33 replies to this topic

[Crystal33]

I suffer from nodular inflammatory acne and was prescribed amoxicillin for 3 weeks (2x 625mg per day) to fight the infection and then I will start on 30mg accutane. It has been almost 2 weeks and my face is completely clear! This antibiotic also cleared my skin many years ago when I took it after my wisdom teeth were removed.

I think it's a great antibiotic and I have had no side effects at all.
It's a bit odd that I will start accutane with clear skin but I know the moment I stop the antibiotics the horrible painful nodules will just keep returning.

[BlueMug]

Oddly enough I'm allergic to amox but not penicillin, Took it once when I had pneumonia and broke out in hives... either way I couldn't tell if it improved my acne much since I was covered in red dots anyway.

There are alot of antibiotics out there for acne, it could be any of them that work for some people, or none at all for some people. I have had no luck with any I've tried.

[john71]

One guy wrote me here, asking if I was cured.
I learned more over the years. Here's my reply.

Amoxycillin only works for me as long as I keep taking it. I can take it, and within say 3 days I'm almost cleared up! I can then stop for about 5 or 7 days and then acne comes back again.

I learned that acne is a bacterial skin "flora" -- you have bacteria everywhere on and in you, some is good, some is bad. So, the antibiotic allows your body to kill off the bacteria, but it kills good and bad, that's why you can start with clean skin, then a week later start getting yeast infections (such as vaginal or in your throat). That's why one person said, "make sure you take a probiotic" so that it increases the growth of GOOD bacteria on your skin and in your body.

Think of bacteria essentially like your lawn, with competing weeds and grass. The problem is how to kill the bad bacteria (weeds) while helping the good bacteria (grass) to take over that area where the bad bacteria (weeds) has died off?!!
So, the probiotic is like overseeding your lawn.
If you can get enough good bacteria growing on your skin, the bad bacteria will have a difficult time getting a sizable colony started again. I guess you can think of them almost battling one another on your skin for space to grow.
The problem with facial cleansers is that they typically kill all bacteria, good and bad, and for some of us, the bad bacteria grows faster than the good.. like weeds grow faster than grass!

HORMONES seem to be the real culprit here.
Somehow hormones change your body chemistry such that your skin flora changes, the chemicals you create during and after puberty, for instance (more testosterone) makes it more pleasing for the bad bacteria.
...I wonder if we exercised more if it would then help "use up" the testosterone and decrease our levels?

Women often take birth control, which are hormones, and often that controls their acne... why? Because hormones create chemical skin conditions for skin flora!

So, can we men then take perhaps topical skin hormones to compete with receptor sites for testosterone / antigen?? like, I wonder if you took finasteride (an antigen receptior site bonder that thereby blocks testosterone from bonding to the site) and rubbed it on your skin, would it absorb to testosterone receptor sites and thereby stop the chemical process that makes your skin pleasing to bacteria that cause acne?!?!
Or, WHY can't men just take hormones like women to help balance their testosterone, if that indeed is what causes the conditions pleasing for acne-causing bacteria.

...then again, there's good evidence that birth control contributes to breast and ovarian cancer... I don't think birth control actually "changes" the hormone levels in your body, rather it adds to those levels -- but I don't know for sure.
In the case of oral finasteride (not hormones, it's a competitor for testosterone receptor sites in your body), my understanding is that you just excrete the excess testosterone out such as in your pee.
But, I've taken finasteride for about 11 years in 1mg doses to hinder hair loss and at age 40 I still get acne like I did when I was 18, so I can say it doesn't stop acne!! I believe I have higher than normal testosterone levels, though, I don't even work out and have always been pretty strong and have an decent muscular build.

[Eladrev]

After another failed 6-month treatment with Doxycycline, I visited my dermatologist today for my follow-up. The last time I was in, he said if the Doxycycline didn't stop the break outs, then my choices for next time would be Bactrim or Accutane (having exhausted everything else). However, when I walked in today I was surprised to see how fast he decided to prescribe me Amoxicillin. He said my face appeared to be responding to the Doxycycline, but not well enough to prevent breakouts. He said the Amoxicillin is the "next level" of antibiotic and might work for me.

Last year, I took Amoxicillin for a sinus infection and noticed my skin clear in only a 2-week treatment of it. I shrugged it off as coincidence, but I began to breakout again in the following days of being off of it. I have never heard of a dermatologist prescribing Amoxicillin for acne, so this is all perplexing to me. However, if it wasn't a coincidence and the Amox helped before, maybe a long-term dose will prove even better.

I'll be keeping track and let you guys know of how it goes.

[john71]

> maybe a long-term dose will prove even better.

You do not want to go long term, however.
Antibiotics kill bad bacteria as well as necessary GOOD bacteria in your body.
It's fine short term to use it to help clear up an issue, but you should take a probiotic for your digestive system at the least. Try Amoxicilling for, say one week, then one week off it until you just start to get acne again, which will probably be 1 week, then go back on 1 week, and repeat that on+off duration.

What I would LOVE is if I could get skin culture GOOD bacteria -- so, take antibiotics, that rids my face of bad acne causing bacteria, and during that time, apply face cream GOOD bacteria to build up that good colony/flora. Hopefully that would then make it that much harder for the bad bacteria to get a hold on my skin.

I likened above the floras like your lawn. Antibiotics are lawn and week killer, giving you bare soil. Then I would like to apply grass seed (the good bacteria flora) and that will in turn make it more difficult for the weeds (bad acne causing bacteria) to get a good colony going.
pre teen kids have the good flora, I wonder if one coule "harvest" that good bacteria...
Mad scientist here...

[Eladrev]

> maybe a long-term dose will prove even better.

You do not want to go long term, however.
Antibiotics kill bad bacteria as well as necessary GOOD bacteria in your body.
It's fine short term to use it to help clear up an issue, but you should take a probiotic for your digestive system at the least. Try Amoxicilling for, say one week, then one week off it until you just start to get acne again, which will probably be 1 week, then go back on 1 week, and repeat that on+off duration.

I've been taking Probiotic complexes for a long time, pretty much since I've been on antibiotics. I especially make sure to take them during the winter time. I take them in the middle of the day to make sure it is least affected by the antibiotics (see my signature).

And yes, I know all about the negative effects of long term use of antibiotics. I've been on multiple ones over many years, have researched into them myself, and been given many talks by various doctors and derms who remind me that I should only be on this as long as I have to.

As a side note, the silly little minor side effects of the Amox have started to kick in on day 7. It's still too early to say if there's any improvement in my skin, although I'd like to think there it is, but I'd most likely chalk it up to a placebo effect. Will update again in a week or two.

Edited by Eladrev, 28 June 2011 - 09:35 PM.

[Enhance89]

I was on amoxicillin for about three to four years to be used in conjunction with a facial cream.

To be honest ever since I got off the amoxicillin my skin has gotten worse. I'm at the point now, a year after being taken off of amoxicillin but kept on the facial cream Tazorac, that I'm going back to my doctor to see if I can get amoxicillin again.

Dermatologists don't like to keep patients on amox. for a very long time because your body can eventually become accustomed to it and it won't work as effectly, but I think it worked great for me.

[john71]

Facial cleansers usually are just kill-all bacteria treatments too.
Again, I liken it to lawn+week killer (your face being the yard soil base, the weeds being acne).
In all actuality, a normal person could just wash periodically with water alone and should not have much if any acne.
The problem is usually allergies which lead to sinus infections which then can manifest as well as acne.
Another major issue is hormones. Women are so lucky doctors will hand out hormones like candy to try to find the right balance for them to eliminate acne. I wish they'd give men hormones too. It's logical... you had no acne as a pre-teen. As a teen, major hormonal changes take place and then comes the acne for most of us.
In the meantime, merely working on the skin surface (facial washes/treatments) is just a temporary fix and is killing good bacteria flora as well as bad... I wish someone would make "good" skin probiotics in skin cream form. I bet that'd help when used after facial washes that destroy skin bacteria.

[Kyle H]

I'm currently taking Amoxicillin for my acne after having an allergic acne to Bactrim. Much as the stories would suggest, you'll only break out in hives/rash if you're allergic; it is NOT a common side effect, so use caution. I'm on about day three and I have yet to see a difference, especially considering Bactrim brought out a lot of acne and killed it instantaneously. However, drugs are going to have different effects of my own individual body, so I'm keeping persistent.

As for facial cleansers, mild ones should NOT kill good bacteria. For me it's been a combination of Salicylic Acid in the morning and a gentle cleanser at night, never SA for both.

[grrrr ance]

I am taking amoxicillin after getting dry eyes from bactrim.

what kind of probiotics should i take? also, how do you know all the probiotics arent getting killed? Is there medical literature that supports the idea that probiotics on strong antibiotics diminishes frequency of yeast infections?

I was trying to cut out dairy since i didnt know if it could possibly cause acne...but how could i get a probiotic without dairy?

[john71]

- what kind of probiotics should i take?
- Is there medical literature that supports the idea that probiotics on strong antibiotics diminishes frequency of yeast infections?
- I was trying to cut out dairy since i didnt know if it could possibly cause acne...

Allergic reactions to the food can cause acne, not the foods in of itself... well, unless you rub it all over your face and the bacteria thrive in it!! It's a common myth that foods (ex. chocolate) specifically cause acne.. but, it is right to say that "most" people have mild allergic reactions to a certain food and acne or skin bumps (rash that people confuse as acne) may manifest as a result.

Intestinal probiotics are indeed common when taking polonged antibiotics. I don't have literature, but a Dr. will be able to confirm and suggest hippie-like natural food stores from which to obtain them. Some probiotic yogurts and yogurt drinks can be found in supermarkets, like Meijers, but I honestly don't know if those have a high enough concentration or even enough bacterium types to be truly effective... beware probiotic labels, there is no federal requirements on concentrations & I even *THINK* the method of measuring concentrations isn't standardized. Again, a doctor or NUTRITIONIST would be better at offering a suggestion.

[Eladrev]

Just an update.

I'm now on week 6 of the Amoxicillin and I'm convinced its working. I haven't had a single cyst or nodule form in this time, and the amount of smaller, minor blemishes is decreasing rapidly. I get maybe one or two hardly noticable zits a week now, which fade in only 1 or 2 days. The side effects have been minimal, taking probiotics are helping keepng my digestive system intact, but about 3-4 weeks ago I noticed muscles twitches on various parts of my body, which never occured before. I chalked them up to something else, but I've been having them ever since. A little bit of research showed that in about 3% of Amoxi users with side-effects, minor, harmless muscle twitches occured. They are nothing serious, just minorly annoying, and definitely nothing to currently be worried about. I'll mention it at my next follow-up with the dermatologist and see what he says. Otherwise, everything is going better than ever.

[DNA5]

I had taken amoxicillin for a sore throat and I noticed my skin got clearer. So I mentioned that to my derm at my most recent appointment. He prescribed me ampicillin, which is closely alike in the amoxicillin and pennicillin family. I hope it works well soon

[gemmyjunebug]

Works great for me! They tried Celephlexin and all I got from that was stomach issues. I also found out how well this worked when I was treated for chest/throat infection. My skin cleared up fast.
Update*** I had success clearing acne/skin problems with the use of this particular antibiotic. My skin problem war has been SebDerm (Seborrheic dermatitis) and deep cystic acne flares on my forehead and chin area. One would heal and then another would appear and so on and so on.... My SebDerm (mild). Since I was born I've had this skin condition- it was was resolved. My skin looked and felt flawless. However one minor or my world major problem. Hair shedding. I have fine hair to begin with but this was not okay. I noticed right away and made call to my Dr. not my derm but my internal. Two months into my script and I am posing the question as to why I feel like my hair is shedding more than usual? This was not a side effect they assured me. Maybe not one noted. My gut intuition told me otherwise. Quit. my SebDerm flared though my cystic did not. IDK about you but that scares me. 10 days on an anti to treat an infection works fine but a course of months is not suitable for me internally or externally. I'm a little attached to my locks.

Edited by gemmyjunebug, 13 December 2011 - 08:32 PM.