Oral Antibiotic
Efficacy
54%
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 they can reduce severe acne in the short term, 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 Minocycline? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
January 9, 2015
It's a treatment alright.
I've tried Doxy and Mino, and out of the two I saw Mino worked stronger for me.
My acne originally was just a bunch of pimples and some cysts. I took some pills and now the cycts are more common. For over a year this was MY pill. This stuff worked like a charm. As long as you take it every day, twice a day, 100mg.
If you missed a dose, A SINGLE DOSE, you could break out again. I got injections for that though, so it wasn't too big of a deal. My stomach hurts from time to time, and I dealt with it, but this pill did wonders, as gross as it tasted after swallowing... I loved being on it, but I got tired of taking two pills every day for the rest of my life(it seemed) so I wanted to take accutane, I even got the pills at home but I've chickened out for the second time now... I just heard too much about the risks and I'm not willing to risk my sex life and the future of my health and my sight and my mental health. (seriously have you read the side effects and reviews, they're scary af) There was a review that I read on here, about Bactrim, that I sort of agree with. This is all just a treatment game. Our dermatologists all tell us to take this and take that and it's all terrible for our bodies and it's all just a treatment. It's never a cure.(except accutane, but at what cost really?) Cause why would the doctors want to cure you? You'll never come back, and they won't make another penny off of you! I'm experimenting with a new route. The all natural route. No pills at all.. I'm gonna see how I feel after a month of not taking anything. I just might come crawling back to Mino and suck it up and take it twice a day like a good boy and try not to miss a dose and be happy that my skin doesn't have as many cysts and pimples as it does without the pills. We'll see... But bottom line is, I recommend this pill, it works wonders, it is exactly what it's meant to be, a treatment. It's not gonna do anything else for you.
January 8, 2015
Thrilled
I had no results until about week 4 and I noticed I didn't have any new acne. Now at 6 weeks I am clear with only an occasional tiny pimple. This has been great for me.
November 7, 2014
Works
Used it for a month and it worked!! Just avoid over-exposure to sunlight.
September 25, 2014
So far, so good
I'm 28 years old and have had pretty good skin my whole life until about a year and a half ago. I started with a couple pimples here and there on my cheeks and forehead then it started getting worse. I decided to get it checked out and the Doctor started me on 100mg of Minocycline capsules, one per day.. I didn't start to see a difference until 3 weeks into the treatment. My skin is starting to clear up especially the redness. The only thing that seems to be sticking around are these pesky closed comedones (whiteheads). But I'm also not seeing any new ones either so I guess that's a good thing. I haven't experienced any negative side effects such as the ones I've been reading about. Today for the first time immediately after taking it, I did get a little dizzy but went away quickly.. Hopefully this medicine continues to work but also nervous that I'm going to start experiencing negative side effects now that I've been on it for almost a month.
November 12, 2013
BEST
Cons:
allergy
acne came back worse
sun sensitivity
This is the best acne product I had ever used by far. I could leave the house without makeup for the first time in 15 years after only a couple of weeks. I also didn't have the gastric side effects many people complain about. I never burn due to my skin colour, but I did receive a mild sunburn while on this medication. Unfortunately, after three and a half weeks I developed an allergy to the medication and had severe hives and swelling. I had to discontinue use and my skin became worse than before I took it.
October 24, 2013
Product used: Solodyn (Oral Antibiotic)
Question about Solodyn
Pros:
clears skin
Cons:
possibly counteracts birth control
Solodyn works great for my skin and I take it along with my birth control but there is a possibility that it can counteract my birth control I was wondering on here if anyone has had that experience? I'm not sure if continuing solodyn would be for me if i knew there was an increased possibility of getting pregnant while using this product
October 12, 2013
Keeps cysts away!
Pros:
Gets rid of cystic acne
Keeps cysts from coming back
Cons:
Doesn't help normal acne
Makes your normal acne worse if you sunbathe a lot
I used to always get bad cysts on my nose, back and on my chest in the same place. I used to deal with it even though the one on my chest never went away. One day I decided to try to get rid of it by hot packing it. It got super infected and was the worse pain I have ever felt (don't do that). I went to the doctor and it was so bad he had to cut into it and drain it. After a couple of months, it came back. He prescribed me minocycline because I was allergic to everything else and after about a month all of my cysts were completely gone! I don't get cysts at all anymore thanks to this medicine. However, this doesn't really do anything for normal hormonal acne. If you have cysts ask your doctor for this, it is a miracle worker.
September 27, 2013
Works very well, but harsh side effects
Pros:
Works very fast, cleared acne 98% in 2 weeks.
Kept its effect for about 3.5 years after I stopped it
Cons:
Horrible side effects, migraine, nausea, period, thrush...
Messes up hormonal birth control
Limits your diet (you're not allowed to have dairy/calcium with it)
I always had severe cystic acne since I was about 12 years old. My first MC course I started when I was 15 and took it for about a year with breaks. It cleared the teenage acne drastically, about up to 60%. When I got on the antibabypill age 16 I stopped MC as it can interfere with birth control. I was acne free until about 19.5 years, when I started to have first major breakouts again. They all cleared up by themselves again though, just slower and slower with time, but didn't yet require MC treatment. Over the years my skin got gradually worse and at the age of 22 I had worse cystic acne then when I was 12, especially around my nose and chin area. My skin is generally not oily, but went even drier, bright red and patchy all over my face. Unlike my teenage acne this one NEVER spread onto my body - not even onto my neck, only my face was a cystic mess. I was diagnosed with genetic acne (not teenage, hormonal acne) and got on MC again two weeks ago and as of today all the cysts have disappeared, my skin is clear, not dry anymore, a bit oilier than usual but no more acne, not even blackheads. I'd say it's 98% clear after 2 weeks. I had severe side effects the first few days of taking MC, including migraine attacks so strong that I would vomit, general nausea and a premature and very strong and long (2 weeks) period. Due to the long period (and the moisture it comes with) I eventually also got a thrush, which was hard to treat as I could not take pro-biotics because you're not allowed to have dairy with MC as the calcium makes it useless. After overcoming those first 2 weeks I'm starting to feel better and can finally enjoy the clear face I now have. I take 1x 50mg a day. I was prescribed 2x 50mg a day, but I wasn't able to function due to the migraine attacks after taking MC, hence I can only take it at night before sleeping. I'm very thin (58kg at 175cm), so that might be why 1x 50mg is working well in my metabolism.
August 23, 2013
Works Wonderfully Short term
Pros:
Cleared me up completely
Made my skin feel like a baby's tushy
Cons:
Can cause minor stomach aches
Acne bacteria grows resistant quickly
I was on this for about...a year, I think? Which is actually very dangerous as it can cause very serious liver problems if it's used long term. Anyways, after around month 2 my skin was completely clear aside from blackheads (which aren't related to bacteria anyways; this drug is not meant to treat them). It stayed that way for about 4 months afterward, and I felt amazing. However, I developed a resistance to it and it eventually stopped working.
August 14, 2013
Minocycline: Short-term fix
Pros:
Breakouts clear faster
Pimples are less inflammed
Almost completely clear skin!
Cons:
Acne returned after treatment
I took Minocycline a few months ago. My acne is moderately severe and persistent. I'm 21 now and ever since I was 14, I have had at least 10 pimples (some cystic) on my face every day of these past 7 years. I've tried lots of topical creams and other antibiotics and this is the only thing that really cleared me up. I had almost no acne and even if a pimple did pop up, it was far less inflamed and cleared up much faster. It started working for me within the first few days of taking the pills. Definitely try this drug if nothing else has worked for you! I had no side affects whatsoever. My acne returned pretty much right after I stopped taking the pills though. Good luck! :)
Pros:
clear skin
no stomach irritation
no dry skin