I was prescribed Doxycycline after Minocycline stopped working for me. I was on 10mg/day for 5 months, mainly for very persistent moderate acne, and hormonal cysts that were specifically in the area of my chin. I didn't notice a difference in the first month (probably because it took some time for it to get into my system), but around the 2.5 month mark, I was super clear. The hormonal acne was gone and I only got a couple pimples (mainly due to stress and time of the month), but it was manageable. It lasted until 3.5 months of being on it.

I tell everyone that antibiotics are not really a good idea. You will clear up for a couple of weeks or months, but your body will build an immunity to the antibiotics.

Before being on Doxy, I was on Mino for a good three years. That's a really long time, but for the first two years, I was really bad at taking them everyday, so I missed a lot of doses. During my senior year, I began taking them consistently and that period was the time when I had very clear skin. After a year of being on Mino, it stopped working, so I switched over to Doxy, which is part of the cycline family, but apparently stronger.

I don't regret taking Doxy, but you will build up an immunity to it eventually. That's why Doxy worked for such a short time for me--I'd imagine that my body had already built up an immunity around Mino, and so the antigens (which are essentially the bacteria causing acne) were stronger and since Doxy has a similar molecular structure to Mino (or any of the cycline members for that matter), it didn't work for me for that long. I broke out really badly after I realized that the bacterial immunity to my antibiotics were high.

However, I also think the severity of your acne will play an important factor to how your acne will respond to antibiotics. Like I said above, I don't necessarily recommend antibiotics to everyone, but I think it will work for people who have very mild acne. It could work for persistent or moderate or severe acne, but I think it will be shorter and not as effective as someone who has very mild acne.

That being said, if you decide to go on Doxy and a couple months after, you notice more breakouts before starting Doxy, I'd recommend increasing your dosage or trying something else because eventually, 10mg will not be enough. Doxy worked for me for a very short time and I don't regret trying it, but sometimes I wonder if my skin would've been better if I hadn't resorted to antibiotics.

Best of luck to you!

Doxycycline only worked short term for me and created long term issues. The antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria and caused me to have rebound acne. after much research I have found that a good portion of acne is triggered by the inflammation process in the gut. Its called the Gut Skin axis. I have changed my diet by minimizing GMOs, starches, ect and taking acne fighting probiotics. This seem to really help me and my daughter. (genetics are hard to fight)

I tried it and it worked a bit for a couple of months and then my skin went bad again.

Didn't work well at all for me