Minocycline

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

Minocycline 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 taken once a day with food, at the same time every day.

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1600

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February 22, 2013

Pros:

Clears up acne
Easy pill to take (not huge)
Covered by my insurance (reasonably priced)
No side-effects (I haven't noticed any)

Cons:

It's another pill to take, but this isn't really a problem for me since I take a birth control pill every morning.
NONE!

I'm 25, and have been suffering from acne pretty much since I was a teenager. Tried everything I could over the counter, finally went to the doctor and was prescribed this with a combination of two lotions for my face (one PM, one AM). I take the pill for this once a day. I was told to expect results in a few months, but after a few weeks I'm already seeing an improvement. It's probably due to the combination of treatments, but it's working. I'm thrilled!

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Anonymous

December 10, 2012

Pros:

Can be paired with other acne medications
Clears very quickly

Cons:

No side effects for me

Good product thats cheap i started mino less than a week ago amd my acne no longer hurts and it is starting to clear up already

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User74659

December 10, 2012

Pros:

Worked great for me the first 2 times I used it

Cons:

Didn't work with most recent bout of acne
Made me a bit nauseous, but supposed to take without food
Can't eat 2 hours before or 1 hour after taking
Make me very, very dizzy

I loved it the first 2 times I used it. In combo with topicals it cleared me completely, save for a few blackheads. This round of cystic acne didn't respond at all really. It stopped spreading a tiny bit but no other results. Dizzy as crap the whole time I was on it (but antibiotics often do this to me)! Can't eat right before or after taking to get maximum absorption/benefits was annoying. Had to go on accutane this time around for my now severe (was mod to severe) adult acne :(

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Kristen

December 3, 2012

Pros:

Worked the first time I took it.

Cons:

The second time I was prescribed this (maybe 5 years later), it didn't work at all. I was still getting 3-4 cystic outbreaks a week.

For someone taking this medication for the first time it works amazing, but as soon as you stop taking it, or are re-prescribed it probably wont work as it is just an anti-biotic and out bodies get used to the drug and build up resistance. I'm on the hunt for something new.

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Anonymous

September 29, 2012

Pros:

works great only when taking it.

Cons:

not a long term solution
acne comes back when my doc reduces dosage, so i can eventually quit.
sebaceous hyperplasia (never had it before minocycline)
slow hyperpigmentation, became darker over a 5 year medication period slowly, it was so slow, i couldnt realize it, until some of my friends who havent seen me in a while noticed it for me, i always used SPF 30 moisturizer and stayed away from the sun, so cant be the sun,

i took minocycline for almost 5 years for moderate acne on face and moderately severe acne on my scalp(scalp folliculitis), everyone knows you are not supposed to take anitbiotics for this long, but since it was working while i was on it, my derm keep telling me to be patient, but came back within few days when dosage was reduced, so my derm would go back to the dosage that worked and wanted to try various different topicals(benzaclin/differin/tretinoin/clindamycin) while keeping the minocycline the same. During this long period, i also changed about 4 derms, and all of them seemed to be a big fan of this 'waste-of-time-and-money' drug, i dont know why. Now I changed my derm for the 5th time, the new derm said i shouldnt have taken any antibiotics for this long, and he immediately changed my oral to sulfamethoxazole/trimethaprim with benaclin in the AM, and tazorac(0.1%) before bed, its been my 3rd month on this combo, it is already working like a charm, my derm has already lowered the dosage of oral(after the first two months of two pills a day), i am on one pill a day now, so far so good, i did not get acne so far, which is good because this wasnt the case with minocycline, i feel like i finally found a break, lets see. Even if this doesnt work and if my acne seems to slowly come back in the future, then i will have no other option but to seek Isotretinoin. Bottom line is that there are lots of medications (topical and oral) out there, also over the counter stuff, which only work on people with mild acne and non-oily skin type, even though they advertise it for oily skin. if you have anything moderate acne or more with oily skin, please dont waste your time, money and dont push drugs into your system/body and become a testing ground for medical statistics, instead educate yourself at this wonderful website and similar ones, and ask your derm/doctor staright away for preffered ones, tell them straight away, you read these and you are confident in t

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Ali

July 17, 2012

Pros:

1) See results within a month
2) Cleared cystic acne

Cons:

1) Results only last 2-3 months, then you're immune.

Profile: 28 yr old female South Asian Poor Diet Moderately Sever Acne/ Mainly cystic acne around chin/neck I was on Minocycline 200mg/day for 3 months only because that's as long as the results last. By the 4th month you should find something else to use. My derma said this is a beginner antibiotic. However it is stronger than Doxycyle but the results def. do not last long.

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Lindsay

May 24, 2012

Pros:

Started clearing my skin as little as 2 weeks.

Cons:

Made me nauseas after taking it for a week.

Might work for you, because it did work, just made me extremely nauseas for hours and vomit. Can't wait to be off it and on something new. 100 mg x2 a day.

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Anonymous

April 28, 2012

Pros:

Cleared up skin for the most part, but... TRY VITAMIN D FIRST!

Cons:

Acne returned upon discontinued use
Dizziness and an odd detached from self sort of feeling (only lasted for the first week or two)

While I was happy with the fact that it cleared up my skin, I found a much better regime that is natural, safer, and seems to get to the root of the problem: TRY VITAMIN D!!! I have been taking 4,000 IU daily as well as using a Clairsonic exfoliator twice daily and it has been the best thing I have tried yet. I get very little sun where I live which means I get very little vitamin D, and I believe this to be the cause of my acne. I now get very few pimples now and then that last only a day or two. Upon a little research, it seems that many have found this same thing to work for their skin, so I would strongly recommend you try this before resorting to harsh antibiotics that have severe side effects. Also, it is much much cheaper; about $6.00 for a bottle that will last you months. I say, always try the natural method first! I am a strong believer that there is a natural remedy for most anything, and have little trust in the big drug companies and am suspicious that they collude for 'business'.

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Molly

March 21, 2012

Pros:

none

Cons:

itchy all over
swelling on joints
pain in joints

I only took it for a week constantly and during school I had an awful itching fit, then my joints began to swell. I can hardly walk at the moment.

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Eric

January 5, 2012

Pros:

cleared acne fast

Cons:

dizziness, headache, cold chills, light sensitive (darken existing spots)

My face suddenly broke out everywhere badly a couple of months ago. I went to my primary doctor, and he put me under Minocycline 100mg twice a day. The second day I took this drug, I started feeling light headed. I read on here that people experienced the same symptom but eventually went away. So I thought I stuck to it and forced myself to stay on it longer. 6th day into the course, I had to stop completely because I wasn't able to walk straight without having to hold onto something. My face did however started to clear fast on the 4th day of treatment. In addition to the dizziness, I was feeling this pressure in my head and a weird headache also. My whole body was feeling cold like I was having a cold/flu. These symptoms stayed even after I stopped taking the minocycline. It wasn't until 1-2 weeks later, I started feeling fine again. My doctor recommended me to take half the dosage, but I just refused to do so. I understand that everyone reacts differently to this drug. If you can tolerate the side effects, then I'd say it's worth taking. But for me, this is a dangerous drug with serious side effects affecting your central nervous system.

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