Whats the word,, Spironolactone

jojilynn · 10-13-2007, 01:52 PM

Medications for reducing excessive hair growth
Your doctor may add a medication specifically targeted at countering the effects of excess androgen. Spironolactone (Aldactone) blocks the effects of androgen and reduces new androgen production. For those reasons, the drug isn't recommended if you're pregnant or planning to become pregnant. Spironolactone is also a diuretic and may cause you to urinate more frequently.
Your doctor might also prescribe eflornithine (Vaniqa), a prescription cream that slows facial hair growth in women. This medication is effective for about one-third of the women who use it. Avoid using this medication during pregnancy.

I got this off of the Mayoclinic.com
How many of you have been on this? what were your results? I'm very interested in this more than the fact that it helps reduce excess hair, is it not also excess androgens that gives so many of us our bulky manly features, I mean why is everyone still stuck on metformin being the "miracle cure" we are on it yes it helps with the IR but with my experience and a few others thats as far as it went, I have an appointment on the 17th I'm going to ask about this and see if I can get put on it,, yeah and stuff

trina02 · 10-13-2007, 11:15 PM

i have hear about the pill you are talking about and asked my dr to place me on it also but he wants me to see how Vaniqa would do for me first i am going to get the cream thursday but he also said the next appt. we will talk about the pill more

jojilynn · 10-14-2007, 04:36 AM

See I'm really for this pill because it works from the inside,, whereas Vaniqa works just on the spot that you put it on

Eva37 · 10-14-2007, 07:54 AM

thanks for the article

Ive been on spiro about 6 years now, and it's helped quite a bit. I still have to 'do' my face, every day though.My endo says it takes 9-12 months to get to maximum result
eva

arcticslug · 10-14-2007, 04:24 PM

I'm on spiro - it has been about 1.5 months and I like it so far. My facial hair is definitely getting finer. I previously took Diane-35 to deal with this, and it really worked, but I couldnt' deal with the food cravings I used to get on that. Spiro seems to do a good job of reducing the hair but not causing any cravings. I'm so thankful for this.

guineapig · 10-15-2007, 01:59 AM

Before I tried metformin (mistake and then some) I was on spiro 100 mg for almost 2 years. I had an IUD so I didn't do bcp. Spiro made me lose 40 pounds, half my size, and cleared up my skin. Also quit shedding head hair. But it caused AF to get wild.

jensara · 10-16-2007, 10:56 PM

Hi --

I was on Spironolactone, and it worked great, but there's one drawback -- my doctors said it's on the list of things you don't want to be taking while you're pregnant. I see from your sig that you've been doing some fertility treatments; if you're TTC, you might want to ask your doctor specifically about Spiro and pregnancy.

good luck!

jojilynn · 10-16-2007, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jensara

Hi --

I was on Spironolactone, and it worked great, but there's one drawback -- my doctors said it's on the list of things you don't want to be taking while you're pregnant. I see from your sig that you've been doing some fertility treatments; if you're TTC, you might want to ask your doctor specifically about Spiro and pregnancy.

good luck!

Thank you very much for the heads up, At the moment I'm really trying to focus on getting myself better and I made the personal decision to wait until I was certified and done with school before we tried again,, I would absolutely love to hear about what it did for you though!!!!

kid? · 10-18-2007, 02:45 PM

oh my gosh! ive never heard about it until my endo prescribed me spiro today! im excited now.

(does it really shed a few lbs?

ive been going to the gym alot and im basically just maintaining

)

Chula · 10-19-2007, 07:00 PM

I finally made that appointment because my facial hair is getting worse and it's made me become more depressed not only do I have to deal with being obese now this. I hope I am a good candidate for this medication.

guineapig · 10-20-2007, 02:30 AM

Well, it did for me, but it also cut down my DHEA. I think it stopped me from producing so much estrogen, which helped me greatly to lose weight. Sometimes I think it acts as a progestin, and stopped my ovulation sorry attempts for a long time, hence the wild AF. I lost about 40 pounds, from 158 to 118ish. But my doctor thought that was really weird, and rare. You have some spiro equivalent in your YAZ already though--supposedly about 25 mg.

jensara · 10-22-2007, 10:56 PM

I don't remember noticing any weight loss, but my weight wasn't really a problem at the time. It did clear the hair up like magic, though. It took awhile to really start working fully -- several weeks, if I remember -- but once it did, it was great. I have a patch of thick, dark hair on my chin that was about 1/2 inch square at that point. It's always a dark patch, even if I pluck, and I'm always aware of it. It was completely gone -- no hair, no stubble, no dark patch, no nothing. I would go back on Spiro in a second if we weren't TTC.

Good luck! I hope it does everything you want it to.

Amanda__Lee · 07-16-2008, 08:25 AM

I was prescribed Spiro. yesterday for hair growth and acne. My Dr. has started me off at a low dose of 12.5mg. Through the experience of any Spiro users out there, what is the preferred dosage for this complication? I am curious to know just how high one must go to to see results - although as I have read, seeing results takes a while.

Thank you!! Sending smiles

Hezzer · 07-16-2008, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amanda__Lee

I was prescribed Spiro. yesterday for hair growth and acne. My Dr. has started me off at a low dose of 12.5mg. Through the experience of any Spiro users out there, what is the preferred dosage for this complication? I am curious to know just how high one must go to to see results - although as I have read, seeing results takes a while.

Thank you!! Sending smiles

Dang . . . are you seeing my old doctor? My doctor also only prescribed 12 1/2 mg per day for me, which I knew was way too low from all the research I had done. He refused to go higher, though.

I got a referral to an endo and when I told her my dose, she laughed at his lack of knowledge and said how ridiculous such a low dose was for someone with PCOS. She said 12 1/2 mg would do nothing.

She immediately gave me a script for 100 mg. From all the research I've done, for PCOS, a typical dose is 100 to 200 mg per day. Any lower, and there are little to no results. Results can be seen from 3 to 6 months on the medication.

I took it for over a year getting up to 200 mg. I was never taking it so much for extra hair, but for the hair loss, which I found out is not something that spiro will help much with.

I've since switched from Spironolactone to Flutamide and am experiencing far more significant success for the hair loss.

Amanda__Lee · 07-17-2008, 09:23 AM

Thank you so much for your response! I was wondering...why so low?! She booked me an appointment with a specialist, so I am sure he'll get things straight. I was put on a low dose of Metformin 2 days ago as well...WHOOOOHOOO...the nausea I am lovin'!! OUCH! The doses I am sure will increase with time!

Thanks again!!