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
December 11, 2013
Great (temporary) fix
Cons:
Temporary fix
occasional acid reflux
This works really well, while you stay on it. Allowed me to have a clear fall term of freshman year (college) so I'm grateful to it, but it is not a long term solution. It is a bad idea to stay on antibiotics long term (they mess with your digestive system). To anyone considering antibiotics, be careful about one thing: for years I had mild-moderate acne and coped pretty well with it (I didn't let it affect my life much) the danger with antibiotics is that you lose all your coping mechanisms when they clear your skin and then when you go off them and your acne comes back...for me it was pretty devastating.
November 14, 2013
Good but doesn't last
Pros:
Works well with a range of topicals
Works well if taken responsibiy
Cons:
Body builds immunity to it
Gets worse before it gets better
I got a prescription for this in 2012, for four months. This initial phase worked really well. I used clindamycin solution as well as BP with this medication. They all seem to complement each other. After this phase, however, there was a period of really nice skin then the acne started coming back even worse. I was put on it again and it didn't have the same effects. My skin seemed to be really sensitive and the BP, clindamycin and this medication combo was too much for my skin. I would recommend if you have really sensitive skin to use this medication with a gentle wash. I also experienced dry lips with this, but nothing major. Overall, take the medication for about 3-4 months and it will work well but it will not cure your acne problems completely.
October 20, 2013
Great for the short run, but acne comes back
Pros:
Does a good job clearing acne in the short run
Cons:
Headaches sometimes
Loses effectivity
Acne returns 10x worse
I was on minocycline for about a year, it cleared up my acne about 80% - but during that "time of the month", I'd still get about 2 cystic zits. Unfortunately you will either become resistant to this antibiotic or you'll be on it long enough for you to develop health risks... so I stopped taking it around the year mark. I stayed fairly clear for like 6 months past that, and then suddenly, I got the WORST CYSTIC BREAKOUT IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I'm talking clusters of cysts like 10+ on my cheekbones and chin.... lasted weeks, some even 2 months..... I still have the scars on my face from that breakout..... now I am taking evening primrose oil (1000mg) a day and using a clay masque with sulfur (queen helene's mint julep masque) and my skin has finally relaxed. I have one spot on my face. Anyways, use this if you need a quick fix but by no means is this an acne "cure" cause your acne will eventually return much worse than before (my hormonal breakouts are now conglobata acne cysts, which I never used to get before taking this medication)...
October 18, 2013
great
Pros:
small pimples
less pimples
less red
Cons:
gel makes face dry
i been on menocylone for about 2 months . and i have seen great improvment . pimples got alot smaller and face got less red on my cheecks . for the first week or two it would make my body numb but nothing that bad . but theres a benadryl proxide gel that has really dried my face out in the past week out of eight weeks ive been on it though
September 7, 2013
Works, but is slow.
Pros:
decreases pimple size
if you have oily skin, it wont be as oily
Cons:
makes you feel sick for a week or two when first starting
may not always work
more susceptible to getting sick
I was prescribed this and the first two ish weeks it made me feel really sick, but i stuck with it and I still use it now after 5 months. It does help with the size of your pimples and what not, but it never cleared me completely, so I'm using it in conjunction with other topicals. I noticed a lot within the first 2 months with how my big pimples became a tad smaller and right now I still break out about 3 spots each time, but they're not big and are almost gone after 4 days of getting them.
August 26, 2013
Does the job
Pros:
Eliminates all whiteheads and mild cysts
Results are seen fairly quickly
Controls oily skin
Cons:
Acne may return after treatment
Can cause digestional issues and yeast infections
Sun exposure while on medication can be harmful
Minocycline worked much better than any of the topical treatments I tried and cleared up my skin completely! I used it for a year before I weaned off of it. I stopped in the winter and my skin stayed clear until the hot months provoked my oily skin. Unfortunately, after using this medication, my acne came back even worse than before, as there is more of it and it is cystic.
I recommend this anti-biotic for those with very mild acne- very few whiteheads and normal skin type.
July 24, 2013
Felt sick from side effects
Pros:
Clears acne
Easy solution
Cons:
Side Effects
Not long term
At first I was prescribed an antibiotic which I loved but unfortunately my insurance did not cover it, so I was prescribed to minocycline and to take two 50mg per day. When I first started taking this medication, it worked, although I felt extremely sick to my stomach. I eventually decided to only take one 50mg tablet at night before bed, and this has seemed to work. I have been doing the one pill for over a year now, and when I first started taking this medicine, it worked right away, but eventually has been less effective. I have stopped taking this medication for a week and I did notice that my breakouts occurred more often when I was off the medicine, so it is working, just not as strong as I like. Again, I am pretty sure it would work more if I took two pills rather than just one, but my stomach can't seem to handle this.
July 21, 2013
Great at first, not so great after a few months
Pros:
great short-term solution
made pimples smaller and less frequent
inexpensive
Cons:
flushing
stopped working after about 3 months
not a long-term solution
At first, I thought this was a godsend. My acne (which had gotten really bad after a few months on doxycycline) cleared up almost immediately. I still got the occasional pimple, but nothing like what I was getting before.
The side effects didn't really affect me too much - occasional stomach aches, light-headedness, trouble switching focus from things a long way away to things close, but these seemed to come for a couple of days and then go away again.
I was on two 50mg tablets a day (one in the morning, one at night). After about 2 months, I noticed that my rosacea redness and flushing (which I already had) was getting a lot worse. Sometimes, for no reason at all, I would flush for an hour or so, my face going bright red and burning like hell. This sometimes happened 7 or 8 times a day, and it was really making me depressed and anxious. I was constantly checking my face to see if I was flushing.
I then learned that other people had had trouble with this medication and flushing, and my derm had previously mentioned cutting back from two tablets a day to one, so I decided to try that (just taking it at night). At this stage, I was more preoccupied with the redness than the pimples, so I reasoned that even if the pimples got worse, if the flushing stopped, I wouldn't mind.
So I've been on 50 mg once a day for a couple of days now (also on Finacea at night) and this seems to be helping. I certainly haven't been flushing as much as I was before.
All in all, this medication definitely worked better for me than the doxycycline, so if you've tried doxy and it didn't work, give this one a go. Just don't expect it to work on a long-term basis.
June 9, 2013
Side effects :(
Pros:
Helps with acne
Cons:
Doesn't completely control acne
Terrible side effects.
It really did help tame my acne and my acne is pretty moderate. I can't say that it was a miracle worker because it wasn't. But one night at a football game it was really cold and then for a couple months after that night I had pretty severe joint problems - basically arthritis - it turned out that it was this pill that was causing it. Once I was off this pill, I did start to break out again. :(
March 21, 2013
Pros:
fairly clear skin for 3 months
reduces pimple duration
easy to take
Cons:
did nothing for the long term
redness of skin
bad Keratosis on the arms
headaches
tiredness
Cleared up acne fairly well the first few months. Had minimal break outs and skin was looking a lot better. After about 4 months, started to see skin discoloration and pimples started coming back. At this point, my face appears to be worse then when I started. i would only recommend this for a short term solution.
Pros:
Cleared skin
inexpensive
Minimal side-effects