Welcome to Think Your Health and I'm Dr. John. On this channel questions and problems regarding your
health are answered and shout out to one of my viewers for requesting this video. Time stamps
are included for the different sections of this video click on the description below. What is
spironolactone. Spironolactone is a prescription medication, the brand name is Aldactone
it belongs to family medications called Aldosterone Antagonists. Spironolactone is also
referred to as a potassium sparing diuretic. How does spironolactone work? This medication
makes your kidney remove extra water as well as potassium. You can refer to this drug
as a water pill, in other words it makes you pee more. That is why it is referred to as a potassium
sparing diuretic. What is spironolactone used for?Spironolactone can be used to treat your high
blood pressure,by lowering blood pressure it helps prevent strokes and heart attacks. Having said
that this medication is not a first choice blood pressure medication. It can be used with other
medications to treat heart failure, it can be used to treat extra fluid in your body especially if it
is due to a disease called liver cirrhosis or another rarer kidney disease called nephrotic
syndrome. This extra fluid in your body is called edema. Another use for this medication is to
treat elevated Aldosterone levels in your body. Aldosterone is a hormone which your body produces,
it is used in a rarer medical condition called primary Aldosteronism. it can be used off-label to
treat Acne. Another off-label use is to treat male pattern hair growth in women called Hirsutism.
Here Spironolactone works as an anti-androgen. Doses and administration: the doses in form
of tablets are 25 milligrams, 50 milligrams, 100 milligrams. You can take this medication
with or without food. Some individuals have nausea when taking this medication on an empty stomach.
You can combat this by taking this in with some food. Must know tips and advice: Number one
if you're taking this medication especially if you're older like I advise with all blood pressure
medications is that it can make you feel dizzy and lightheaded, so take your time when you're getting
up from a sitting or sleeping position be careful when you're walking up and down stairs. Number two
Spironolactone can increase your Potassium you have to be careful when you take in potassium
rich food such as bananas, potatoes or oranges or taking in potassium supplements. Your doctor
will be checking your electrolytes in particular your potassium: You are probably asking yourself
what are the signs and symptoms of high potassium: well, they are nausea, fatigue, weakness
chest pain, palpitations because of an irregular heartbeat, uncoordinated movements. Number four
Spironolactone is a diuretic. It would be advisable to take this medication earlier
during the day. If you take this medication in the evening or at night time you will be always
running to the bathroom. Five: you should not use this medication for weight loss,
the weight you lose is water weight and not excess weight due to fat. Number six: you should avoid
taking potassium supplements or salt substitutes that contain potassium as you can run the risk of
excessive potassium in your body. Seven: Alcohol and Marijuana can slow the effects of this drug
follow up with your Doctor if you're taking these substances. This medication
especially in higher doses can cause gynecomastia. Gynecomastia means enlarged breasts, gynecomastia
may affect one or even both breasts. You will experience a breast swelling and pain
and if you're a man and you're listening to this rest assured this condition is reversible. Once
the medication is discontinued if you're on this medication and have a pre-existing kidney problem
and you are taking it with other medications called NSAIDS such as Ibuprofen,
Motrin or Aleve you're at a risk of causing kidney damage or kidney failure.
Your doctor will be monitoring your kidney parameters closely. This medication can cause
certain electrolytes to decrease the electrolytes which can be affected are Magnesium, Sodium
and Calcium. Your Doctor will be following them with blood draws and if you're interested in other
blood pressure medications check out this link above. All drugs may cause side effects: the goal
of this channel is to educate you if you're on a drug and how it works and what you might expect
in terms of common side effects. There will be always some people who'll have no or only mild
side effects if you do have side effects call your doctor as soon as possible to get his or her
advice accordingly. Here's a list of medications that can interact with this medication causing
drug drug interactions: this is not an exhaustive list. If you're on one of these medications please
tell your doctor. Your doctor should check your potassium after one week of initiation
of this medication and anytime the dose of the medication is changed. Here's some of the blood
parameters your doctors should be occasionally checking as these can all be affected by this
medication. If you're pregnant or breastfeeding talk to your Doctor about this medication,
as this medication can cross the placenta and is present in breast milk. As this medication
can block male hormones it can cause the male fetuses genitals not to form properly, therefore,
do not take it when you're pregnant. Here's some of the side effects:
once again this list is not exhaustive, but you'll have some idea if you're experiencing one of these
side effects which you're seeing down there so call your doctor if you're feeling any of these
side effects. If you're taking Spironolactone for acne you should know that this medication cannot
cure the disease, but it can manage symptoms, especially if taken for a longer period of time,
that is several months.In women who are taking this medication to improve the thickness of the
hair or even to treat hair loss the treatment, it can take a long time to be effective.,in
fact several months. Well THINK your Health and have a good day!! how come every time i do this
something else happens i don't know what to say i hear elephants walking around
in fact is this my house become a hunter now this is like a comedy of errors i mean is this is there
an elephant up here it sounds like niagara falls and the elephant listen to this noise
it's not even niagara falls it's victoria falls it's like is someone like vacuuming