I have been 2+ years on spironolactone (prescribed together with propecia for alopecia). Started with 50 mg, increasing the dosage with +50 mg every six months or so, and have been on 200 mg for the last 8 months. I have barely noticed a decrease in libido, perhaps a 10% or less reduction in spontaneous erections during the day, but sill carrying a 'loaded weapon' in 'good working condition'.

Anyone has a similar experience?

Two things you might consider:

1) Drop the Propecia. Spiro (especially at 200mg), alone, should be effective enough to help with alopecia. The culprit is DHT and Spiro attacks it in two ways: A) by reducing testosterone production and thus DHT, B) by binding with DHT receptors and blocking the effect of DHT. Propecia tends to increase testosterone levels so dropping it MIGHT help. In any case, I think Spiro is sufficient.

2) Change Spiro for Androcur (50mg) and see what happens. With or without Propecia. I would advise without.

Once change is made, give it a month or 2. If no improvement, you can either try the other alernative or increase dosage of Spiro (by 50-100mg) or Androcur (by 25-50mg).

Good luck!

Erika (MtF, 28)

Thanks Erika!

I knew that Propecia, by reducing the binding to Alpha-5 reductase, made the testosterone level seem to increase. I was also under the impression that long-term usage of Spirono would reduce the production of Alpha reductase as well, which would slightly increase the testosterone level of a substantially decreased testosterone production. Kind of a catch-22 situation.

I am gonna keep medications as they are now until the next liver screen panel just so I don't skew the results, but I might try not taking the Propecia afterwards. For some reason, I don't think my doctor was willing to prescribe Androcur, though he as the one suggesting the Spironolactone and gave me a prescription for it. Go figure.