I have struggled with adult acne increasingly over the last few years. After going off of oral BC and switching to an IUD, I noticed that my acne had gotten to a frustratingly chaotic level, not immediately, but over a couple years such that I never seemed to fully put 2 and 2 together that hormones were causing my skin issues. No matter what I seemed to do, I would have frequent/daily breakouts. At any given time, I would have anywhere between 3-10 active acne spots on my face of all the varieties of pimples-- clogged pores, under-the-skin pimples, simple whiteheads, blackheads, everything. To combat the breakouts, I tried all kinds of things: washes, scrubs, dietary changes, increased water intake, exercise regimens, more frequent washing, water filters, various acne-friendly makeup brands, prescription creams, antibiotic pills, OTC spot treatments, salycylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, glycolic acid, exfoliating masks, and natural skincare alternatives. Nothing consistently worked. Even if something momentarily alleviated the breakouts, it wouldn't be long before an irritated spot would crop up that would turn into a hellacious and many times painful pimple. An odd series of events led me to try spironolactone, despite previously being convinced that accutane would be my last hope-- trying sprinolactone became my last ditch attempt to clear my skin before the final option of accutane... and lo and behold-- IT WORKED! THIS IS IT! Now, granted, this is not an overnight, life-changing kind of medicine. Rather, over a period of weeks, it involves minute changes in the amount of hormones that affect your skin. It works well paired with another prescription cream or wash to help clear surface level dirt. What it does is it essentially blocks androgens that circulate in your system from actually connecting with receptor sites. For those with hormonal acne, this should result in less breakouts and formation of pimples. I've been taking this for almost 6 months now and my skin is about 97% clear. So what is this other 3% that's not perfectly clear? Well, about once a month at this point, I may get a single pimple. The other bit, is that I occasionally have a few blackheads, which I manage to treat with a blackhead extractor tool, so they don't end up becoming anything worse. I'm almost at the point where I could feel comfortable going out of the house without make-up on. For me, that is HUGE. Previously, I was mortified to be seen even by any relative with my bare skin showing because it was so red, hyperpigmented, and spotty. Now, my complexion feels and looks literally relieved-- clear, not congested, calm, under control. I have a tiny amount of healing still to do on my hyperpigmentation, but undoubtedly at this rate, I expect it should be healed within the next 3-6 months. If you're like me and you've tried everything with no relief from your adult acne, you should really give spironolactone a try. It may do wonders for you.

I had pretty severe cystic acne and bacne in High School, and ended up going on accutane, which cleared me up for a while. 5 years later it ended up flaring up again and I was put on 100mg Spiro. After 6 months I was completely 100% clear and was loving the drug. About 6 months after that I started noticing unnatural amounts of shedding hair, and I noticed I had gained quite a bit of weight while not changing anything else in my life (I'm a very thin, active girl.) Even though I had perfectly clear skin I wasn't feeling good in other ways, so I decided to slowly wean down my dose to 50-75mg. All of the side-effects have gone away -- the weight has melted off and I have noticed less shedding. I do get a few zits around PMS and if I'm stressed now, though. I'm not sure if I'll keep weaning off or stay at this level. Overall I would recommend Spiro... It's absolutely perfect for clearing hormonal acne. However, there are quite a few side effects that may not show up until almost a year after taking it.

This product works great, but be sure to USE CAUTION when discontinuing use. I have always had moderate acne since i was a teen (im 30 now)- mostly your typical papules and postules. I had tried several products- over the counter and dermatologist prescribed. My derm prescribed spiro about 3 years ago and I used it for about a year and a half. The initial breakout that occured in the first 1-3 months was pretty bad, but it seemed to pass quickly and after that my face became clearer than it had ever been. I also have excessively oily skin, so this product actually helped somewhat with the oil as well, which no other product had. My skin was pretty much flawless! I surely thought I had overcome acne for good. My husband and I were ready to start trying for a baby, so I quit taking the spiro a few months prior to, because I knew that I wouldn't be able to take it while pregnant. I would say that my skin stayed clear for about 3-4 weeks, and then BAM- I started to develop cystic acne. I had never had a cyst in my life. Within 2 months I had cystic acne so severe that it hurt to chew food and I could not smile. My entire face was swollen- my derm said it was one of the most severe cases she'd seen. The cysts were extremely painful. I ended up having to postpone baby plans to go through 6 months of Accutane, which has gotten rid of the cysts but I am left with pretty severe rolling and ice-pick scars that will remain forever. I know that spiro has a hormonal effect on your body, and I can only chalk it up to the fact that my hormones suddenly went outta whack when i discontinued the product, leading to my outbreak of cystic acne. I'm not totally against the product, because it may have been a freak incident, but I'm currious to know if others have experienced the same. Just be sure to take caution when getting off of spiro- maybe your derm can slowly wean you off or something so that your body has time to adjust.

I have had moderate acne on my face and back since I was twelve (thirteen years), and despite monthly visits to my dermatologist and countless topical creams, washes, antibiotics, and oral contraceptives it never even came close to going away. My acne humiliated me, making it difficult for me to stay overnight anywhere and I refused to go swimming because the water would wash the makeup off of my face. I took a backpacking trip over the summer and over half of my backpack was full of acne products. My acne dictated so much of my life. About three months ago (after a few horrible crying spells) I did some research and discovered Spironolactone. My dermatologist wouldn't prescribe it so I went through my Gynecologist to get it. I started on 50 mg and got a SEVERE initial breakout. I never had much of a problem with cysts, but this medication caused numerous deep cysts to form on my face that were very red and took weeks to go away. After a month I increased the dosage to 100 mg, and after a small breakout, I am completely clear. I have gone off all topical creams and only use TriNessa (birth control) and the Spironolactone. My face and back are completely clear and I have never been happier. This medication changed my life and I am so grateful to have discovered it. On a side note, it dramatically reduces the oil your skin produces and I am happy to report that I no longer have to wash my hair twice daily. I can get away with washing in twice weekly. It does make your skin very dry and if I don't moisturize my body, I get dry skin patches. Given enough time, this medication will work wonders. It does NOT work in days or weeks. It takes months to see results, so anyone claiming to be cured in four days should know that it is probably only a coincidence. Be prepared for a wicked initial breakout, but try to endure it!

I already reviewed this, it was working after a little over 3 months, but my skin was still pretty oily i started on 25 mg, 50 mg, than 75 after 3 months, and it started to work, now at 5 months i am on 50 mg and my skin is not at ALL oily, its amazing! It is so clear! but a little dry, so i am going to go back to 25 mg and see if i can't balance it out a bit, but still for now i am just so happy i am not an oily faced freak with giant cystic acne :D but you need a lot of patients with this medicine, so take your time, if your acne is hormonal there is a good chance this will work for you

I've had hormonal acne for over 20yrs (40yr female) and have seen doctor after doctor, been put on so many different pills, antibiotics, creams and washes. Even gave the ones on tv a chance. Some may have worked for a minute, but none gave the results that I've seen with Spironolactone. This October will be 1yr that I've been taking it (25mg twice a day) and unless some major health issue presents from using it, my plan is to continue. Works great for me, hope it does for you!!! Would advise you keep to as low of a dosage as possible.

This really works when nothing else would . I use to get big cystic acne that swelled and throbbed with pain and took forever to clear up. I have been on 100 mgs for 1.5 years however I watched my potassium slowly creep up on my blood tests. When I was at 4.7 my doctor put me down to 75 mgs and my face started to break out again, not as bad as before spiro but I am not clear anymore. Too much potassium can damage the heart so unfortunately if I can not maintain my clear face on a lower dosage I will have to go off this. My advice start out low and see if you can maintain a clear face at 50mg.

I tried everything, including two rounds of Accutane. Spironolactone has been the only thing to actually clear my face and keep it that way (I still get a couple small pimples a week before my period but no huge deal). I'm able to go every day without any makeup on my face. I've been taking it for about three years without side effects.

I have been on this for 4 months now, this drug works really well with birth control. I was on this by itself and still got an occassional zit. I went on birth control a month ago, and this drug is most effective with it. Its like a double sided coin. If I had known this I would have been on birth control from the very start. I dont get any zits at all. Im on 100mg a day. Right now am receiving consultation on laser therapy to soften my acne scars. I must tell you to try this with birth control and give it at least 3 months to see results. I didnt see results right away like other people, but it does take time

A complete life saver for me. I had pretty bad acne all over my face, some on my arms and back as well. Nothing would work and I tried just about everything. Now my face is almost completely clear and the other affected areas are improving as well, just not as quickly as the face. I don't have to worry about the shiny, oily makeup face anymore. I still have to wear foundation to cover the scars but that's no problem as I would wear it regardless. I started off taking one 100 mg pill a day and ordered them online from InHouse Pharmacy. I stayed on the 100 mg for three weeks and was not satisfied, I was still breaking out but not as badly. So I upped it to 200 mg on the fourth week (I'm going on the 5th week now) and it has worked wonders. Even skipping a day of my usual facial cleansing and gel routine didn't cause me to break out terribly like it usually would. I'm still hoping for it to help reduce the unwanted hair so I'll write another review later with an update. I'm also hoping for the increase in breast size lol. I'm expecting this to only increase in its effectiveness as time goes on so I'm thinking (hopefully) it'll be totally clear everywhere by next month. I had initially tried birth control (ortho tri-cyclen lo) but that only made my acne incredibly worse. So I got off that and started solely taking Spiro.