my 22 month on spiro and prem......update

joeh · 07-18-2004, 09:34 PM

its been almost 22 months since i started on 100 mgs of spironolatone and premerin 2.5 a day.my skin is perfect but i still have scarring.i dont have any sex drive but again its better than suffering from severe acne....or trying to control severe acne with topicals.yea i have slight boobs but what the h*ll..most guys do anyways and woman are starting to notice me.now i can probably get girls but cant have sex.its still better than suffering with acne.least i feel a lot better about the way i look.

Kikki · 07-19-2004, 01:42 AM

I have read your posts and have followed with interest. I am so glad that you have found the solution to your acne. Spiro was actually recommended to me by my ENT (also a good friend) - apparently his wife and I had very similar histories and she had been on spiro for several weeks with good success. Well, I have been on it for 3-4 weeks (up to 200mg - doc said this was fine until I achieved the results I wanted and then we could back off to a lower dose) and have seen a decrease in my oiliness, a decrease in the acne on my face (though by all means, not perfect), and a slight decrease on the acne on my back. Hopefully with continued use I can too be clear! So your story and info has been very incouraging.

I don't know why I have gone in to all of this, but to the point now. I know that females do not experience near the sexual side effects as men do (or at least the wopping 3 women I know on it ~ fortunately for our boyfriends/hubbys) and was just curious about the exact arousal problems men on spiro experience. I can understand the decrease in general horiness, but what about being stimulated during foreplay? When you say you "can't have sex" do you mean you have absolutely no desire to (a pardox I just cannot fathom - Every guy I ever meet has ONE thing on his mind; it might be refreshing for a change

) or you really "can't"? I know this is extremely personal, but I have been really interested in this. I ask because a male friend of mine was asking me about what I was on for my skin and I told him, including the male side effects, and he asked me, but I said I wasn't exactly sure.

Thanks in advance!

joeh · 07-19-2004, 03:07 AM

well since spiro is an anti-androgen.....androgen aka testosterone aka human sex hormone........is being surpressed i cant be sexually aroused even if say britney spears was a foot away from me in a sexy outfit.hey but i can still love a girl i just cant do sexual things.guys think of sex more than woman because they produce more testosterone.in woman their testosterone level rises before their period and thats when they feel sexiest.if they produce too much testosterone or their sebasious glands are sensative to testosterone they breakout.ok estrogen is why woman have better,softer skin than men because they produce a lot more of it.estrogen also can work as an anti-androgen but you would need a lot unless you use an anti-androgen with it.woman lose the ability to produce estrogen when they get older so they go on HRT to regain better looking skin ect.but the drawbacks of HRT is the possibiltity of getting blood clots,cancer ect.i dont drink or smoke or take illegal drugs so im am doing really good on this combination.i may not be super in the bed but least i have gained some measure of feeling good about myself.if i was a derm i would have reservations about prescribing this to any male under 30 unless i had papers from a psyciatrist saying this was causing the acne sufferer major mental damage.really under 20 would be real hard to prescribe to a male cause the body is still growing and spiro would stunt the body from maturing and hopefully outgrowing acne.the male patient with acne.....and i mean severe with everything else tried including accutane....must be well informed of all possible risks before going on spiro.it could have actually benifited bill clinton lol.i cant see a better drug to give sex offenders that cant control their hormones.it would be a good deturent to any one thinking of commiting a sex crime.its not cruel either......so i cant see why our govt doesnt use it.back to the main subject is that spiro with or without estrogen can work wonders on both males and females but males will notice the drop in their sex drive more because they produce more testosterone and it also might take more to surpress their hormones.take care.

SweetJade1 · 07-19-2004, 03:14 AM

Kiki,
Let's not forget that Joeh is also taking estrogen, and that may cool your drive too. I've asked other men on this board and they haven't commented on lacking in that respect, but we must remember that they aren't taking estrogen nor doses of Spiro as high as Joeh is. Unfortunately we are all so different in how we respond to it. As a female maybe 300mg of Spiro would have cleared me, but 200mg plus other medication combos or dietary changes did not. However I've had the best luck with dietary changes and spiro for certain things. As for the drive it did affect me slightly too, but not to the point where I didn't have desire. I just wasn't a horny teenager anymore, LOL.

So Joeh, we need for you to do us all a big favor and hook up with some women for us. We need to know if you need some special herbs on the side or if all you need is that physical contact or emotional bond with a woman. Can ya do that for us? That way we can know if maybe it's all a matter of actually having a REASON for it or if you just "can't". Thanks ;-)

SweetJade1 · 07-19-2004, 03:17 AM

Joeh,
LOL, I missed that post. Wow I never thought of doing that to "offenders". I really wonder if it's the estrogen that has supressed you so much. Well try dating and see how you feel about it all. Or have you tried any of those herbs?