Acne.org Products
Oral Antibiotic
Efficacy
56%
Based on All Available Studies
Strength of Evidence
Note: Should never be used on its own and for a maximum of 3 months.
Oral Antibiotic
Acne.org’s Real World Take
Antibiotics should be used for a maximum of 3 months, provide only moderate benefit and only to some people, and may lead to side effects and strains of resistant bacteria. Studies do show doxycycline can reduce severe acne in the short term, and as far as oral antibiotics are concerned, it’s usually the go-to, but approach with caution and stay your own advocate.
Oral Antibiotic
How to Get It
Have a dermatologist? Make an appointment to get this medication. Don't have a dermatologist? See The American Academy of Dermatology Physician Database to find one.
Used Doxycycline? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
September 10, 2011
Cons:
NONE
In order to avoid the sickness that the earlier reviews mentioned is do NOT take doxycycline with dairy products with 2 hours of consuming dairy. This will not only reduce the effectivness of the medicine but also make you feeling sick
Remember to wear sun protection, as the only real problem with doxycycline is that it the skins ability to absorb light is reduced = potential for burning!
September 6, 2011
Pros:
Cleared a lot of acne in the short amount of time I was taking it.
Cons:
Side effects were brutal
This antibiotic worked great for the 4 days I was taking it. I saw many of my pimple vanish. On the 3rd day I developed a blinding, nauseating headache. at first I didn't attribute it to the Doxycycline. I took my next dose along with some tylenol for the headache. despite multiple doses of tylenol (which always gets rid of my headaches) I had the headache all day, it was incapacitating.
The next day I woke up unable to swallow anything but small sips of water. I went to the ER and they scoped my esophagus and I had ulcerations from top to bottom.
They sent me home, but I returned 2 days later weak and dehydrated because it hurt too much to swallow that I couldn't drink enough water. I had to stay in the hospital for 2 days with an IV. I still couldn't drink much or eat.
The symptoms lasted 10 days. 10 days of eating practically nothing and only taking a sip of water at a time and even then it was in agony.
Beware the side effects of this medication.
September 1, 2011
Pros:
Clears up skin, leaving it smooth, soft, and dewy.. beautiful
Cheap with insurance
Cons:
Vomiting if taken on an empty stomach
Tears up esophagus
It literally cleared up my skin in two weeks; my skin wasn't bad to begin with, but it seemed like I always had a couple pimples. I started right before summer, and once or twice I experienced heartburn. Now, I have severe heartburn. My back is sore, and I can barely eat because it hurts so much. I'm on medicine to counter-act it, and now I can finally breathe without feeling squeezed. My doctor was confused at first; he said it sounded like I have GERD, which is bad acid reflux, but that didn't explain my back pain. After blood tests and chest x-rays, he realized that I was taking doxycycline hyclate. Apparently, it is supposed to be taken followed by two tall glasses of water, (which the label fails to mention) otherwise it will lodge in your throat. Since I've been dry swallowing, the medicine has inflamed my esophagus. To top that, I had previously been taking pain medication. Apparently, Tylenol is the only pain med that doesn't cause heart burn. I was taking Aleve, making it even worse. So, at the moment I am not taking my doxycycline. I'm waiting 3 or 4 days (until my GERD-like symptoms are gone) and then resuming it. If drinking two full glasses of water doesn't help, then I will discontinue. Also, my doctor has prescribed me Tylenol (for pain) and two other medicines to fix my esophagus. Wish my derm had warned me about the side effects and how to properly take this antibiotic.
August 3, 2011
Pros:
smoother skin
barely any new pimples
Cons:
nausea
My acne is very mild-moderate. I'd get that one acne bump which would take a while to die down - then once that's gone..another would pop up. I was only prescribed this for about a month (4 weeks) and although I don't think there was a huge improvement...I did notice that my skin got a lot smoother. I still broke out with that one pimple every time but I think the main difference was the texture of my skin. This was probably noticeable from the 5-14 day mark. I was then prescribed to a different antibiotic, but it would have been great to see if my skin dramatically improved if I used doxy for longer than 4 weeks. One thing that you do need to be careful with is how you take doxy. I tried very hard to take it on an empty stomach... but found that to prevent nausea I had to take food after 1 hour (2 hours max). It really depends on you..if you feel sick / that you need to vomit...I'd definitely eat food to 'cure' it.
June 25, 2011
Pros:
OControls acne
Fewer zits
Cons:
Works really slow
I derm prescribed this a week ago 100mg twice a day with a meal for 3 months . I really like this because I haven't had a new zit in a couple of days ....yes
June 15, 2011
Pros:
cleared up for a while
Cons:
nausea!!
reaction from being in the sun
not good to take for long periods
permanent stained teeth
got a BAD reaction from being in the sun. now i have blistered hands that are bright red. it did help for a little. only took it to keep my face calm before Accutane
April 22, 2011
Pros:
Did not dry out my skin
Cons:
Did absolutely nothing for acne.
It did absolutely nothing and was a waste of time.
October 20, 2010
Pros:
Somewhat affordable. Doesn't taste bad.
Cons:
Didn't improve skin. Pills were hard to swallow due to its size.
I was on this antibiotic for 2 months. My forehead cleared up, but the rest of my face was breaking out pretty badly. I'm also using Atralin gel at the same time, so the breaking out or purging was probably caused by or with the gel, and not the antibiotic itself.
June 14, 2010
Pros:
cheap
Cons:
didn't help my acne
made me prone to yeast infections
Sorry for the extra personal info, but I couldn't even take this for the full time prescribed because of reoccuring yeast infections. I took it for over a month though and saw no results.
May 5, 2010
Pros:
Temporarily clears acne.
Cons:
Only temporary.
Nausea.
Yellowing/Browning of teeth.
Sensitivity to sun.
I would never recommend this to anyone. My dermatologist did not tell me this was a temporary solution. When my acne cleared while on Doryx, I thought it was permanent and I was so happy. About a month after I stopped taking Doryx, my acne returned 20 times worse and that is not an exaggeration. It ruined my face and now I am uncertain of what to do because my face will not return to its state prior to taking Doryx. All antibiotics are temporary and your acne may return worse, like mine did.
Pros:
Works Very Fast! Its my fourth day of using doxycycline and it has significantly reduced the redness on my face and raised areas
ITS A LIFE SAVER!