I started using Minocycline and Epiduo for about a week now. I haven't seen improvement. I've just seen my skin gradually break out more and more. Should I be concerned? Is this an initial breakout? Also, is Minocycline good? Are antibiotics to get rid of acne good? I've heard that once you're taken off antibiotics, you get more acne and you're back at square one.
Whenever I was on antibiotics for acne and stopped, the acne did not return quickly. It slowly returned after about two - three months. However, it never completely cleared me either.
I don't like minocycline personally. I was on it for three years (from 2009 - 2011) while my doc refused to refer me to a dermatologist. It never really worked for me and it changed the color of my gums to a darker color than they should be.
Were you young when taking it? I've heard that can happen in children and teens.
18 hours ago, BulletInAction said:I started using Minocycline and Epiduo for about a week now. I haven't seen improvement. I've just seen my skin gradually break out more and more. Should I be concerned? Is this an initial breakout? Also, is Minocycline good? Are antibiotics to get rid of acne good? I've heard that once you're taken off antibiotics, you get more acne and you're back at square one.
i took minocycline a few years ago with good results. It kept the acne away. I took birth control when I came off it so that may have helped. I know doxycycline is supposed to be better for acne but it makes me so sick!
Most likely an initial breakout, so try not to get too discouraged, it's part of the process as the treatment purges all your latent acne bacteria.
Antibiotics can help calm things down enough where topicals can keep up with it once the course is done (usually after 2-3 months). But the results are often temporary and acne may return within a few months. It's good you're using a topical treatment as well, and this will help keep you clear once your done with the antibiotics. Adding some zinc and omega 3 fish oil for good measure may also help. Both are powerful anti-inflammatories and many people with acne are low in these essential substances.
My son took minocycline for 3 months and did the Acne.Org Regimen at the same time for his severe cystic acne. His course ended in mid-April and he's still clear today. He still does the Regimen every day though.
Be sure you're taking mino on an empty stomach, and don't eat for an hour after taking. Don't consume any calcium or dairy for 2 hours after taking, as this can inhibit absorption. I'd also recommend taking a high-potency probiotic and consume kefir, etc. during your treatment, but take your probiotics at a different time than your antibiotics, preferably several hours later. Otherwise the antibiotics will cancel out the probiotics. Doing all these things will not only maximize your results but help keep your insides as healthy as possible. (My son didn't have any GI issues while on mino.) Keep taking probiotics for several weeks after you're done to help rebuild your gut flora.
Hope this is helpful! 
8 hours ago, DeLovely said:Most likely an initial breakout, so try not to get too discouraged, it's part of the process as the treatment purges all your latent acne bacteria.
Antibiotics can help calm things down enough where topicals can keep up with it once the course is done (usually after 2-3 months). But the results are often temporary and acne may return within a few months. It's good you're using a topical treatment as well, and this will help keep you clear once your done with the antibiotics. Adding some zinc and omega 3 fish oil for good measure may also help. Both are powerful anti-inflammatories and many people with acne are low in these essential substances.
My son took minocycline for 3 months and did the Acne.Org Regimen at the same time for his severe cystic acne. His course ended in mid-April and he's still clear today. He still does the Regimen every day though.
Be sure you're taking mino on an empty stomach, and don't eat for an hour after taking. Don't consume any calcium or dairy for 2 hours after taking, as this can inhibit absorption. I'd also recommend taking a high-potency probiotic and consume kefir, etc. during your treatment, but take your probiotics at a different time than your antibiotics, preferably several hours later. Otherwise the antibiotics will cancel out the probiotics. Doing all these things will not only maximize your results but help keep your insides as healthy as possible. (My son didn't have any GI issues while on mino.) Keep taking probiotics for several weeks after you're done to help rebuild your gut flora.
Hope this is helpful!
That's really funny you say that! My doc and pharmacist never mentioned anything about that and I took my minocycline almost everyday for three years with a big cup of milk. That might be why I hardly saw any results. Wish I had known that back then lol
2 minutes ago, funnyguy69 said:8 hours ago, DeLovely said:Most likely an initial breakout, so try not to get too discouraged, it's part of the process as the treatment purges all your latent acne bacteria.
Antibiotics can help calm things down enough where topicals can keep up with it once the course is done (usually after 2-3 months). But the results are often temporary and acne may return within a few months. It's good you're using a topical treatment as well, and this will help keep you clear once your done with the antibiotics. Adding some zinc and omega 3 fish oil for good measure may also help. Both are powerful anti-inflammatories and many people with acne are low in these essential substances.
My son took minocycline for 3 months and did the Acne.Org Regimen at the same time for his severe cystic acne. His course ended in mid-April and he's still clear today. He still does the Regimen every day though.
Be sure you're taking mino on an empty stomach, and don't eat for an hour after taking. Don't consume any calcium or dairy for 2 hours after taking, as this can inhibit absorption. I'd also recommend taking a high-potency probiotic and consume kefir, etc. during your treatment, but take your probiotics at a different time than your antibiotics, preferably several hours later. Otherwise the antibiotics will cancel out the probiotics. Doing all these things will not only maximize your results but help keep your insides as healthy as possible. (My son didn't have any GI issues while on mino.) Keep taking probiotics for several weeks after you're done to help rebuild your gut flora.
Hope this is helpful!
That's really funny you say that! My doc and pharmacist never mentioned anything about that and I took my minocycline almost everyday for three years with a big cup of milk. That might be why I hardly saw any results. Wish I had known that back then lol
yeah doctors are fabulous as explaining details * snort*
I love the internet cause you gotta take care if yourserlf.
8 hours ago, DeLovely said:Most likely an initial breakout, so try not to get too discouraged, it's part of the process as the treatment purges all your latent acne bacteria.
Antibiotics can help calm things down enough where topicals can keep up with it once the course is done (usually after 2-3 months). But the results are often temporary and acne may return within a few months. It's good you're using a topical treatment as well, and this will help keep you clear once your done with the antibiotics. Adding some zinc and omega 3 fish oil for good measure may also help. Both are powerful anti-inflammatories and many people with acne are low in these essential substances.
My son took minocycline for 3 months and did the Acne.Org Regimen at the same time for his severe cystic acne. His course ended in mid-April and he's still clear today. He still does the Regimen every day though.
Be sure you're taking mino on an empty stomach, and don't eat for an hour after taking. Don't consume any calcium or dairy for 2 hours after taking, as this can inhibit absorption. I'd also recommend taking a high-potency probiotic and consume kefir, etc. during your treatment, but take your probiotics at a different time than your antibiotics, preferably several hours later. Otherwise the antibiotics will cancel out the probiotics. Doing all these things will not only maximize your results but help keep your insides as healthy as possible. (My son didn't have any GI issues while on mino.) Keep taking probiotics for several weeks after you're done to help rebuild your gut flora.
Hope this is helpful!
hey do you happen to know I'd epiduo is the same as duac?
On Saturday, June 25, 2016 at 3:39 AM, snarkygirl said:yeah doctors are fabulous as explaining details * snort*
I love the internet cause you gotta take care if yourserlf. hey do you happen to know I'd epiduo is the same as duac?
Epiduo is different from duac. Epiduo is Benzoyl Peroxide and differin (retinoid) and Duac is Benzoyl Peroxide and Clindamycin (antibiotic)
Do you have to avoid dairy when taking ANY antibiotic?
39 minutes ago, MissSac17 said:Epiduo is different from duac. Epiduo is Benzoyl Peroxide and differin (retinoid) and Duac is Benzoyl Peroxide and Clindamycin (antibiotic)Do you have to avoid dairy when taking ANY antibiotic?
It usually says on the package. I'm pretty sure the " -cycline" range is absorbed best without dairy and it also says no antacids within 2 hours of the pill.
On 6/24/2016 at 10:35 PM, funnyguy69 said:On 6/24/2016 at 1:45 PM, DeLovely said:
That's really funny you say that! My doc and pharmacist never mentioned anything about that and I took my minocycline almost everyday for three years with a big cup of milk. That might be why I hardly saw any results. Wish I had known that back then lol
Aw man that sucks!! Yeah, the dr's should have explained better how to get the most out of the antibiotics. The literature that came with the antibiotics specified avoiding calcium/dairy (and antacids) within two hours of taking mino, but didn't really explain why so I researched it and yeah, calcium inhibits absorption of mino. Mino works really well for clearing acne when all the protocols are followed (empty stomach and no food for an hour after, no calcium/dairy for 2 hours after). Worked great for my son anyway. Wiped out his p.acnes overgrowth so that the topicals could take over and keep up with it.
Miss Sac: Not sure if all antibiotics must be taken without calcium, you'd have to research that or ask your derm. But it would make sense if this were so. Calcium seems to inhibit the absorption of a lot of things, including most vitamins, which is why most good multi-vitamins only provide a little bit of calcium. It's best to take calcium separately at a different time, along with D3.
FYI to those who cannot tolerate mino...Dynacin (name brand minocycline) can be taken with or without food and it still works well. Only minocycline must be taken on an empty stomach in order for it to work. Our insurance would only cover mino and luckily my son tolerated it fine on an empty stomach, but those who have to stop mino due to nausea would benefit from Dynacin, even if they had to spring for it out-of-pocket, might be worth it for very severe acne.
5 hours ago, IronMotivation said:I have been on minocycline for over 6 months now and always have had a little bit of stubborn acne on face/back. Meanwhile Doxy had helped me a little bit more. But aren't they the same? From the same antibiotic "family"?
idk exactly how they are different. But minocycline is fine for me but doxycycline makes me extremely sick. Funny I knew not to take them with milk or calcium but I do so etimes take mine with food * shrugs*