Acne.org Products
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
May 24, 2012
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.
May 9, 2012
Product used: Solodyn (Oral Antibiotic)
Pros:
Acne noticeably reduced
Cons:
Acne scars began to hyperpigment within a few days
Dizzyness
Anxiety
Insomnia
Helped reduce acne, but for me, the side effects were not worth it. I am much happier on doxycycline.
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'.
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.
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.
January 2, 2012
Pros:
Cleare skin
Cons:
Extreme allergic reaction
After taking this drug for several years, I suddenly began to have debilitating joint pain and extremely high fevers (104 and higher). See Mara from Chicago, below). After weeks of scary testing with possible prognoses of things like cancer, lupus, and hepatitis; doctors finally figured out it was the minocycline causing it. Of course this doesn't happen to everyone, or even most people, but like other reviewers, I'd advise people to be wary of side effects when using this drug.
December 28, 2011
Product used: Solodyn (Oral Antibiotic)
Pros:
little to no acne
Cons:
Price, $20 for three months, then the price changes to $300 a month with insurance
I have struggled with acne all my life. I am 40 years old and still have acne. My doctor put me on this medicine and I have been taking it for two months now. I love it. I have had maybe one pimple in two months.
December 28, 2011
Pros:
Seemed to work
Cons:
Price. I had insurance and a savings card, but retail was $986.00!! ALLERGIC REACTION- SEVERE
I am 34 and have never had any type of allergic reaction to any medication. Because of this, I wanted to warn others. After 10 days, my entire body broke out into 1 giant INTENSE, HORRIBLE itching hive. From top of head to bottom of feet. Unable to walk, blacked out twice due to extremely low blood pressure. Ended up in ICU for 3 days. If you take this medication, PLEASE watch out for any allergic reaction.
December 18, 2011
Pros:
-cleared redness of my acne
-lessened the size of my pimples
-reduced majority of the acne on my cheeks
Cons:
-SIDE EFFECTS: nausea, dizziness, loss of appetite, mood swings/emotional (in my case), etc. These side effects continued for a couple of days in my situation.
-leaves hyperpigmentation (I have asian skin)
-takes time to notice results
-You have to take it on an empty stomach D:<
-made my acne worse for the first two weeks
-can be pricey without insurance
-barely helped with my chest/back acne
I'm 15 and I have moderate acne (mostly on my cheek area) My doctor recommended minocycline for my acne. He initially prescribed me 100mg to be taken 2 times daily, but I couldn't handle the side effects! I was very nauseas for the first two days and I was very emotional. I cried for no reason when my mom asked me what I wanted to eat! LOL, so I called my doctor and he said that 100mg once a day was fine. It took a while to get used to because I had to adjust to my eating schedule and I love to eat at different hours of the day. It took a while to see results which bummed me out because my acne got worse for the first two weeks and my doctor said my acne will improve in 10 days (WHAT A LIE). I've been on this medication for about a month now and my ance is getting better, but it's not completely cleared. My doctor didn't prescribe me any topicals so I'm on the regimen (I didn't buy the acne.org products, I just used alternatives) so I think that also helped with my acne. I recommend this if you don't mind the side effects and the change of your diet, but I think there are better products out there. Once I'm finished with this medication, I'm going to ask my doctor about Azelex (azelaic acid) because I read good reviews on it, it's a topical and there are less side effects :)
December 13, 2011
Product used: Solodyn (Oral Antibiotic)
Pros:
Cleared most of my acne
Acne was less red
Cons:
Skin sensitivity got so bad my whole back got dry, red and patchy it looked disgustiong. These pills gav me HORRIBLE side effects: headaches, nausea, dizziness, dehydration, etc. it was too unbarable to finish the whole 3 months.
Works well, takes a while, bad side effects
Pros:
Started clearing my skin as little as 2 weeks.