50mg Spironolactone 2x Daily Works for Me After Trying Everything Else, Including Accutane.

Have been on 100mg a day for some time now. Spironolactone has a half life of only 17hrs. This totally makes sense as to why when I miss just one dose, I usually get some breakthrough acne. But it is still the BEST. FYI you cannot get pregnant on this medication. It impacts fetal development especially males very early on in the pregnancy. Not as harmful as Accutane but doctors will often recommend you be off Spironolactone for several weeks before trying to get pregnant.

I have tried nearly every type of oral antibiotic and topical treatment over the past 18 years to treat my adult cystic acne (I'm 34 years old). I've tried different BCPs and even Accutane (Absorica), which I couldn't tolerate for more than a month due to side effects. I have been on Spironolactone for 6 months and it has worked fantastically. I did have to increase the dosage from 25 mg twice daily to 50 mg twice daily for my skin to stabilize but it has been the best treatment I have been on as far as efficacy and I don't notice any side effects. I forgot to take it a couple days in a row once and my skin broke out immediately. It only costs $2.31 a month on my insurance; without insurance it would be $57.12 a month at my dosage of a total 100 mg a day.

Initially a couple years ago my derm would not prescribe it for me because my hormone panel is within normal range, but has said that in recent years he has seen success for patients who did not respond to other types of treatments. So we tried it and I am so glad we did. Also ran it by my GP and my gynecologist and they are fine with me being on it; everyone appears to agree that it's better than being on an antibiotic long term.