I've been a long time lurker on this forum. It is such a wealth of information! I finally have some questions on my own. Specifically regarding Minocycline.
First a little background: I'm 29 and female. I started getting acne in college. I had very little to none in high school. Over the years it has progressively gotten worse. Every pore in my face clogs. What aren't blackheads and closed comedones are cystic (cheeks, forehead, chin etc). I've tried dieting: I went very low carb, little to no sugar, gluten and dairy free for nearly a year. I've left out other random foods that could aggravate acne such as tomatoes and other acids. I even went chocolate free for about a month (I love chocolate). Absolutely no change in the condition of my skin.
Last year I was fed up and went to a general practitioner. I knew all he would want to do is put me on medications. It ended up being worse than I had initially thought. The first thing he asked me was if I wanted accutane. He proceeded to tell me the only difference from what he could do and a dermatologist is that the derm could prescribe accutane. I have side effects from just about every prescription I've ever taken, so I kindly declined the referral to the derm. I had to all but beg to get a vitamin/mineral test (I forget what it is called, tests for deficiencies). I never did get around to requesting an allergy test. Anyway, long story short, he claimed my test results were fine other than I was fighting a minor infection of some kind and he wasn't worried about it. He put me on 50mg of Minocycline and prescribed some cream that I cannot use. I've been on and off of Minocycline for about a year.
Some things that Minocycline does for me: after a few days of being on it, the blackheads and closed comedones start pushing themselves out. Once out, they do not reclog. The pores stay clean. After a month or so the cystic acne starts to heal and doesn't reappear. Minocycline seems to do more for me than just kill bacteria. Without Minocycline, the extracted blackheads are back the next day. It is like everything clogs my face. Nothing topical works. I have used everything under the sun to help keep the blackheads and cystic acne under control over the years. Absolutely nothing helps. I have even tried various peels, salicylic, glycolic acid, BHA+ (not all at once of course), nothing touches the clogged pores. I've never washed my face more than twice a day. Recently I've started just using water on my face. Not even that has helped. I'm convinced I have an internal problem. I've stopped using all facial products, including moisturizer. I have found they just clog the pores more.
I just started a vitamin B complex as well. I've been doing some research and I have a few of the symptoms that relate to vitamin B deficiency. I'm now taking 30mg of Zinc (15mg twice a day), probiotics, digestive enzymes, and a vitamin B complex. I am hoping eventually I will find something natural and effective to combat my acne for good.
I guess the reason for my long-winded post is to ask, what exactly is Minocycline doing to clear my cystic and non-cystic acne and what is a natural alternative?
Thanks everyone!
Crystal
Minocycline is an antibiotic that belongs to the family, tetracyclines. The tetracycline family is generally referred to as a "broad spectrum" in regards to the inherent success it has displayed being used in various protocols. A very common pharmaceutical prescribed for the treatment of acne, however it is worth noting that in recent years antibiotic resistant strands of propionibacterium acnes/P. Acnes have been identified. Showed resistance to tetracycline family (monocycline, doxycycline, tetracycline), the macrolides (erythromycin, telithromycin), and lincosamides (clindamycin is one i've read about quite often..)
Definitely a result from illogical and overzealous prescriptions of antibiotics being handed out for the most trivial and rudimentary of established symptoms. Lessons To Learn: Europe and antibiotic resistance
Minocycline will greatly alleviate bacterial acne, but its effects are short lived because the mitigation of harmful bacteria is solely dependent upon the bacteriostatic mechanics. Once the biological half-life has reached its range where it no longer possesses a serum concentration high enough to exhibit its pharmacokinetics....the acne will slowly return if acute bacterial infection wasn't the original mediator in the first place.
Zinc is your best bet! Utilize the other minerals associated with proper zinc metabolism like copper and iron. It is possible to cause copper deficiency from zinc supplementation if the individual doesn't achieve sufficient copper from his own diet.
Thank you for the response Baxter. I should have clarified. I understand how antibiotics work for bacteria. From my understanding, blackheads are not bacteria related. How does Minocycline work to clear this up? It causes the blackheads to literally fall right out, and they do not come back as long as I am on the antibiotic.
The zinc that I am taking has 1mg of copper per 15mg of zinc. Probably not enough to be useful. I will be careful and will supplement copper if need be.
Thanks,
Crystal
1mg of copper is plenty! I take 1.5mg ED along with 50mg of zinc.
I could honestly just type a summary related to the pharmacokinetics of minocycline, but I really don't think the pharmacology information is going to answer any of your questions. The sensation that it seems like black heads are just falling out could just be the bacteriostatic nature of minocycline. I'll try to indentify possible mechanics....
MMP9 (matrix metalloproteinase-9) is a matrixin that encodes wound healing and collagen degredation (type IV and V) However minocycline exhibits inhibitory activity to the target protein.
Modulation of the target proteins for Caspase 1 and 3 could alter the activity associated with cytokines (responsible for cellular signaling especially in regards to inflammatory response)
antibiotic pharmacology can be complicated. This one in particular interacts with not only target proteins for cellular expressions, but also expresses kinetic activity at the mRNA/tRNA level. This would be activity associated with altering gene expression and encoding mechanics.
If you would like to dive deep into some metabolic biochemistry then be my guest! I can only take so much outside of the classroom before I spontaneously disembowel.
I wish you luck if you dive into any further reading! In the pharmacology table go to the section referred to as "targets." That is the list of receptors it expresses a binding affinity for. Make sure to take note in regards to what expression it induces (negative modulator, inhibitor, agonist)
30S ribosomal protein S9 expressions
Thank you Baxter!! I really appreciate the information. Good to know the 1mg of copper is enough. I do plan to dive a bit deeper. The Minocycline is really the only thing I have tried that really works for me. It is not a long term solution, but I hope to find one after I understand how it works a bit better.
