I've been taking Spiro for 9 years now and it has been the only thing that has kept my moderate acne away. I never had cystic acne but had many painful pimples and pustules. Prior to Spiro I tried topicals, oral antibiotics, and even Accutane. I tried different things for over a decade and none of it worked. The only acne scars I have, I got while taking Accutane, which made my skin flare up terribly. I was also constantly sick to my stomach the entire month and a half I took Accutane. If you're an adult female and still suffer with acne, please try Spironolactone before resorting to Accutane. The side effects of Spiro are minimal, if any, and it's very effective at combating hormonal acne. I had to ask my dermatologist to prescribe it to me. She didn't believe it would work. Thankfully, she was wrong.

I have tried almost every type of acne treatment there is out there. Spironolactone is the only thing that made a real difference. Not only do I rarely have acne, but when I get a spot it goes away quickly! It's important that your dermatologist starts you off on a low dose. I started with 25 mg. Then went to 25 mg twice a day. Then 50 mg twice a day. You should be drinking a lot of water while on this--I drink like four liters a day. I personally didn't have any side effects besides having to pee a lot--could just be the water though. Also, you will gain weight easily if you have a high intake of potassium. I also take Junel Fe 1.5/3.0 for both birth control and acne/hormonal control. Everyone should know that this will make your birth control less effective, so think about using another form of birth control in addition.

I had severe acne since middle school. I would have acne on my face, back, and chest. Senior year of high school, my acne was so embarrassing that I could never leave the house without makeup because I was so scared of what people would think about me. I went to the dermatologist and she prescribed spironolactone 50mg for my skin. I would take one pill in the morning and one at night. I was also prescribed epiduo which is a gel that you rub into your face after you wash it at night. On top of these two medications I would wash my face with benzoyl peroxide 10% with a Clarisonic electric brush. So just a recap I would take my 50mg spironolactone twice a day, wash my face with 10% benzoyl peroxide twice a day, and then rub epiduo gel on my face. Although it took 3 months to see a difference, the wait was worth it. All three of these things have completely cleared up my acne and I feel like I can finally be myself again. I hope this helps.

Started getting acne at age 14/15, tried everything (aczone, doxycycline, tazorac, facials, changing pillow cases, cutting out dairy). Even went on Accutane. It got so bad that I stopped going out, would always try to cover my face when talking to people, etc. Finally I broke down to my dermatologist and she prescribed me spironolactone (50/mg). Two, three, four weeks in I didn't notice any improvement but acne also did not get worse like others have mentioned. Finally after 7 weeks its COMPLETELY CLEAR, after a decade of acne. Heres my regimen : wash face nightly with Cetaphil gentle cleanser, take spironolactone, drink tons and tons of water. I do not have any side effects from the medication that I have noticed. Im still dairy free just because I feel better that way! Short story: don't give up, I wanted to quit after 3 weeks but don't. You will get there!

I'm 19 years old and have been dealing with acne of all sorts since I was 12. Different things have worked for me at different times for the most part (epiduo at age 12-14, ortho tri cyclen at 15) but since graduating high school about 2 years ago, I've had this acne that I have not been able to get to go away no matter what I try. About a month ago, I went to the dermatologist and ended up being prescribed spironolactone and cefadroxil. The cefadroxil was supposed to be for the period of time that it takes for the spiro to "kick in" but I ended up discontinuing it due to side effects and seeing absolutely no difference in my acne. I was prescribed these because I expressed my concern with taking hormonal birth control considering I had extreme depression while on ortho tri cyclen and when I had an IUD. I also was not ready to go for Accutane (and unfortunately never will be). So, with no warnings from the dermatologist, I was feeling hopeful about the spironolactone. A few days ago, I had an intense dissociative/depressive episode where I had to be physically held back by my boyfriend for 1-2 hours because I was trying to leave his house so I could go to mine and take my life. I did not feel like myself, and certain details from the night seem to be very fuzzy in my memory. All I can seem to remember is seeing an image of a pill bottle (oxycontin) in my mind for at least 20 minutes straight and feeling as though it was calling my name, telling me to come take all of the pills. I also remember I was extremely angry at my boyfriend for trying to stop me, and was trying to push past him as he tried to talk me out of it. I should note that NOTHING like this has EVER happened to me before. I've definitely been in a funk the past month while on this medication, but I wrote it off because I suffer from mild depression anyways. My mom and I were surprised and angered to find that there are a plethora of hits when you search spiro and depression. TL;DR: Spironolactone increased my depression to an extremely dangerous point, and in the mean time didn't even work on my acne. NOT worth it at ALL.

I've had acne for over a decade. When I was 19, my skin cleared up and I stopped using acne products altogether. Then I got my nexplanon put in and all hell broke loose on my face. I got the worst acne of my life and even started getting occasional cystic acne (which I had never had before). That's when I made my first derm appointment and he prescribed me a combination of 100mg spironolactone, aczone, and ovace lotion. I started all three at the same time, so I can't tell you which caused it, but my face immediately ceased 80% of its oil production. The only side effect was that I noticed that I got light headed a little easier when I stood up, but that's it. For the first month, I broke out terribly and officially had the worst acne of my life since I had my nexplanon inserted. It wasn't until I was on spironolactone for about a month and a week that I noticed any changes in my acne. Instead of having 20-30 pimples on my face at all times, I had 4 or 5. I'm still only about a month and a half into this, and I see my acne disappearing more and more each day. I am so happy with the results. My suggestion is to STICK WITH IT because it took a while for it to work for me and much longer for other people. In fact, it seems like it worked unusually fast for me.

I was originally prescribed 25mg once a day for a month, had a really bad IB a day before my period during that month but has since cleared up. I'm up to 50mg once a day now (second month in) and although i'd say 70% of my acne cleared up, the side effects SUCK. I've gotten my period 3 times already this past month month and a half (every 2 weeks), and the medicine tastes SOO BAD!! It leaves such a bad after taste in your mouth ugh... but it's so worth it. You also need to get bloodwork done every 2-3 months or so which kinda sucks. I'm also on 100mg of doxycycline once a day and that didn't clear up my acne alone but with spiro I feel like this combo truly is amazing for hormonal and cystic acne. Just be prepared to stock up on pads! I also started getting a weird feeling in my lower back down to my knee caps (sort of like a tingling feeling or the pain you get after working out without properly stretching?) and I was wondering if anyone else has similar pains?

Before I started taking this medication, I had severe cystic acne for 6 years. I would stay home from school because I felt ugly and I was in constant pain. 3 months after I started taking spironolactone, my entire life changed. My skin has been clear ever since. I've been taking this medicine for 2 years now, and it's helped me tremendously. If you want to take it, get ready to drink lots of water!

I read several great reviews on here about Spiro and was convinced it was the answer to my hormonal acne problems. After a month I didn't see much of a difference but didn't feel any negative side effects either so I asked to double my dosage to 50 mg a day. Within 5 days I started having chest pains and terrible anxiety. I had a full blown anxiety attack and even after going back down to 25 mg a day the anxiety didn't go away and my skin continued to break out. I've been on it for two and a half months and have decided to quit due to emotional health. I even had to go on anxiety meds. I'd rather go back on birth control than continue with this. If you have emotional reactions to this, don't let your doctor try to convince you it's not from the Spiro, it very well might be and you should discontinue right away.

This drug is primarily for high blood pressure, I took it for a few months and it worked fine for my acne then after maybe 8 months it just stopped working, I didn't really have any side effects from it but a year later I am now taking it for high blood pressure.