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
January 15, 2019
hell no
all I gotta say...... is hell no. it rlly messed up my face and left a billion red marks up on me like wtf pill!!!!
January 2, 2019
It's working so far!
I'm writing this review on Doxycyline because after 4 years of trying to cure my on and off cystic acne naturally or with only topical treatments, it has been the only thing to actually help so far. I've tried so many topical treatments as well as natural treatments for my skin. I was insistent on curing it without any pills. I became vegetarian for 2 years, constantly exercised, ate sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, but nothing would completely clear my painful acne. My self-esteem went down and I found myself in situations where I did not want to leave my house. My whole life I've had very clear skin, except for the hormonal once a month zit. When I turned 18, my face began breaking out with small pimples. Skip to 4 years later and I have continued to break out on and off again with pretty bad cystic break outs and then my skin would be clear for a few weeks - then I would break out again. However, over the past 6 months, I had a mostly pimple-free face except that my face was super congested under the surface. I had small milia-like bumps that would not go away no matter what I tried. When I put on make-up, my skin was extremely bumpy and textured. I exfoliated, drank lots of water, tried several different products, cut dairy out and other unhealthy foods - but nothing worked. One day I was surfing the web and came across Retin-A (tretinoin). I started using it and within the first week, all of the bumps under my face surfaced and became these huge, cystic, pus-filled, RAGING pimples all over my cheeks, chin, and jawline. I read about the initial purging stage of tretinoin but I did not expect it to feel like a volcano erupted on my face. After breaking out with at least 2 new cystic pimples everyday for 10 days, I went to a dermatologist and he recommended pairing the tretinoin with Doxycycline. Long story short, I continued breaking out terribly for 2 weeks. During the first 14 days of Doxycyline, I kid you not, I did not leave my house AT ALL. I know this sounds extreme but my acne was THAT bad. By this point, I had at least 35 active pimples all over my face (except my forehead) and I could barely wash my face. I was literally just sitting in my house waiting for the doxycycline to kick in and clear up my face. Thankfully, by the 23rd day of persisting with Doxycyline, the left side of my face was completely smooth and all the small bumps underneath had gone. Yesterday marks 1 month on Doxycyclin and 1 month/10 days on tretinoin and all I am left with are a few tiiiiiny pimples on my right cheek and severe hyperpigmentation. However, my face has never felt this smooth in 4 years. I'm going to be on Doxycyline for another 2 months. I'm using the tretinoin to help with hyperpigmentation and the texture of my skin. I honestly don't know if it's going to come back after I finish 3 months but I'm really praying that it won't!
Negative side-effects during my first 3 weeks:
1.) Loss of appetite
2.) Nausea (if taken without food)
July 10, 2018
doxycycline
I never ever ever ever write up reviews. But I need to share this. I've suffered from moderate to severe acne for nearly 2 years. I would have these dots all over my face, my skin was red, and it just didn't look appealing. And I have tried so many tricks in the book. This comes down to changing my diet, trying tons of skin products (including natural), drinking so much water and I do (3litres a day) and so much more. It has put my self-esteem so down, I refused to go out a lot of the times because I'd see other girls my age with clear skin and it come to a point where I decided to go to the doctor. He prescribed me with doxycycline and a cream to apply on my skin once a day. It is currently day 6 of being on this pill and cream. And I have been complimented by my peers that my acne has been reduced significantly including my hyperpigmentation. I don't know if this will work for everyone but it is worth a try. And since I have taken this pill, I have never felt so much better about myself. and the best part is, IT'S ONLY DAY 6. I will say it hasn't cleared up fully but around my chin area I had lost of cysts and pimples that had white heads everyday and it looked nasty. So far my acne has reduced in size and has flattened. I still have 22 days to go of taking this pill so I will give a heads up.
PunyParachute
August 9, 2018
How is it going ? I was just prescribed this today
July 2, 2018
doxy and tretinoin
I'm a 15 year old girl who has, unfortunately, suffered from mild acne since I was 11. However, my acne has progressively gotten worse since the beginning of this year. I started using epiduo which, I believe, ruined my skin even more. I developed really bad hyperpigmentation all over my face and was always covered in pimples, mainly whiteheads and cysts. I finally went to a dermatologist in April and upon looking at my face, he recommended accutane or an antibiotic plus topical treatment. He told me that with the antibiotic/topical treatment, there may only be a 20-30% improvement. Nevertheless, I decided to trial the antibiotic/topical treatment because I was and still am wary and afraid of accutane. I was prescribed 100mg of doxycycline and 0.05% tretinoin cream to use at night. During the first two weeks of treatment, I only used the tretinoin every other day because I do have extremely sensitive skin (I blame the Epiduo). Also, I wash my face with cetaphil cleanser, moisturise with the cetaphil dry skin cream and use SPF 30 daily. Here is a brief summary of my progress thus far:
Month 1/2: Lots of peeling and dryness in the first week. Saw improvements in skin texture, not that many little bumps but still had at least 5 pimples constantly on my face. Slight improvement in hyperpigmentation but I was picking my acne so this wasn't unexpected.
Month 3 (current): reduction in number of pimples on face, improvement on skin texture and hyper pigmentation has started to fade. I have my dermatologist appointment soon and I am hoping to continue this treatment for at least 2 more months because I have read many reviews saying that the skin didn't clear up until 3-6 months into the treatment.
I will be posting any follow up reviews. Hope this helped !
June 29, 2018
Bad experience.
I've been using this drug for literally 5 days, and it didn't work for me at all. Yes it cleared some of my acne (mine were moderate small sort of like white heads kind of acne) every single day wither I take it in an empty stomach or a full stomach it makes me so sick and dizzy, the first time I took it I ate a small fruit before and was semi full, not even 30 minutes passed without me getting so dizzy I almost fell on the floor, and the second time I took it I ate dinner an hour before, i vomited less than an hour later. Before thinking about taking this drug you must ask your doctor about the side effects especially if you have a sensitive stomach like mine.
June 26, 2018
Great for breaking the cycle
I've been on two, 2 month courses of doxycycline in my life, using it as a way to pump the brakes on the cycle of acne when it's been out of control. The first time, I had never ever been on any oral medication for my acne and wasn't on birth control. Doxy cleared most of my acne in that time and after getting off it, my skin was relatively under control for a year and a half, with good skincare practices and a regimen that worked for me. I got back on it recently for less severe acne than before, but just because I was switching birth control pills a lot at the time and my skin was understandably reacting. I just wanted to calm things down immediately rather than waiting for the birth control to even out, and it worked great for that. I will note that I did *not* experience any side effects, except increased redness and sensitivity when I got my eyebrows/upper lip threaded which went away in a few hours. Doxy isn't a permanent solution to your acne, but if you have out of control breakouts and don't want to go on Accutane, it's a great choice to get your skin possibly to the point where it can be managed with a good skincare regimen.
May 31, 2018
Oily SKin
My skin is waaaay oily. I mean its still oily after I wash it. Anyway, the only thing it did was take away the little white heads on the edges of my nose. i knew it was the doxycycline because it came right back after I got off it 2 weeks later.
April 4, 2018
Mildly Effective/Beware of the Side Effects
I am ending a 6 month cycle of using this drug. My acne has stayed relatively the same. I do notice that the bad spots, such as cysts, don't last as long. But the decrease in longevity is not that significant. The appearance of smaller white heads is the only thing that has decreased significantly. Just a warning to those with sensitive stomachs - this drug can be rough to digest. You must take it with a full glass of water and without food for it to be most effective. However, this will cause nausea/stomach discomfort. So you can either choose for the drug to work somewhat well and be met with debilitating nausea or you can take food with it and have it barely work at all.
January 4, 2018
Didn't work for me
Did not work for me.. if anything my acne got worse while taking doxycycline and I felt sick everyday even when I took it with food. Took it for 2 months and my doctor changed me to a different antibiotic.
August 23, 2017
Didn't work for me
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!