Acne.org Products
Let me preface my post by saying that I had been suffering through near-continuous acne for a pretty long period of time before I was prescribed Ceftin by my dermatologist (probably since the last few years of junior high school), and in fact, this antibiotic was the first one prescribed by the dermatologist because I dropped my last one after years of almost zero results thanks to his prescriptions and advice. When I say "advice," I'm being generous... it was more like "talk for two minutes about new medications to give me and charge me out the ass for the privilege of simply being in his presence."
Anyway, after making a number of changes in my life prior to taking Ceftin along the lines of diet, stress, sun exposure and even type of toothpaste, I thought there was no way to get rid of the acne I had been suffering with for years. Acne had been the catalyst for a spiral into an overly anxiety-ridden life I really didn't want to live, so I dropped the old derm and went to someone I had heard many good things about. He prescribed Ceftin: Cefuroxime Axetil in 500mg tabs twice a day, eventually decreasing to once a day. I was quite skeptical but within only a few weeks, I started noticing results. While I used it for around a year, which thankfully coincided along with an internship I was taking part in, I enjoyed the clearest skin I had experienced since before high school. Old flare ups once consisted of 5-15 new spots popping up every morning depending on the regimen I was using... it was like waking up TO a nightmare, not from it. Flare ups while using Ceftin would, at most, consist of one or two spots a week at most.
I ran out of the stuff and decided not to refill for 1-2 months recently and, keeping everything else basically the same as it was when I was taking the Ceftin, old flare ups began to take place day after day just as before. But, like clockwork, when I got a new prescription for Ceftin and started using it again, all of the old spots disappeared within 3-4 days and remain mostly gone through the present.
I had tried Solodyn, Epiduo, Aczone, Ziana, Ampicillin TR, Bactrim, NicAzel and others for long periods of time each and none of them could even touch Ceftin. Just wanted to share and I'm wondering if anyone else has tried this. What did you think? How long did you use it and how often? If you have an experience to share, please do!
Peace and good health
Yes I was on ceftin several times.the cephalosporin antibiotics are superior for acne.they are broad spectrum covering other health issues too. The other great cephalosporins for acne are duricef 2x500 mg a day, vantin2 200 mg twice a day 800 mg total, cephalexin 2 500 mg a day, omnicef 1 pill twice a day, spectracef 1 pill twice day, ceclor 1 a day, cedax twice a day, velosef twice a day.be careful of bad tendonitis from ceftin is the 1 antibiotic in this class most likely to cause this.oh.have posted this several times.if u want to be practically acne free take 400 mg of ibuprofen DIRECTLY with each antibiotic dose and your results will be unmatched by anything out there.good luck
real acnekiller,
Thanks for the reply - your post made me think about ibuprofen, cephalosporins and their correlation to protein synthesis. I try to work out pretty often in order to gain strength over time. I would love to try your 400mg of ibuprofen + ceftin idea but I'm under the impression that taking a lot of ibuprofen (especially daily) would interfere with protein synthesis and levels of prostaglandin. Do you have any input on this? Like an article re why ibuprofen + an antibiotic work in tandem so well?
I've read about tendonitis as a side effect of taking a cephalosporin but honestly don't believe I've ever really experienced any tendonitis as of yet while taking it... at least not anything out of the ordinary, even with exercising 3-4 times a week. I've noticed occasional muscle twitches and an occasional odd painful tension around my hip, but both are very infrequent.
You said you were on ceftin several times. What caused you to stop using it? Cycling off?
Yes im an avid weightlifter for many years. The ibuprofen actually makes me stronger.although I no longer take antibiotics for moderate to severe acne.i have a professional blue light machine I use twice a day instead.i developed major resistance to most all antibiotics at the 5 month mark each one.there are conflicting studies about the protein synthesis and ibuprofen but I never noticed anything.trust me taking ibuprofen directly with each dose of antibiotics is best treatment to reduce acne to nothing.also antibiotics always affected my strength in a negative way.the cephalosporins the least.the tetrCyclines and macrolides were the worst.oh my favorite one I had dr. Put me on was vantin no real side effects plus little effect on lifting.hope things work out well for u with acne and exercise.good luck!
Oh resistance made me stop using it then muscle weakness in pushing exercises.if u use ipl once a month u can retake antibiotics u have resistance to for several weeks at a time.i had my dr put me on 2 running prescriptions and switched meds every week.
as to the ibuprofen with the antibiotic, I noticed s long time ago tgat when I got sick in the winter with the flu or a fever my acne would virtually disappear and when I recovered would start getting some acne again.i always preferred ibuprofen to aspirin or nonaspirin.so I mentionded that to 1 of my former derms that it must work in tandem and he said yes with the tetracyclines.i realized later on it doesn't matter the class of antibiotics u take it with.some derms think u need to take mininum dose of 1200mg a day to work.NOT TRUE AT ALL if u take the 400mg directly with the antibiotics u get best results.many d rs are still in the dark about this which amazes me.im sure theirs some small studies out there.i did this for years with awesome results.in your case if youre only getting 1 or 2 spots a week.even 600 mmg a day should knock it out.take
1 1/2 caplets twice a day with meds.also there are professional bodybuilders who use ibuprofen daily for soreness and or strength gains I doubt they would if it hurt muscle gains or size.give it a shot. Keep everyone posted
real acnekiller,
Thanks for the reply - your post made me think about ibuprofen, cephalosporins and their correlation to protein synthesis. I try to work out pretty often in order to gain strength over time. I would love to try your 400mg of ibuprofen + ceftin idea but I'm under the impression that taking a lot of ibuprofen (especially daily) would interfere with protein synthesis and levels of prostaglandin. Do you have any input on this? Like an article re why ibuprofen + an antibiotic work in tandem so well?
I've read about tendonitis as a side effect of taking a cephalosporin but honestly don't believe I've ever really experienced any tendonitis as of yet while taking it... at least not anything out of the ordinary, even with exercising 3-4 times a week. I've noticed occasional muscle twitches and an occasional odd painful tension around my hip, but both are very infrequent.
You said you were on ceftin several times. What caused you to stop using it? Cycling off?
Ibuprofen could augment the acne-reducing effect of antibiotics because ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory drug, and inflammation is one of the main pathogenic mechanisms in acne.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0906-6705.2005.0285a.x/pdf
In fact, there are some scientific studies exploring the impact of ibuprofen (with and without an antibiotic) on acne.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2932479
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6239884
Ibuprofen is generally very safe, but caution should be exercised with its long-term use because it has known gastrointestinal side effects, including the development of stomach ulcers (although there are medications you can take together with ibuprofen to reduce this risk).
Good luck
Nice review bigs881.i used to always take the antibiotics and ibuprofen with plenty of food in stomach to minimize the chance for bleeding.i strongly believe besides the antiinflammatory effects it greatly increases absorption of the medicine in bloodstream making the antibiotic work much more efficiently when taken together.i noticed those small studies didnt try that.also one dr who is an acne researcher.i know says that naprosen works good too instead.i cant attest on how true since I never needed to try but I trust him.
Yes naproxen (aka Aleve) is another non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) that could also potentially reduce acne for similar reasons as ibuprofen (aka Advil/Motrin/Nurofen), although I've not seen any studies on it for this purpose and it has a worse gastrointestinal profile than ibuprofen. See thread.
Naproxen can be used by both genders, although it's mainly marketed towards females.
you can stay on it indefinitely. But if you notice tendonitis or muscle issues switch antibiotics immediately. You should definitely have a liver panel blood test annually. the real remote risk of taking these broad spectrum antibiotics is getting a super infection.that has to be taken care of right away, dont waste anytime in calling dr. if somethings wrong.
Thanks for the replies people... I would have responded sooner but I was doing some intense studying for the CPA exam this past week. real acnekiller, thanks for all the insight... I have to admit I still am on the fence about taking ibuprofen with my antibiotic while weight lifting but I think I'll go ahead and try it for at least a few weeks and see what happens. Indeed I'm aware it is anti-inflammatory but that is why I'm mostly on the fence... because of its potential effect on protein synthesis.
For me, the toughest thing is that I've found something I feel works for me personally and I mentally feel that doing anything different could compromise my skin once again. It took me at least 8 years to find something that got rid of basically all of my acne! Hopefully one can understand it might be tough to switch things up.
But, I know taking an antibiotic for such a long period of time is really not the smartest thing to do. My doctor even questioned me taking it for over a year and says it's generally frowned upon, which is probably not a good sign. But, he deferred to the judgment of my derm and told me to carry on... I'll look into other options again. mrsrobinson, it's certainly risky to stay on an antibiotic for 1+ years but I've felt very healthy while using Ceftin for so long.
Taking a look at those articles now and I'll give ceftin + ibuprofen a try
Hey Zach good to hear back from you.i know you wont be disappointed with trying them together.no more acne with that combination would be my first priority.if anything I believe the ibuprofen will help your lifting.you are still young, preventing all acne is important so theres no chance of scarring.ive had to spend thousands to look normal again from the acne.good luck with everything zach