Hello there! I've had acne since 19 and now 33, i tried everything : amoxicillin , doxycycline, accutane. For the past 5 years was under control with an ocassional cyst every month. 2 years ago i started spinoro and results were great, after a month no cyst at all, ocassionally every 3 months a huge one. What i noticed if you dont stay hydrated can damage your skin avoiding to heal it and can look aged. I had to stop 6 months ago because caused my pain on my Stomach. So right now big cyst almost everyday. I was for 2 years only on 25mg. Does anybody stopped it and then taking it again? I hope it will work as before!! Because i have like 4 or 5 cysts all over the face one on my cheek 2 around the mouth and 2 on my chin! So painfull!!!

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.

I've been taking spironolactone for almost two weeks now for severe cystic acne, and I'm so happy to say that I think I finally found my solution!! A bit of background about my skin: I'm an 18 year old female who's had acne (regular acne from age 8-13, and then cystic from age 13-18). My cystic acne is very severe. Even if I don't have a lot of breakouts, the ones I do have are very large and painful. For a while I thought I had my cystic breakouts under control thanks to chemical peels, vitamin c, exfoliating, and trying lots of different skincare products. Though I have definitely managed to reduce breakouts and get rid of regular acne, the cystic acne seemed unstoppable. After a bad experience with my last dermatologist, I decided to give dermatology another try and went to a dermatologist recommended by a family member. I was ready to get on accutane at this point, and thought he'd put me on it right away. He did mention it as a last resort IF spironolactone didn't work. I've been on 50mg twice a day for almost two weeks now. I was supposed to move my dose up to 50mg morning and 100mg night, but I feel like my body needs more time to adjust to the medication and this dose has already done so much for my skin. I'm used to feeling a new cystic spot forming everyday/every other day, but I only had two cystic breakouts within the first two days of taking it. They were both small, which is a miracle in itself, because like I said I'm used to massive breakouts. They began to go away within 24 hours, along with a lot of inflammation from recent breakouts. My skin is less red and my skin texture is getting softer. It did get really gross for a while but I just stayed patient, chemically exfoliated and moisturized and always wear sunscreen. The only side effects I've exeprienced are most likely from not staying as hydrated as I should. I get a little lightheaded/faint feeling and drowsy sometimes after taking it, but I've also started increasing the amount of sodium I intake. I've spent so long looking for something that would get me clear and I think I finally found it. I know it's early to review spironolactone, but I really feel like it started to work right away for me. I was expecting it to take a few months but I'm already seeing results. I will most likely move my dose up to 50mg morning and 100mg night to maximize my results, but for now I am very satisfied with 50mg. CAME BACK TO UPDATE! Sorry this is going to be long and sappy but if you're a female and struggle with cystic acne, spiro could change your life. I've dealt with really severe cystic acne for around five years now. I don't even need to explain how horrible it is; if you have cystic acne you know how life ruining it can be. I've been on 100mg spiro morning and night for a little less than a month now. I didn't think it would work at all, and after reading reviews I thought even if it did I wouldn't see results until at least six months after taking it. I started seeing results within the first two weeks. I still can't believe how much it's changed my life though?? I never thought I'd get this clear. I was used to having 5+ severe cysts all the time, and I have none right now. NONE!! Not only that, but my skin looks so much healthier too. I thought even if I did manage to get clear that I'd have more scarring or discoloration or texture issues or something but no. My skin is looking better and better everyday. I love trying out new skincare products and having fun with a little bit of makeup here and there. For the first summer in my teenage life I actually want to go out into the sunlight and have fun this summer instead of hiding my face 24/7. Kind of an unexpected result of having clear skin is that I feel more feminine. I've always been insecure about my femininity and spiro unexpectedly gave that security back to me. I go in to my dermatologist later this month for a checkup and I'm so excited to see him and thank him for prescribing spiro to me because it's changed my entire life. And this is only the beginning. I know the longer you're on spiro, the better the results get. I'm so happy spiro worked for me and I'm ready to go live my life and not be self conscious of my skin anymore. I'd definitely urge any females dealing with cystic acne to try spiro BEFORE accutane. Accutane was my last option and I'm so relieved I don't have to take it.

I'm 36, have had cystic acne since 14 (usually under control via various means, sometimes out of control). It is a very mysterious and shape-shifting disease. Since the age of 29, I was religiously using benzoyl peroxide face wash as the "insulin" to my "diabetes", but moving to a new climate, and being older, I simply could not handle the chemical anymore. My dermatologist offered me Spiro and I'm the last person to take anything extra - I'm vegan and straightedge, but the acne was ruining my life. (This can show it is not a dietary induced cystic acne: I eat a ton of plants and mostly organic). This drug worked within one week. Now, I'm just dealing with acne scars and rebuilding my self-esteem. I also use the acne.org jojoba moisturizer and straight jojoba oil on my face at night

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

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 started birth control at age 17 (orto tri cyclen) after trying doxy and minocycline and it cleared up my acne like a charm! Then shortly before I turned 21 I started getting acne on just my chin (combo of closed comedones and hard small cystic acne) and after about a month of dealing with the acne, hoping it would clear, I saw a dermatologist and asked to be put on spiro since I read good reviews. She told me it was for older women and just put me on tazorac .05% and aczone 7.5%. The tazorac completely tore up my face but after a month my skin got used to it and definitely was helping the texture of my chin but just not stopping the acne (plus taz made my skin super sensitive so when i would frown or move my face a lot my face/chin would turn kinda red... definitely unflattering and not a good topical for summer months) and the aczone was helpful but not stopping everything. Fed up with my derm, I saw a second derm who took one look at my face and suggested spironolactone and benzaclin (antiobiotic). I stopped the aczone and started the benzaclin which worked really well for a couple of weeks and then didn't work well so I stopped it entirely. I started on 25 mg spiro once a day for a month last November 2016. I didn't see results so my derm upped it to 50 mg in december. I started to see small results like decreased oil production on my face and hair but nothing truly impacting the acne. In january I went up to 75mg for a few weeks and then 100mg (50 twice a day) and that is where I am right now (march 2017) and my face for the first time summer 2016 is completely clear. I almost feel like i'm jinxing myself for typing that but it's been a full month without any sort of pimple (even during my period). I can also go two days without washing my hair and my hair would usually be oily by the end of the day so that is a HUGE plus... and the oil on my nose decreased by 95% I'd say. I don't have any side effects, maybe just prone to headaches from dehydration (so definitely drink lots of water) and I have to get my blood tested for high potassium levels since its a diuretic and can make the body retain potassium. I still work out everyday and I don't feel fatigued or anything! I would definitely suggest spiro, it can take 2-3 months to truly get complete clearing but i'm so happy I waited it out. I did get a slight breakout at upping to 50 mg on my temples which never get acne but it went away shortly and that was my only breakout from the spiro.

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.

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!