28 replies to this topic

[East 99]

i went to the derm today and she said my acne was severe, she prescribed the pill Minocycline. has anybody had experienced this antibiotic before? will it make me worse before getting better? any side effects i should look for? any suggestions? please help

[EQ_Guy55]

i went to the derm today and she said my acne was severe, she prescribed the pill Minocycline. has anybody had experienced this antibiotic before? will it make me worse before getting better? any side effects i should look for? any suggestions? please help

In my opinion antibiotics like Mino are great for treating acne. It takes your body about 6 weeks to get used to the pill but after that you should start to see very good improvement on your face. Ive been on Doxycycline for 2 months and I love it! I hope it works for you also. Good luck.

[Rache]

Be carefull..it stopped my period...I haven't been regular since..and that was 3 yrs ago. I am pretty sure it was the drug, it wouldn't have been anything else.

I am not saying that it will stop your period..but it did mine. BUT...I CLEARED UP!..greatly because of it. So I am sure it will work for ya

[HalcyoN-]

As with doxycycline, minocyline can cause photosensitivity - severe reaction to direct sunlight - so I wouldn't go tanning while you're on it.

I was on minocycline for about 3 months and at best it kept my acne stable. What I mean by that is it didn't worsen despite all the drinking, drugs, and late nights I had as a fresher. It also didn't clear my acne and when I decided to come off of it my skin worsened lots and took a few months to settle down. I'm now back to square one. That's just me, I havn't responded to any antibiotics, despite having fairly mild acne.

Good luck :]

[RSXBOI]

I would say it's a good antibiotic...You're going to go through a break out first then start to improve.

[East 99]

As with doxycycline, minocyline can cause photosensitivity - severe reaction to direct sunlight - so I wouldn't go tanning while you're on it.

I was on minocycline for about 3 months and at best it kept my acne stable. What I mean by that is it didn't worsen despite all the drinking, drugs, and late nights I had as a fresher. It also didn't clear my acne and when I decided to come off of it my skin worsened lots and took a few months to settle down. I'm now back to square one. That's just me, I havn't responded to any antibiotics, despite having fairly mild acne.

Good luck :]

will a good moisturizer or sun block spf 30 eliminate the problem of photosensitivity??

[ChristineLE24]

I was on it for like 2 months. It was great. Cleared up my skin fast and hasn't come back and I haven't been on it for like 5 months.
I am getting Fraxel now for the dark spots and stuff that the acne has left behind. I never broke out before and started breaking out with cystic acne about 6 months after turning 30. Tried everything, as far as over the counter stuff goes, and nothing worked. Finally went to derm and they put me on Minocycline. Best thing I could've done.

[kittenkaboodle]

It might work for you, but it didn't do a thing for me. My acne was moderate to slightly severe at the time, and I really didn't notice anything.

[East 99]

will the dizziness and nausea affect my playing sports??

thank you everybody for your comments!!!!

[Zippo]

I used it for several months and I had a similar experience to HalcyoN. It kept my acne stable, but it didn't completely clear me of my acne. When I decided to go off it I had a horrible breakout. I'm still living with the red marks from over a year ago to show for it. Oh, and I would say that my acne was moderate to severe when I went on it.

[nick_04]

Worked a bit after about 4 months on it...then 6 months later it did nothing. But I would try it out, see how it goes. I didnt have any side effects.

[Whyteout]

will the dizziness and nausea affect my playing sports??

thank you everybody for your comments!!!!

im on it right now (3 weeks...) I dont get nauseus, but i do get cramps and I fart alot i play sports..it doesnt affect me

[Wolfy]

will the dizziness and nausea affect my playing sports??

thank you everybody for your comments!!!!

I got a bit of lightheadedness and dizzyness when I first went on it, but not bad, and it certainly didn't affect anything like that. It seemed to gradually fade.

Wasn't too bad for me. But some people have it so bad they have to come off it.

[aquafinayo]

hey im on it for moderate acne and it works great along with duac.....dont eat 2 hrs before or after and along with no dairy products within those hours

[o_Adam_o]

will the dizziness and nausea affect my playing sports??

thank you everybody for your comments!!!!

i was on it for a year if i can remmeber, i played a season of football during that time, you can play sports fine while on it

good luck its helped me quite abit.

[andrew*]

People who have been on minocycline -- is the "initial breakout" something that you experienced, and how long did it last? I've been on 100mg for 3 weeks, and my skin has been BAD this past week. Do you think the minocycline's causing this, or is it having no effect and my skin's behaving as it would normally? How long do you reckon for it to work? Thank you!

[Wolfy]

People who have been on minocycline -- is the "initial breakout" something that you experienced, and how long did it last? I've been on 100mg for 3 weeks, and my skin has been BAD this past week. Do you think the minocycline's causing this, or is it having no effect and my skin's behaving as it would normally? How long do you reckon for it to work? Thank you!

I would doubt it had anything to do with the minocycline. They're probably spots that started before you went on the minocycline.

You should find that your skin will improve in about another 3 weeks time as the pores turn over and start growing straighter and better now that the P.Acnes bacteria isn't irritating and damaging your pores. That takes about 6 weeks to noticeably improve, and improvement will continue for up to 3 months.

(It is possible you've got antibiotic resistant bacteria, you'll know that if you don't start to clear up in 3 weeks time or so.)

[Mazzy]

I had to respond to your minocycline question. I have moderate to severe adult cystic acne. I spent lots of money going to the dermotologist. She was the silliest woman I'd ever met. Made me feel uglier than when before setting foot through the door. I'd never been and put up with it to get medicine. She put me on minocycline. It was aweful!! I don't know if I was allergic or what, but I was so dizzy and sick to my stomach every morning and night. I kept on it hoping I'd feel better. Then came the runs! I finally went to my Gen Pract Dr to get help for those symptoms and he did lots of blood work, just to find out the my liver levels were sky high. He told me to get off the minocycline immediately. The dermotologist wouldn't treat me again.

Just be careful. I had a sensitive reaction, but if your symptoms don't go away, don't risk your liver for it.

[~TEPL0~]

i went to the derm today and she said my acne was severe, she prescribed the pill Minocycline. has anybody had experienced this antibiotic before? will it make me worse before getting better? any side effects i should look for? any suggestions? please help

take it with food. You wont' notice any bad side effects. it's no big deal, and might work well.

[Wolfy]

take it with food. You wont' notice any bad side effects. it's no big deal, and might work well.

It's a fairly safe drug, but some people do seem to react to it. I think reactions are down to a few per ten thousand or something; so you will find people on the board who had trouble. But reactions are often very minor.

There is a known risk of being on it for several years though; some people seem to get drug induced lupus (an autoimmune disease, that is potentially fatal). That usually goes away when you stop taking the drug though. Mostly that happens with people that have been on it for several years, but IRC one guy here had been on it for under 6 months.

The other interesting thing about it is that it's quite expensive (maybe $100 per month), but often the patients aren't the ones paying for it. Other antibiotics like doxycycline are maybe $7 per month.