I made the difficult decision to take Minocycline again. I've had a staph infection on my face before and I want to cover all my bases before I end up having to go to a doctor, especially if that doctor will just give me Minocycline. (I don't have health insurance or a lot of money so going to a derm is really really a last resort and I still don't know how/if I'll be able to afford it.) I'm going to take it for a few weeks and see how it goes. I know that it doesn't work permanently but my skin is so bad I can't even bring myself to be seen in public, which is really limiting when it comes to exercise in particular, and many other things, so I'm hoping to clear up my skin a little bit with the antibiotics and/or get rid of the possible staph, so that I am in more of a position to do other things that have a good chance of helping. I know antibiotics ruin your gut and all that, but I've been on it so many times before and everything I'm doing to fix my gut is, thus far, not helping my skin, so I need to give this a shot.
ANYWAY, my question is... how should I best counteract the impact of the antibiotics on my intestines? Should I take probiotics during the antibiotics, or stop taking probiotics until after I stop the Minocycline? Right now I'm taking probiotic supplements, organic full-fat yogurt and I'm planning on getting coconut water kefir this week. I'm also eating lots of prebiotic foods. Is there anything else I should add to this while or after I'm on the antibiotics?
Here's a list of things I'm doing/have recently done, to varying levels of success, but nothing that has cleared my skin in any significant way:
-Candex supplement
-Coconut oil
-Probiotics/prebiotics
-diet (low GI, no dairy for a while, then only fermented dairy, no grains, then no gluten or corn, no sugar, then no refined sugar)
-turmeric
-apple cider vinegar
-blackstrap molasses
-Grapefruit Seed Extract
-Magnesium
-B Complex
-Vitamin D
-Milk Thistle
I think specific questions like that should be addressed by your doctor. Make sure you write it down so you don't forget. They always ask if you have any questions at the end.
Thanks, but I don't have a doctor. I don't have health insurance and can't afford to go to a doctor right now. I'll be taking Minocycline that was prescribed to me about a year and a half ago. It's not expired yet and I know that if I could go to the doctor the first thing he'd prescribe is Minocycline anyway. Also, I've been on antibiotics dozens of times in my life and no doctor has ever told me to take probiotics, during or after, despite the fact that they're necessary for repopulating your gut flora, so I'm not exactly looking for doctorly advice on this particular topic.
Oh my apologies. I thought I read you were taking Minocycline again because the doctor prescribed it to you again and that you weren't looking forward to your next doctor's appointment because he'll just give you more Minocycline.
But, like most medicine. It is recommended that you let the medicine do it's thing and not interfere with the process. Maybe you can try probiotics after.
Edit:
If minocycline didn't work for you a year ago I don't think you should take it again. The ance bacteria might have become immune to the drug and you'll just damage your system for no reason.
Oh my apologies. I thought I read you were taking Minocycline again because the doctor prescribed it to you again and that you weren't looking forward to your next doctor's appointment because he'll just give you more Minocycline.
But, like most medicine. It is recommended that you let the medicine do it's thing and not interfere with the process. Maybe you can try probiotics after.
Edit:
If minocycline didn't work for you a year ago I don't think you should take it again. The ance bacteria might have become immune to the drug and you'll just damage your system for no reason.
I know it's kind of confusing, but I was prescribed the Minocycline a year ago because I had a staph infection on my skin. The Minocycline did clear the infection and my skin improved signifcantly, but I went back on birth control too quickly after that happened to really know any more than that. I suspect that I have the same infection, since my skin is behaving the same way, which is not how my acne normally is (lots of whiteheads as opposed to hormonal cysts, and spreading/moving across my face in a strange way).
imo antibiotics are the worst thing for acne.
I'm not using the Minocycline to clear my skin for good; I've taken it before and I know it won't do that. I'm looking to clear it up somewhat and clear the staph infection, which I had once and suspect I have again. If it helps my face get even 50% clearer for a little while, like it did last time, then I'll be more able to go out and exercise, for example, and continue clearing my skin with other natural means that seem to have helped a bit lately but not enough, which I'm guessing is a result of the staph. So my thread is really about how to minimize the effect of the antibiotics on my gut for the next few weeks.
Make sure you're getting sufficient prebiotics to go with the probiotics.
If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, they sell the cheapest spirulina that I've found. 3g/day has worked well for me. Make sure you're eating plenty of onions and garlic, as well.
Thanks, I eat tons of garlic and onions but I had no idea about the spirulina! I'll stop by Trader Joe's tomorrow. 
How long ago did you start taking the probiotics? Just curious because I know that when I tried to take them in the first few days they gave me tons of little whiteheads all over my face which lasted weeks after stopping their use. You could just be dealing with an initial breakout from them. I also found that drinking apple cider vinegar caused tons of small whiteheads too. Many of the things you are taking could cause a detox reaction in your body which might be the reason for the strange breakouts if you have't been taking them for a while. Just my two cents. In that case taking antibiotics would help but would be completely counter productive of the probiotics.
How long ago did you start taking the probiotics? Just curious because I know that when I tried to take them in the first few days they gave me tons of little whiteheads all over my face which lasted weeks after stopping their use. You could just be dealing with an initial breakout from them. I also found that drinking apple cider vinegar caused tons of small whiteheads too. Many of the things you are taking could cause a detox reaction in your body which might be the reason for the strange breakouts if you have't been taking them for a while. Just my two cents. In that case taking antibiotics would help but would be completely counter productive of the probiotics.
I've been taking the probiotics for 3 weeks now. I was expecting a healing crisis from lots of things I was doing. That's unrelated to the reasons that I suspect I have staph again. From the start of this most recent breakout a few months ago, my skin hasn't behaved the way it normally does, before I was doing anything out of the ordinary to try to cure it. It just felt and looked and behaved more like an infection than my usual hormonal cystic stuff. I decided it was best to cover all my bases first. After a few weeks of Minocycline, the staph would be gone, so then I can know I'm strictly dealing with acne/healing crisis. I felt like I was fighting multiple battles at once and not getting anywhere and I just really wanted to rule one thing (staph) out for sure. But thank you!! I do appreciate it.
How long ago did you start taking the probiotics? Just curious because I know that when I tried to take them in the first few days they gave me tons of little whiteheads all over my face which lasted weeks after stopping their use. You could just be dealing with an initial breakout from them. I also found that drinking apple cider vinegar caused tons of small whiteheads too. Many of the things you are taking could cause a detox reaction in your body which might be the reason for the strange breakouts if you have't been taking them for a while. Just my two cents. In that case taking antibiotics would help but would be completely counter productive of the probiotics.
I've been taking the probiotics for 3 weeks now. I was expecting a healing crisis from lots of things I was doing. That's unrelated to the reasons that I suspect I have staph again. From the start of this most recent breakout a few months ago, my skin hasn't behaved the way it normally does, before I was doing anything out of the ordinary to try to cure it. It just felt and looked and behaved more like an infection than my usual hormonal cystic stuff. I decided it was best to cover all my bases first. After a few weeks of Minocycline, the staph would be gone, so then I can know I'm strictly dealing with acne/healing crisis. I felt like I was fighting multiple battles at once and not getting anywhere and I just really wanted to rule one thing (staph) out for sure. But thank you!! I do appreciate it.
No problem! Maybe best just to go with your own gut feeling and insight and take the antibiotics to be sure. You know your body best and by the sounds of your posts you really suspect a staph infection so I would take the antibiotics and if they don't work double check with your doctor/dermatologist on what might be going on and take a culture of it.
What on earth is wrong with your country? (I presume you are American). I think it's appalling that if you have limited means and no insurance you cannot get the necessary help required. I know of no other country on the planet where you can't see a dermatologist only because you don't have money.
If it were me I would avoid taking the antibiotics unless your staph infection is becoming severe. I have had staph on my face a couple times and it sucks. VERY painful. 
The first time I eventually used antibiotics, but I didn't realize I had staph until late in the infection when it was spreading down my neck and getting pretty serious. When I began to get some staph again early this year, I fought it with Indian Healing Clay, tea tree oil, oregano oil and building up my immune system. As long as the infection isn't already taking you over, I think that's the better way.