2 replies to this topic

[amethystroses]

Hi this is a question probably asked about already but I'd rather have a clear cut answer so please help me I was thinking of going on a prescription of antibiotics to help with my complexion issue. My questions are...

1. Do antibiotics cause severe side effects like Accutane? (e.g hair loss, depression and ESPECIALLY memory loss? Am very worried if medication affects brain function :<) I'm curious as to why most patients are put on accutane rather than antibiotics.

2. What are the chances that antibiotic helps someone to be clear? Is the effect temporary, permanent or varies among individuals? I've read that 90 out of 100 patients do get clear with antibiotics. True or false?

3. When dermatologists (or people speaking by experience) say that antibiotics helps someone to clear up, does that include the redness/pinkish hue due to pimples and blackheads/whiteheads as well?

Answers are much appreciated =) Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Oh and I just forgot to stress on one point. When I mention pimples, I mean them. Not acne. Not cystic acne either. Just lots and lots of pimples bundled up together with whole cheek redness =( T_____T

Edited by amethystroses, 08 June 2012 - 08:52 AM.

[Randall Flagg]

Based on my own (vast lol) experience with oral antibiotics, I'll see if I can help you out a bit.

1. Do antibiotics cause severe side effects like Accutane? Most oral antibiotics don't have really severe side effects, but there is always the possibility. It differs person to person. Two common side effects that I've noticed trending in most oral antibiotics are nausea and possible hair loss. I've experienced terrible nausea on doxycycline before, but out of all of the antibiotics I've taken for my acne over the years, I have never experienced hair loss.

2. What are the chances that antibiotic helps someone to be clear? Is the effect temporary, permanent or varies among individuals? I've read that 90 out of 100 patients do get clear with antibiotics. True or false? Oral antibiotics can help you to become clearer, but from my own experience they don't usually keep you 100% clear. A few blemishes still manage to push through now and again. But if you think your acne is pretty serious, oral antibiotics can definitely improve your complexion. One thing to remember though is that oral antibiotics are a temporary fix. That's something you have to know going into it. They can keep you clear for a long time, but your body can build up an immunity to certain antibiotics as time passes. Also remember to supplement your antibiotic intake with probiotics to keep your digestive system in good working order.

3. When dermatologists (or people speaking by experience) say that antibiotics helps someone to clear up, does that include the redness/pinkish hue due to pimples and blackheads/whiteheads as well? I've found that oral antibiotics don't do much for hyper-pigmentation and things like that, their main job is to keep new blemishes from forming. Your derm will likely prescribe you a topical cream for redness/dark marks to use along with the antibiotics.

Lastly, here are the specific antibiotics that worked best for me over the years.

- Tetracycline (Awesome. Kept me clear for almost 2 years straight)
-Minocycline (Good stuff)
-Bactrim( Kept me clear for about a year and a half)

I had a bad experience with doxycycline because it gave me bad stomach aches even when I too it with food, but that side effect might be just something specific to me. Like I said before, the side effects can differ person to person.

Hope this helps!

[fedupwithspots]

I've been taking minocycline for a few years and it works great. No side effects and the acne is well controlled. Occasional small outbreaks but they clear up in a couple of days. Recently I haven't been able to obtain minocycline and my dr prescribed doxycycline instead. I've been taking it for about a week now and my skin has gotten worse every day. I hope to be able to get more minocycline tomorrow.

Not all antibiotics are the same. They can work really well for some people, but not at all for others, and one may work great and another not at all. They generally don't cause serious side effects, but like any medication, whether prescription or non-prescription, they can cause problems for some people. It's important to report back to your doctor on any adverse effects you notice. I personally have never had any side effects, but have found that minocycline works betther than doxycycline

In my experience the effects of antibiotics are only temporary. When you stop taking the drug the problem will return. I've suffered from acne for 40 years on and off. It's gotten much worse over recent years which is why I am now on antibiotics. Nothing else works and the otc preparations tend to irritate my skin much worse then they used to. I don't know how old you are, but if you're quite young the problem may well go away eventually and you won't need the antibiotics any more, but if you're older and the problem is long standing it's less likely to go away and you may have to take medication long term to control it.

My understanding about roaccutane is that it's more likely to permanently solve the problem, but it has very severe side effects, and is usally therefore usually only prescribed for severe cases where other treatments haven't worked.

I've not found that the antibiotics do much about redness, they just stop me getting more spots, and when I do get the occasional spot it's usually quite small and clears up without leaving a mark. The redness will fade eventually once you get the pimple problem under control. I've found tretenoin cream quite useful for evening out the complexion. I've been using it for a couple of years and I still have a few small reddish patches, but it's much less noticeable than it used to be. There are also other things you can use to help fade the redness, but I can't comment on how well they work. I will say that it's important to get the problem sorted sooner rather than later, because the longer you let it go untreated, the more redness you get, and the longer it will take to fade.