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
March 2, 2007
Cons:
long term use can result in liver damage, hyperpigmentation and other side effects
Im gutted beause this has been the miracle cure for me and the ONLY thing to ever work- and now I cant stay on it! Ive been suffering acne for 27 years and this has been amazing for me. Last year I had the clearest skin ever and all my scars were fading nicely. Id been taking Mino for 18 months and was then taken off it because Id been on it longer than recommended. I never suffered a single side effect which is unusual for me! I loved it. Been off it for 3 months and my acne is the worst it has ever been. Obviously doesnt last then!
February 17, 2007
Pros:
helped decrease outbreaks significantly
Cons:
minor stomach upset, (helps to take with food/avoid dairy though) and prone to diarrhea while taking it.
Would not recommend long term use, however, if break outs worsen would take again short term. Helps control acne but hard on your body.
November 20, 2006
Pros:
?
Cons:
hives, swollen fingers, swollen feet, headaches
I woke up this morning with hives all over my entire body. This was at 6am. It is now 12pm and they are still getting worse. Face, chest, neck, back, stomach, thighs, butt, legs, feet. My fingers are swollen. The bottoms of my feet are swollen. It's really bad and I may have these symptoms for 5 days. My throat has not closed off, but everyone keeps telling me that it may and that I will need to call 911. I did have some chest pain a few days ago. This medication is totally not worth the side effects. I just wanted a quick fix and now I am totally regretting it.
October 11, 2006
Pros:
Not yet
Cons:
Dizziness w/ high dose
You said it is making you dizzy- same thing happened to me the 1st day 100mg 2x a day. Spoke w/ my doc and he knocked it down to 50mg X1 a day. I take it at night (not laying down for at least 30 min. after taking the pill)and am not dizzy the nxt day. Its only been a few days- no improvment on the skin yet - but dizziness is gone!
Good Luck!
August 28, 2016
Cystic acne
I've been taking this for several moths now,400mg.a day.I don't break out as much but I need help.I've had this problem for two years and I'm 62yrs old.some say use honey,apple cidar vinegar.HELP.I also take care of a husband with 11yrs in with Alzheimer's
March 19, 2017
Gosh, I feel for you! That's a tough road. As a health coach, I've been putting my clients on lots of probiotics both topically and for digestive system. (Try VSL #3 or something equivalently strong). Paint face with plain kefir to re-instate good bacteria. Go off conventional dairy. Experiment a couple weeks with other common irritants (eggs, wheat, soy, canola etc). Drinking raw milk homemade kefir finally corrected my cystic acne at age 35! Before I even modified my diet.
August 19, 2016
Caution
Take at your own risk----I started this drug around June 27th for my severe acne (paired with Aczone and neutrogina wash). I didn't really notice any side effects right off; I have a pretty strong stomach and am usually pretty immune to most forms of nausea though, so that wasn't too uncommon for me.
Around 2 weeks in I did notice the initial "purging" where my acne did get worse (I started getting some on my forehead, which I didn't used to) but by 3-4 weeks I noticed some clearing up.
By late July I was pretty stoked because I was looking way better, but by July 25th I started getting headaches. I will admit, I was being kind of stupid; I was really happy with the my face and rationalized that the drug shouldn't be acting up so late after having taken it and waited until after the 26th to stop (just to be sure it wasn't a fluke).
That was a big mistake on my part. I got THE WORST headaches that lasted 2-3 days (though I had taken my last dose on the 26th, apparently minocycline stays in your system awhile) and kept me totally bed-ridden. I couldn't move my eyes without blinding pain and nearly vomited from how much it hurt in general.
I now get to go to a doctor later to ensure I didn't develop psuedotumor cerebri (since, apparently headaches behind the eyes is one of the main symptoms of that) AND my acne is now worse---I'm going to look into birth control to see if that helps because I am now wary of antibiotics.
I considered giving this drug 1 star just because what a hellish time I had, but if I had never developed the headaches than it was working (you know, until it tried to kill me) so it may work for others, but it certainly did not work for me.
December 22, 2014
Staying hopeful
I was prescribed this drug about a year and a half ago along with an oral birth control pill and it cleared up my acne COMPLETELY! It got much worse before it got better, I would go out for the day and come home with over 20 new pimples on my face...I was very close to giving up but after about the second month on these pills it started to clear up. I am still on the birth control pill today, but only took minocycline for about 6 months. About 5 months ago my acne started to get bad again so I went back on this pill. It is my 4th week and I only see minimal changes. I was wondering if anyone else experienced extreme itchy-ness?! My whole upper body is SO itchy no matter what I do! My neck, back, hands, and scalp are red and dry. I take this pill twice a day with food. I want to stick with it otherwise I will be trying accutane. I also do not like the fact that minocycline can interfere with your birth control pill. Be very careful and use a backup form of birth control!
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.
July 10, 2014
Product used: Solodyn (Oral Antibiotic)
Did absolutely nothing!
I took this medication for about a year after trying many other orals and topicals and my doctor was certain it would clear me up. At first it seemed to help a bit, less noticeable bumps and small break outs. But after a month my skin returned to its normal state. My doctor was convinced that I should stay on the medication and I somehow ended up on it for a year with NO change. One day I decided to stop taking it on my own and honestly my skin improved. At my next appointment my doctor commented on how the medication was finally working and I simply laughed and told her I wasn't even taking it.
June 14, 2014
Ineffective
I was on this for a little while, and was later switched to Solodyn by my derm (supposed to be the same as minocycline except a bit stronger) and neither did much for my skin. I have severe cystic acne and am also on epiduo gel. While I was on minocycline I did notice the pimples that were on top of my cysts cleared up a lot, but I think that was mostly the epiduo gel. If your acne is not severe or cystic, I would suggest giving this, or preferably Solodyn, a try. If it is, you'll probably need something stronger. This did not give me an allergic reaction, but it did make me feel tired, nauseous, and gave me headaches. I did not experience these side effects on Solodyn.
Pros:
Works quickly