I think you are wondering about exactly the same thing that anyone worries about when starting a treatment - will it work, is it safe, do I need to take it forever.... etc

Regarding minocycline - it has been used for a long time for acne... so I guess we know alot about it. It is not likely that you have taken this particular antibiotic as a child, however, so you will not know if it 'agrees with you' until you start taking it really.

You can't take roaccutane and minocycline at the same time - it can be very dangerous. But as you have been off the accutane for 2 months there shouldnt be a problem. Report any worsening headaches to your doctor.

All medications cause side effects. THe most common side effects with minocycline are gastrointestinal side effects like reflux, bloating and diarrhoe, headaches, and easy burning in the sun (but not as bad as it's sister drug doxycycline). Some people take higher doses than you are about to start, and the higher the dose the more likely you will see side effects. Ofcourse, all antibiotics can mess with your intestinal flora (the good bacteria in the gut).

On balance most people using minocycline see an improvement in their acne, which lasts for some time after they stop treatment. Some times this means they have grown out of their acne anyway and so it doesn't come back. More often than not it does come back to some extent atleast for some amount of time.

Good luck!

P.S. yes you can take vitamin C and B vitamins with minocycline - although not calcium supplements. You might be interested in looking at some particular b vitamins which are good for acne. [Edited link out]

I'm not sure about the other questions but I took Minocycline and it cleared up my cystic acne but when I stopped it came back worse. I think I wrote a review about it (on this site)years ago. Also, if you take it for too long you could develop minocycline induded lupus. I don't remember how long I took it but it was only for a few months and when the acne came back I was given one more prescription. After that one, Dr. Said he wouldn't give me any more...

I have read that it helped some people...that they took the meds and the acne never came back once they were off it. I guess it just depends on the person. I,unfortunately, wasn't that lucky. Maybe it will work for you.

@longtermsufferer10

On 3/18/2015 at 8:03 PM, longtermsufferer10 said:

I think you are wondering about exactly the same thing that anyone worries about when starting a treatment - will it work, is it safe, do I need to take it forever.... etc

Regarding minocycline - it has been used for a long time for acne... so I guess we know alot about it. It is not likely that you have taken this particular antibiotic as a child, however, so you will not know if it 'agrees with you' until you start taking it really.

You can't take roaccutane and minocycline at the same time - it can be very dangerous. But as you have been off the accutane for 2 months there shouldnt be a problem. Report any worsening headaches to your doctor.

All medications cause side effects. THe most common side effects with minocycline are gastrointestinal side effects like reflux, bloating and diarrhoe, headaches, and easy burning in the sun (but not as bad as it's sister drug doxycycline). Some people take higher doses than you are about to start, and the higher the dose the more likely you will see side effects. Ofcourse, all antibiotics can mess with your intestinal flora (the good bacteria in the gut).

On balance most people using minocycline see an improvement in their acne, which lasts for some time after they stop treatment. Some times this means they have grown out of their acne anyway and so it doesn't come back. More often than not it does come back to some extent atleast for some amount of time.

Good luck!

P.S. yes you can take vitamin C and B vitamins with minocycline - although not calcium supplements. You might be interested in looking at some particular b vitamins which are good for acne. [Edited link out]

Thank you so much for reading my problems and answering them!

I have 2 follow up questions:

1) I read from your other post that you consumed minocycline before may I know how long and at what dosage did you use it? Also did you develop any side effects and whether the acne came back after you stopped using it?

2) also from your other post about Vitamin B, you mentioned you consumed vitamin B3 at 400-500 mg daily and at the website that you suggested ([removed]), it's recommended to take 3 tables of 400-500 mg daily. My question is, isn't this too much?

because according to official sources, the upper limit for Vitamin B3 is 35 mg per day for adults over 19 years...

let me quote the source directly: "Although flushing from nicotinamide is rare, the Food and Nutrition Board set the UL for niacin (nicotinic acid and nicotinamide) at 35 mg/day to avoid the adverse effect of flushing".

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/niacin/

there are other sources too which similarly put upper intake level at 35mg/day for vitamin b3:

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09312.html

http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/vitamins

http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/5_Summary%20Table%20Tables%201-4.pdf

I have also checked Blackmore B Plus C but their vitamin B3 content is also above the upper limit at 60mg... so probably it's not a problem? i'm really confused...

http://www.blackmores.com.my/products/B-Plus-C

They are really good follow up questions.

Firstly.. yes I used minocycline... for about 6 months. I didn't found it helped me much.... maybe 20% reduction in pimples overall (Hard to estimate)... but as described in my initial post redness and irritation was a bit part of my problem, and the minocycline is a type of 'tetracycline' and all of these make you more sensitive to the sun some what... so that was a side effect for me at least in part. I also did get lots of headaches from it... I would have put up with these to be honest if it had worked well.

Regarding dosing of vitamin B3 : 2 comments -

- don't take niacin - just about no body takes high dose niacin as it causes flushing. In the body niacin is converted to niacinamide (I guess you can call that teh active form). Taking niacinamide directly does not cause flushing. It is possible to overwhelm the liver if you go well over 3 grams daily.. and so the upper limit should be 3 grams, and the advice is normally to take between 1.5 grams and 2 grams daily divided in 304 doses (so.... 400-600mg three to four times daily).

I don't want to make any enemies, but the medical profession does not know much about vitamins. They don't believe in them, don't study them, and therefore really shouldn't give advice about them. A good example of funny upper recommended daily allowances and upper limits is vitamin C. I think, from memory, the FDA recommends 65grams per day, no more than a 1000mg per day, where as I regularly took 8000mg per day for years and felt great, now take about 4000mg per day. MIllions of people do this without side effects.

Hope that is helpful!

@longtermsufferer10

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I've read further from other sources and indeed taking >100mg per day of Vitamin B3 is okay and some even recommended taking 1-2 g/day divided into 3x.

So now it seems that the 60mg from Blackmores B plus C is too low?

I'm currently looking for a supplement containing both Vitamin B-complex and C... do you have any recommendation?

Thanks again.

Most 'multi vitamins' nowadays do contain a tad of vitamin C... like 50 grams or so.... but unless you have scurvy that is a tiny amount.

It depends how much you want to take. WIth vitamin C I think most people should take a gram per day.... and more if they have any 'stressors' on them.. stress, disease, what ever it might be. If they have a viral infection... just keep increasing the dose until you start to get loose stools... meaning that the body no longer is absorbing it and it is passing into the bowels making the stools loose. This is called 'bowel tolerance' and is sort of the way to work out how much vitamin c the body wants.

A B complex is not really going to treat acne... unless you are malnourished, in which case acne will not be your most prominent symptom I would imagine. If you are looking at B vitmains to treat Acne I would look at either high dose B3 or B5, and actually would not take a B complex with them... atleast initially. (Perhaps some biotin... or , in the case of B5, some acetly - L - carnetine).

So...... I don't think you would be buying a combined B complex with high dose vitamin C.

Thanks again!

The Blackmores B Plus C contains 60mg of Vit B3 and 300 mg of Vit C... I thought it was enough...

so then do you think taking vitamin B3 ~500 mg/day + vitamin C ~1000 mg/day (separate pills) is better for my skin and overall health?

any recommendation of brands? oh also I read that to alleviate the side effects of minocycline, it's recommended to take probiotics... do you think it's effective and if yes how many mg?

Thanks again, so sorry if i'm using you as my virtual doctor....

Sorry, can't recommend brands, but to clarify:

1 gram of vitamin c daily for someone normal without chronic health issues is a good idea

500mg of vitamin B 3 - 3 or 4 times daily - this is the dose I would recommend for acne.

Sorry, can't recommend brands, but to clarify:

1 gram of vitamin c daily for someone normal without chronic health issues is a good idea

500mg of vitamin B 3 - 3 or 4 times daily - this is the dose I would recommend for acne.

sorry need clarification, 500mg of vitamin B3 is the total dosage per day or the dosage for each pill?

500mg per B3 (nicotinamide or Niacinamide) capsule, take the capsule 3-4 times per day, meaning daily dose 1500-2000mg.