Stopping Spiro

[VictoriaG]

I took 25mg of Spiro for 10 months, and finally realized it was not helping at all. With my doctor's OK, I stopped it, last pill was Sunday. This is not a hair-related question, but - I am retaining an awful lot of fluid in the last few days. Could going off of such a low dose of Spiro, a diuretic, cause that, or is it just a coincidence? Thanks.

[kdwmw]

I took spiro for about 10 months also, but I was on 200mg daily as prescribed by Dr. Redmond. From everything I've read/heard, I don't think 25mg would do anything. Could you get a higher dose? Anyway, when I was on it I craved & ate tons of salt! Make sure you're not eating too much salt & drink lots of water. I know I was bloated after going off spiro, but again my dose was much higher. I'm fine now --2months later, just losing hair like crazy. k

[VictoriaG]

Thanks for responding. I can't take a higher dose because my blood pressure is so low. My testosterone is actually quite low, so we didn't think this would help much, but figured it was worth a try since nothing else was helping at all. I'll try to drink more water and hope that helps with the bloat. I am glad to know it's not a totally abnormal side effect of going off of it, though!!! Happy Friday :)
Oh - and after 5 days off, my shedding is no different than it was 2 weeks ago. Blah.

[Kellie246]

kdwmw~

Can you give me any insight on what taking spiro was like for you? I'm guessing you stopped because you didn't see any results. I'm currently on 150 mg spiro, but have only been at that dosage for about a month (i've been gradually increasing it for the last few months). I'm curious as to whether I'll actually see improvement, so I'd be interested to hear your story :)

[kdwmw]

Well, I started w/ the 200mg daily. For a while, the only side effect for me was the salt craving (and constipation from not keeping up my water intake...sorry if that's TMI!). My hair shedding improved drastically after about 4/5 months, but never ceased. I had also started Armour for my Hashis about the same time, so I wasn't sure which might be helping. I was just happy for any improvement. Then about the 8/9 month of spiro, I started shedding tons of hair again. My endocrinologist tested my thyroid & bumped up my meds adding levoxyl to the armour. My next blood work showed my potassium to be extremely high & insisted that I quit taking the spiro. I didn't really argue too much because I was shedding like crazy already. My doc offered propecia, but that kinda freaks me out & I'm not ready to take it. I did start Rogaine for women about a month ago. I just don't know what I'm going to do. Were you diagnosed w/ AGA?

[Kellie246]

Well, the truth is...I'm not sure lol. I had all the thryroid, glucose, ferritin, testerone, etc tests run that they all came back within the 'normal' range, or so my derm has told me. I've just assumed that I've got AGA or FPHL or whatever. My hair started falling out about 3 months after I stopped birth control, so I *think* that my hormones have gone out of control and its brought on my hair loss. My derm has been really nice, she's understanding and actually interested in helping me, but I think I'm going to see an endocrinologist as soon as I can.

My derm never actually went over my blood work with me, and I'm curious to check the results myself. I requested copies and I think I'll take them to get a second opinion. I've been reading a lot of comments on this site about the hair loss-ferritin connection, so I'd like to see where I stand on that.

So far my hair just keeps on falling and falling, and I get more depressed and resigned to the fact that one day I will be bald; which spirals into 'no man will ever have me, I'll never get married, and I'll be a crazy old cat lady' lol. It's hard to understand why this sort of thing happens to anyone of us here, but especially us younger women (I'm 23).

Anyway, thanks for your candidness. It really does help me to know others here are going through this and doing their best to be proactive about the situation. :)