Woo! Hoo! One Month Without Aldactone... I've made it this far.
Hi, everyone! Well, I said I would give my report on Aldactone, so I hope this will help some other ladies on here who are trying to get off of it. Anyway, it has been one month, and so far I have noticed no change! I have not noticed any accelerated hair growth or changes in my skin condition. (I use Proactiv and Clearasil Daily Face Wash, so this probably helps!) I have not had any weight gain (no weight loss either... but I am not complaining at this point) and, generally, I feel good.
I know this medicine takes a while to get out of the system, so I will give another report on September 1st! So far so good. I also started taking multivitamins today to prepare for ttc!
I am very relieved as I really thought I would start gaining weight like crazy and getting really hairy. Hope everyone is doing fine and that meds are working well for everybody!
Yes, it lowers the level of Androgens in your body to help with the hair problem! Sometimes it also helps to clear up your skin since acne can appear due to a hormonal problem, and Androgen is a hormone.
I've been on Aldactone for over two years. I've been taking 50mg twice a day for a while now. This past month I started a sexual relationship with the guy I'm seeing, and I wasn't 100% responsible about birth control. I'm now waiting for my period, and though I've had 2 negative pregnancy tests, I'm still paranoid about accidentally conceiving while taking Aldactone. So, I haven't taken my Aldactone for 5 days, and I don't plan to take it until I get my period. Does anyone know if stopping Aldactone will affect when I get my period?
I see my doctor next week, and I plan to talk to her about birth control options, as well as what would happen if I stopped taking Aldactone. I'm also taking 2500 mg of Glucophage, which does a lot for lowering free Testosterone. I'm tempted to quit Aldactone altogether, because I'm so scared of what would happen if I accidentally conceived. I really don't want to go back on the birth control pill, and the rest of the bc methods aren't quite as effective as the pill.
Any suggestions? I was going to start my own post this morning to find out what happens when people quit Aldactone.
Thanks!
Hillary
__________________ 309/249 (5'7")
Vegan
Totally single, no kids, not ttc
PCOS/IR, clinical depression, hypothyroid
Persistent scalp hair loss not responding to treatment
The thing with BCPs is that other methods are less effective only if you take your BCPs perfectly. The failure rate should be about half a percent, but it's more like 1 - 2% because people are not perfect, pills get taken late, and because the effectiveness diminishes with vomiting, diarrhea, and antibiotics.
Other methods with very high effectiveness include contraceptive injection, implants, Nuvaring, and IUDs, all of which are excellent back-up methods for condoms, too. (Probably you would be a poor candidate for an IUD, though.)
If you have had a bad experience with BCPs but might tolerate other hormonal birth control, you might look into Nuvaring as it's quickly discontinued (unlike injectables or implants) if it makes you a nutcase!
Anyway, with any of those you could stay on the Spiro and worry less. I'm sure that as a nursing student, you know much of this, but I hope it's moderately helpful anyway.
I am not sure if stopping Aldactone will affect when you get your period because my period came on time, however, I have only been off of it for a month so I may notice something in my cycle later.
Woo! Hoo! One Month Without Aldactone... I've made it this far. 
