How far along are you?

Yes, spironolactone can cause issues in the fetus and is contraindicated in pregnancy, but doesn't stop you from being able to get pregnant. I'm very surprised that someone would prescribe that to you without ensuring that you were properly preventing pregnancy from occurring (many docs will insist you are on the pill before they will prescribe it to you).

That being said, just because something CAN cause issues, does not mean that it WILL.

First of all only the male fetus is susceptible to the effects, so it may be worth considering finding out the sex of the baby.

This: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3315877/
is worth a read. The section on pregnancy is down at the bottom before Conclusion. In one study, in 31 cases where a fetus was exposed to spironolactone, only 2 congenital defects occurred: one of which was expected for other reasons and the other was a cleft palate (easily fixable these days). There was at least one case of a male fetus in this study exposed to high doses of spironolactone that was born completely normal.

Now that is just one small study but it's just to demonstrate to you how just because something has a risk of adverse effects, that risk may be in reality quite low.


You have to stop beating yourself up because YOU were not informed properly of the risks, so this is not YOUR fault. And you've stopped as soon as you knew, and the likelihood is that everything will be totally normal.

Thanks goodness I am not pregnant. I am on birth control, but mistakes happen. I know people who have gotten pregnant on the pill and those who have fertility problems. I'm still in child bearing years; so I figured it's better safe than sorry.

If you're concerned, and not looking to get pregnant, might I suggest a different birth control method? Things like IUDs or other birth controls that don't require you to take every day reduce the chance of "accidents" (or, if you're that worried, just...abstain?). Frankly, if you're not looking to get pregnant, then the spiro will likely do you more good than harm, as its androgen-lowering effects helps reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Also, it sounds like you have a somewhat "catastrophic" or "worst-case" way of thinking ( http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-the-face-adversity/201103/catastrophic-thinking ) -- you're paranoid about getting pregnant despite being on birth control that is 99.9% effective when used correctly; and you've stopped taking a medicine because in the 0.01% chance that you might get pregnant, the baby has an extraordinarily minute chance that it might have a birth defect (the genital thing has never actually happened, by the way, it's only been surmised that it could happen, based on animal trials that used the maximum human dose in rat, which is far beyond the concentration a human would get - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3315877/ ). I recommend talking to someone about that, because such ways of thinking can be unhealthy, and in this case, is preventing you from continuing a medication that you and/or your doctor have determined sufficient need for in the present time. Should you ever decide to actively try to conceive, then you can talk to your doctor about stopping your spiro, but rest assured that it has a half-life of all of about an hour and a half (about 20% of Metformin's 6.5 hour half-life, to compare).

It would probably also be good to learn more about PCOS and what it means, as it appears that you're a little uneducated. Knowledge is our best weapon when it comes to this disorder (not just for dietary purposes, but also because even many doctors don't understand it much other than Metformin and Spiro are often used to treat it...if they even get that far). Here are some resources to get you started:

http://www.paleoforwomen.com/category/pcos/
http://www.keeperofthehome.org/healthy-living/pcos
http://pcos.about.com/od/whatispcos/u/copingwithpcos.htm
http://www.pcosdiva.com/category/blog/