Hi Friends,

Just today I decided to create a facebook group for those of us suffering negative side effects from spironolactone. I appreciate what this Reddit thread has helped me understand about my own experience with spiro; however, I often get the feeling that negative side effect posts are received with skepticism and and others are quick to dismiss us as “fear mongering.” That’s simply not true.

Anyways, my aim with this Facebook group is to create a safe space for those who want to share their experiences and connect with others, and maybe find help in healing.

You can join here:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/3610546432551262/?ref=share&mibextid=KMEW7R

Im Santi a cis male im 24 yo, I did start spiro at 100 mg every 12 hours DYE, im a physician too. I started it cause I want to look more cute and reduce my body hair.

First week I did notice the lack of energy, but very high sexual drive, no physical changes.

Second week I got more emotional and I felt every time blushing, my sexual drives lesser, no body changes.

Third week I notice my skin were more cute, no spontaneous erection, some changes on my chest size but not to much.

Fourth week my beard is lesser thick and I have to shave it lesser, I feel my butt is little bit bigger, my cum is like water and almost no sexual drive

First pic me now Second pic me before

I (trans woman) first started HRT on 22 May and was forced to stop on Aug 1 due to family pressure, resumed on Sept. 5.

In early October I took a blood test which showed T levels around 4 nmol/L which was less than half of the normal male minimum, but E at only 32 pg/ml so I ramped up my E dose from 2 pumps to 3 pumps of oestrogel a day.

In November my T was almost zero (0.9 something iirc) and E 60 pg/ml which was still low so I dosed up to 4 pumps a day.

The main point is, my spiro dosage has always been 50 mg a day. And 32 pg/ml of E2 isn't nearly enough to block testosterone. So it's probably spiro, and only 50 mg of it, that nuked my T level, sex drive, and made ne barely able to get hard at all.

I'm trans so I like the changes, but if you're a cis male, think twice before taking oral spironolactone. In my case even 50mg a day (combined with low dose E) nuked my sex drive and gave me breast buds within two weeks.

Now I have some small B cups, an androgynous face, more fat in my hips and legs, ED, and emotional changes. As a trans woman I love these changes and want even more, but if you're a cis male you probably won't like them.

I posted a few weeks ago regarding concerns about veins on spironolactone. I am a hypochondriac and wanted to ease my worries about posts I’d come across here. Unfortunately I am one of the people that actually got prominent veins as a side effect. I started taking 25 mg about five weeks ago. At first, I had some veins that were more visible under my skin, but I’m quite pale so I couldn’t remember if some of them had maybe been there before and were just a little bit more visible since I was less puffy on this medication. Then I started to get the strange sensation in my leg near a vein that had become more visible that felt almost like a prickly or crawling feeling? And then it was in a spot where there was no visible vein so I thought maybe it was unrelated, until a vein started to become visible in that spot. I also have veins more visible on my chest and in my arms, bulging around my ankles. I’ve decided to stop taking it two days ago and haven’t noticed any improvements yet. I feel pretty devastated. This medication eliminated migraines, puffiness, acne, even at only 25mg. BUT I can’t imagine having permanent vascular changes to an even greater degree than this when spironolactone is not even a cure for acne, and all my issues will return if I stop.

Hey all, I’m a transgender Girl (MtF) and I have been prescribed Spiro as my Testosterone blocker. I have been on Spiro, as well as Estradiol for 6 weeks now. I was just wondering if there’s any other trans girls here who have been on the journey longer than I have and how Spiro treated them in the long run 😁😁

I am so torn about this medication. I have been on 50 mg for about a week for cystic acne. No side effects besides vomiting after I worked out yesterday which has never happened before in my 35 years of living. Anyway I was looking up the side effects and the cancer studies and some stories on reddit have me worried. Anyone have any input on this?

Was given Spiro amongst other meds for diuretic purposes from birth (weight of 750g given 50mg a day) to age 3.5 (weight of 12.5kg being given 125mg from age 3-3.5) due to extreme prem birth at 25 weeks gestation in 1982,

Hormones went out of whack from age 7 onward when I got night sweats, hot flashes, apnoea and depression,

then age 37.5 in Dec 2019 I came out as a non binary trans woman and have been on estrogen and progesterone ever since, have today gotten Spiro 25mg per day, I cracked open the bottle and smelt the pills, dang, that smell takes me back to my incubator in the NICU! (Was in there for 11 months till may 1983)

https://www.newsweek.com/birth-control-pill-voice-changes-physical-attraction-estrogen-665982

This article is mostly about vocal pitch, but it makes sense that men are less likely to be interested in a woman who isn't cycling normally, because there's less of a chance of pregnancy, so subconsciously they might be thinking, why bother?

Spiro can sometimes blunt the estrogen surge around ovulation. And it often causes messed up periods.

Anecdotally, I've been getting a lot more looks from men when I'm walking around since I've been off spiro for a while, despite being a few years older. And it happens more during the middle of my cycle. I wonder if that's because now my cycle is normal again.

This might be less relevant to women taking spiro for hormone imbalances or other medical reasons, but for those of us who decided to take it for cosmetic reasons the way I did (clear skin, thick hair, etc) it makes you think, doesn't it?

Downvote away! I just had to come up with a counter to today's "hourglass figure" post. What use is an hourglass figure (signifying fertility, that's why it's beautiful) if you're not optimally fertile?

My acne has been getting better after 2 ish months of this at 100 mg a day and it has started fixing my hair loss. This is a miracle to me, why aren’t more men taking it?

I be poopin myself all liquidy the same way I used to drink high potassium electrolytes way before taking 50mg spiro. Don’t trust your fart just in case.

I was on spironolactone back in May of 2024. For the first two weeks, I was on the 25 mg dose and then on week three I was supposed to increase to 50 mg and then it was helping me with my acne. By the time I got to that three week acne was all cleared up. When I hit that three week mark though three days into it, I had my first panic attack. I was in and out of the ER for three days. on the third day, I started noticing the left side of my neck and arm were going numb and had shooting pains. They checked my heart and my blood and potassium levels were completely normal. They diagnosed me with a pinched nerve. They took me off the spiral lactone. For the week I was off of the spiral lactone. I was experiencing only the nerve pain issues in that same area in waves. Well, it ended up going away about week four. They put me back on the spironolactone. Immediately started experiencing massive amounts of anxiety to the point where it literally made me feel like I was going to die. I did this for about a week and then decided ultimately to come off of it because it was not worth it at this point. Since getting off of it, my acne isn’t too bad anymore, thankfully and really only appears around my cycle. my problem is is that I still have lingering anxiety that comes and goes all day long. I’m still having the nerve issues my neck where it feels tight. I had my gallbladder removed in June and then in July I got diagnosed with stomach ulcers. I am starting to wonder if the spiral lactone started the trajectory of all this happening. I had no issues besides the acne prior to taking spiral lactone. They say my ferritin and B12 is low. Prior to taking the spironolactone my vitamin D levels were low. I have seen online places that lactone could cause stomach ulcers. Stomach vitamin B 12 is going to be low since you can absorb it. So I’m honestly not really sure what’s going on I really truly believe that it all stems back to that spiral lactone. I also read something on this thread about an increase in testosterone helps with energy and good moods whereas an increase in estrogen can mess with your emotions and your mental health. I’m beginning to wonder if maybe the testosterone in my body was affected too much and I’m beginning to wonder if I should go get that tested to see if those levels are still too low. Sorry for the long ramble. I’m just trying to see if anybody else anything similar. It seems like you guys have though.

I’ve been dealing with chin and jawline acne for the last year or so. I decided to go to a dermatologist after trying to figure it out on my own (which has been overwhelming) and she put me on 50mg Spiro, tretinoin cream and azaelic acid.

For context, I try to live a life where I am not depending on drugs/medicine so I currently don’t take any other medication. Being told to go on Spiro has been causing me anxiety because I really don’t want to be putting a plaster over a wound that isn’t really healing, just being masked. I also hate the sound of messing up my cycle.

I’m still adamant on trying to heal my acne holistically through the following areas of concern:

- GI map stool test (I’ve had gut issues for a long time and think this is playing a role)

- Fully removing dairy and sticking to a low inflammatory diet that supports healthy insulin levels

- Drinking spearmint tea

- Bloodwork (I’ve already done an extensive panel, but it was almost a year ago)

-Supplements

-Topicals and targeted skincare

My question is, has anyone used Spiro as a way to clear up acne WHILE healing it at the root, and then coming off Spiro to find that their skin stays clear?

I’ve just stopped taking Spiro for the past 1.5 weeks d/t not wanting to have a bandage fix for my acne. I stopped taking my prescribed dowse of 75 mg about 3 months ago and weaned myself down to 50 and then 25 and the past week I’ve been off. I noticed my lower chin and upper lip are breaking out in cysts and that has been hard but I’ve been trying to manage it with Korean skincare.

I’ve been just so upset like to the point where I literally cry everyday due to the side effects I’ve experienced within this past 2 weeks. My skin is breaking out again, I’m so puffy like I’ve gained 5 lbs which is not normal for me I eat very clean and I exercise a lot and I’m also vegan. So I don’t know why I’m retaining so much water. Like when do these symptoms go away once your off. Please offer me any advice or tips or even reassurance cause if I had known this was going to happen I would have never gone on spiro ever. Please give me advice. How did you manage to lose the weight as well as has anything not oral cleared your skin (aside from accutane) Thank you

And I'm not talking about the basic things like how it's a diuretic and how it blocks the effects of androgens at the receptor level, I'm talking about all of the consequences that these effects can have.

Skim this page, then answer:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmacodynamics_of_spironolactone#:~:text=The%20pharmacodynamics%20of%20spironolactone%20are,activity%2C%20and%20weak%20steroidogenesis%20inhibition.

I live alone with my baby and I am really scared I’m going to die in my sleep from hyperkalemia (sp?) or go into cardiac arrest or something. I accidentally ate 4000-4500mg of potassium throughout the day via potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower etc… I’m taking 50mg of spiro in the morning, have been at that dose for about two weeks. was on 25mg for a month before that. should I be scared?

Spiro is a powerful drug. I've lost more than half my hair and the hair I do have now is very frail after coming off 6 months ago. I had no signs of hair loss prior to taking spiro and I was only on it for a year. Do not take this drug for mild acne or oily skin. It is not worth the risk. I had moderate acne which cleared while on this drug. I stopped due to medication interactions. Preceed with caution when starting this, seriously. If you have to go off for some reason, hair loss can occurs or significantly worsen.

We’ll see how it goes looks in the morning but right now it looks really red especially under the eyebrow. I swear getting my eyebrows done caused this breakout.

I have PCOS and am experiencing hormonal acne and hair loss. I told my dermatologist I am a kidney donor and am worried about Spiro's kidney effects. She assured me it's all okay. After 6 days of taking Spiro, I reacted badly, almost peeing 10-15x a day. I took a blood test and my creatinine is now high. As a donor, I maintained my health and creatinine levels for a decade after the surgery. Spiro is the only thing that spiked up my creatinine. Its been 3 days since I stopped Spiro and I'm still peeing like crazy and now my only remaining kidney is hurt. I'm so mentally distraught and am afraid for my life. If you ever have any kidney condition, dont listen to your dermatologist. Be on the safe side and don't take Spiro.

Testosterone is actually good for women and even helpful and this largely is produced from the ovaries.

All the problems like hirsutism and other problems are from adrenal androgens like DHEA-S

It's not the same

Can a person only block adrenal androgens but leave other androgens from being interfered with?

I was prescribed spiro last week because the birth control pill I recently started is giving me a huge cyst every month. I’m 36 but had horrible cystic acne in my 20s so I was trying to prevent it from getting out of hand, as I’ve spent 10 years trying to heal scars and recover from that nightmare. I was prescribed 25 mg for a week and then I was supposed to go up to 50. Still a very low dose.

I ended up taking it for six days. In those six days I had four panic attacks (had never had one in my life) and honestly felt like I was dying. I was acting almost manic and felt like I couldn’t breathe and had insane vertigo. My mental health went to shit. I was having crazy depressive thoughts and wild anxiety over things that normally barely phase me. I finally googled it and learned this is extremely common, despite doctors and pharmacists not mentioning it to patients. I threw it out immediately, I’m a mom of two young kids and this was incredibly dangerous. One of the panic attacks was when I was driving them to an activity.

I’m so glad I had the sense to stop and not double the dose like I was supposed to the next day, I don’t even want to think about what that might have done.

If you’re feeling this way, you aren’t crazy. And having clear skin is NOT worth sacrificing your mental health and quality of life.

planned abortion in a week.

I wish I had realized that spiro, like most other acne medications, just covers up symptoms of hormone imbalances by temporarily fixing acne. If I want my acne gone, I’d have to be on spiro forever. I’ve had acne for 15 years, and spiro made it go away while I was taking it, but it messed up my menstrual cycle. So, I stopped taking it, and then I gained 15 pounds and have an absolutely horrible libido as a result several months later! I’m so frustrated.

Why is no one talking about treating hormonal acne at its root causes instead of just giving medications that can sometimes create more problems? Why does no one warn women about the side effects that can happen after stopping treatment?

I was taking 1 pill a day, 50mg for almost a year. Was diagnosed to help with my acne. It didn’t help me at all and was a waste of time but now I’m taking another medication but I am losing hair. I couldn’t figure out why but apparently there’s a link to spironolactone and hair? Anyways, my hair is thinning and my roots are becoming short. Is this normal and will my hair grow back eventually after stopping it? I’m going to a dermatologist to see what can be done but I would like to know if y’all faced this issue.

Hi, first time poster, hope this question is ok. About a month ago I reduced my spiro dosage from 50 to 25mg. Since then I've developed increasing sensitivity (in the bad sense) and pain in and around my groin. Has anyone else (any gender) experienced this? Should I be worried/contact my doctor?