Spiro vs Aldactone

[Guest guest]

Dear all & Dr. Grim:

Here is my two cents worth; I sent an email over a month ago asking if

anyone on the group knows differences between Aldactone and its generic

drug Spironolactone. I have been taking spiro for two yrs now following my

diagnosis with PA. I took 100 mgs for the most of the 1st year and reduced

to 75mgs thereafter. Just to give a little background about myself, thats

all I take plus I DASH. My BP is well controlled with the two to be under

120/80 most of the time at home and always under 100/60+ at the doctors

office.

Last month, I decided to ask for Aldactone when I was up to renew my

prescription so after taking Aldactone for about a month now, here it goes,

a summery of the differences I have so far experienced:

*Spironolactone, 75mgs, 25am, 50 pm + DASH*

*Aldactone, 75mgs, 25 am, 50 pm + DASH*

costs $5.00 for the bottle of pills to last a month

additonal $65.00 that my insurance did not cover.

Severe flushing and sweating during the days and at nights

Initially didn't notice much difference-by 2nd week sweating was gone 80-90%

Occasional heart palpitations

Initially didn't notice much difference - Much less after the 2nd week and

after a month its almost gone

Severe muscle aches specially in my calves during nights and mornings

muscle aches appear to be reduced-definitely no more in my calves

- didn't experience this on spiro

Wake up in mornings with numb little finger in my right hand - I mean its

really numb with no feeling what so ever for a while

-

My right toes and foot go numb when I walk fast- should I be concerned or

is this a K thing?

Chest feeling like its being ripped apart into shreds before a sweating

episode

I no longer have this feeling - hooray

Occasional feeling of mild nausea(I would say a 1-2 on a scale of 0 to

10)

no more nausea :-)

BP well controlled under 120/80 or lower

BP is well controlled under 120/80 or lower

occasional bouts of low salt episodes and have to do quick salt loading to

feel better otherwise can not function or think mentally – every few days

Have not experienced any low salt episodes(days) in the past month and have

maintained a low salt diet

Feeling tired often

pain in breasts and increased size

certainly the pain is gone and I have lost a little though not measurably on

the scale- my tops feel slightly looser

My rings fit in my fingers tighter

My rings are rather loose and come right off my fingers, so obviously some

kind of less swelling

Whats interesting is that last week I was traveling and forgot to take the

Aldactone with me. But no worries, because I had a bottle of extra Spiro

with me which I took. After the 2nd day all the side effects, in particular

the weired feeling in my chest and the flushing came back. Thankfully I

only took it for 4 days and am now back on Aldactone. Now the challenge

remains to convince my doctor to write a prescription for Aldactone instead

of spiro so the insurance can cover it. Otherwise I think I have to invest

in Aldactone by paying $65 each month. The other challenge that remains is

to do a blood test and get a measurement of the Aldosterone, Renin and my K.

Once I do that I will keep you all posted but it will be a while before I am

up for my next blood work.

By the way, I have checked the chemical compounds of the two on-line and

they both appear to be the same with minor differences in ingredients.(I am

not a chemistry kind of a person so I leave this to some of you experts in

analyzing the chemical compounds of the two

Happy New Year to all of you,

Farah