I'm a 21 year old female that is caucasian and has fair skin that is extremely sensitive. Although my skin is sensitive, I struggle with oily acne prone skin. A couple of years ago I was given Bactrim at a pretty high dose to try and combat my acne. It worked! almost a week in, the acne was gone and the scars were disappearing. It was seriously an acne miracle. Although, every time I went off of the medication my acne returned with a fight. My derm didnt want me to be on bactrim forever since it is a pretty intense drug and isnt meant for forever use. Finally, I asked my dermatologist for me to try spironolactone. I have PCOS and knew my acne must be related to hormones. It was deep and cystic and never was a simple pimple or two. The first week (50 mg) my acne was the same. The second week (50 mg) my acne got worse. During this time I was still taking a pretty high dose of bactrim to get me through the initial breakout phase. After a month the initial breakout started to end and my skin returned back to its normal self (cystic acne like normal) I then upped my dose to 100 mg. My skin then had another initial breakout but wasn't nearly as bad as before. At about 2 months is when I saw some improvement in my skin. Anytime before that my skin was the same if not worse. My skin at this time was softer and my pores were smaller. I started to decrease my bactrim dose and to my surprise I wasnt breaking out as much as I would have before if I had lowered my bactrim dose. Before, my skin would breakout if I went even a day without taking my bactrim medication. At three months my skin improved even more. It was softer and i wasnt getting deep cystic acne but moreso regular pimples like anyone else. At four months my skin was getting softer, firmer, and less oily while having no cystic breakouts and no antibiotic medication. The first couple of months were rough but trust me, you just have to wait! It gets better. My skin is NOT perfect. but its 90 percent better than before.

After 10 years of being embarrassed of my own face i finally feel confident. Ive taken 100mg for 6 months and i finally see results. Stick with it, its worth it

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.

Hey guys - apologies for the very long review! I always read these reviews and I figured I may as well share my story since I've been on Spiractin (Spironolactone) for over 7 years now. When I was a teenager my skin was pretty great, I had a few little pimples every now and then, but nothing too extreme. Then at the age of 19, while I was living overseas in London at the time (I'm from a woman from Australia), my skin started to get a lot of painful pimples around my jaw line and cheeks. They worsened over a few months and eventually became full on red, painful under the skin acne. I had no idea how to treat this, so I bought Pro Activ. Probably the worst thing I could have done, it only made my skin more irritated and red. When I came home from London, it was summer time over here. With a lot of sun and ocean swims my skin started to clear up and eventually it was back to normal. However, as soon as summer disappeared my acne came back with sore, under the skin pimples. I went to a dermatologist and he instantly put me on 100mg of spironolactone and on the Yasmin pill. I suffered bad side-effects of being on such a high dosage of Spiro straight away, so he took the dose down to 25mg, moving up 25mg every 3 months. Eventually I was on 100mg. I started to notice that my body was not reacting well to the Yasmin pill, my skin was actually worsening from the Yasmin so I took myself off it and continued on 100mg of Spiro. After stopping Yasmin, my period didn't come back for 3 years - this is a side effect of being on Spironolactone. I started to notice my skin would become accustomed to the dosage of Spiro I was taking, so I started to increase my dosage so it would continue to work for me. At the age of 25 I was on 200mg of Spiro (taking it at night time so the dehydration I would get from the drug wouldn't effect me during the day). The 200mg started to stop working and i was seeing pimples that i would never have gotten previously, like forehead pimples and big under the skin pimples under my eyebrows. I upped my dosage to 250mg of Spiro and this worked really well, however I noticed my breasts were larger and I'd put on a bit of weight around my hips. I also got my period back, but it was random and sporadic, sometimes it would be every 1-2 weeks, sometimes it would be every month. Because my period schedule was all over the place I decided to lower my dosage. I instantly dropped it back down to 200mg, my skin was fine. So i continued to lower it down to 175mg. My skin started to worsen and I noticed a lot of small bumps on my chin and my face was a bit oily. I lowered it down to 150mg after about 3 months on 175mg. My skin worsened almost instantly. After 2 months of being on 150mg I went back up to 200mg and my skin became clear again, with the occasional few pimples and bumps after a big weekend or something. I also stopped getting my period again. Now, I'm 27 years old. I was on 200mg of Spiractin and my skin has started to worsen again, I've started getting sore pimples along my jaw line (something which hasn't been an issue for years!), I always have bumps on my forehead which don't pop or come to a head, they just sit under the skin. Yesterday I increased my dosage to 225mg to see if my skin will go back to normal again. I still haven't had a period - so it's been about a year since my last period. Conclusion: I rely on this drug far too much now. I have tried everything, from going vegan, exercising often, detoxing, Vitamin A serums, Vitamin C serums, benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, etc. But nothing has worked like Spironolactone has. I would recommend going on this drug if you are ok with knowing you will most likely be reliant on it for the rest of your life, or at least until menopause (you need to go off Spiro if you want to get/are pregnant, which means your acne will come back during that time). I would recommend going to see a Naturopath first and trying to sort out your hormonal imbalance naturally before jumping onto this medication. I wish someone had told me to do that when I was younger so I wasn't so reliant on this drug. It's been a lifesaver for my acne, but also an inconvenience on having to adjust the dosage every year or so. I'm lucky that the only side effects I've experienced is an irregular or no period and some breast tenderness/enlargement.

I was on spiro for about 4-5 months before it FINALLY started to work. I had mild-moderate acne before, which i had under control for 3 years on Doxycycline. Of course, you can't be on antibiotics forever so I was taken off of Doxy and it came back full force. Then my derm put me on spiro and i started out at 25mg, which wasn't enough. I was bumped up to 50mg (once per day) after 2 months, which cleared everything right up! I never thought anything would work as well as Doxycycline at clearing my acne, but I get even fewer occassional pimples now than I did on antibiotics! I was on birth control for 3 years before I took spiro (and I'm still on it), so I think that really helped minimize side effects.

I had high free testosterone, which was the culprit in causing cystic acne. It is a miracle drug for women. I have been taking 100 mg daily for the past 3+ years and have seldom, if ever, had breakouts. It does cause dry skin and hair but that is to be expected as it cuts down oil production significantly. It has a long half-life which means it takes a few weeks to work but is worth it. BE SURE to quit taking it asap if you are planning a pregnancy as it causes feminization of the fetus. The drug gives me hives but that's an easy fix with antihistamines (half hour prior to taking Spironolactone). As another reviewer put it, I too dread the day when I have to quit taking it.

100 mg-- was what I needed to clear skin. I would say nothing more or less. Ive tried antibiotics, different birth control, changing my diet, and cutting out dairy-- this works. I'm 23, and I've battled spurts of acne since I was 18. My skin would be very clear for months or years at a time and the all of a sudden breaking out everywhere. I went on Gianvi or Yaz first, which cleared my skin when was 18. When I was 18 after taking prednisone, my skin literally was covered over night. I only took it for about a year and a few months after going off it I noticed mild breakouts that occurred all the time. I went to a dermatologist, and was prescribed spironolactone 100 mg and one month later my skin was crystal clear. I stopped taking it, and didn't experience breakouts for over 2 years. After 2 years of literally perfect skin and no medication, I started breaking out on the lower half of my face. Eventually it was all over the lower half with almost no clear places. I was really upset and depressed and didn't want to see anyone-- it was an awful summer, avoiding people and any type of social interaction. I eventually went to the doctor and got on spiro again-- 100 mg. This time, I did not have the quick results I wanted. A side effect that I have noticed with spiro is a breakout period about one week to 10 days after taking it or upping a dose and ending around 2.5 weeks, my chest (something that doesn't break out) and forehead are covered in rash like acne. It's a week at most, but I guess its just my bodys reaction to the hormones. Ive also lost about 5 lbs every time I go on it. I also got back on gianvi both control. After a little over a month and no results, I went to the derm and he lowered my dose to 50 mg because I had upper cheek breakouts. This was a MAJOR mistake. I should have waited the prescribed 3 months. I tried to wait it out because I was told by numerous terms and on this board, it can take 3-6 moths for hormones to even out. My acne became severe on my upper cheeks only for the next 6 months and I was miserable. Even though my derm, told me to I didn't increase my dosage back to 100 mg, fearing the initial breakout I got every time I tampered with my dosage. My next step was going to be accutane. I spent so much of my day worrying about my skin and putting on makeup. Finally after 7 months on 50 mg and still moderate acne on my cheeks, I increased to 100 mg. Within 2 months, I now have clear skin with an occasional breakout. I think 100 mg and yaz is the best option for most people as well.

Spiro gave me awful breakouts until I hit 100mg which took 4 months. It spread to my cheeks and really took a toll on me. But after 100mg within a week I noticed i stopped breaking out. HOWEVER at the same time, side effects hit me. I told myself in the beginning I would handle the side effects but it was too much. I felt weak, I couldnt exercise, I couldnt hold a conversation. I felt so awful, my heart was beating so fast that I thought maybe my birth control (yaz, which im off now too) was giving me a blood clot. I went to the hospital and all they could find was that I was peeing out all my phosphates (spiro is a diruetic). They gave me an attivan and it turned out it was also really bad anxiety. So dumb. I got off my bc and still had the issues and it was getting worse, I couldnt do anything without crying. I finally made the choice to get off it and feel like myself again. Im still breaking out but I never want to feel like that again

I always had really oily skin with hormonal breakouts which in turn made my skin completely unattractive - with often zits, scars, rash-like bumps, and painful cysts. I've only been on it for 2 month. I started to see results in about 2 weeks. I really love this stuff. I have no side effects what so ever and my skin looks amazing and is completely clear.

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.