It cured me COMPLETELY after 5 or 6 months (cleared 90% my skin after 4 months; 50% after 3 months, I think...). My acne was no joke, I had a lot of internal pimples, clogged pores, the whole combo, and as everyone here, I tried everything under the sun, except to Isotretinoin. It TAKES at least 3 months to have effect, no matter the case, no less than that, I saw that information once in a medical presentation. BUT after 2 months I was seeing VERY good and solid results. Your acne will, at first, slowly decrease, and then QUICKLY decrease, and one day you will wake up with no new acne, and cured of the past one and be amazed with your new skin. My skin is SO smooth right now, I can't believe it's my real skin, no more clogged stuff under it. I used Epiduo also as a treatment (and of course sunscreen). In the end of this review I will list everything I use now, and explain why I think I found the best minimal skincare regimen to support that pill treatment. 

That thing is so magical that I don't even use Epiduo anymore! I finally have a skincare routine of a normal person.

I never had any side-effects by the way. See a doctor to keep track of your health ok? There ARE side effects that can happen, so you have to keep an eye on that...

And you H.A.V.E. TO DRINK AT LEAST 2 LITERS OF WATER, ok? Break it into 500ml turns, or you will lost count...

 I use Pfizer's 100mg (my dermatologist said it was the minimum amount to have effect... after a while she said I can slow the dose). And yeah, she said I would have to use it for a long time. I asked "forever?" and she said that acne triggers don't go forever, so after some years I can slowly stop (she said at least 1 years of full dose)... But anyway, I gladly take my magic revolutionary pill every morning (on a empty estomach, and it doesn't hurt anything!). 

I didn't had an hormonal problem apparently, all my hormones were normal, but damn, everytime I ovulated or had my period, there they were, new internal pimples... So yeah, you can call my acne "hormonal". I used everything (except Isotretinoin) for 10 years, Epiduo, the Acne.org regimen, etc etc, and they helped in some phases, in some years, but they never cured anything even if I did exactly what aaaall the doctors said). They help if there aren't new pimples coming, but every 15 days, bang, all the work were lost with new acne arriving in my poor face. 

About hormonal disbalance: my recent dermatologist said that most people that have hormonal acne don't have any disbalance of hormones, the problem is that our skin is more SENSITIVE to the ups and down of a month's cicle. 

SKINCARE REGIMEN (HOT HOT TIPS coming from 10 years of mistakes):

Sunscreen: you just HAVE to use it, especially if you use something to treat acne (usually things that make your skin super sensitive to sunlight). If you skip this you are screwed BUY JAPANESE BRANDS like Biore or Hadalabo (Rohto), they have real tested standards, not like USA where the worst sunscreen are made (because there's no rule for UVA protection there). Go with the japanese. I use the Biore Aqua Rich because my skin is super dry (the forehead is super oily, so I use a translucent powder on it), but they have great options for oily skin, in fact, the best options out there. I've used La Roche Posay and Vichy's sunscreens for years, they are awful for sensitive skin, but can be an ok plan B if you don't find the japaneses.

>>> I use the HadaLabo Gokugyun Lotion and I freaking LOVE it, you can really feel the water being replaced in your skin, I will never let go of this powerful and yet light liquid lotion. My skin is very sensitive, and this baby is gentle as it can be, seriously. My skin is super dry by the way, I had a difficult time until I found this one, NOTHING seemed to give me enough hydration until this one. I use it a few times a day, after 3h you will see your skin is not sooo hydrated as before, so a refil is always welcome. I believe this is a very important step of my cure, you can't have a healthy skin without a proper skin barrier, and today I see I was not taking enough care of this water reposition in my skin (all dermatologists used to give me gelly creams with salicylic acid, but man, RUNNN from this kind of cream, all they do is irritate your already damaged skin). Run from CeraVe and Cetaphil if your skin is very sensitive, my assss they are for sensitive skin, maybe in the past they were, but not now.  

>>> I lock all the hydration above with Aquaphor around my eyes and mouth at night, and even at day time, since I use a faceshield in my work so my face will be blurry behind it anyway. I intend to do this at night forever, there's no better way to lock all the water in, and those areas are the most sensitive and the susceptible to damage and wrinkles. The formula is pretty minimal by the way, it's like, 4 ingredients, awesome. 

>>> I wash my face with La Roche Effaclar or Vichy Normaderm liquid "soap".

>>> If you use makeup or some kinds of sunscreen, you HAVE to use some Cleansing Oil, I like the Hadalabo one. Oil removes oil, so that is not only the best way to remove your makeup COMPLETELY (and without using cotton, that irritates skin), it will also melt aaaall the superficial sebum of your pores. The Aqua Rich sunscreen I use don't need this, but the others Biore sunscreen do. For years I used those sunscreens that requires a "double-cleasing" and I skipped that part out of ignorance, today I know that played a big part in my acne. Efficient and GENTLE cleaning is a big important part.

>>> Epiduo: DON'T use everyday! No, your skin wont get used to it if your skin is slightly sensitive, I tried it (before starting Spironolactone) and it didn't helped my acne that much to be worth all the pain it causes if used everything... I did peelings and one session of laser, and let me tell yah, they didn't make my skin as sensitive as Epiduo, I almost cried when I had to apply makeup everyday to go to work... Use every other day or skip two and the results will be the same.  IT HELPS ACNE A LOT, yes, because it unclogs pores and make it change the cells quickly, but if you don't wear sunscreen like a vampire you will gain another problem, an awful skin full of spots, been there done that (when I was 20, 10 years ago). So don't be dumb to use this thing without using sunscreen, even to be inside, just near windows. If you don't you will be destroying your skin. Again: japanese sunscreens! 

Obs: I used the Acne.org Treatment and their product was less irritating than Epiduo, I was able to use it everyday with no problem.. My dermatologist said it was less effective but they seemed to have the same effect to me (they help but not cure anything for hormonal acne)... The game changer, as I said, is the Spironolactone. That shit is the bomb. Freaking miracle. 

Extra stuff I use but are not necessary:

- Ordinary Niacinamide (100% pure powder), I mix with the Hadalabo Lotion. I SWEAR it makes the moisturizing feeling feel  a lot longer, and I think it made my skin less sensitive... Scientists say it's awesome to fade away scars and yellowness of the skin and make the skin barrier a lot stronger;

- La Roche Posay eye cream for dark eye circles (that shit works!);

- Melano CC Vitamin C serum (this formula is safe for acne). 

That's it girlsss, I hope you can use all my tips to have a miracle in your lives too. Don't forget: 2 litres of water or more a day and a good (japanese!) sunscreen are just as important as Spironolactone to have a healthy and beautiful skin. 

Brief background: I started getting painful hormonal acne when I was about 18/19. Had minor acne before that. It got pretty bad and caused what would now be considered pretty minor scarring (that does make me self conscious), thanks to retin-A. I finally went to a dermatologist, who prescribed antibiotics and retin-A. These took months to work but they cleared my skin and the retin-A helped minimize the scars over a period of two years. I started Apri birth control and stopped the other prescriptions and my skin stayed completely clear, but the pill also way lowered my sex drive. 

 

Last year, after I turned 28, my new doc changed my OCP from Apri to a lower estrogen pill. After another 6-8 months, my skin started getting more blackheads and small spots. Manageable but annoying. Finally, during lockdown, especially with increased mask usage and the heat/humidity of summer, my jawline started getting constant large painful spots. I immediately asked for spironolactone, which I hadn’t used before but had heard about. Started with 25mg, then bumped up to 25 mg x2 a day after a couple weeks. Stopped getting large painful spots after about 3 weeks. Largely cleared up after 3 months but still have some spots here and there. Slightly worse around period/withdrawal bleed, and have to be careful with my skincare. But mostly I’m just so happy my skin is basically ok now. I asked to be upped to 100mg a day and have only been on that dose less than a week so I’ll see if it helps even more over time. On all the doses, I’ve had minimal if any side effects. Maybe using the bathroom more, but even that isn’t that noticeable or problematic. 



I definitely recommended giving this a shot, it can make a substantial difference even if it doesn’t make your skin absolutely perfect. It also comes with minimal health risks, unless you’re a man or worried about the effects on hormones. 

I am so pleased with the results of this medication. I was actually prescribed this about two years ago but stopped after two weeks because I found the medication made me super lethargic the first time (100 mg). I think the issue is it was too high to start out on. 

I recently went back on this in September because my jaw acne was getting bad again. I have tried everything under the sun over the years (been dealing with acne on and off for 14+ years), and I had never given this a good go. I've tried diet changes (cutting dairy did NOTHING for me; cutting sugar didn't help much, I've tried retin a which works awesome for surface whiteheads! and I still use it 2x a week; I've tried antibiotics, creams, birth control etc....). My friend was on spiro and raved about it, so I tried it. I'm nearing two months and I am so pleased with my skin. I used to have OILY OILY skin, like blotting 4x a day type, and always shiny. Hated it. Since taking this, I blot about 1x a day which is amazing. My skin is smooth and very soft. I have 1 active bump right now, the rest of my skin is clear. Working on clearing the hyperpigmentation up after the last breakout in August/September. Wow, this stuffs amazing for those of us who have acne along the jaw/cheek area. I never thought I had hormonal acne because I never broke out around that "time" of month, I just broke out consistently. However, it was in the area of the beard. I've always suspected I may have PCOS though because I do have some dark hairs that pop out on my chin and around my nipples actually, and occasionally I can feel pain during ovulation. Anyways, I'm still not diagnosed, but the fact that this medication is really helping says something about acne being related to my hormones. I was very hesitant to go on this because it does make me nervous to "play" with hormones. But for crying out loud, I'm so tired of feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. Acne has really affected my confidence over the years and more importantly, its caused scarring that I will never ben able to fully treat. For this reason alone, I think it's import to have it under control because scarring is not easily fixed. 

I started at 50mg for the first week, and I've been on 75mg since September. Next week is 2 months on this stuff. I would say I cleared up by week 5/6. My acne didn't get "worse"/ no purge, but it kind of stayed the same for the first month. I am so happy with this. I still get tiny pimples on my upper neck sometimes, so I have been thinking about going up to 100mg. This makes me pee more, but 75mg is not super high. When I originally went on 100mg the headaches were pretty bad and I felt tired all the time. This dose, I feel pretty normal, occasional headaches I guess. I was tired for the first 3 weeks but its gotten much better over time. 

UPDATE 1 YEAR on SPIRO******

I wanted to do a quick update. This is still the best stuff I've taken for my acne. Anything topical never truly "treated" the issue, I find taken something internally does the trick. This has reduced my jaw and cheek acne by 90 percent. I still get a couple here or there when very stressed but that's life. far better than before. I take 50mg a day, enough to keep things under control but skin is still a bit oily. The higher you go the less oil you will get. Problem I found on this med, is if I go above 50mg my anxiety can be out of control. When I started taken this med I noticed increased anxiety, heart flutters and general butterflies for minor things. This definitely worsened which is why I have to remain at 50mg. It still aggravates my anxiety and depression but I am going on an anti depressant to counter those because I can't go back to having a full face of acne (that's a whole other depression in itself). I will say, this medication DRASTICALLY reduces my appetite due to increased anxiety, so I can go a whole day with only one meal sometimes. This isn't good as I am already underweight for an adult. hence keeping a low dose. would be awesome for someone looking to lose pounds though! I dont drink near enough water on this, not healthy, make sure you do and I think because its a diuretic not drinking enough water can really create an electrolyte imbalance. make sure you drink gatorades and stuff at the gym to keep those balanced while on this. 

I've been a lurker on this website for many years and I thought I'll share my story in hopes it'll help someone else. I've been struggling with mild to moderate acne since I was 13 and at age 27 it was only getting worse. I've tried all the acne products/medications under the sun except for accutane (a line I refused to cross). I've tried benzyol peroxide, bhas/ahas/chemical peels, retin-a, antibiotics, anti-fungal treatments, laser treatments, natural remedies (spearmint), birth control pills, etc. you name it I probably have tried it. For all of them it always started out promising but after a month my acne came back again as if it became resistant to the treatments. From all that I've tried the only thing that worked long term was birth control pills (YAZ specifically). My skin was clear when under Yaz and I was happy. However, after reading up on all the potential side effects, I stopped taking it  and the acne came back again but much worse than before. 

I started having hundreds of closed comedones all over my face with cystic acne along my chin line. I had so much acne scars and hyperpigmentation from acne that healed and then having new acne that would immediately growing on top of it. For me it wasn't even having clear skin but maintaining what I had without making it worse. 6 months ago I tried zinc pyrithione thinking I may have fungal acne since nothing else seemed to work and I had the worst breakout of my life. My whole face, chin and neck erupted in painful cystic acne, it got so bad that even wearing a turtleneck in the winter was painful. I thought this was it that I would never have normal skin and either have to go back to BCP or live with this terrible acne for the rest of my life. 

That's when I decided to see a dermatologist. I've had rough relationships with dermatologists. All my previous experiences have been doctors telling me to use harsh topicals and antibiotics that never worked for my skin. After spending so much money on worthless prescription medications and topicals, the conclusion they all came to was accutane or BCP. I went to a new dermatologist from a friend's recommendation and I'm so glad I did. She actually listened to my story and recommended I try spironolactone. At that point, I had nothing to lose. I started with 25mg for two months. It did nothing for my acne except my skin became less oily and I had more frequent trips to the bathroom. Then she bumped me up to 50mg for a month. My skin was still not clearing up. I also noticed some dizziness and fatigue. On the fourth month she recommended that I alternate between 50mg and 25mg every other day to ease my dizziness and that was the magic formula. Into the fourth month I noticed my skin started clearing. I had so little confidence with my skin that I didn't even notice the changes until my mom bought it up. Now at the fifth month, I can say that I still have acne but leaps and bounds better than what I started with. I'm 90% clear and seems to be getting better with each day. I still get a few pimples here and there during time of the month but now they disappear within days. I can't even remember the last time my skin has felt so smooth. For all the gals out there who are still struggling and want to throw in the towel, DON'T! Try spironolactone for least 3 months! You may be surprised! 

One other thing I want to end is that throughout this whole journey I noticed that my acne is also triggered by certain food specifically dairy and sugar. After reducing my intake of both I noticed significant clarity in my skin. Good luck gals and message me if you have any questions!

I would give it 100 stars if I could. I am on 25 mg every morning that's all it took for me. I have been taking it for 2 almost 3 months. I noticed a difference in the oil on my face within a week. I had very minor side effects the first few weeks. Increased urination, dehydration, tender breast, increased appetite. But th use side effects have subsided I feel better than I have in years. It's not only helped my acne but I feel it has somehow helped my mood too. My skin is perfectly clear just 3 months ago I had at least 5 small pimples and always one or two big cystic ones. I would rub my fingers along my skin and fell them hidden in my skin as well. I am now just healing from the old marks and the redish hyper pigmentation. The hyperpigmentation is healing much faster though now that my body isn't trying to heal so many at one time. I am starting to feel like myself again and wanting to go out and do things again. I am not avoiding mirrors and I am using less makeup. I do still get one or two around my menstrual cycle but they are small and superficial. I am beyond happy I finally found something that is working and isn't harsh on my skin. I feel great and people have been telling me how beautiful I look. 

Please see my gallery for before and after photos 

I'm 23 and had been suffering with hormonal acne since 19 (just come off BC pill and skin went crazy). I would have 7-12 cystic pimples on my face at any time, plus small pimples. They were very painful and deep and I cried often. I was extremely self conscious and always had makeup on. I tried for 2 years to cure my acne naturally (supplements, skincare, dermatologists, Chinese herbal medicine, change in diet) and absolutely nothing worked and I wasted thousands of dollars. I went back on BC pill at 21, but still no improvements. 

I came across Spiro online and did months of research and read thru every single acne.org review on Spiro. It convinced me to try it. I asked my GP and she said yes. I started Spiro in May 2018.

 I started at 25mg for a week and had no side effects. Then bumped myself up to 50mg for 6 weeks. Then 75mg for 4 months. I believe I did not get an initial breakout thankfully. I also don't have any bad side effects like other women experience. First few months I had a few heart palpitations but not serious. Only thing I can think of is a touch dizzy when I stand up now and then. I do not pee all the time and don't have excessive thirst.

I started seeing positive results in first week on 25mg. Although I was still breaking out there was improvements every week. Less and less acne. Deep cysts went away faster. On 75mg my skin still wasn't 100% so I asked my GP to bump up to 100mg. I take 1x 100mg pill every morning at 8am. I always take with food. 

I have now been on 100mg for approx. 2 months and can honestly say my skin is 98% clear. PLEASE LOOK AT MY PHOTOS FOR PROOF. I am beyond happy with my skin. I now have confidence and go out often without makeup. It is a dream to wake up and not see new pimples every morning. I do still get an occasional pimple but it's small and goes away quickly. Rarely I can feel a cyst under my skin but it goes away in one day and never comes to surface. It has honestly chaged my life. I now look in the mirror and see my face and not just acne!!! I recommend Spiro so much!!!!

This worked for me quickly and with no side effects. This pill rarely causes problems for anyone using it, and it is the type of medication you never have to stop taking. I absolutely love it, and I would recommend anyone trying to get rid of stubborn acne to recommend it your dermatologist. I had to bring it up to my dermatologist after doing research, and she didn't have any trouble prescribing me the Spironolactone for my mild acne because of the lack of side effects. I wish more people would know about this amazing solution to stubborn, hormonal acne. 

After 9 years with severe acne, this is literally the only thing that's fixed my skin. I was put on various antibiotics for acne since age 13, and completed full courses of roaccutane (isotretinoin) twice. Both times my skin cleared up whilst I was on the medication, then the acne returned after a few months of ending the course. Spiro was basically my last resort. I've been on this medication now for just over 6 months and my skin hasn't been this clear since I was 11 years old. I started on 50mg a day for one month, increasing to 100mg a day since- and after 3 months my skin was dramatically different. After 4-4.5 months my skin was almost completely clear. I used to have around 10-15 cysts and multiple pimples at any given time before this medication, whereas now I'll have none most of the time, then maybe one or two just before my period (although these are just pimples so normally go away within a day or two, as opposed to lasting weeks).

In the first 2 months I had a bit of nausea, but this wasn't too severe and I haven't had any issues since. I of course had an initial breakout, which lasted around 5 weeks. I did however lose around 10lbs in the first few weeks of being on the medication, which was presumably water weight (as spiro is a diuretic)- this was great for me and I rarely get bloated anymore. Other than that I've had no side effects, and the good thing about this medication is that you can stay on it for ages unlike roaccutane which you can only stay on for short periods of time, and the side effects are basically nothing comparatively.

In short, spiro is amazing and I really recommend it to any women who've tried roaccutane and it didn't work, or anyone who knows their acne is predominantly hormonal! My derm was reluctant to try it as she'd never put anyone on it for acne before, but after seeing my progress and how much my skin has changed, she said she'll be recommending trying it to some of her other patients!

I've held off for a little while from posting… I really don't want to jinx my progress. I've been dealing with hormonal  cystic acne since I was about 19 and I'm 36 now…  i've tried almost everything possible to control my acne except   Accutane. Up until about a year ago I had at least 15-20 pimples- most of them being large, cystic painful bumps on my face at any given time. My wonderful dermatologist who I'd stop seeing for a while because I didn't seem to be getting any results… Suggested starting spironolactone at 100 mg and Solodyn 55 mg a day. I had tried spironolactone in the past at a lower dosage and it did absolutely nothing for me… But I gave in and tried it… I am so thankful that I did this is the first time In 16 years that I've had clear skin. I took a Solodyn for about six months. But my dermatologist said that it's not  to be taking long-term and if my acne flared back up she would start me back on it… But so far just the spironolactone as keeping my pimples at bay… I am literally ecstatic… It seems that no one quite understands the pain you go through looking in the mirror And not liking what you see…  spironolactone  has literally brought my confidence back.  Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself… But I feel like if I can help at least one person it's worth it!