Spironolactone is a common medication that my clients are on for their acne or have asked me about before. I see many influencers on my social media share their acne struggles and how they did rounds of Accutane that didn't work and wanting to try this medication to finally fix their acne.
What these women do not realize is that they aren't addressing the root cause of their acne. What is going on internally? Are you digesting your food? Do you have an infection? Are you sleeping enough? How are your stress levels?
Many people on this medication may not understand the negative side effects and that is exactly why I wanted to make this blog post for you all. I think it's always important to know what you're putting inside your body because it may not be fixing your acne at all. It's instead just masking the underlying issue beneath the surface.
What is spironolactone?
Potassium-sparing diuretic and androgen blocker
Commonly used for acne, heart failure, hypertension, or hypokalemia (low potassium)
Helps kidneys remove fluid and salt from the blood and through the urine, without losing potassium
Works by blocking aldosterone, which reduces the levels of male hormones (testosterone & DHEA)
Helps with acne due to lowering testosterone levels in the body (which may be high in conditions such as PCOS)
What are the side effects?
Hyperkalemia (elevated potassium levels)
Lowers levels of other minerals such as calcium, sodium, and magnesiums
Gynecomastia
Breast tenderness and swelling
Reduced libido
Bloating and other GI issues
Urinating more frequently
Skin dryness
Fatigue
Reduced kidney function
Due to lowering androgens, this can impact other hormone levels in the body
Spironolactone causes hormonal imbalance by raising estrogen to keep up with the depleting androgens. It can disrupt your menstrual cycle, ovulation, estrogen metabolism, and adrenal dysfunction. It can even cause menstrual irregularities, gut issues, depression, low libido, dehydration, and loss of minerals. Remember that minerals also impact your hormones, and this does impact your mineral levels in your blood.
Reminder: get to the root cause of why you have acne or other health issues. There is a time and place for medications but this will NOT fix your problems, it just masked the root of the issue. This can impact your gut health and hormones, and it is important to think about what happens when you get off this medication?
I am not judging anyone who takes this or is thinking about it. I am just here to educate you and help you understand what taking this medication might be dong inside your body.
I remember my skin breaking out in January 2021 and I had no idea what was going on. I literally never struggled with acne or even cared about skincare before.
Of course, I did everything topically. I was using Clearstem, which helped a lot and I still use today. I switched a lot of my other products to non-pore clogging ingredients, but something was going on internally that needed to be addressed.
As a Functional Medicine Practitioner, I ordered a GI Map for myself to figure out what was going on in my gut microbiome. When you have acne or skin issues, it is most likely related to your gut microbiome or another internal issue. While topical products can help, it’s not addressing any underlying issues that may be going on internally.
My results came back and showed that I had some underlying infection in my gut and my elastase level was extremely low, meaning I had some pancreatic insufficiency. I did some bloodwork alongside and learned what I wasn’t breaking down due to my infection.
The root cause of this issue: an infected root canal. Yep, a root canal I got when I was 21 years old had probably been infected for years and I had no idea. I am so thankful I was able to figure out the root cause and I ended up extracting the entire tooth to it to get it out of my body.
I know it’s frustrating to have acne and to want to take anything for it to just go away quickly. It took me 7 months clear my skin and I was left with tons of scarring that had to be addressed.
If you want to fix your internal issues naturally, you have to give it time and I am absolutely here to help you! I have helped many clients clear their acne, just look at my “testimonials” story highlight on my instagram to see the pictures!
If you’re struggling with diet, lifestyle, hormones, or gut issues, click here to fill out my contact form and work with me 1:1!