3 replies to this topic

[mrjack]

So I've been taking Minocycline for over 4 months now, and I've come to realize that I need to get off it somehow. This summer, my complexion hit an all time low. In a desperate move to clear it up, I took any meds that the dermatologist threw my way.

So he prescribed me 100 mg Minocycline, twice daily. It didn't take long for it to take effect - my skin was clearing up. It seemed even and smoother than it had been in a long time. But in the last month, I've noticed uneven coloration and emerging pimples. Not too mention one of the most unpleasant side effects - my whole body has become itchy. Itchy itchy itchy. It's keeping me up and night and waking me up in the morning.

So ya, I've realized that antibiotics are unnatural and definitely not a long term solution. I wish I never started taking them because I feel stuck now. I've tried to stop taking it multiple times, only to go back to it due to withdrawal symptoms and side effects.

I did cut my intake from twice daily to just once at night, and that seems to keep my skin at an okay place - besides the itchiness all over my body. Cutting it cold turkey definitely didn't work. I'm still clear the first couple days, but it doesn't take long for the acne to come back with a vengeance.

I need some help. Is it going to be possible to stop taking Minocycline without my acne coming back with a vengeance? Is there a proper way to ween my body off it? Thanks for reading my first post guys and gals.




Desperately yours,
mrjack

[E4j4tr]

I took Minocycline for about three years. It helped my acne, but I still had a few breakouts here and there, enough that I still had concerns and was picking and squeezing all the time (not good, I know). Then, in about July of 2010, my face began to sprout these big, hard cysts that when squeezed erupted with copious amounts of thick blood (this squeezing left scars that are still visible even after the wounds cleared; if you have this type of nodular acne DO NOT squeeze or pop them - they will leave nasty dark marks that take a long time to go away). It was then that I realized I needed a special kind of treatment, and I went on Accutane which succeeded in clearing them up.
My point, though, is that Minocycline did not prevent a worse type of acne from developing on my face in addition to still allowing the little breakouts to occur. Mind you, I had quit the Minocycline cold turkey once I went on the Accutane, and it wasn't until eight months after I had gotten off the Accutane, totally clear, that I am now starting to have problems again. Whether this relapse is due to my time on Minocycline or not, I don't know. Getting off of the stuff was fine, but if you need a stronger medication for more severe acne, I'd suggest trying a stronger antibiotic then going on the Accutane. This, in theory, might help reduce the onslaught of the severe initial breakout that Accutane can cause. But if you are just trying to get off of antibiotics onto solely topical treatments or a different kind of oral medication, I don't think you'd experience any side effects from quitting cold turkey. Then again, I wouldn't know for sure, since the "vengeance" I experienced was most likely entirely from the Accutane.
I hope this made sense, and if so I hope it helps!

[Callum.]

Minocycline helped my face acne.

[mrjack]

Well my goal is not to move to a stronger antibiotic, but stop taking them altogether. I'm more interested in all natural approaches.

And mind you, I wouldn't consider my acne to be severe. On the whole, I'd consider it more mild. But in the process of trying to ween off, I'm seeing litter cluster formations forming that I've never had before, as well as the occasional cyst. So I can feel something bad around the corner. Meh.