Background info- I've had mild acne ever since I was 13 (now 18), for that period I'd used multiple topical creams, the only one that worked was a 5% benzac cleanser & spot cream. I've never really been fussed about my acne until the end of last year. My acne turned moderate where my face was covered in paptules, pustules with the occasional nodule. So I decided medication was the next step, the pimples were stress induced and weren't hormonal so I knew the pill was less likely to clear my skin. I was prescribed doxycycline for 6 months. I was apprehensive at first as a few friends had tried doxy with no result, to be fair, their acne was severe and cystic. KEEP IN MIND you won't see results until the 2 month mark at the earliest! At 2 months I'd noticed my skin changing, however, my skin wasn't completely clear until the 4 month mark. Your prescription needs to be for a substantial amount of time! 2 months worth isn't enough. In saying that, you will know around the 3 month mark if doxy has or hasn't worked for you! My friends who weren't so successful with doxy were then prescribed roaccutane and currently have the clearest skin I've ever seen! So I'd stopped taking doxy and my skin remained clear for approximately 6 months until now. It's exam period and the stress is in full force and so my acne has returned. No where near as severe as before hand but I didn't want to risk it progressing to that stage. So I'm back on the prescription have been for a month and I've already seen a massive improvement! So all the reviews 'not recommending it' had a similar experience as my friends, it shows you that the effectivity varies per person. You won't know if it will effect you until you try it! Be optimistic. For those with moderate acne I'd suggest Doxy as an initial step and roaccutane as a back up plan. Acne is a fkn pain, but to those who wear makeup I'd suggest investing in Estée Lauder double wear it didn't aggregate my skin and would last the whole day! No one knew I had moderate acne until I took this foundation off bcus it's that full coverage and long lasting! My acne was extremely red against my pale skin, but was mainly inflamed rather than dry and this foundation made it look like I had a handful of pimples in person and flawless skin in photos! I'd recommend doxy to anyone with moderate acne as an initial step or to those with severe acne who would prefer not to take roaccutane. However, those of you with severe acne who are desperate for clear skin I'd suggest roaccutane, as a prescription of doxy has the potential to add an additional 3 months to your journey and is only effective on certain people.

So because this kills the bacteria in your face, the acne does get better. Unfortunately you can't stay on it forever, so once you stop, the acne comes back. At least that's what happened for me! It works, but the results don't last. Also, antibiotics also kill a lot of good bacteria in your gut which may cause long term digestive issues. All in all, not worth it.

I've tried dozens of acne products for almost 10 years now (23 yr old female now, all topical medications). from benzyl peroxide, tactuo, spectro, cerave, clindoxyl and even natural things like tea tree oil and witch hazel, and NOTHING worked. All they did was dry out my face and make my acne flare up (not to mention most of them had a less than pleasent scent). My doctor prescriped doxycycline since I was fed up with topical agents, rather than going straight to accutane (which i'm very hesistant about considering the long list of side effects). I'm about halfway through my 90-day prescreption of doxycycline. It didn't do anything for the first month or so, but after the halfway mark, I've noticed that a lot of my larger pimples have dissappeared, and I haven't gotten any of the bigger pimples since about day 30. I still have a lot of the smaller ones that for some ironic reason are a lot more stubborn than the bigger ones, but I can at least easily cover those up with some concealer. Although it's taking a little longer than I had hoped, I'm pretty happy with the results. I still use my tea tree oil cleanser, exfoliator and clay mask (all from the body shop) along with Cerave and Spectro, but only because I don't want all these products to go to waste. My doctor also recommended that I stick with cleansers while on doxy for maximum effect. Even though doxy isn't as fast as accutane might be, I haven't seen any bad side effects (the best of which being NO dry skin! Something I had to CONSTANTLY deal with when on topical medications). Others have said that taking it on an empty stomach gave them really bad nausea but I've only had that happen to me once. I try to take it on an empty stomach since that's how it'll best get absorbed into the body. Make sure you don't take any dairy a few hours before or after either!! But you need to replenish the good bacteria it kills, so I try to eat yogurt earlier in the day with probiotics... apparently doxy will lose its effect if you don't replenish the good bacteria killed. don't forget though that yogurt can cause acne too so tread carefully. Anyways, I guess I'll see how my face will turn out come the 90 day mark (about 45 days in now). If any changes happen, I'll try to update it here.

This worked well but acne returned as soon as pills stopped. You cannot stay on antibiotics long term as it destroys all the good gut flora and can lead to antibiotic resistance.

i have mild-moderate acne, mostly cysts & nodules. i was prescribed with doxycycline, 50mg once a day. i was on it for 2-3 months and it did nothing for my skin. it took out 5 smaller pimples minimum but did nothing for larger ones. i got off the pill and my skin was okay for a while but (like i read in some reviews) it was as if my skin got very angry with me & my skin worsened a tenfold. if i tried 100mg a day maybe i would have different results but i think that is highly unlikely, considering it did almost nothing whatsoever at 50mg. 10 less pimples perhaps? there was minimal effect plus the bad chemicals were not worth it. i truly believe that this is a temporary fix (if it even works) and you should rule it out. there are much better treatments that will give you good results, topical or oral. i tried this without doing research on it because my doctor recommended it to me, which was not a wise idea on my part. you know your skin best. if i had seen these reviews on here, i would not have risked taking the pill.

I took 100mg daily and had clear skin for 6 months. Cleared up my acne within a fortnight. It was amazing. No real side effects unless I took one on an empty stomach - awful nausea would follow. So I only made that mistake a couple of times. Really good treatment but I found they stopped working after 6 months so then it was back to the drawing board...

I was on Doxy for 2 months and there was minimal effect on my cheeks, and no effect on other parts of my face and body. I continued to break out during the 2 months, especially the week before my period. I broke out with cystic and nodular acne on my jaw (which was an area I have never had acne before) and on my chin. But one good thing resulting from Doxy was that my skin became VERY smooth, like a baby. I've never had skin this smooth in my life. I have now been prescribed with Roaccutane, hopefully it works out!

I have some weird acnes on my chin..i think they are cystic because sometimes they pain and appears like a big red bump. I have started taking the doxy med from last week along with retino-A (night) and morning acne cream. Till now, no improvements have been seen. but if mistakenly touch them they feels like some kind of sharpness on their head. Can't Explain sorry... After using them, i feel like some burning on my face when i apply sunscreen and BB cream,.dont why..it feels i am spreading red chilli on my face :D Also, it makes lips so dry and chapped..I am hoping to have good results after going through such horrific experience. By the way i am taking medicine during my lunch which includes no Dairy. AVOID TAKING DAIRY BEFORE AND AFTER 2 HOURS OF TAKING THIS PILL!!!! Will update if any there will be any improvement

After fighting a skin discolouration on my trunk (stomach and back) and being misdiagnosed all my life I finally discovered what is was - a bacteria that killed the pigmentation in my skin. i was put on doxycycline for 2 months along with light treatment to even out the pigmentation. i was fine and perfect after the 2 months - it was actually the first time i've seen my trunk without discolouration as long as i can remember (I'm 29 now). however, my doctor put me on doxy for an additional month, so in total i was on it for 3 months. my face all my life was perfect - never had acne, i would prob have 5 pimples a year and prob bc of that time of the month. I was also on the ZO Skin Medical Care line - a top skin care line from Dr. Zein Obagi. However, i noticed that while i was on the doxy i would get some bumps on my face and light break outs but it wasn't bad and i thought the ZO line was just purging my skin. However, after 4 months on the ZO line your skin is supposed to be flawless so I ruled this out (as my 4 months on ZO was gone but i was on doxy for about 3 months at this point). After my third and final month of doxy - the week i came off my face blew up with inflamed cystic acne like i've never seen before. Now to be in your late 20's with this after never having acne was my worst nightmare. i was literally going crazy and going into a depression - here i was - someone who always got complimented on my skin now having painful cystic acne at 29. i didn't go into the office, i even felt ashamed for my family to see me. i know this sounds shallow but it was a lot to deal with bc it was so sudden and severe. Doxy fixed one problem (the discolouration caused by bacteria on my trunk area) but caused another. tbh had i known this would happen i would prob choose to live with the discolouration. Luckily my derm is amazing and world renowned- she is trained by Dr. Obagi himself - I'm now on my second month of roaccutane because of this anti biotic and on the ZO line for acne treatment now. i always get weekly extractions and kenalog injections as my skin is still transitioning. there's a major improvement. my first week on roaccutane just purged everything out and my derm also put me on steroid tablets and another anti-b for a week to reduce any inflammation which worked like a charm. after a month of my acne being cystic they finally started to form white heads. also now everything has completely flatten - I'm on day 45 (approx) of the roaccutane. i get the one pesky pimple some days but they quickly turn to a whitehead. But i have alottttt of scarring from my blow up episode post doxy that I'm currently peeling away with the ZO products. its taking a while and I'm being so impatient as i just want to be back to normal again. My derm says i have about a month again - fingers crossed i get back to having clear skin as i have to wear make up to hide my scarring. Please anyone using or about to use doxy- be careful - it was the worst decision I've ever made for my skin! I've been in hiding for 2 months now and well I'm getting better i'm now getting out and being social again (with loads of make up to hide my scars).

so i was on doxy for about a month and a half with retina cream and it was great my acne was going away and my acne scars were fading. but suddenly i started having upper stomach pains and trouble swallowing- feeling almost like acid reflex. i thought to myself that it couldn't possibly be the medicine. but i went to my derm and she proved me wrong- apparently you aren't supposed to be taking this medicine at night- it will mess up your stomach big time!! I now have to wait a week for my stomach to heal in order to take it again- but now I know that you're supposed to take it while you're up and moving so it can digest properly! I hope this helps a lot of y'all! I can't wait to get back on this pill, though. Ever since i've been off it- my face has broken out big time :( but please be careful taking this pill!