I know that it takes 3 to 12 months to see any effect (if there will be any) in hair texture, color, rate of growth, etc., but how long does it generally take Spironolactone to stop new hairs from coming in? I have only been on it for about 2 weeks, so I know I shouldn't expect results yet, but I'm really anxious about it because my hirsutism is still progressing really rapidly. I did ask my doctor how long it would take and she didn't seem to know. Does anyone have any personal experience with how long it will take to stop the progression of new hair? I am on 200mg/day (divided dose.)

That depends on your problem. If your hairiness is progressing that quickly, I think there might be an underlying cause that needs to be checked out (if you haven't done that--checked for PCOS etc.). The cause will need to be treated as well as the symptom, that is, the hair.

In 2 weeks on 250mg per day, I noticed a great deal of improvement on my skin and hair as far as oiliness, and I also didn't have to wear deodorant any longer if I didn't want to (a benefit I didn't expect). I also stopped having any menstrual cramps at all, when they used to be very severe. The hair itself--check out my threads on Spiro. On one of them, I give a mini-diary of my experience and everything I noticed. If you want the fastest results, don't get the generic Spiro. If you can afford it, at least for awhile, get the name brand Aldactone. Women I know swear that the name brand is faster, and the hormone doctor at hormonehelp.ny also says the same thing.

Take your Spiro with food. That increases the absorption of it a great deal. Don't eat a diet high in potassium. I imagine your doctor told you that.

Thanks for the info. I have already been checked for PCOS... that's why I'm on Spiro. I am a little confused about that. What other treatment is there? Isn't Spiro supposed to address the hair as a symptom of PCOS? I am also on Yasmin if that helps... (I switched to Yasmin from Ortho Tri-Cyclen around the same time as getting on the Spiro. I heard that Yasmin was better for PCOS, and I was also paranoid that the Ortho might have had something to do with the increased rapidity of hair growth, since the time frames coincided.)

I do always take it with food, since it said so on my prescription bottle. It is the generic though, not the brand name. I have 2 months worth of the generic and I am not sure the pharmacy will give me the brand name without my doctor specifically ordering it, but I see my doc again in a few weeks so I will ask her about that.

The deodorant side effect would be great too because I have started to smell pretty bad ever since this hair thing has gotten worse! I keep it under control by showering constantly but I am sure it's also a sign of high testosterone.

Anyway, do you think something is wrong if I haven't seen any improvement in 2 weeks? I don't really have much in the way of acne or oily hair so I can't judge by those symptoms. I haven't had my period yet on Spiro either. I will check out your Spiro threads though, thanks.

EDIT: I can't seem to find your Spiro diary thread using search or by looking at your previous posts. Do you think you could link me to it? Thanks.

Sure. My comments start at the bottom of the page (page 4) and continue through page 5, and then are interspersed throughout the rest of the thread.

http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/41836/4.html

It will take longer for the Spiro to work for you than it did for me, since your problem is more pronounced, but hang in there.

For PCOS, Metformin is often prescribed also, because PCOS involves screwed-up insulin which causes the aldosterone (testosterone) trouble. With Metformin (or Glucophage) those things are brought under control, and not only does it help you lose weight (if you're heavy), but it will begin to control the testosterone that's causing your hair trouble. I'm not a doctor, but I do know that almost all PCOS women take Metformin and are told to be on a very low-carb diet (not no-carb, but very, very low-carb) until you're back to normal, at which time more carbs can be introduced back into your diet. That diet makes a big difference. They usually eat a higher protein (not high fat) diet to keep from losing muscle.

Remember, I'm telling you what I learned from PCOS women. I do not have PCOS.

Spiro, although it will help somewhat with free testosterone in the blood, is mainly what controls the testosterone-sensitive skin and hair follicles. Eventually, the hair will grow out more slowly until it starts to act normal. Hair on the chin and upper lip can be very stubborn, and while the Spiro will keep new hair from growing, often the terminal hair in those areas will need to be treated with electrolysis.

As far as a period, at first my cycle was wonky but eventually got perfectly normal again, and THANK HEAVENS I don't have any more pain with those horrific cramps that felt just like labor pain. I never thought I'd see the day. And I didn't even know Spiro would do that.

Yasmin makes some women severely moody, and sometimes that doesn't happen right away. If you start to get depressed [or extraordinarily bitchy], that is probably the cause. I've heard that a lot. But keep on it as long as it works for you and as long as you feel okay. I know it helps with PCOS.

If you find NO improvement in a couple of months, see if need a little higher Spiro prescription from your doctor. Or get the name brand. The stuff works slowly at first, and then it really really works. At 200mg of Spiro and also Yasmin, I seriously doubt you need a higher prescription--your doctor can advise you. I would definitely check into the Metformin. I'm kind of surprised you're not on it.

Hang in there my friend!

My doctor did a lot of blood tests and didn't say anything about insulin, so I am guessing that turned out in the normal range. From what I have read, Metformin doesn't do much unless you have insulin resistance (which not all women with PCOS do. I think?)

I would really also rather not be on any more medications if I can help it. But do you think that Spiro won't help control the hair without Metformin if I do have insulin problems?

Hey!
What has your experience been in terms of sex lust while eating Yasmine and/or Spiro? I know, I experienced a decrease in that field a couple of years ago, just by eating normal birth control pills, so I'm curious about Yasmine and Spiro and how they affect it...
-Hanna

hannahanna: I myself don't do birth control so maybe hopelessandhairy will respond to that, but as for spiro, it was just like my menstrual cycle--"messed up". After awhile both problems resolved themselves after my body got used to the stuff. But yeah, initially, I thought I might just be perfectly happy as a nun.

Exercise will do a lot to improve sex drive, but everything sort of equalized over time. I won't be heading to the convent any time soon.

hopelessandhairy: I'm with you. I'd rather not be on any more meds than necessary. I just didn't know anyone with PCOS who was not on Metformin--but your doctor will certainly know a lot more about you than I ever will! Spiro will most certainly help you. Give it time--as I said, it works slowly at first, and then it's like, "Wow! Look at me!" Acquaintances of mine with hairy bodies noticed the excess body hair problem improved a lot faster than the excess facial hair, I'll warn ya.

Birth control pills have different affects on different people. One may have a decrase in sex drive, another no change, and another an increase. You really have to try it out for your self and see how this one affects you personally.

thanks for the info, again, coffeegirl. it is really great to hear opinions and experiences from people who have actually used the drug, instead of reading all the contradicting hearsay you find in articles on the internet. however i think i am still not looking at the right thing as far as your spiro diary because i could only find a couple posts in the thread you linked me (and it only goes up to page 5.)

i am trying to hold out hope because i have heard on here and on other forums (specifically soulcysters, which is a PCOS message board, but i can no longer access it for some reason) that spiro can make some of the excess hair GO AWAY in some women, although it does not happen for all. and i believe it can also make it grow back lighter and finer. right? in addition to making it grow slower (which would still be nice, even if none of the hair changed, at least it would be easier to keep up with if it grew slower.) so i am trying to think positive, and hope that enough of the hair is reduced that electrolysis becomes a more realistic option...

one question i had that my doctor did not answer adequately-- if i have some small hairs that seem to be in the process of turning terminal (i.e. they are still very short, fine, and light, but are beginning to gain dark pigment, and beginning to get a little longer) will the spiro stop their progression, or are they destined to become long, dark terminal hairs no matter what i do? i can't tell if the progression of hirsutism is actually still new hairs growing, or it is just the tiny little hairs that were already starting to become terminal when i got on spiro, continuing their growth...

luckily i don't have much of a problem with facial hair-- it's the one thing i am thankful for!!! so my problem is almost entirely with body hair, which spiro works better for, correct?

i am also trying to eat a good, balanced diet, with no artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup. i drink a lot of water, and try to buy all natural, fresh and organic foods, although it is hard to actually eat them every day since i am out a lot and eat out a lot (however i try to get healthy meals in these cases and NEVER eat fast food. yuck!) i have already lost weight doing this, although i don't know how much since i don't have a scale (one less thing to obsess over if i can't weigh myself!)

as far as side effects/sex drive/etc... i have found that my sex drive is pretty low... HOWEVER that started to happen BEFORE i was on yasmin or spiro! i think it is a mental thing because of my anxiety over the hair. before i started stressing so much about it, my sex drive was pretty normal. ironically i am now in a relationship and the sex is pretty good and all but i just don't really desire it very often (i do it more often for his sake, it really doesn't bother me in any way to do that.) so i don't really know how the meds have affected that area. i do find that i feel kind of off/slightly nauseous sometimes, and get stomachaches more often, but i don't know whether this is the yasmin or spiro. i am thinking it's the yasmin since i started the spiro a few days earlier, and didn't feel any side effects until i had started the yasmin. i am hoping these will go away as my body adjusts.

i have a question: if yasmin is causing the side effects, will they go away when i am on my week of inactive pills? or will the meds still be in my system? if they will go away, this would be a great way to see which med is causing the side effects. it's nothing i can't handle but it would be good to know.

Your body may get used to both, so the side effects would go away. It takes several months to see what will happen.

I haven't heard of Spiro causing hair to shed and killing the follicle. Don't really see the science behind that. Normally, anything you would take to balance your hormones can prevent NEW growth and make the current growth finer, but it doesn't remove the hair that's already there. You need to remove that with a hair removal method.

I don't think it kills the follicle. The hair would grow back if medication was discontinued. But the woman who started Soulcysters claims that Spironolactone has that effect on some women, and posted a few medical studies that supposedly supported it (I can't really understand a lot of that jargon though.) But she is VERY well researched. I have also read a lot of reports from women who claim that Spiro caused hair to stop growing in some places. Anyway, I certainly don't EXPECT it to happen, but it sure would be nice if it did. I know I will need electrolysis or laser once I can afford it, but it would be great if I needed it on less areas, because right now I pretty much need it EVERYWHERE.

Well, just for an update... I *think* the problem seems to have stopped getting worse. Yes, it's only 6 days since my last post, but it was actually progressing that fast! You could actually tell a difference from day to day. However, it's pretty hard to tell, because at this point the only areas I don't shave are my chest, arms, and shoulders/back, so those are the areas I am monitoring for hairs... and they are so COVERED with hairs that it is hard to tell if more have popped up. The hairs are fine and thin, and with bleaching especially on my chest they are nearly invisible, but they are there. I don't mean to say I have long coarse hair all over. It's also hard to tell if new dark hairs that pop up are actually NEW, or simply dormant hairs that had already turned terminal before I got on spiro.

But it seems like the progression has stopped, or at least slowed, so that's a bit of worry off my chest at least. My upper arms especially were rapidly getting worse... even two or three months ago I had no hairs to speak of on my upper arms!! Now they are covered. But it seems that the tiny, lightly pigmented hairs on some parts of my upper arms have stopped turning into longer, darker hairs. Hopefully I am right about this and it isn't just a misperception.

Now it's just the waiting game to see if spiro will do anything to my existing hairs...

Sorry I didn't check back sooner. I'm not on here as much as everyone else.

I think maybe "diary" was a dumb word for me to say. I wrote out in about 4 posts or so what I noticed along the way as I took Spiro... but I was looking back at it. I didn't write dates and write what happened to me that day or anything. I sort of wrote in retrospect. Sorry for the confusion.

As for the nausea--I would guess Yasmin. BC pills make me sick sick sick. If all you have is nausea, I think your body will adjust. Try taking it with food. Spiro is much better absorbed with food anyway, so maybe Yasmin will be too, while knocking some of the nausea at the same time.

Sex drive--that might be your self-conscientiousness causing it. I know for a fact mine plummeted quickly on the Spiro--not that it made it distasteful; I just could easily live without it then. Well, guess I could now too, but that's because I'm more of a "crock pot" than a "microwave", if you get my meaning.

Women do in fact get a lot of disappearing body hair on Spiro. It slows first, then stops in most of them. I noticed that somewhat on my legs, but I haven't had trouble with a hairy body. I can't say about chests and backs and places myself, but other women say it works great for body hair. It makes sense, because Spiro was orginally supposed to be a mild blood pressure medicine, and people were noticing marked reduction in body hair and not so much lowering of blood pressure. That is why Spiro is used more for body hair than for blood pressure (in women... men shouldn't take Spiro). Spiro is also given to people with congestive heart failure and kidney failure, so obviously it's not bad for your heart or kidneys.

Blond hair can be just as stiff as dark hair. Not all terminal hairs are dark. From what I'm told, terminal hair on the *body* will disappear over time with Spiro, but terminal hair on the *face* needs help from electrolysis. For me, the terminal hairs on my face have slowed a bunch, but not stopped, so I still need to get more electrolysis work done. Nobody notices it at all, but I can feel it; it feels like needles to me, sometimes. But a lot of that is because I had plucked them for so many years. Will take me longer than it would have otherwise. Still, it's a whole lot better now, let me tell you.

thanks for the reply again. unfortunately i may have been premature in saying that the spiro stopped the progression, because now i am seeing new hairs on my chest (further up than before-- they used to be only between my breasts/on my breasts but are now moving up further, which sucks because it will be visible over my shirt if they get very dark or long...) and also hairs moving towards the middle of my chest from my armpit area. they are short and fine, and only a little bit pigmented, but they still didn't use to be there!

is it possible that spiro might just do NOTHING at all for my body? i know it is too soon to tell and i'm not going to stop taking it any time soon. but it seems like having been on it 4 weeks now, i should at least see SOME small effect. i kind of feel like i am taking a sugar pill or something! i am seeing my doctor again next week so i will ask her all these questions. but i would also like experiences & opinions from people here, too.

but, i am trying to keep positive, because it's body hair i need to get rid of, and it's body hair spiro is supposed to work best on. so here's hoping...

I don't have "the answers" to everything, but I do know from experience that some manufacturers have more effective spiro than others, and in my case, even differing pills within the same brand are different. When I was taking the 100mg pills, they were nowhere near as effective as the 25mg I was taking before and am taking now. And they were from the same manufacturer. So that may be part of it.

One thing is for sure: Spiro will never cause hair growth. It can't!

Now my guess is, aside from the above being a possibility, is that you have a more serious case of PCOS than you realize, and may need to be on other meds, as well. That's why I said I was surprised you weren't on Metformin (glucophage). From the people I know, that did a lot for body fat and body hair both, because it controls insulin and androgens both (I haven't researched exactly how). It's not a matter of being consumed with your weight (you'd mentioned you weren't too worried about the scales); it's a matter of, is your weight (and body hair) caused by PCOS. If it is, then it isn't going to get any better until the cause is treated--not just the symptoms. Am I making sense?

I'd talk to you doctor about this. Or get a second (or third) opinion. Spiro can only help, but for you, it may not be enough.

By the way, I noticed that things got worse for me before they got better, when I first started taking Spiro. Especially acne, which really wasn't that bad but got worse for awhile before my skin got pretty close to perfect. But it was the same somewhat with the hair. It was as if Spiro was sort of cleaning house or something!

I really hope I don't have to take Metformin... I know it seems petty but if I have to start taking a med that I can't drink on, it will really kill my social life, which will send me into depression again. I had a really hard time meeting people when I moved here and finally I have friends now, but if I can never go out with them, I'll have nothing to do...

So even though Spiro is supposed to block androgen receptors, it might still do nothing for my hair if I'm not on Metformin?

You mean you can't be social without drinking? I have a great social life and I don't drink at all. Nor do I smoke. It's not healthy stuff. Will your friends not go out with you if you don't drink?? Wow, how shallow. With friends like that, who needs enemies? But I won't lecture you.

Spiro blocks the receptors, but if you have a whole lot of the androgens in your blood, it needs to be addressed. I am not a doctor so I can't tell ya. I just go by the ones I know who are on it. There may be a point to where you have to decide, "Should I drink and be hairy, or should I not drink and get hair-free?" Metformin is not just about the hair--or weight loss for that matter. It's about health and fixing what's wrong before it gets worse and affects a lot more than hair or weight.

Not to toot my own horn here, but I am going on 39 years old. Because I stay fit, use sunscreen, and don't engage in risky behavior (even mildly risky like booze and smoking), nobody ever guesses me to be over 25. Okay, I drink coffee but there is a lot to what I'm telling you. You'll have to decide what and who ultimately matter to you.

By the way, if you have problems with depression, the LAST thing you want is any kind of alcohol. It will come back to haunt you eventually. Exercise is a much better anti-depressant!

Unofrtunatley England's social culture is generally focused around bars or pubs, basically involving alcohol. Whether it be 1 or possibly 2 drinks over a night to 7 or 8 plus. Sounds bad eh? I personally enjoy shopping and a coffee. But in the evening there's pretty much nothing else to do, with the odd exception of the cinema etc.
Although it certainly has been interesting for the past week since Iv'e been on antiobiotics for a chest infection, as I get to watch everyone else get silly while I don't drink (of course with the reason of medication), although I don't drink much anyway. But hey, we didn't get the crown of Europes biggest binge drinkers for nothing

But if it did come between a couple down the pub with your friends or medication that will help your body return to its normal state of affairs, I would go for the latter, especially as it's not just for aesthetic purposes.
I can completley empaphise with you in regards to wanting to maintain friendships and so on. The worried feeling that comes about when you've finally managed to fit in, but then you may need to deviate from the crowd. Meh, but so what, if they really get funny just say your on medication and flash the chemist packet. No one cares to read it, so you can just use that as a reason

Regards,
Benji

I knew by saying that I would get people lecturing me, but the fact is that I am 23 and in college, and there isn't much else to do in this town but drink. Of course my friends will still like me if I don't drink! But I will be excluded from most of their social gatherings unless I feel like sitting at a bar without drinking. My friends all work or have class all day, and when we go out, it's in the evenings for a few drinks. It's just what the culture is in this area/age group and I enjoy it. It's not like I am getting drunk every weekend... I can't even remember the last time I've been really drunk. I usually have 2 or 3 beers and just hang out.

Of course if my doctor says I absolutely need Metformin, I'm going to go on it. But if it's a "maybe" type issue or if she doesn't specifically recommend it, I'm not going to push to get on it. I don't really have any other PCOS symptoms other than irregular periods (which has been fixed completely by birth control) and the hair. I am not significantly overweight (20 lbs or so) although I do have the typical PCOS fat distribution.

Many years ago I read that it can take 6 or 7 months to see the beginning results from spiro. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I read that. It could have been in Redmond's book, Hair Route or AEA's journal.

Oh, also, I don't think I mentioned this here, but in my blood tests my testosterone level came out on the high end of normal. My doctor said this was because I was on birth control when I was tested, and that if I had been off the BC, it would have tested high. Obviously I still have a problem with testosterone because my hair is still growing, but the BC and the Spiro are both hopefully addressing the problem. But, I don't have crazy high levels of androgens. It doesn't make total sense to me why my hair would still be getting worse if my testosterone is normal (I know you can also have follicles that are just very sensitive to testosterone, but I think that if that was the case I would have had this problem since puberty, which I haven't) but I trust that my doctor knows what she is doing. She is a reproductive endocrinologist at a women's hospital, and one of the center's specialties is PCOS and hirsutism. So I feel like I can trust her information.

Okay, now I'm getting a little better grasp on your social life. I was in college for a couple of years and was bored out of my wits. Bars weren't my scene because of the noise and the smoke, and people acted like idiots (only a sober person would notice!). I just couldn't stand it. I was very bored--which is why I left college. The work wasn't that difficult, but... yeah, there was nothing else to do.

There's not much more I can say that I haven't already. If you trust the doctor you have, then that's that. If you are more in the beginning stages of PCOS, it's not so bad at first. Untreated, it definitely gets worse. Definitely. Spiro and Yasmin alone will help *some* but it just may not be enough. It takes several weeks on non-PCOS women before they notice a big difference; it will take a lot longer for you probably. My skin looks a lot more youthful now on Spiro--looks really good. Hang in there.

And no, you would not necessarily have had androgen sensitive follicles at puberty. I certainly didn't. And I don't have PCOS and never did, and I'm very slim. Hirsutism just happened to me with age, is all. Totally different story for you and I hope this gets treated properly before it gets worse.

We weren't trying to lecture you hun or I certainly wasn't. I was more just commenting on that some Western cultures do have a focus on alcohol and if your a student, hell it's even more and hey if it's only a couple of pints - certainly is a small amount compared to others.

But anyway, I hope this goes okay and keep us updated.

Regards,
Benji

So I just met with my endocrinologist again today. I have always kind of had a small feeling that she is not very experienced, though I assumed she had the right knowledge since she specializes in PCOS and hirsutism. However, when I have asked her questions she sometimes gives strange answers, or answers that don't match up with any research I have done online (and I have done A LOT!) So today I met with her to talk about how my spironolactone and yasmin were working. This in itself I thought was kind of weird-- why did she want me to make an appt. within 5 weeks when it takes much longer for the drugs to work? But I went along with it.

Well, today, she told me that my hair is too fine, although it is NEW and EVERYWHERE, and that the spiro will do *ABSOLUTELY NOTHING* to the hair because it is not as coarse as a man's hair. She says it won't even stop new hair from growing. I said I didn't understand how that made any sense, since I am confirmed to have PCOS and high testosterone, and these problems started rapidly in the 6 months or so before I was diagnosed (which was in March.) She said it may just be genetics. I asked how it would be genetics if it was so sudden and rapid and coincided exactly with one of the symptoms of PCOS! She said she was stumped by it and "at the end of her expertise." My body hair is NATURALLY fine, my arm hair is fine, my normal body hair is just naturally a fine texture! But I have started to grow it EVERYWHERE and that is why I first went to see her. Now she is telling me it's not hormone related? Even though I have PCOS? And that even though the hair is new, dark, and progressing darker and longer and spreading to new areas, the spiro won't affect it in ANY WAY whatsoever? Yet she still wants me to keep taking it...

This seems to conflict with all the research I have done... yet she is an endocrinologist who supposedly specializes in this... but she is young and maybe has not been a doctor for long. I don't know where I would go to get a second opinion since this is the specialty center of the city!!! But do you think, from your experience , that she is wrong? Do I have any hope? Or will just get hairier and hairier and have to shave my whole body every day for the rest of my life??

Another thing which makes me think she might be clueless is that she told me not to start shaving any new areas. At first I thought it was just advice based on how I would get stubble if I shaved and would have to keep it up, but then she said something about how I "wouldn't want to stimulate any new hair growth" and how whenever I decided to go for electrology I should talk to the electrologist about shaving vs. not shaving. This made me do a double take!! Shouldn't she know better than that??

Yes, she should know better, but in reality, medical schools and the residencies that follow thereafter, do not teach such facts. She could benefit from a hairfacts/hairtell education, but I'm sure she has very little interest or time in hanging out here. I'm actually very embarrassed for her.

You could write her a personal letter and guide her from the patient's side of the fence about your experience. She may be amenable to this approach and you would be doing her such a favor, if indeed she is young and just starting out.

There is always hope. Keep learning all you can, so you can be a part of a plan, with a competent doctor, that will manage your specific needs for this condition. You need to look at this with the same vigor and effort that one takes when they buy a stock, mutual fund, car, house, etc. You saw the pitfalls at this doctor visit, so your research paid off.

How did you find this doctor?? Was she recommended? Do you belong to a support group? If you do, then perhaps some in the group can recommend other specialists. You can run an online search for PCOS and pinpoint authors, researchers or hospitals who specialize in treating women with PCOS using the PubMed database at www.nlm.nih.gov. Search the American Board of Medical Specialists. There are 24 specialty boards listed. If you go to your local library, you can get a copy of a directory of Board Certifies Specialists or go here: www.abms.org/login.asp

I think this doctor lacks experience. There are several centers of research in Pennsylvania. I count eleven doctors in a publication I have on hand. You can order the MediFocus Guide to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome at www.medifocus.com. I think I paid $35 for it a year ago? It would be a great resource and a comfort for you while you sort this out, as it is full of helpful information.

Keep moving forward and don't let one doctor make you feel more hopeless.

Dee

Thanks dfahey. I am not totally sure how to use the PubMed link you sent me to find a doctor... but I have been searching on google also. Unfortunately I have no transportation so I am pretty much limited to doctors within the city, to places I can get on the bus. I live in Pittsburgh. I was seeing a doctor at the Magee Women's Hospital but I don't think I should continue to see her, or anyone else in her department (I imagine they would have many of the same ideas.) I don't know, maybe she is truly right, but it just doesn't make much sense to me at all. I also looked at my blood test results and she didn't even test my insulin or do anything to check my thyroid!

Yeah, that's why I said you should get a 2nd or 3rd opinion, but you said you trusted her and I didn't want to seem bossy!

There are many doctors who don't know enough about PCOS. But an endocrinologist should have tested your insulin, for crying out loud. That is just a no-brainer. Thyroid should be checked also. The shaving thing--I am surprised she said that. But anyway, this woman clearly knows almost nothing about hormones, and doesn't even know how the medicine she prescribed works. Wouldn't one want to be educated on a medication before actually prescribing it? Sheesh.

Keep looking, and keep us updated. You may be hairy right now, but you're not hopeless. Your journey will help many others along the way, and will help lurkers here who are looking for hope.

Hi-
I have taken aldactone before and wanted to offer my experiences here. First- It is CRUCIAL to have an gyn who is experienced in handling PCOS patients... too often doctors think hair is a 'cosmetic' issue, weight gain due to bad diet, etc... To get a dr that is experienced in handling women with pcos is an amazing head start- especially since there is such a variety of symptoms.
I took aldactone for a year- seeing only a slowing of the hair growth- not a reduction or elimination. What it did was allow for me to go longer in between shavings- but that was about it. I quit after I STUPIDLY went into the sun while on the medication... and I discolored my face pretty bad- the kicker is - my face was really discolored where I shaved- and even though I have been off of aldactone for over a year I still have the discoloration
For me- staying on birth control is crucial- I hate it - I hate 'acting like a girl'- but I try to be open and honest with those around me- and I tell them to not let me be too bitchy.
I do not take metformin. I don't have any insulin issues- though other PCOS women in my family do. I do have to be very careful about what I eat- and I am still not a skinny girl. I never will be a skinny girl and I am ok with that.
I have tried Vaniqua too- and it had pretty much the same result as the Aldactone- a slowing of hair growth- but that was about it.

I hope this is helpful... and if you have any insight on how to deal with skin discolorations I would love to hear them

thanks guys. as soon as the semester is over i plan to find a new doctor. it is disheartening that i found my current one at the supposed best center in the city for pcos... but what can you do. coffeegirl, do you think spiro will affect the fine hair? at this point all i want is just for the spreading to stop... and it would be great if it grew slower too... also i never heard anything about spiro discoloring skin. i am in the sun a lot and it hasnt happened yet... but its not summer yet either...

Hey there~ At first I didn't notice anything at all with vellus hair. Over time though, there is a lot less of it. I didn't really care about it--it was blonde. But yeah, it just sort of kept getting shorter, I guess you could say? It doesn't grow as long (it never was that long at all but now it's really shorter).

Spiro works a lot slower on some women than others, but over time it does work. It's cumulative. First, things slow down. Then, the hair pretty much stops growing (though terminal face hair is STUBBORN and really needs electrology). I never had but vellus hair on my body, except for legs etc., but my body is really smooth, with the exception of my legs. The soft fuzzy hair which never was an issue anyway, is gone. Just... gone. That took a couple of years, though.

I'll tell you this. My head hair grows like craziness. As a teen and in my 20's, it took forever to grow. Now it grows like 2 inches per month at *least*. My hair will likely be waist-length by Christmas, and I just had it cut to my shoulders a few months ago. Also hair sprouted in places around my hairline where hair hadn't been before. Funny how it's the complete opposite of my body's hair. I could be like my Amish neighbors, whose ladies have hair down to their feet and dragging the floor like the train of a wedding gown. Ah, but no.

I have read that insulin should be checked frequently because one time things might look just fine, and another, you'll have an insulin spike or drop. All I know is that most gals who have PCOS are on Metformin. Now I *thought* that PCOS had everything to do with insulin. But maybe I'm just a dumb girl.

Birth control isn't totally essential here, but you don't want to get pregnant on Spiro. Some girls don't do well on Yasmin at all, and getting off has not affected hair in a negative way.

My gosh YES Spiro will make you very photosensitive. If you don't see it now, rest assured it will haunt you later. Wear avobenzone sunscreen. Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are good sunscreens, but they clog pores like crazy and look white on your face.

my head hair already grows super fast... sucks that spiro might make it grow faster, since it's hard to keep up with haircuts, but that's nothing in comparison if it actually helps my body hair. but it's good to hear that spiro had some effect on your vellus hair, even in the long term, because it means my doctor is WRONG that it can't possibly help hair that is not thick and dark (i don't believe that my excess hair growth is actually vellus, but it's not thick, coarse, and jet black either.) but i was worried for a while that i might actually have hypertrichosis and it might be caused by something else altogether. either way i am going to find a new endocrinologist.

i wish that someone had told me about sun and spiro... i will believe you if you say it's true, but i haven't read it in ANY of the literature about spiro and my doctor never said anything. it seems like a big deal! i never wear sunscreen because i like to get tan in the summer... that makes me sad because i always love so much to get summer color... but i guess it's better to wear sunscreen anyway so you don't get skin cancer. i hope i can remember to put it on. can you get moisturizing lotions that have that type of sunscreen in them? because i put lotion on my face and body every day so that would be a good way to remember to do it.

i noticed something strange today, which i discovered by accident. the hair on my upper back will come off in my fingers with light pulling (very little force. nothing like tweezing.) not all of it of course but more than i would expect. is this a normal aspect of body hair or does it mean the spiro may be doing something to my follicles? i tried it on some "normal" hair (lower arm) and nothing came free. i cant say i have ever noticed this to happen before. it seems unlikely that the spiro would do much this early but i was just wondering.

Here's a copy and paste:

* This medicine may cause your skin to be more sensitive to sunlight than it is normally. Exposure to sunlight, even for brief periods of time, may cause a skin rash, itching, redness or other discoloration of the skin, or a severe sunburn. When you begin taking this medicine:

o Stay out of direct sunlight, especially between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., if possible.

o Wear protective clothing, including a hat. Also, wear sunglasses.

o Apply a sun block product that has a skin protection factor (SPF) of at least 15. Some patients may require a product with a higher SPF number, especially if they have a fair complexion. If you have any questions about this, check with your health care professional.

o Apply a sun block lipstick that has an SPF of at least 15 to protect your lips.

o Do not use a sunlamp or tanning bed or booth.

o If you have a severe reaction from the sun, check with your doctor.


I never wear long sleeves or great big hats in the summer (are you kidding??) but I do wear the avobenzone sunscreen, which is a great moisurizer by the way, and I wear sunglasses. I am very fair skinned so I would say I am probably more prone to skin damage than you are. On the bright side, I look about 15 years younger than I really am because I protect my skin from the sun. A friend of mine exactly my same age looks leathery and old now because of all that tanning. So sunscreen isn't a bad thing. Tanning--all that is, is your body protecting itself from the sun's ray's harm. It's a defense mechanism that has only in recent times been considered "pretty". Okay, end of lecture!

Oh, the hair. It might be the Spiro making it come out easily. I don't know. Since normally clothes would rub hair off by friction, you wouldn't notice it as easily as when pulling on it. I am curious to know if it keeps up. Mine disappeared, but it was under clothing which likely rubbed it off. ??

Keep us updated on that!

i hope that those directions err on the side of caution, because there is no way i am going to sacrifice my summer just because i am on spiro... of course i will start wearing sunscreen... but i'm not going to wear a big hat all over the place and never go anywhere outside between 10 and 3! so i hope the sunscreen will be enough. i have pretty light skin but have never had a problem with sunburn or light sensitivity so i am hoping the spiro won't make it super bad. i will start wearing sunscreen though... i don't want a discolored face. do you know if there is any rhyme or reason to where it may discolor? i noticed that the previous poster said it got discolored where she shaved. i don't shave my face except to shorten the fine peach fuzz, and that's just with an eyebrow shaper. i wonder if this will make any difference.

also, i think the way that my shirts generally lay on my body they probably don't rub much on my back. i don't know if that has anything to do with it. the first time i pulled back my fingers and found my back hairs on them i thought that maybe i had just loosened a few of the hairs that were not in the growing stage or something. but every time i reached back and pulled at the hairs a little bit, i would get more in my fingers. of course there is still plenty of hair there and i can feel it as usual but way more of it came off on my fingers than you would expect in normal circumstances. there isn't really anywhere else i can test it on my body. the longer hairs on my upper arms (closer to the bottom part) are firmly rooted as are my lower arm hairs. the hairs on the top part of my upper arm are too short to get a hold on in order to tug them. everywhere else, pretty much, i shave. i just started shaving in between my breasts and a little bit on my breasts (because of lower cut shirts for the warm weather) and i am kind of wishing i had put that off a few days so i could see if it was happening there too. it's certainly making me feel better even if it's just a fluke coincidence. i guess i just want to feel like the spiro is having some kind of effect on my body, however small. a new small pimple popped up on my chin earlier which made me feel like the spiro wasn't even going to help with that either (i don't have acne, i just get a couple pimples here and there, but it's frustrating to still get pimples at 23 when everyone else i see has perfectly clear skin.)

edit: ok, so i tried it on some shorter hairs that grow on/under my breasts, they are too short to grab but i kind of rubbed them and lo and behold, many hairs fell off and i could see them against the black of my bra where there had been none before. sorry for the detailed play by play but i am pretty excited about this. i don't know if it is the spiro or just some kind of natural phenomenon and they will just grow right back... but it's really a nice feeling to be able to just tug at unwanted hair and see some of it come off in your hands...

Chuckle.

It sounds like the spiro is kicking in for you. I couldn't help but picture a young lady pulling and picking at her body hair in excitement.


As far as the sun (and anything else), what you do and don't do, or will and won't do, is up to you. I will give you any information that I know, and you take it and do what you want with it.

I don't wear big hats either, unless the sun is just fiercely glarey. The avobenzone sunscreen should be enough. Just be sure to apply it often if you sweat or swim. Works for me. As for the face... I have a few small "liver" spots on my face because I didn't know about photosensitivity. Thankfully I caught it soon enough before I got spotted like a cheetah. They are easily covered with makeup (which, mine now has sunscreen in it) but I can imagine what would have happened to me if I never used the sunscreen. As for the previous poster, maybe what happened was that when she shaved, the hairs that would have deflected the sun were gone, hence the discoloration in those areas. Just an educated guess. My spots had nothing to do with shaving.

Pimples--spiro helps acne a whole lot if you have it, BUT it will not prevent an occasional pimple. Those just happen at times--usually hormonal, cyclical, or just lack of proper facial cleansing (nothing harsh, please!) Too much sun doesn't do it any favors either.

Well, as for the hairs... you could wax them and see if they grow back. I doubt they would become terminal since they aren't on your face, and they're falling out on their own anyway.

Cricket23--the only thing I know that will fade darkened spots on skin--like melasma or age spots--is hydroquinone, especially the 4%. BUT you only should use it on small parts of your skin (as in, don't rub it all over yourself!). It really works well, but know that you will be even MORE photosensitive. Let's say you use that stuff for 3 months and your spots fade. If you go out in the sun for 30 minutes unprotected, you can get those darkened areas right back, as if they never faded at all. It takes a long time to fade them, and a short time to get them back. It happens with black people and white people both.

The 2% hydroquinone is considered safer than the 4%, but works a lot more slowly. 4% needs a prescript (in this country and most others), 2% does not. Nobody I know has been harmed by either, so I don't know if the warnings are based on rats or people... or perhaps people who have misused it.

EDIT: Just curious--what does the little yellow flame mean before some threads? There is one next to this thread in the main Prescription forum.

ok, today i purchased some spf 15 facial moisturizer (i will just replace my normal everyday facial moisturizer with this. it says it should last all day unless you sweat a lot or go swimming.) that was the highest spf available for the product. i also purchased some spf 30 lotion for the body which i will apply in the mornings and then during the day if i need to. do you think this is enough? i really don't want discolored skin!

also, i assume tanning beds are out too? i have never used one, i usually just get a natural tan in the summer... i don't want to be a pale ghost creature this summer so i am exploring my options. i guess i may have to use a self tanning cream, it seems cheesy and cheap but i guess no one will be able to tell if i get a good, subtle one and apply it right...

Ah, the college-age angst. I feel for you.

Tanning beds are worse for your skin than the sun. Tanning rays from either source are the cause of the worst skin cancers; it's NOT the burning rays as people think. That's why I said avobenzone. A lot of store-bought sunscreen is junk. They all stop the burning rays, but unless it contains one of the three ingredients I mentioned, forget it, it won't stop the tanning rays which are what will cause you to get spots and shading. I choose avobenzone because it doesn't clog pores.

As for SPF--15 is high enough. Statistically, anything higher really doesn't work better OR longer because it has to be reapplied anyway. And, BTW, tanning bed tans look crappy. You get a weird shade of brown instead of that golden brown from the sun.

I doubt you'll have much trouble on your legs as far as sun sensitivity ('sides, you need your Vitamin D, right? ). Just look out for your face, neck, and chest big time. Those areas will get the spottiest by far, and will burn easily.

If you wear makeup, Paula's Choice makeup has an SPF of 15 and blocks both kinds of rays. I don't know what other brands have. Wearing sunscreen AND makeup is a bit much, so usually I wear makeup (or if I'm staying inside, nothing on my face at all). And don't think that after 3:00 p.m. that you're safe. I'd wait to go out *without* sunscreen at maybe 6:00 or 7:00 depending on where you live. Also, I have been burned right through my car's windshield and side window! In Summer and Winter both! Even my lips are not immune.

The only sunless tanning lotion I know of that doesn't turn you orange is Fake Bake. Check out the reviews at Amazon.com. Also look at the different companies selling Fake Bake on Amazon, because the prices range anywhere from $13 to $40 for the exact same product!

you might also want to look into department store tanning lotion. lancome makes a good one, although it smells kinda weird. but it looks natural.

or clinique probably makes a good one.

just a thought :]