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
June 24, 2011
Cons:
none really sometimes feel sick
stay out of sun for long periods of time!!! got a really really bad sunburn lol! :)
I had tried so many diffrent things. tetracycline, bp, retin a, and some other topicals, proativ, even took diffrent vitimans and nothing ever worked or even helped. I was proscribed this about 1 1/2 months ago. started with about 30+ pimples, some cysts that hurt like a bitch. now i have about 5 pimples none cystic, none hurt at all. just have alot of scaring :P i would really recomend this!!!
June 19, 2011
Pros:
Did wonders for my skin for about 8 months and slowly started to stop working.
Cons:
You have to be very careful about when you take it.
I loved this antibiotic. It worked amazingly at first, I just wish it could have lasted longer ):
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
June 14, 2011
Pros:
-completely cleared up my skin the first month and a half I took it!!
Cons:
-stopped working 2 months in!!! :(
I didn't get the neausea others are talking about... I took it at night and just fall asleep.. The first month: acne started clearing up!
A month and a half: acne completely gone! beautiful skin!!
2 months: acne explosion! 20+ pimples! It all came back!!! :(
June 9, 2011
Pros:
-Helped clear up skin
-Easy to take
Cons:
-Only works for so long
-MUST TAKE WITH FOOD + WATER TO AVOID NAUSESA. If you take on empty stomach you will feel like your going to puke.
Was on doxy for good 3 months. Helped skin clear up in some areas. Seemed to only work for so long then it started to have no effect on me. Acne that was once gone possibly came back. Prescribed once a day.
June 8, 2011
Pros:
it really does clear up acne
clears of body acne
Cons:
causes vomiting
takes a while to work
if you stop using acne will come back
Bottom line, this stuff really work... it may make you feel sick and even make you throw up, but if you make sure you drink plenty of water and eat before taking it won't make you sick.
June 6, 2011
Pros:
none so far
Cons:
-made acne worse
-didn't cause me to vomit, but did bother my stomach somewhat every day
-DRY SKIN
-itchy skin
I was prescribed this for acne (100mg once a day for 30 days), I have four days left and I have seen no improvements in my skin. It seemed to make my acne worse (and cystic acne at that, which I have NEVER had before). I thought it was just a coincidence, but after looking up the side affects and reading other's reviews I realized I am not the only one with these problems. The skin on my eyelids and other patches on my face has also become very dry to the point where no matter how much lotion I apply, it does NOTHING and I have big flakes around my eyes. This might have been caused my sun exposure, but I haven't been doing any outdoor activities. It did make me nauseous the first few days I took it, but I never threw up. This seems to happen to a lot of people, and my dermatologist warned me of it when I started taking it. I have read to take it WITH food, and WITHOUT food, so i am not sure what to follow. I have taken many many acne medications (including being on ammoxicillin for a few years) and I've never had side affects that made me sick or made my acne worse, except with THIS medication.
June 3, 2011
Pros:
Clears Moderate achne
Cons:
I've been throwing up or the past 3 hours.
Nausea
I i knew this was going to happen i would have not taken it
June 2, 2011
Pros:
Cheap
Easy to get without insurance
works slowly...but it does work
Cons:
NAUSEA
You must be patient to see results
I seem to be affected every summer by skin issues...beautiful all winter long...as soon as summer hits, the problems start. Doxy is easy to get even w/o insurance...most minute clinics will write a script and if you live in the south east U.S. many Publix pharmacies will fill the script for free :)
The down side, as hard as it is to do, it must be taken on an empty stomach to work its full effect as quickly as possible. This could be a big deterrent for some, but trust me its worth it...(Ive taken 600mg Bactrim horsepills that did not have the nasty side effects like 100mg of this)...I was prescribed 100mg 2x per day for 30 days...reduce to once a day for the remaining 30. It only took 2 days and three doses before the Doxy had me balled up in a fetal position with nausea...The nausea will pass within an hour and probiotic pills help reduce the nausea a great deal! But nothing with milk products or high calcium content! My best advice is to take your dose when you have nowhere to go for a few hours and can lay down and rest...I highly recommend NOT taking it before going out anywhere for at least one hour! One side effect I did notice immediately though was that the Doxy raised my body temperature by 2 degrees and I was sweating bullets after the first dose! One of the listed side effects is fever, but it seemed to hit me particularly hard...It felt more like my metabolism spiked more than anything though... As far as results go, within 2 days I could see that no new spots were forming especially overnight, and thats when most people seem to be hit the hardest. Be warned though that ANY new spots that were beginning to form when you started the Doxy will run their course. This seems to be a major frustration for many people who've taken this. After two to three weeks there should be noticeable clearing....BE PATIENT! I recommend taking omega 3 oils with the Doxy as well as it will make your skin dry out considerably...especiall
May 30, 2011
Pros:
None
Cons:
Major cystic breakout (and I don't get cystic acne) scarring and nausea
This caused me to breakout into very bad cystic acne after 1 week, and I've never had this kind of acne. It's been over 2 weeks since I got off the doxycycline hyclate and many of the zits are still there and taking forever to heal. Some of them have caused what is probably permanent scarring. If a drug is going to cause an initial breakout, it shouldn't be so bad that it scars you for life. My dermatologist is also a jackass for prescribing it when I didn't really need it. My skin was doing OK and I just had some bumps near my hairline which would probably be gone by now anyways. This will take months to recover from. Stay away from this stuff unless your skin is already full of cystic zits and can't get any worse.
Pros:
Cant believe it acctually helped...