Acne.org Products
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.
Used Spironolactone? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
April 23, 2010
Cons:
At 6 months, breaking out terribly.. whats going on??
At about 4 months as I previously posted, my skin was completely clear. But now at 6 months, I've had a breakout of 6-7 pimples.. I dont know whats going on. I dont know if this is normal to have another breakout before I'll be consistently clear or what. I have been taking 100mg twice a day consistently and don't feel as if I've changed anything. I feel hideous. I just hope that this is the last breakout like this I ever have. Just wanted to warn others in case they have the same outcome through the spiro process. Hopefully it is just temporary.. but is discouraging :(
December 2, 2009
Pros:
turned aggressive hormonal acne mild
Cons:
upset stomach, dehydration, menstrual problems, depression, dangerously low blood pressure.
I took Spirono for a full year. It did not completely eliminate my hormonal acne but it did make it much milder. Now that I am off it and I can tell you this treatment was not worth it emotionally. I did not full realize until I got off it how much it was affecting my mood. It literally made completely a-motivated and depressed for a year, I feel so much better being free from it now. A few spots on my face are not worth losing the motivation to be happy. Also: it is a blood pressure medication and it superficially dropped my blood pressure so low that I was in a dangerous situation when I needed to be treated for another illness. BOTTOM LINE : NOT WORTH IT!
November 12, 2009
Pros:
Can't really say that I personally found any. I don't want to discourage you from taking this drug though if you truly do have hormonal acne. It seems to work exceptionally well for those that do.
Cons:
The following things happened to me (this may not happen to you). These things occured about 3 months into taking the drug: Hair thinning, complete loss of appetite, inability to sleep through the night, absentmindedness, horrible depression
First off I do not want to discourage anyone from trying this medicine if they do ACTUALLY have hormonal acne. As it turns out, I probably do not. To make a long story short.....when Solodyn stopped working for me my derm added 50mg Spiro into the mix because he said that I must have hormonal acne because of the location of the acne (lower face, jaw line, chin, etc....) He never drew blood to test my hormone levels or provided me any info on it. He just sent me on my way. My being naive and trusting my doctor went and got the scrip filled. Well for the first month the drug had no effect on my mild/mod acne whatsoever. My derm upped the dosage to 100 mg and the second and third month passed with no "miracles" as I had suspected. What did happen around month 3 are all of the "cons" that I listed above. I went to my gyno today who took me off both the Solodyn and the Spiro. My basic message here is that you should be tested for hormone issues prior to trying this drug.
September 22, 2009
Pros:
After 3 weeks, it is working already.
Cons:
Breakthrough bleeding even though on BC, stomach ache.
I have had mild acne since I was 12....nothing that couldn't be dealt with. In my late twenties and early thirties, I began to break out with cystic acne and developed oily, hairy skin. I went off all dairy products and that helped tremendously. This last year, however (I am 37), I began to become hairier and developed even oilier skin and was constantly breaking out on my neck, chest, nose, chin and forehead. Some were large cysts that required a dermatologist to get rid of them. Even though my testosterone and DHEA levels appeared 'normal', my gynocologist decided to put me on Ortho-Cyclen (monophasic BC) and 50mg Spiro. Apparently, I have what is known as 'testosterone or androgen sensitive skin'. While my skin is not 100% (I have only been on this product for 3 weeks), the oil has subsided, my chest, neck and forehead are clear and my chin and nose are substantially clearer. I must be a hormonally sensitive woman!
September 4, 2009
Pros:
clears up acne. less oily skin. weight loss
Cons:
tired during day, wake up during night, depression, lots of anxiety, need to go to the bathroom a lot, thirsty all the time
I am 41 years old, I have been on this medicine for 15 months at first I had no side effects, but after taking it for about 6 or 7 months I started feeling very anxious about things like driving my car and feeling like something bad was going to happen. I have been on 100 mg a day with also diffren. I will admit it does clear up your skin It did not make my pores any smaller which I was hoping it would. It makes you very thirsty and need to use the bathroom a lot. It makes you tired all day and when you go to bed at night you only get a few hours of sleep snice you wake up alot during the night.
August 1, 2009
Pros:
Spironolactone worked brilliantly! It not only prevented new acne from forming, but also helped with the fading of pigmentation. It works really well, overall. Just give it a couple weeks to start working.
Cons:
I don't know if it's just me, a coincidence, or whatnot, but I realized that I started getting severe migraines on the days that I was taking the pill towards the end of the treatment. It does go away though, so don't worry too much but it's not fun.
It works. It really does. My treatment was spironolactone WITH benzaclin (benzyl peroxide) and differin (adapalene). I don't know which of the three had the most impact, but together, they certainly worked extremely well. However, spironolactone did do its job so use it if you can. Besides, my insurance pretty much covered it so it was inexpensive as well.
By the way, I was originally on 50 mg but then I got it pushed to 100 mg because it wasn't working like I wanted it to. It worked really well after I got it increased.
July 31, 2009
Pros:
Less oily face and less breakouts
Cons:
Frequent urgent urination; rash
I started getting cystic acne in my late 20's and it kept getting worse. At 29 and 42 I went on two trials of Accutane and both worked but they had terrible side effects: even permanent damage of the hair texture and permanent hair folicle thinning (each strand is thinner). I tried Aldactone for the first time about 5 years ago and had great results but then I developed a rash after being on it for about a year so I went on birth control. I can't stand taking birth control and it's side effects so I decided to try a low dosage of Aldactone again. Usually I get breakouts around my mouth and nose and sometimes a small cyst (I used to get more cysts 8 years ago.) I am taking just 100 mg a day and noticed incredible urgency to urinate the first couple of days but this has gotten a bit better after 7 days. My face is so much less oily and my pms breakouts are so much more milder with no cysts at all. This is a wonderfully effective medication and I don't know why more doctors use it.
June 2, 2009
Pros:
Some weight loss, fewer breakouts, less oily skin.
Cons:
More restroom breaks the first week, and fatigue. However, it only lasted about a week.
I'm 5 yrs old and started getting acne at age 16. After I had my son, I went on Ortho-tricylin and it did improve. (about half of what I was getting) However I started to get some cystic ones,but mostly med. sized ones. Of course I'm a picker so that only made it WAY bigger and spread...it was horrible. I am currently taking 50 mg. daily, seems ok. I would say on average you would see 3-6 pimples (one of which was usually a cystic on a day that would just NEVER go away!) I've tried the usual ortho-tricyclin, Proactiv, Yaz, doxy, Murad...everything OTC. NOTHING helped. I got by with TONS of benzoyl peroxide, good covering makeup and tanning. ( I know...a no no. But it helped dry it up! And I still do it!) After 3 weeks..it has almost cleared the acne on my neck, back and chest. I'm going to the beach right after my period..so I am thinking about taking 75 mg the week before my period so i can actually swim when I'm there and not worry about not having make up on! Good luck to all!
May 27, 2009
Pros:
The only thing that has worked. It feels like a miracle that I rub my face with my unwashed hand while I'm at work and not freak out about giving myself a breakout. Instead I think about how soft and smooth my face feels. + My hair is no longer oily.
Cons:
4 months to really start working. My skin went from kind of bad to beyond horrible. Like taking Accutane, but the break outs were all cystic, itchy and on my jawline and neck only. I also experienced a few of heart palps. My boobs are too big now.
If you can stick with it, you will finally be happy with your skin. My skin started breaking out when I was 15 or 16 and I'm now 38. I took Accutane, birth control pills, IPL (which worked for 1 year, but it cost $1200), but my skin always eventually broke out again. Interestingly, it was a Physicians Assist at my derm's office that suggested I take it. I started out with 25mg and worked up to 100mg. I read this blog back in Dec and it gave me hope to stick it out. Believe me, I wanted to quit because I started dating a new guy that month and was literally crying on New Year's Eve because my face was a mess. The guy is still around and told me last week how great my skin looks. If you decide to take this medication, I suggest you find a great facialist to get a series 6 peels and monthly facials while you're waiting for the magic to start happening. The PA agreed this would be helpful. My facialist told me that she hadn't seen such dramatic improvement in her 20+ years working. :)
May 11, 2009
Pros:
Very soft skin and hair. Acne improving. Less facial hair.
Cons:
Scalp hair loss. If it doesn't subside I will stop taking spiro. Some light dizzyness and overall dryness at first.
I started 25 mg per day over a month ago. Almost immediately my skin and hair become really soft. My acne (jaw/chin/back) is improving. However, last week I upped my dosage to 50 mg per day and experienced significant shedding of my hair. Another reason I started taking spiro was because I do have some facial hair - which has improved. But I didn't expect my scalp hair to thin out.
Pros:
clear skin at about 4 months