Spironolactone questions

[Scoot]

I'm at the end of my rope with this PCOS/IR business. Up until now, I had almost all the symptoms - severe acne, hirsutism, excessively oily everything (basically just way, way androgen-saturated) weight gain, irregular/absent periods, dark patches of skin, etc. My unsupportive doctor diagnosed me with PCOS but won't take it seriously because I'm not TTC. "It's just cosmetic," she says, even though it's ruining my self-image. But I have put up with all that, thinking, "Well, at least my hair isn't falling out."

But now, my hair seems to be falling out, at my temples. I can't take this anymore! Diet and exercise clearly aren't cutting it and I am desperate to do something before I end up with bald spots. I want to try spiro for sure, and met if necessary. When I mentioned these to my doctor, she said "I've never heard of prescribing those for that."

Time for a new doctor. I'm nervous because I think the one I really want to see - Dr. Catherine Clinton - might not accept patients without insurance, and I don't know who else to go to here (Chicago). The internet has been surprisingly unhelpful with this.

Anyway, my questions:

A) Those of you who are on spiro, how has your experience been? Has it been helpful with just certain symptoms? All of them? How long did it take for you to see improvements? Any negative effects?

B) How difficult was it to get your prescription? I have been through several doctors now and none of them have even suggested any meds, and I'm so afraid I'll never find one that will help me. I always feel weird marching in and asking for a certain rx - like, "Oh, here's another person who self-diagnosed and wants to self-medicate." Mind you, I have asked about it anyway - just haven't had success.

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

[XLMuffnTop]

I don't have experience with those medications so I can't offer much advice.

However, since you are uninsured, have you tried an herb/supplement regimen? You can google all sorts of information on what to take to help with each symptom. I started last week and have noticed my hunger has decreased and my facial hair hasn't been as thick or as noticeable. Also, once I stopped breastfeeding, I've actually been getting somewhat regular periods (every 35 days or so). It may or may not work for you but it's a much cheaper option than multiple doctor's visits and expensive Rx's

If you do not go that route and do see a doctor, do NOT feel intimidated over discussing types of medication. You have the time to research your symptoms, treatments, etc. Yes, a family doctor should know these general things but they aren't specialists. My husband has a rare neurological condition and is VERY specific on what he needs and told our doctor word for word how to write the RX to ensure it is covered by insurance. Sometimes you HAVE to self diagnose. My husband had been to literally 20 doctors and got varied answers from TMJ, sinusitis to "the pain isn't that bad, take an NSAID". One day he was home from work in pain thinking he was going crazy and heard a two minute news clip on the condition and went and googled and BAM! He knew that's what he had and has been pushing for treatment ever since.

YOU know you better than doctors.Your doctor should help you feel your best by whatever means he/she can within reason. Taking time to discuss specific medication is well within reason.

Good luck! Hope it all works out.

[Angela80]

First I want to say, I'm so sorry you are going threw all of this, I went threw the same thing in the begging. Now to answer your questions,

I do take spirinolactone, and I love it. I started to notice changes within about a month. I use to have to nair my lip about once every other week or so, but when I started to take it, I didn't have to for a while. I only need to about once every 3 months. It also really helped the acne, it was getting pretty crazy. I never had it as a teenager, so I didn't understand why I had it as an adult! But I did, I still do, but it's not too bad. I usually only have one or two spots on my face now, sometimes I even get a break with nothing (I love those times ).

I have a really good doctor, she listens to me, and she is always up for trying something new. All it took was for me to ask her about trying it. Her policy is that she will only try one new med at a time, that way if something happens we know what caused it.

As for the metformin, I don't know how much it will help you with the hair and acne, but it will help to control your blood sugar (if you have a problem with it). My best friend has been taking it for a couple months now, and with out any diet change I have seen her drop some weight, probably 10 pounds.

I really hope you find a good doctor! Good Luck!

[Scoot]

Thanks for the support and the info!

XLMuffnTop - I have been looking into supplements, but haven't really tried anything yet. Will continue to research!

I ended up having a long talk with my doctor, the result of which is that she says we can try Spiro and/or Metformin. It was tough getting her to agree, but I think she finally realized that if she wouldn't help me, I'd find another doctor who would.

I'm not sure which one I'd start with - both have their merits. I'm inclined to try Metformin first to help the underlying issues, but then, I don't want my hair to thin more in the meantime. I don't want to start both simultaneously, of course, just in case there's a problem I want to be able to discern what caused it. The potential serious side effects of both meds scare the crap out of me. I just don't want to accidentally make things worse.

I am seeing the doc to pick up my script next week. However, I won't be starting anything right away. I decided that I'm going to give diet/exercise one more strong push - for the next month, I'm going to try as hard as I can to stay on plan 100%. I'm not weighing myself in the meantime, because daily weighing is stressing me out. If I am consistent for a month and that still doesn't help, then I can say I've done all I can and I'll start meds. I'm excited/nervous/worried - keeping my fingers crossed that I can make some progress!

[kaplods]

I don't have PCOS, but am insulin resistant. One thing to consider, especially without insurance is price. I don't know about Spironolactone, but Metformin is very inexpensive. It's on the Sam's/Walmart $4 list and Target's as well.