Cephalexin : Oral Antibiotic

First off, you can not give something a bad review because you're allergic to it. That's like giving a remote a bad review because you put the batteries in up-side down. With that being said, I suffered with cystic acne since I was in high school. I'm 24 now. After trying about 6 prescriptions in high school, I gave up, hoping that it would go away as I got older. It didn't. When I started college I started searching again and seeing a new dermatologist. We tried a few things including bactrim and minocycline, which I was allergic to, (and didn't give a bad review). Well, I've been on cephalexin for 3 months, and I also use retin-a topically. My skin is completely clear. Completely. My daily regimen consists of washing my face in the morning, and twice at night with Basis bar soap (3 dollars at drugstores). I use Dickinson's witch hazel as an astringent (4 dollars at drugstores). I take the cephalexin once at night. And I use the retin-a every other night. And I use super gentle moisturizer, one with absolutely no fragrance, oils, alcohol, anything of that nature. My confidence is great now. Being able to sit around with my boyfriend with no makeup on is amazing. And he still tells me how pretty I am. Keep in mind that this stuff DOES take a long time to work. I've been on it for 3 months and my skin just cleared up about a week ago. =]

I'm 26F and I was put on 500mg 2x daily and the results have been great. I'm not sensitive to antibiotics and haven't had any noticeable side effects (although the exhaustion thing does ring a bell). I'm on the cephalexin and onexton (clindamycin + benzoyl peroxide) and within 2 weeks my skin is almost completely clear and my scabs are clearing up. Before that I tried several other drug store common options, trying to give each of them the time for my face to get used to them and still had about 15 cystic spots and 20-50 comedones and postules. I'm also doing my best to not touch or pick at my face at all to let my acne run it's natural course. I've switched to a non-comedogenic powder foundation. So far I'm very happy with the results! I have a follow up with my dermatologist in 3 months, so I'll keep an eye out for the side effects and plateaus.

I'm a 31 year old male and have been struggling with acne for years. I started using Dan's regimen 4 years ago which improved my acne dramatically. A year ago, however, I started breaking out with the large, deep, cystic pimples I've always been prone to. No explanation for that yet. A family doctor put me on cephalexin as a hold-me-over until I could see a dermatologist. I was skeptical, having been put on minocycline years before with no improvement. Taking cephalexin, however, has been a minor godsend. (I've continued using benzoyl peroxide as well). I've developed 3 cysts since taking it but each was progressively less severe than the ones before and they healed even faster. This respite has allowed my remaining spots to fade significantly without just piling on more cysts on top of them. Acne sufferers know that at desperate times they'll take what they can get, which is why I'm rating this highly as an effective, yet temporary, fix for moderately severe acne.

Cephalexin really helped me heal almost immediately of severe swelling, throbbing, and oozing of my acne. I really saw an improvement on the texture of my skin; there was not so many bumps anymore.

My dermatologist switched me to this after a lack of results from Minocycline and this is the clearest my skin has looked, but I did experience a lot of nausea and exhaustion after first starting cephalexin. I'm not sure if it's directly been caused by the meds or not, but it's definitely been worth it if it means I don't need to go on accutane!

So my doctor started me on this antibiotic after I received weird side effects from Minocycline, which wasn't working anyway. I am so happy I did! I have been on this for a little over a week, NO side effects for me! I also just started my menstrual cycle since then and haven't had one breakout yet. How is that possible? I have strugged with acne since I was about 15, and have tried several products. My skin is clear right now. Of course, I still have plenty of old scars from picking and such (bad habit, i know), but I can deal with those later. Right now, I am happy that my skin is actually clear! I should also mention that I do not use this with any prescribed skin products. However, I do use a lemon/honey mask a couple times a week, which has been helping heal old scars. This has helped tremendously. I hope it's not too early, to give Cephalexin credit, but I know my skin.... and in one week of taking it, my skin feels amazing!

Had this prescribed after a septoplasty, and did some research after my skin began to clear up. Had mild acne and was almost completly clear in 5 days. Now I just need to check on long term side effects.

it works! finally a antibiotic that has worked for me. I'm a 24 y/o female and I've tried everything minocycline, tetracycline, doxycycline..this was definitely different and I've been on it for about 6 weeks and really starting to see a difference in my skin and other people are noticing it too. you just have to make sure to take it as prescribed.. if you miss a few doses your skin will flare up. also my doctor recommended to use it with 10% benzoyl peroxide face wash which has also been helping (although drying)..better results than the salicylic acid one I was using. i also use 1.0% tretinoin cream at night with the antibiotic. this combo has been working really well for me. I didn't have any side effects to the medication either.

I had a sinus infection and was taking Cephalexin for it. While I was sick I was completely miserable and didn't shower for several days (gross, I know, but I felt like crap). Now, if I don't shower for a day I WILL break out with at least 1 cystic pimple and other minor acne. After wondering why after 4 days of no major washing I didn't get any acne I checked... It HAD to be this cuz I used no other products or medication during this time, and at 30 years old I know how my acne works. I'm not a doctor but from what I understand, taking anti-biotics too often will lessen the power of your immune system. This in turn will make you more susceptible to sickness/colds/flu's/etc. Again, I'm no doctor so I'd definitely consult yours if you plan on using this regularly.

I actually went on this a week before a major surgery on doctors orders. I was so distracted with the idea of surgery that I didn't notice until later that it caused my acne to COMPLETELY go away. It was awesome, unfortunately it only lasted while I was on the medication, a mere week. (The effects lasted about 2 weeks.) I would like to get on this again but I'm not sure if a doctor would prescribe it specifically for acne.