My 15 year old daughter has undergone extensive testing for problems with acne (since age 10) and hirsutism (since age 14) and irregular cycles (maybe 4 a year total.) She is not overweight. Even though she does not have all the symptoms, the doctor feels it is probably PCOS. The doctors we have seen recommended a bcp (switched today to Yasmin) and spironolactone (new doctor recommends 200 mg/day.)
My questions are:
1) Has anyone taken sprionolactone without bcp's without having irregular/ frequent bleeding?
2) Has anyone been on spironolactone and done lots of exercise ( she runs 3 to 5 miles 5 days a week) and did it cause any problems with dehydration or electrolytes?
3) Has anyone taken spironolactone and/or Yasmin and had acne or hirsutism improve and stay improved even after being off it?
My concern is I don't want her to be on bcp's long term. I would like her body to figure out how to ovulate on its own eventually. We are having her glucose/insulin levels checked next week...I have seen some good information on metformin helping with ovulation but the doctor says he mainly does that only for women trying to conceive.
Any information would be most appreciated!
Spiro did make my periods a bit more irregular for a few months. But then it calmed back down.
Ive never been dehydrated - I drink lots of water .
Not come off it yet - so I dont know if the spiro wears off.
hth. Eva
I have been on Yasmin for 9 months w.o spiro and am now on 200mg of spiro a day but not on birth control.
1. After stopping Yasmin my periods were seriously out of whack--about 2 months later I started spiro. My periods are still not normal but not as bad as they were post birth control. My periods prior to birth control were never regular to begin with.
2. I haven't noticed a problem w/ exercise and dehydration, but I have increased my exercise to try and lose weight and because of that have increased my water drinking over soda or juice. I don't run, but do aerobics five days a week for 40 minutes.
3. This one is iffy. Though I was off Yasmin, I wasn't off it long enough to see if hair/acne came back. For me though, the acne was helped greatly through diet and exercise prior to Yasmin, plus vitamin/supplements. As for the hair, that improved on Yasmin, but now on spiro it's more or less disappeared for me. Unfortunately, my hair loss on my head which is my main concern hasn't seem to have been helped by spiro or Yasmin.
Since your daughter going's to be on 200 a day like me--I just wanted to write about my experience taking the pills. My doc recommended me taking both pills (100mg each) at the same time. I did that and even w/ food it was hard to take. I now take 1 pill in the morning, one in the afternoon or night with food and I have no stomach problems. Also for the first couple of weeks I definitely went to the bathroom more but that has since tapered off.
Thanks for the information. I am somewhat concerned about her spiro dosage of 200 mg/day (we are only doing 100/day right now and plan to increase gradually) with the Yasmin since I have read it has a low dose of spiro also. I am really praying the acne and hair improve so that we can decrease the meds in 6 months or so and regulate her more with diet or possibly try Metformin to help regulate her hormones.
My questions are:
1) Has anyone taken sprionolactone without bcp's without having irregular/ frequent bleeding?
2) Has anyone been on spironolactone and done lots of exercise ( she runs 3 to 5 miles 5 days a week) and did it cause any problems with dehydration or electrolytes?
3) Has anyone taken spironolactone and/or Yasmin and had acne or hirsutism improve and stay improved even after being off it?
I have seen some good information on metformin helping with ovulation but the doctor says he mainly does that only for women trying to conceive.
Any information would be most appreciated!
Thanks,
abigail's mom
I take 200mgs of Spironolactone, I have taken it for two years. It did help with the acne. I don't take it with birth control pills.
I do a lot of Cardio, at least an hour a day, hour and a half every other day. I also drink about a gallon of water a day. I carry water with me always. My blood work has always come back normal.
When I was first diagnosed I began taking Metformin, even though I am not trying to conceive, or insulin resistant. My Endocrinolgist felt that this alone, would lower my Testosterone levels. It did, a lot! I began having a period on Metformin. I read about Spironolactone and I wanted all the help I could get with the hair loss, so I asked for it. I now take both.
I can't believe that a doctor would say that Metformin is only for trying to conceive. It helps (corrects) so many of the symptoms of PCOS, not masking them like a BCP. I am hoping to avoid insulin resistance and Diabetes.
I am in the process of getting my 12 year old niece treatment, I feel like I am having to educate her Doctor. It's frustrating, but PCOS can cause major health problems if not treated properly.
__________________ Allison
I have to exercise in the morning, before my brain figures out what the hell I am actually doing To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. . Traditional PCOS - Anovulatory, increased androgens, no insulin resistance
Medications and Supps listed on my profile.
I was on spiro for almost 2 years, most of the time I had an IUD. I bled every 2 weeks. Nothing helped either, but I refused to do the pill--hate synthetics since depo. Of course, my skin looked great & I lost 40 pounds, down to sz 6, so I kept on bleeding. Finally quit to ttc.
They've done a lot of studies on metformin + flutamide for young women with good results, actually helps ovulation AND all those pesky PCOS symptoms, you just have to monitor the liver and you can't get pregnant.
__________________ Whoa! bfp 11/22/08. A YAZ "reset" baby!
allergy shots 2 yr
Soma sleep apnea pillow--yeah it works, but it wears out after a year
Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.
spironolactone without bcp's?? 
