Acne.org Products
Oral Antibiotic
Efficacy
69%
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 to only some people, and may lead to side effects and strains of resistant bacteria. Studies do show they can sometimes 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 Tetracycline? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
July 11, 2007
Cons:
Takes a few weeks at msot to start working. Can't take within 2 hours before or after of eating or drinking anything but pure water. Required 4 pills a day for the first time trying. Requires consistency. Makes you more sensitive to sunlight.
Works well if you need it. It doesn't clear 100% of it but takes away enough to not constantly notice it. You will still get the occassional pimple or zit, and you will still get soem blackheads. Helps reduce blackheads by 50% at most, maybe 75% but helps take away white heads more. I hear it can suddenly stop after a few years or so. Don't take it with food or drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic or powder like Kool Aid or Crystal Light) unless it's pure water. Also can cause general weakness, upset stomach, and diarrhea for the first few months. DO NOT TAKE PEPTO BISMOL OR OTHER STOMACH/INDIGESTION SEDATIVES. Also don't take multi-vitamins or supplements within 2 hours. Indigestion relievers causes violent reactions: I was at school after ym exam and took Pepto Bismol after I took the pill and suffered really bad stomach pains, diarrhea, dizzieness, almost vommitted, and other stuff. Becareful. It's worth it if you are upto the responsibilites. Not much to take care of after a while.
March 6, 2007
Pros:
It worked to clear up a breakout on my chest and back
Cons:
You need to be careful about when to take it, which can be inconvenient.
It worked for me on my chest, and I used it in combination with retin a
February 16, 2007
Pros:
Worked quite well for about five months.
Cons:
No food/dairy!
I took tetracyclen for only a month, back in September and durring the month I saw no results, but about a month after all my cystic acne on the sides of my face went away. I originally asked for tri-cyclen, the birth control, but the doctor misheard me and prescriped me tetracyclen? Anyways, My acne went away for about four months but came back... Only on my chin though, I hardly get acne on the sides of my face anymore, except when I do it's still cystic. But give it a try if you want, but I wouldn't recomment staying on it for a long period of time because it's not too good for you since it's killing all bacteria!
August 11, 2016
Did stop me breaking out for some time, but had continuous heart burn as a side effect, and stopped and acne came back
Yea i dont use many oral treatment for acne, so this was the first, and to my surprise, it was effective at stopping my breakout for period of time, after a month or so, I noticed that I am getting heart burn more regularly, my acid was coming up in the throat and just an uncomfortable feeling, so decided to do some research and it was a common side effect with this medicine. I thought because my pimples have stopped breaking out, and im getting this annoying side effect, and also the fact that its a antibiotic which can be dangerous as i may gain immunity, I dropped it. My heartburn stopped, and after a month my acne came back. Start taking tetracycline, heart burn came back right on the day, went to GP, told me that tetracyline gaves me heartburn so give me another oral acne medication, and he does, but what he literally gives me is another form of tetracyline, so my heartburn came back again. Anyway i start breaking out now, and now i got Erythromycin, lets see how that will work out.
Also regular heart burn apparently increases the chance of throat cancer by 70%, so yea didnt wanted to take the risk.
October 31, 2013
Ineffective with quite noticeable side-effects
Pros:
Cheap
Cons:
I got very weak from lack of dairy after 3 months.
No difference. Used twice daily, religiously and noticed no improvement nor any signs of worsening
Surprisingly it is true, I had become out of character I was quite depressed during these months. Might of been related to feeling weak. ANOTHER THING ide like to add is that im 15, ive never had dry skin nor dry lips. This severely made me shrivel up, luckily i bought EOS lip balm and some pricey mosturizer and cleared it right up :D
I have moderate acne, I had been trying topical treatments, Hundreds of dollars later I still have acne probably worse now. It was bad enough for me to go seek treatment but isn't severe by any means. I was given a few options; 1) General Birth control. 2) Tetracycline. 3) Birth Control + Accutane I really wanted to avoid birth control as im not at a state where I need to be on that. I asked my doctor if Birth control caused weight gain of which i would notice (Im 15 and I weigh 92 pounds) He said it would cause noticeable weight gain. I severely wanted to avoid that so I decided to take the second option and take Tetracycline for a period of 3 months as prescribed by my doctor. I just finished my 3 month period a week ago and it didn't clear anything up. I'm absolutely stumped. I dont want to take Birth Control but I really have no other option. I'm tired of having to cake on foundation and concealers just to barely cover the blemishes and redness. I was really hopeful... I really didnt want to be disappointed because I dont have severe acne... its just stubborn :( I wash my face twice a day everyday for as long as I can remember and I just dont know where to go from here.
December 12, 2017
what kind of acne do you have?
May 12, 2012
Pros:
100% clears skin if only taken with zinc
Cons:
fatigue, dry skin, nausea, vomiting, eyes paining.
i m taking tetracycline for 5 months i am 95% except blemishes ... but i m taking 250mg x 1 with zinc at night, my eyes are paining. i m going to stop tetracycline and going to continue only with zinc... lots of side effects fatigue, dry skin, nausea, vomiting, eyes paining. even if u stopped tetracycline just for 1 day acne comes back.
October 25, 2011
Pros:
.cleared up my acne
Cons:
.made me really sensitive to the sun
.when i went off of it, my acne got really bad but now im back on it so my skin is clear again
.after reading other people's comments, im afraid after a while of using it, it will stop working!
i reccomend it! it works like a charm. it only takes about 8 weeks for it to completely clear it up which is a miracle! i will keep using it!
.don't have any dairy within an hour of taking it
you need to drink a lot of water to wash it down and eat something too
. you still need to wash your face and such!
September 29, 2011
Pros:
works fast
ckears skin
Cons:
makes you feel like your going to vomit
drys your skin out
works fast, its a great product if you can handle the way it makes you feel for about an hr when you take your pill.
i used it for a month consitantly then if I felt like my face was becoming unclear i take it for about a week. must drink lots and lots of water!
August 11, 2011
Pros:
I experienced NONE
Cons:
I have a SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTION to the drug
enornous hives, itching, swelling of feet, hands, face, mouth, joint pain and muscle pain, with skin sensitive to the touch
I would serious reconsider taking this drug for your acne. If you can do with topicals, stick with those. The side effects I experienced were far wost than my acne has ever been.
April 12, 2011
Pros:
Works well
Reduces blackheads
Cons:
Increased urination
Increased appetite
Extreme thirst
Cannot be taken with dairy products
Cannot lay down within an hour of taking (else severe heartburn)
Within an hour of taking these pills, I feel as if my stomach has been emptied, and since the pill does not work well with dairy products, I find myself in a constant struggle to find something to binge on that has no dairy.
Also, I find myself with a unquenchable need to urinate and drink, often at the same time, which can be quite frustrating when in public, that lasts for about an hour.
My skin DID clear up quite nicely, however, but this pill has too many side-effects to be ideal.
Pros:
Helps remove light to moderate acne by 50-75%, and sometimes a bit higher.