Hi Rachel,
I've been using spirotone (spironolactone) for a few months. Early on I split my dose (but feel that my evening dose made it rather difficult for me to sleep at night for some reason. I can't explain why. In general you will find that you need to urinate a lot more frequently - this was partly why I changed my dose from a split am/pm to a single am dose. I haven't included dosages because I think it's against the policy of this site to do so.
I had to change my diet completely because spironolactone retains potassium in your body. Before spironolactone I used to eat spinach with every meal, as well as 3 oranges a day and a reasonable amount of meat. All of these foods contain lots of potassium, and I didn't want to risk potassium poisoning. I changed to eating things like mandarins, cauliflower. If you search the net for low potassium foods you will find them. I also have to pay closer attention to my water intake - you need to drink lots of water to make up for all the water you pee out, you know.
I do feel tired quite a bit on spiro. I like to exercise quite a bit, and I feel the spiro actually saps my energy. I have very good cardiovascular fitness , have a low resting heart rate, and my pre-hormone blood pressure was within the 'normal range'. However, I do occasionally notice that my heart flushes with excitement once in a while, as though I'm in love and the object of my love has walked into the room. Not sure if that's a bad thing or a good thing, though! I'm not even sure if that has anything to do with spiro, or if it's the estrogen.
To be honest I think my testosterone levels are low enough now that I no longer need an anti-androgen. I only have about a month's supply left, and when I have finished that supply I'll stop. I'm of the belief that the fewer foreign chemicals you put into your body, the better. In other words, if you don't need it, don't use it.
just one more note... Don't forget that being on oestrogen also shrinks your urine bladder so you need to go more often to the toilet if you are on hormones anyway and also you can't keep it as long as a male bladder so it becomes "urgent" more often. Now if you then also use Spiro, the "emergency" of going to the toilet more often can in fact be like "not now again".... sort of thing.
I used Spiro but got cramps in my leg so I stopped it as fast as I started it.
xxx Natalie
July 4, 2009 11:33 PM BST
I'd never heard that estrogen shrinks the bladder. That's interesting to know!
Oh and Rachel, you have to remember as with most hormone regimens, but especially with spiro, you should start on a very low dose and increase gradually. The same principle applies when you stop - it's best to taper off it rather than stop cold turkey.
"Alhana Cherie wrote:
I'd never heard that estrogen shrinks the bladder."
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I think it was the same with me Alhana, until I noticed that I had to go more often to the toilet and it always become more urgent. I asked my doctor and I was told that it's due to the fact that oestrogen makes the bladder smaller and with this the pressure increases.
I started a new thread named "The effect of oestrogen" which might be some help to someone new to oestrogen?
http://gendersociety.com/[...]031850&
xxx Natalie
