Spironolactone is a diuretic drug (makes you lose water) which also happens to have anti-androgenic properties (inhibits male hormones). It is marketed under several names including Aldactazide, Aldactone, Berlactone, Novo-Spiractin, Spiroton, Spirotone and Verospiron.
It is sometimes prescribed to treat some of the symptoms of PCOS, like excess hair growth, acne and loss of head hair.
It’s essentially a synthetic steroid and it changes the electrolyte balance in your body, such as reducing the rate at which potassium is excreted and decreases the rate that water and sodium are reabsorbed.
It has quite a lot of side effects and has been found to be carcinogenic in mice and causes birth defects in male babies. For this reason, it’s extremely important to make sure you don’t conceive whilst you are taking spironolactone. It can also interfere with antidepressants.
