Doxycycline

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Doxycycline is an oral antibiotic that works by fighting bacteria in the body, including in the skin, and also reduces inflammation. It should...

Doxycycline is an oral antibiotic that works by fighting bacteria in the body, including in the skin, and also reduces inflammation. It should be used only short term (max. 3 months).

It is usually prescribed at a dose of 50 to 100 mg once or twice per day.

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mrTEE82

April 15, 2011

Pros:

* Easy to swallow pills
* Easy regimen to follow
* Cleared up nodular/cystic acne
* Made skin less oily
* Face was clear of cystic acne for many months after stopping treatment
* Affordable

Cons:

*First time taking pill w/out food, felt severe nausea. After weeks into the treatment, was able to ingest pills on an empty stomach w/no probs.

* Cystic/Nodular returned about 8 months later.

For the first few months, took 100mg in the A.M. and another 100mg at evening time about 12 hrs apart. Also used Clindamycin Phosphate 1% twice daily and applied Differin Gel 0.1% nightly. After 3 months, I only took 1 pill daily for maintenance. All 3 of these meds worked well for me and I was thankful at the time that my derm had suggested it because I had initially wanted to try Accutane. 8 months later after my last pill, my cystic acne has returned and I currently have 3 on my face. Have an appt this Monday w/my derm so I'm gonna try this regimen again to see how long the results will last this time after stopping the treatment. If the acne returns again but sooner, I'm gonna consider Accutane.

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Oliver158

April 14, 2011

Pros:

Works relatively fast
Cleared up existing pimples
Kept skin very clear during duration
Evened out skin tone
Less redness

Cons:

None really, but if you have a very sensitive stomach I HIGHLY recommend you take something like acidopholus which restores the pH balance in your stomach

I have had pretty bad acne for about 3-4 years now. I have gone to soooo many different dermatologists and they have all just done the same thing...prescribe cream after cream after cream. The same thing would happen. At first, I would be so excited because it seemed to be working so well and then after a while my skin would get super dried out and then would go back to normal. You name it, I have most likely tried it. Epiduo, Duac, Sulfur treatments-the list goes on. I even tried some supposed "homeopathic"treatment that had "homeopathic" pills along with a benzoyl peroxide cream and salicyclc acid toner, which like before, worked and then eventually my skin was back to normal. So I heard a lot of people talking about Isolaz and decided to look into it and even ask my new dermatologist. After discovering the price ($3000 per treatment!!) and that it is not recomended, it was a no go. I was so ready to just give up and wait until I grow out of puberty to get rid of this acne. I finally went to a new dermatologist just to give it one more try. She explained to me that I have all different types of acne- huge pores, pimples under the skin, and then inflammatory acne, and that Doxycycline would only treat the pimples under the skin and partly the inflammatory acne. I was at first scared to try it but I am only taking 100 mg so the side effects are minimal. I CANNOT BELIEVE THE AMAZING RESULTS!! I am so suprised because I never thought such a low dose could possibly work, but it has!! I notice that my skin has stayed relatively clear, except for the occasional pimple here and there and somewhat enlarged pores, that my skin is less red, and that the tone of my skin has improved-mind you I have only been taking this for about 2 weeks. I hope that the same thing will not happen again, but I am trying to stay hopeful :)

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Caitlin

April 12, 2011

Pros:

got rid of most of the acne on my back, and most of the cyst zits that I would get on my face.

Cons:

the pill is big, it doesn't do ANYTHING for blackheads though

I have been using it for a few months and it helps a bit, but I still have really bad acne. It isn't a cure or quick fix, but it does help.

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Ally

April 3, 2011

Pros:

Clears acne
Clears pretty quickly (3 weeks)
Does its job well

Cons:

Extreme Sun Sensitivity
Can't take with Calcium

I am a first-timer to acne prescriptions and have to say I am very satisfied with my experience so far. I am on Doxy along with Atralin at night and Acanya in the morning. It has worked great for my moderate acne and I started seeing visible results within 3 weeks. My skin is now clearer than it has ever been and only breaks out slightly (1-2 pimples) around that time of the month. For me, the downside of doxy was my increased sun sensitivity. My light skin never had problems with sunburn before and has always tanned well. I went to Florida for Spring Break and was fine the first day, but then got SLAMMED with sunburn the next day. I was still applying sunscreen, but got a horrible burn on my hands, feet, and face. This wasn't like a normal sunburn, it was extremely painful and itchy. Aloe didn't help much, I mainly used black tea bags to relive the pain. It's starting to heal now (after 2 weeks) but still looks pretty bad. My feet have also formed blisters. Now I will be extremely careful in the sun, because I cannot go through the burning pain again! The only other downside is that you cannot take this with Calcium - so sometimes it was annoying to find foods without Calcium. Calcium makes it harder for your body to absorb the medicine. Overall, I would definitely recommend this to people with light to moderate acne! It really worked and did what it said it would do. Just make sure you stay out of the sun! Hope this helped someone!

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Ella27

March 29, 2011

Pros:

Number of cysts and nodules went down. It will also shrink the size of them as well. Breakouts don't occur as often.

Cons:

Doesn't totally get rid of acne. Mostly just helps lower the number of cysts. You really need to remember to take it every night. If not then you might breakout over night.

I really do like this medication. I really didn't want to go on it at first since I hate swallowing pills but I'm glad I did. I get painful cysts and nodules on random spots on my face and this medication helped lower that number. Now I get fewer painful bumps though this product isn't a magic pill I still get pustules and my pores are still clogged. I do get nodules whenever my time of the month comes around but most of the time they are a lot smaller so long as I don't pick at them. As far as eating before is concerned I normally take these right before I shower and haven't experienced throwing up or anything like that. But I would just make sure you have eaten dinner before hand and have a little something in your stomach. It may just be that I hate swallowing pills but if I don't take the pills ( I use to take 50mg now I take 100mg) with a good amount of water I feel the pill in my throat which makes for an awful nights sleep. My mother has buys it for me but with insurance it costs $5. Reading online it says that without insurance it costs 30 dollars. This is very good for people who have moderate acne like me.

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WhitneyP

March 25, 2011

Pros:

-stop cystic formation
-free! (otherwise very cheap)
-decreased nodular acne under skin

Cons:

-took a bit to see slightest improvement (over a month)
-hearing distortion

have been on this medication at 150mg/day along with topicals: Epiduo (morning) and Aczone (night). I added these topicals a week and a half ago and have seen enormous improvement since. I had uncontrollable persistent cystic acne for 4 months. I am happy to see signs of my clear skin coming back. This is my first experience with severe acne at 20. The dermatologist considered Accutane for my skin that's how bad it is (just to put things in perspective). I had a $35 coupon from the company and insurance covered the rest so the prescription was free. I'd suggest calling the company and getting such help or coupon codes. In addition to this treatment I am soon to undergo Isolaz Laser Treatment to completely rid the acne from my life so it never returns after my antibiotic is over.

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Chris135

March 24, 2011

Pros:

Can be effective for many people

Cons:

Didn't work for me, many people are resistent to the antibiotics
Side effects caused me nausea and digestive problems

Antibiotics are usually the first line of prescriptions given by GPs to acne sufferers - I got put on about half a dozen, including Doxycycline, Mynocycline, Trimothoprim, etc. Doxycycline was no better or worse than those; it just didn't work. I think about 50% of people are resistent to these antibiotics. If you have mild/moderate acne, Doxycycline is worth a go - but in my opinion, even if it worked for me the intenstinal problems caused by the antibiotics mean it isn't worth it. A much better bet is to go on Dan's regimen, it has a much better success rate than antibiotics.

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28girlwithance

March 23, 2011

Pros:

-worked a little with inflammation

Cons:

- took forever to work
-hurt my stomach ALOT
-did not clear up anything

This was a waste of time. My doctor told me to be patient, but even after 2 months it did not work. Accutane was the only thing that worked. It has been a year since accutane, but now the acne is coming back. I am going to try cephalexin next with retin-A.

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Compeyson

March 21, 2011

Pros:

+ Reduced redness of facial, body acne
+ Cleared up a good portion of nodular shoulder, back acne (~80%)
+ Showed decent improvement fairly fast (~1-2 months)

Cons:

- Did not treat cysts below the skin
- Did not clear up all body acne
- Improvement reversed after ~3-4 months
- Gastrointestinal side effects (noticeably decreased appetite, indigestion, gas)

I was prescribed 75mg to be taken twice daily for my cystic body acne, and it helped somewhat, but I wanted 100% improvement. So, two months into treatment, I chose to increase my dosage to 100mg to be taken twice daily. It never cleared me up completely, and the results faded toward the end of my third month on the drug. For me, it didn't change the dryness/oiliness of skin it did for others. Worst of all, the side effects became unbearable: my stomach would gurgle and growl throughout the entire day, I'd get gas every hour (and I NEVER got gas before), and for goodness's sake, I wanted to eat! I'm not exaggerating; taking doxycycline felt like being on the lap-band! I couldn't even finish my morning bowl of cereal. For whatever it's worth, my brother went on a 4-month course of doxycycline and never had a pimple or blackhead ever again, but it didn't work so well for me. Also, I tried this after I first tried minocycline (the next generation of tetracycline antibiotics) and had an allergic reaction-induced fever.

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Cat3

March 9, 2011

Pros:

Clearing up my Acne

Cons:

Nothing yet (only the 5th day so far)

I am 29 years old and i haven't had the best skin in my days. But i will have t say it has been nothing like what i've been going through the past year. I started getting these little tiny bumps under the skin first. And then the cystic ones started popping up around my jaw line. It has been horrible. I haven't wanted to go anywhere or do anything. It has really put a damper on my self esteem.I am hoping this medicine will work. I need to get out of this funk i'm in. I have three kids that need their mommy to be active. The only prblem is now i feel like i'm gaining weight. I have been on this medication for 5 days so far. I have gained 6 pounds since i started. I'm not positive if its the medicine but i do workout and I don't understand why i haven't lost anything. Is anyone else having this problem? If this medication gets better and I start to notice more improvements and lose these love handles i'll rate higher.

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