Minocycline

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Side Effects

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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3.2

Used Minocycline? Rate It:

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Brendan

January 12, 2012

Pros:

Reduces breakouts
Reduces overall size of pimples
Clears skin during dosage

Cons:

Slight disorientation
Calcium intake inhibits the antibiotic
Inconsistent results
Little effect on cystic/nodular acne
Slight constipation

I am an athletic 21 year old male with moderately severe acne, and the biggest problem I have are cysts and nodule acne. The smaller pimples and black heads are still present, but just less annoying and obvious. So take this review just as a reference not as you would react to the actual medication. Luckily I had little side effects while taking Minocycline, but I wasn't entirely satisfied with the results to be honest. I've currently been on 100mg twice daily for three months ingesting them at 10:00am and 10:00pm. And if you're just looking to rid yourself of small pimples and black heads because of hormone shifts and what not, then this is definitely ideal for you. If you have extremely embarrassing cystic acne on a high or low scale, then I'm sorry it just isn't. It takes a very long period of time for the antibiotic to penetrate deep into cystic pores where the infection is taking place. The only thing that has ever cleared my cystic acne is a vitamin called, "B5". I highly recommend it if you're desperate like I was, but after two years of taking it my acne came back with full force so now I'm looking for something that's a little more permanent. Remember a lot of your acne is genetic, not necessarily an external problem with your cleansing routine or hygiene. Oral medication is often times what's needed in order to train your body and, '˜'rewire your brain' as my doctor would say to see any noticeable results. The bottom line is it did a great job of clearing smaller acne including blackheads because of how much easier it is to penetrate, but the bigger and deeper pimples were almost unaffected. I've been clinically depressed because of acne and I plan on whooping its ass in the near future, so I hope you all recover and find something that works well for you, please don't give up just keep searching and I promise something will turn up.

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Rachelle

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 :)

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Melissa

December 13, 2011

Pros:

Cheap with insurance, gets rid of majority of acne including cystic pimples

Cons:

Gastrointestinal problems, acne comes back once you stop

I just recently stopped taking minocycline after having taking it for about 3 years. It was working perfectly for me until this past summer when I started getting severe stomach pains, which was later diagnosed as gastritis. I stopped taking the minocycline simply as an experiment to see if it was the culprit of my stomach problems. The gastritis seemed to get better, but after some time passed I began to break out badly again, so I tried taking the minocycline again. The gastritis pains came roaring back. In short, this worked very well for me for a few years before, I guess, it caught up with me.

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drad

December 11, 2011

Pros:

- Extended Release capsules worked perfectly
(Solodyn)

- Skin cleared up in about a month, lasted throughout treatment

- No side effects while on extended release

Cons:

- Hard to get Solodyn and the ER tablets, pharmacies would constantly try to put me on the generic tablets.

- Finally had to switch to generic tablets and was made extremely sick, felt spaced out, depersonalized. Stopped taking the generic twice a day immediately after feeling these side effects.

I was on Solodyn, the extended release brand name version of minocycline for a few months. I then was put on an almost identical generic extended release. It worked perfectly, very easy, I took it once a day in the morning, and it worked fine. It cleared my skin up, and there were no side effects. My parents didn't want to pay for the extended release anymore, so they just got me regular, generic, twice a day 100 mg minocycline. It was horrible. I felt awful, depersonalization, spacey, just completely horrible. So, bottom line, if you can get Solodyn or another ER tablet, go for it, but avoid the generic.

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yoyo

November 21, 2011

Pros:

cleared up skin within first few weeks
no side effects for me
completely clear skin for first few months, then it juz stopped working

Cons:

stopped working after 4 months =(
its a pill.,so u must be consistent

im 22 year old female iv been using this about 6 months now really bad whiteheads/zits all over my chin and cheeks . the first few months i took this it worked wonders! i was like OMG finally its over, my skin cleared up completely my scars even stared to fade! but now its a whole differant story, im on my 5th month and i started braking out horribly! its been a month now my skin has been braking out... im still on this. hoping itll clear up again one day... i hope..=(

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Crystal

November 20, 2011

Pros:

Works to clear cystic acne

Cons:

IT COMES BACK 3 MONTHS IN

I swear I have tried everything, i get cystic acne but its not as bad as some peoples but still bad enough for me to scar my face. So for years ive been trying to clear it (from 15 to now 22) I was put on minocycline after everything else was failing me, I have been on and off this medicine for years. It does control the acne but its like my body gets immune to it and then they come back. The last time this happened I switched to accutane but was taken off due to a poor change in my bloodwork, he was going to put me back on it but now im back on minocycline to try it out again and hope that maybe this and veltrin (topical which is very helpful for cystic acne) will work for me. I hope so. I never had ill side effects with Minocycline, but DOXICYCLINE was horrible I would get so nautious and sick but def feel great on minocycline. With my insurance its only about 8 dollars.

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redacne

October 31, 2011

Pros:

Slowly will clear up acne
Still breakout but less cystic

Cons:

Initially made acne much worse!
Depressed/ light headed for the first day or two
Made skin very sensitive
Had to change diet because of the dairy

On a 2 x 50mg Akamin (Minocycline)Working for the moment but it took a very rough patch to get here... Wouldn't recommend unless you're willing to brave the first BAD period of time! I was never sure it was going to work when it made my cystic acne come out like crazy, not sure if it was purging my skin like accutane does but it made it so bad at about week 2.5, I never had acne like this before so I was a little annoyed!!! I'm at about a month now and my skin is clearing up, just bad scarring left from the initial breakout period on the drug. Experienced a spout of depression during the first couple of days but eventually the body adjusts to it.... I'm also experiencing a bit of millia, not sure if this is from the drug but if anyone else experienced this please tell me. You may have to buy more sensitive, skin products... It will help your acne anyway!

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Someguy93

August 13, 2011

Pros:

Clears up very fast, worked in a week

Cons:

Dizziness for 2 weeks, comes back when you stop taking it, immunity

I began taking this because topical creams lost effect and acne started getting worse. Recommend it if your acne is moderately severe with 1 or 2 cysts and topicals dont work. I took it for 1.5months. My acne cleared quite well in about 2 weeks with some pimples left. It lost effect some effect after a month as cyst started to form again. I decided to stop taking it after my prescription and acne comes back slowly. However not as bad before because i started applying a topical(erthomycine) and also biozinc supplements which has worked well for 3 weeks now. Of ocurse my skin wasnt as great as it was when i was on minocycline but its better than it was before i took the minocycline. Take this drug but after your acne has cleared DEFINITELY apply a topical because acne will come back. Its a fact.

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mzmaz

August 6, 2011

Pros:

clear skin

clears whiteheads

Cons:

light head ache and blurred vision

im using this product with epiduo cream so i dont know which is controlling which but together there working well and has cleared my skin im taking one every morning and night but im going on to my second week and taking it every night and it is giving me good results

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maimy

August 4, 2011

Pros:

Haven't experienced any side effects
Doesn't matter how near to food you take it.
Cleared me up.

Cons:

It didn't work on its own - needed Duac alongside it for it to be strong enough.
Its effects have just seemed to wear off, I guess.

I was first prescribed minocyline around 18 months ago. It took a while (couple of months) to get working, but it did clear me up. I stupidly thought it would be OK to come off it, and thus experienced a very nasty breakout. I went back on it and was clear for another 3-4 months. Now, it just doesn't seem to be working. After this round I may give it up. I use it in conjuction with Duac, but I don't know anymore - I'm worried I'm resistant to it. Plus I've been taking it a while, I want to give my body a rest.

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