Ladies who are on Spiro...A list of High Potassium Foods to Avoid.
Doubly avoid these foods when also on Yasmin...
Drinks -
* 1 cup milk (all kinds)
* 1/2 cup orange juice
* 1/2 cup prune juice
* 1/2 cup tomato juice
* 3/4 cup vegetable juice
Fruit -
* 3 medium (fresh) or 7 halves of (dried) apricots
* 1/2 of a banana
* 1 cup cantaloupe cubes
* 2 medium fresh or dried figs
* 1 cup honeydew melon cubes
* 1/2 of a nectarine
* 1 orange
* 1 papaya
* 5 prunes
* 1/3 cup raisins
* 1 cup watermelon cubes
Veggies -
* 1/2 large avocado
* 1/2 cup cooked dried peas, beans, or lentils
* 1/2 cup mashed potato or 1 small potato
* 1/2 cup pumpkin
* 1/2 cup spinach
* 1/2 cup tomato juice or 1 medium tomato
* 1/2 cup tomato sauce
* 1/2 cup winter squash
* 1 small sweet potato
Dairy -
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 cup milk (all kinds)
* 1 cup yogurt (plain or fruit flavored)
Other Sctuff -
* 1/2 cup cooked beet greens
* 1/2 cup bran cereal
* 1/2 cup cooked chard
* 1 ounce bitter chocolate
* 1 tablespoon molasses
* 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
* 1/2 cup raw tofu
* 1 tablespoon wheat bran or germ
HTH. I'll post a low-potassium food list if people want it...
__________________ "I consider myself a good judge of people. That's why I don't like none of em." - Roseanne
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I am not on Spiro-yet- and so is it true that you have to avoid all these foods while taking it?? What about multi-vitamin?? What happens if you have more Potassium in your blood?? I am going to see my doctor on the 27th to get a presc. but I am a little wary of taking a drug if it means I have to avoid a lot of healthy food, since I also have to diet. Thanks!!!!
I am on 100mg of Spiro daily and eat quite a few foods on the list above on a regular basis. I am fine, but that does not mean someone else will have the same reaction.
Really, it is always best to read the complete prescribing information when you begin a new med. You can ask for it at the pharmacy or get them online. I think the one for Spiro stresses the fact of not eating foods high in pottassium if you have certain diseases. I think diabetes is one of the listed diseases.
Good luck! I love spiro. It has made a world of difference with my acne. Actually, I do not have it anymore.
thanks for responding!!! by the way did your doctor force you to go on birth control pills while taking spiro? Mine will not prescribe spiro without putting me on birth control even though i am not "involved" with anyone and i hate birth control pills.
No, my doctor did not force me to go on BCP's. I think she might have suggested I get on them, but did not force me. I think I told her I would take them, but I decide what I put in my body. You do, however, need to be using birth control when taking spiro. I go for the condom.
I will never take the pill again. I never had any of these symptoms until after I stopped taking the pill. I only took it for like 9 months. Strange.
You could always take the script from your doctor. Does not mean you have to fill it. Just be very careful if you engage in sexual play.
Nah, its just a little warning is all. I put it up because I saw some posts about leg cramps which is a symptom of too much potassium.
Being potassium sparing (meaning it makes the body hold on to potassium) it can cause some heart troubles. Its better to avoid or eat little of these foods. Most importantly speak to your doctor about this. I just put it here for other cysters who are hyper concerned as I am...lol.
Btw, I love spiro. It has been the best thing for me...I would never stop taking it unless I was TTC. The acne, the hair...it helped me so much! GL with it all!
__________________ "I consider myself a good judge of people. That's why I don't like none of em." - Roseanne
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Originally posted by cec414 thanks for responding!!! by the way did your doctor force you to go on birth control pills while taking spiro? Mine will not prescribe spiro without putting me on birth control even though i am not "involved" with anyone and i hate birth control pills.
When I took spiro last my doctor said I had to use birth control but she didn't enforce one kind of another. BCPs just happen to be convenient and fairly reliable... not that condoms aren't reliable but you are more likely to say "Oh, stick it in anyway" when you don't have a condom whereas you can't say "Oh, let me undo that BCP I took this morning first..." ... um, ir something like that.
BCPs can help with one of Spiros side effects which is excessive/irregular vaginal bleeding. I bled all the time on Spiro and BCPs did nothing to stop it.
FWIW I never had potassium issues while on Spiro but then I wasn't on it very long. I was told not to pig out on bananas, orange juice, or gatorade ... but that's the only caution I was given food wise. I think most people do just fine on spiro, potassium wise, but it's good to know so many foods might be culprits if you do have problems. I certainly never knew so many foods were considered potassium rich!
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"We've tried to wash our hands of all of this
We never talk of our lacking relationships
And how we're guilt-stricken, sobbing, with our heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip..."
- the verve pipe
I think my doctor refuses to believe me when I tell her I have never had sex and I am aware of the serious defects that can happen to a male fetus if you get preggers while on these meds. It's the same with Accutane. She says it's a medical liability for her. Maybe I should just ask for Yasmin and Spiro and not fill Yasmin, that is a good idea because I gained like a huge amount of weight on Ortho-tryclen, it seemed like everything I ate stuck to my body, and the weight I had gained disappeared after going off of it. Thanks for the idea because it really irks me that my doctor is forcing me to take something that I feel harms me so I can take a med that helps women with PCOS. Thanks!!!
If your doc is being a turd about it, then yeah, I'd just take the script and not fill it. I used to worry that docs got cancelled scripts back like cancelled checks, but apparently this isn't true. See what taking the spiro does. Be warned though like I said, it CAN cause excessive vaginal bleeding, and you may want to go on BCP to help with that. Just because you had weight gain on one BCP doesn't mean you will on another. I suggest you go to the BCP board... there is a sticky with a link to a site on how to pick a good BCP.
THAT said however... I had breakthrough bleeding on Yasmin. JUST Yasmin, not Yasmin and spiro... and yasmin does contain a derivitive of Spiro so I suspect that could be why. Like I said BCP + spiro didn't work (as far as bleeding) so I am not sure what I was thinking when I decided to try a BCP that WAS spiro (more or less) but my doc said it should be fine. Oh, well, it wasn't. What's a little blood loss, here or there? :p
SO personally, here's what I would do. Ask for a different BCP, possibly Ovcon35 or Demulen (or is it Desogen? See the link, see which one...) have the script on hand and try it ONLY if you have bleeding from the spiro. Then see how that goes for you. I say this only because I assume I am not an extreme outlyer in the world of BCP side effects... it makes sense to me that if you have bleeding from spiro you may get bleeding from Yasmin, too.
Good luck! Isn't PCOS fun?
__________________ DS b. 11/16/03 To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
DDs b. 3/28/08 To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. X2
"We've tried to wash our hands of all of this
We never talk of our lacking relationships
And how we're guilt-stricken, sobbing, with our heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip..."
- the verve pipe
Ladies who are on Spiro...A list of High Potassium Foods to Avoid. 
See what taking the spiro does. Be warned though like I said, it CAN cause excessive vaginal bleeding, and you may want to go on BCP to help with that. Just because you had weight gain on one BCP doesn't mean you will on another. I suggest you go to the BCP board... there is a sticky with a link to a site on how to pick a good BCP.
