mention, I was recently married, started thinking about a family etc. But I was just incredibly embarrassed, most of all in front of my new hubby. Of course, I went to dr, explained that I had been on accutane before and although I was happy with the result, I was nervous about it and its side effects now. He prescribed me 25 mg. of Spiro, saying that likely this was a bout of hormonal acne at its worse, we could get on this and clear me up quick. Hindsight - I wish I had not just accepted what he said as truth and done some homework because if I had, I would have realized that there are even more potential side effects with spiro than even accutane! So fast forward a couple of months, I was up to 75mg daily and my entire outlook on life has changed' for the worse. My acne was still terrible and in addition I now had daily stomach cramps so severe I had had to stay home from work, I was nauseous nearly every day (nope! not pregnant!) and on top of it all, my sex drive was near to nothing when before I couldn't get enough of my husband. It was unbearable. Desperate for answers, I started looking up side effects for this drug and sure enough! After doing my research I was just so upset with myself for allowing someone to convince me to put something so vile into my system. Chemicals have side effects and most likely, if you start a prescription YOU WILL BE ON IT FOR LIFE. There is no 'cure' for acne so even if people here say it worked for them, it will only work if they take it. And by taking it, they are allowing some pretty terrible stuff into their bodies. Now I am no hippy and I absolutely know from experience that the natural route for acne doesn't work. But I have now drawn the line in the sand when it comes to prescriptions. No more! In my newfound vigor and pissed-off-ness, I dug in deeper to solutions. From all testimonials, benzoyl peroxide is the best bet BUT you want to find a company that doesn't have to add a lot of oils and preservatives which makes the benzoyl less effective. Once I read that, a light went off in my head. Why proactive had never worked for me, why Rodan and Fields hadn't worked, Mario Badescu, Cetaphil, Neutrogena'. you name it, I have tried it and nothing worked. But they are all HUGE and obviously their products have to have a lot of preservatives. Try getting a list of all the INactive ingredients in most big names brands. Pretty tough to find! But look out for stuff like DimethiconeAcrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate cross polymer, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid and well loads of other ones. The names themselves are a mouthful and that is why people ignore them. But once you know what to look for, everything starts to make more sense. I got more into researching. Finding companies that don't use preserving oils is hard to find, let me tell you! I encountered a couple and called them. Exposed nearly convinced me but the one that impressed me the most was one you probably have never heard of, Ninja Skincare. The care they took with me to fully explain what was going on with me, my body, my face was truly unreal. Based on that alone, and some pretty impressive reviews, I gave them a shot. Now, 3 months later, after 2 full years of searching, my face is clear!!!! Any time I have questions, I literally text them and get a response within an hour. I have never bought products from a company like this before and would recommend them to absolutely anyone!!! Give them a shout, you won't be disappointed!
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January 22, 2017
Awful Experience
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.
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March 16, 2016
Spiro didn't work for me
I took Spiro for 7 months. It took me from mild/moderate acne to disfiguring acne. I am 28 yrs old, I hv both cystic acne & white heads/black heads. I also have EXTREMELY oily skin. My Derm said Spiro would be perfect for me. I "purged" for an entire 7 months. Spiro seems to work for wayyyy more ppl than it doesn't so by no means do I want to discourage anyone from trying it, however, after 7 months it just appeared that it didn't work for me.
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April 9, 2016
What was your dosage?
May 11, 2016
I am on 100mg spiro for almost two months now. My acne actually got way worse. I don't know if I should stick with it or just try Accutane. So frustrating.
February 5, 2016
Getting off after 2 months of non-stop break outs and mood swings
ADVICE/INSIGHT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED! I have been on spironolactone for 2 months now. Here is what my experience has been like: new breakouts every day (one pimple at a time, sometimes clumps), horrible mood swings, some depression, acne in places I've never had it before, slower healing skin, darkening of all the hyperpygmentation on my face, nausea, and that's just to name a few. Heres some background information about me: I am a 21 year old college student. I always had good skin, probably one pimple on my face normally, if not clear. Around my 21st birthday I began to get ugly, long lasting deep pimples (not cysts but under the skin) around my period. My derm prescribed me this and from the 2nd week I took it the breakouts started. Deep cysts, followed now by just pimples popping up everywhere. I can't keep up with my skin and the stress it has caused me. Tomorrow I am going to my derm and I am going to try Bactrim for a few months to combat the breakouts I will probably get from getting off the medication. I also started aczone which has helped prevent new breakouts so far. I believe spiro was too strong of a medication for me to be put on. It fluctuated my hormones so severly that I am not sure if I will ever feel/look normal again. My advice, if you are young (25 and below), your hormones may not need another factor effecting them. I am hoping the best for this antibiotic but if not I am doing a low dose round of accutane. I apologize if I seem negative, however this has been the roughest 2-3 months of my life, I have little self confidence and I find myself avoiding going to class, seeing friends, and even seeing my boyfriend. I am sure for PCOS and older women, this drug is a miracle worker. However for me, it amplified the awful hormonal imbalances that I am facing at this time in my life. If you have had a similiar experience, or are my age and having these problems, please reach out. I also understand this medication can take up to 6 months to work, however my skin has already completely changed from it. I can hardly keep my pores unclogged, and while it has cut my oil production in half, my skin looks like a hyper pigmented mess and still produces acne (cystic included). Again, I apologize for the negativity and I hope all of us can find a way to manage our acne.
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February 10, 2016
Just wanted to update for any people looking at this: I stopped spironolactone about 5 days ago, started Bactrim 6 days ago and the breakouts have almost completely stopped. Not just a bunch of acne marks and PIH, ugh. So glad I found what was causing my acne!
February 14, 2016
I am currently going through this right now. Please keep me posted on what ends up working for you!
April 7, 2016
Hey Bonnie! I know it has been a couple months but I ran across my review and wanted to update. After stopping spiro, my acne and overall skin condition dramatically improved. I stayed on Bactrim for almost 2 months and am now 23 days into my course of Accutane. I have only a few congested pores and some red marks left now, but this experience taught me that this medicine is not for people as young as me (21) or people with no signs of testosterone imbalance. How are you doing?
January 4, 2016
be extremely careful
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.
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April 9, 2016
What was your dosage?
April 17, 2016
Sorry for my super later reply I haven't been on here in a few months. I was on 100mg a day. 50 in the morning 50 at night
July 22, 2015
HATE IT!
Spiro literally dried my whole body out! Sure it helps the cystic acne, but at what cost? In 4 months, I gained wrinkles, weight, cellulite, dry eyes, acid reflux and my stomach is constantly bloated. I play soccer constantly and was starting to feel weak....BAM ....muscle loss. I was randomly sweating, I was literally red all the time. I already had sufficient breasts, now they are huge, painful, and annoying! I have been off of this evil drug for 2 weeks and feel a ton better, but still have the bloating, cellulite, and dry eyes. Also, I have issues with anxiety, and this stuff made it WORSE!!!! My skin has NOT gotten worse since I stopped taking it, it has gotten BETTER. How long until all the side effects go away!!?!?!?!?! Anyone else hate their Dr for putting them on this????? I only gave this 1 star because it made me. Should have negative stars!!!!
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July 23, 2015
How many mg did the doc put you on??
August 12, 2015
When did u notice cellulite
July 2, 2015
Too soon to tell but hopeful..
I am a 22 year old female and have had pimples here and there for most of my teen years. December 2014 my skin was gorgeous, clearer than it has ever been and then came January.. All the sudden the skin around my mouth erupted in rash like bumps and then progressed to acne -looking bumps as well as cysts that moved down to my chin/ jaw and up along the sides of my nose & even under my eye ( which swelled shut at one point and turned black & blue due to a cyst). I was told by 4 different doctors that I had perioral dermatitis & was put on antivirals, antibiotics, topicals and had blood work and cultures taken of my skin. No luck. I finally saw a dermatologist who put me on more antibiotics (100mg) for 2 months which did nothing but give me UTIs. After a second visit with him last week, and zero improvement (despite trying every holistic treatment under the sun, including going sodium laurel sulfate -free) he put me on spironolactone. It has been 1 week and my skin is nightmare-ish right now. I have multiple cysts and my chin is covered in painful spots. I feel so depressed, my confidence is shot and most days I can't bring myself to leave the house. I hope and pray my skin starts to improve soon. After 6 months of this constant physical & emotional pain, I don't know how much more I can take. Anyone have a similar experience? Or advice?
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July 4, 2015
I had a terrible cystic breakout a couple weeks after I first started spironolactone (way worse than my usual cystic acne), but about a month in my skin started clearing up. My skin has been almost completely clear for months now!! I've heard it's common to have an initial breakout on spiro, so I'd recommend sticking with it. don't lose hope!
August 3, 2015
Sbeanie82 -- what dosage were you on?

Finding a Doctor

The right dermatologist can make a big difference to your patient experience and the success of your acne treatment plan. Here are the steps to find a dermatologist who is a good fit:

  1. Use the search feature on the American Academy of Dermatology website to look for board-certified dermatologists in your area, and filter the search results for doctors with a special interest in treating acne.
  2. Read online patient reviews of any dermatologists you are considering and ask people you know whether they have any experience with these dermatologists.
  3. Do your research and go to your first appointment with questions prepared.
  4. Listen to what your gut feeling tells you once you see a dermatologist in person. If you are not completely comfortable, try a different dermatologist.

Finding a Doctor

Only a select few plastic surgeons specialize in acne scar revision surgery. Be certain to find a provider who specializes in acne scar repair and who is passionate and experienced in this area.

Be sure to:

  • Look at before and after photos, the more the better, especially patients with similar scarring to your own.
  • Be realistic about results. Look for improvement, not a cure.

Questions to ask a potential scar revision specialist:

  • Are you board certified? Be certain that they are board certified.
  • How long have you been performing these procedures? Normally, the more experience the better, however, some younger surgeons may be more on top of the latest procedures.
  • Can I speak to some of your other patients? Ask for references for several patients who had similar scarring and speak to them about the process and their satisfaction with results.

Red flags:

  • Their story changes: As you discuss different treatment options, if they tend to change their mind easily, or agree with whatever you say, consider this a red flag. A confident, experienced surgeon will possess strong, unwavering opinions.
  • Your gut tells you "no": Trust your gut. If you just don't feel that the doctor is the right fit, trust that and move on. On the other hand, if you feel they are the perfect specialist for you, trust that feeling.