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.