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Spironolactone Ruined my Life: if You Value Your Health and Beauty, NEVER Take This Drug
My dermatologist recommended Spironolactone 100 mg, and I took it for 9 months with the only side effect being nausea. It made my skin smooth and reduced my acne very quickly, around the first month or so. I've never had serious medication side effects before, so I figured I loved being on spiro. I'm 33, I exercise an hour a day, and I don't smoke or drink. I have no family history of early menopause.
After around 9 months, I noticed joint cracking and pain, and spider veins. I didn't think these symptoms had anything to do with spiro, because they're not listed as side effects and I hadn't researched spiro online (I simply trusted my doctor). But finally after 11 months, I had an intuition that I should stop taking spiro, so I quit cold turkey. The first month off was ok, but after the second month, I started getting more severe joint cracking and pain in every joint from my ankles to my jaw. My eyes and chin and ankles got puffy. My skin and eyes became dry, showing fine lines around my eyes and giving me eye floaters and eye pain. I started getting cramps throughout my cycle (my periods have been painless since the very first one, until spiro changed that). My spider veins got worse and my leg and arm veins started to swell. I started getting migraines, and also visual disturbances without any headache (seeing stars). My arms and legs would sometimes go numb and get mottled skin and my fingernails would turn blue. My feet (usually the left one) started buzzing. I started to bloat during certain times in my cycle. I started to get PMS insomnia. My breasts started to swell and deflate cyclically, sometimes with one more tender than the other. My body became alien to me and my doctors had no idea what was wrong with me.
I've been off spiro for 7 months so far and my cyclical symptoms are finally calming down. I had my
blood hormone levels tested and I fall in the middle of the reference range for all of them. My CMP is normal. An ultrasound revealed I have a small (less than 2 cm) uterine fibroid, which my doctor doesn't think is big enough to be symptomatic. I'm still struggling with joint pain and cracking (though milder than before), and I'm still covered in veins. The buzzing in my feet went away and my migraines are less frequent. My eyes and skin are still drier than before, but have improved a bit with the warm weather. I'm praying that my body knows best how to be healthy, and that it'll return to normal gradually.
I rarely get acne anymore, but I would take back my previous acne twofold if I could only have my health back. To anyone reading this who is smart enough to research first, like I should've: you already know the right answer. Of course you shouldn't take an androgen blocker, you need androgens! Your body already knows how to be healthy. Unless you have a disease like PCOS, don't let any doctor convince you to take a hormone blocker. Dermatologists don't know about endocrinology, so when they say this medication is "safe and effective" that's only because causation hasn't been established after patients have had adverse outcomes from Spironolactone. There's a bunch of anecdotal evidence all over the internet that spiro isn't safe: trust other people's accounts of their experiences, and trust your gut instinct. Use common sense: if you understand how important your hormones are to your health, you will never take a drug like this. Research how many hormone receptors are in the body, and how androgens are essential for health and beauty in women as well as men.
And if you're at all vain (as most of us on RealSelf are, so no judgement there) then definitely don't take spiro, since it could easily make you uglier with time. Some people have side effects right away, but others, like me, have them creep up over time. I felt beautiful at first with my smooth, clear skin, but then I became ill, and sick people aren't as attractive as healthy people. If you want to be beautiful, use topicals or other procedures. Spironolactone is undoubtedly too good to be true and you know this already. Your body will thank you if you forego this barbaric treatment. The more people I can help convince not to make the same mistake I did, the better. Don't let my suffering be in vain, please do yourself a favor and take it from someone who's been there: you do not want this drug in your body. Oh, also, Google "Spironolactone ovarian cysts": spiro was proven in a research paper to have caused an ovarian cyst in a baby!
This is not a safe drug, clearly. If my horrible mistake can help even one person not to make the same mistake, that would make it worthwhile. And mind you, my side effects aren't even as bad as the accounts I've read from others. You don't want to risk weight gain or muscle wasting or heart palpitations or libido loss, either.
If only life had an "undo" button, I'd undo Spironolactone so fast. Biggest mistake of my life, hands down (and I've made many mistakes). You're prettier and healthier with your acne than without your hormonal function, believe me.
After around 9 months, I noticed joint cracking and pain, and spider veins. I didn't think these symptoms had anything to do with spiro, because they're not listed as side effects and I hadn't researched spiro online (I simply trusted my doctor). But finally after 11 months, I had an intuition that I should stop taking spiro, so I quit cold turkey. The first month off was ok, but after the second month, I started getting more severe joint cracking and pain in every joint from my ankles to my jaw. My eyes and chin and ankles got puffy. My skin and eyes became dry, showing fine lines around my eyes and giving me eye floaters and eye pain. I started getting cramps throughout my cycle (my periods have been painless since the very first one, until spiro changed that). My spider veins got worse and my leg and arm veins started to swell. I started getting migraines, and also visual disturbances without any headache (seeing stars). My arms and legs would sometimes go numb and get mottled skin and my fingernails would turn blue. My feet (usually the left one) started buzzing. I started to bloat during certain times in my cycle. I started to get PMS insomnia. My breasts started to swell and deflate cyclically, sometimes with one more tender than the other. My body became alien to me and my doctors had no idea what was wrong with me.
I've been off spiro for 7 months so far and my cyclical symptoms are finally calming down. I had my
blood hormone levels tested and I fall in the middle of the reference range for all of them. My CMP is normal. An ultrasound revealed I have a small (less than 2 cm) uterine fibroid, which my doctor doesn't think is big enough to be symptomatic. I'm still struggling with joint pain and cracking (though milder than before), and I'm still covered in veins. The buzzing in my feet went away and my migraines are less frequent. My eyes and skin are still drier than before, but have improved a bit with the warm weather. I'm praying that my body knows best how to be healthy, and that it'll return to normal gradually.
I rarely get acne anymore, but I would take back my previous acne twofold if I could only have my health back. To anyone reading this who is smart enough to research first, like I should've: you already know the right answer. Of course you shouldn't take an androgen blocker, you need androgens! Your body already knows how to be healthy. Unless you have a disease like PCOS, don't let any doctor convince you to take a hormone blocker. Dermatologists don't know about endocrinology, so when they say this medication is "safe and effective" that's only because causation hasn't been established after patients have had adverse outcomes from Spironolactone. There's a bunch of anecdotal evidence all over the internet that spiro isn't safe: trust other people's accounts of their experiences, and trust your gut instinct. Use common sense: if you understand how important your hormones are to your health, you will never take a drug like this. Research how many hormone receptors are in the body, and how androgens are essential for health and beauty in women as well as men.
And if you're at all vain (as most of us on RealSelf are, so no judgement there) then definitely don't take spiro, since it could easily make you uglier with time. Some people have side effects right away, but others, like me, have them creep up over time. I felt beautiful at first with my smooth, clear skin, but then I became ill, and sick people aren't as attractive as healthy people. If you want to be beautiful, use topicals or other procedures. Spironolactone is undoubtedly too good to be true and you know this already. Your body will thank you if you forego this barbaric treatment. The more people I can help convince not to make the same mistake I did, the better. Don't let my suffering be in vain, please do yourself a favor and take it from someone who's been there: you do not want this drug in your body. Oh, also, Google "Spironolactone ovarian cysts": spiro was proven in a research paper to have caused an ovarian cyst in a baby!
This is not a safe drug, clearly. If my horrible mistake can help even one person not to make the same mistake, that would make it worthwhile. And mind you, my side effects aren't even as bad as the accounts I've read from others. You don't want to risk weight gain or muscle wasting or heart palpitations or libido loss, either.
If only life had an "undo" button, I'd undo Spironolactone so fast. Biggest mistake of my life, hands down (and I've made many mistakes). You're prettier and healthier with your acne than without your hormonal function, believe me.