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
February 23, 2012
Cons:
trapped wind!
horrible taste and smell
taking in combination with dianette. works really well. im worried spots will return worse than ever when i come of them!
February 22, 2012
Pros:
When initially taken it did clear my acne for a good 6 months.
Didn't have an initial breakout.
Only had to take once a day.
Inexpensive
Cons:
Large, hard to swallow plastic tablets.
Would repeat on me for about 2 hours after taking them.
Occasionally felt naseous.
Built up an immunity to it.
I would say Tetracycline is often one of the first antibiotics your given if you have bad skin. I used it for about a year and spent about 6 months clear but started to notice it wasn't working as well as it did before after a while. I had no remission of my acne afterwards, once I stopped the antibiotic, the acne came back. I didn't really like the tablets as they repeated on me with some strange taste and sometimes made me feel sick but I stuck with it whilst they were working. I was never told not to have dairy whilst on it but I always timed my dairy intake as far from the tablet as possible because it would make my stomach gurgle etc. Basically its a good first antibiotic but son't be surprised if you build up a resistance to it and need something stronger.
February 7, 2012
Pros:
*Inexpensive.
Cons:
*No difference on the skin.
*Hard to swallow pills
*Can't eat or drink diary products while being on this pill.
The dermotologist suggested that taking Tetracycline twice every day for 2 months will give me clear skin but sadly, shes very wrong. This medicine hasn't made a difference on my skin and I've been consistence with it since day 1. The cycle just keeps on rotating... New pimples are growing while old zits are leaving my skin with hyperpigmentation marks that takes forever to go away. In a few weeks, my doctor is finally going to put me on accutane; I just had enough with acne. I couldn't take the low-self esteem, low-self confident, and depression that comes along with it any longer. Acne has been the longest and toughest battle I had to fight against ever since I reach puberty. My decision is set and accutane is the choice I will make. Although Tetracycline wasn't working for me, that doesn't mean it will not work for you. I just had too much sebum production on my face and this medicine couldn't cure it.
February 6, 2012
Pros:
- Cleared up
- No side effects experienced
- Didnt get worse before it got better
Cons:
- Took ages to work
- Doesnt cure acne
Started on the 22nd december, now the 6th febuary and somehow my spots have literally gone in the last week, like im not just saying that each day i got less and less and less and now i have non, just quite a lot of hyper pigmentation, completely cleared pustular and papular acne, and slowly clearing my comedonal acne, dont matter though going on roaccutane cos i dont wanna go through acne again. Also started to eat healthy and only wash my face with water around same time i cleared up, dunno if its coincedental, but i believe if you eat all this bad junk food then it will come out in your face, and look at your facial washer and read all the chemicals, surely not good to put on your face? Look at the eskimo people for example, not a case of acne and then the americans colonised there and acne became apparent in the population, bad food... i dunno, also take flaxseed oil and havent experianced a outbreak, EVERYONES DIFFERENT YOU AINT GUNNA FIND AN ANSWER FOR YOUR TROUBLES UNLESS YOUR TRY IT
December 29, 2011
Pros:
Clear for 6 max months only
Cons:
Much worst than before I took this! Developed Cystic acne after this too
I developed digestion problems
Used for a year, stopped working after 6 months
DO NOT TAKE THIS!!! I wish I could go back to before I took this and try natural diet and supplements as my skin has never been the same.
I also now suffer from digestion problems.
December 15, 2011
Pros:
-Reduced huge cysts
-works relatively fast
Cons:
-can't drink dairy while on it
-have to plan around a pill(small price to pay)
i have bad acne which does lower my self esteem quite a bit....The first week of using this was awesome. my cysts reduced dramatically and my face became less red. I have been on it for a little over 2 weeks. The last couple days i have been drinking a lot of milk (milk blocks the tetracycline) so it hasnt been working as much the last few days. it still is slowly improving. I am going to cut dairy from my diet completely to see what happens. The only side effect i am experiencing is that i have to fart like crazy after meals( i think its from the tetracycline
December 4, 2011
Pros:
Very inexpensive
Cons:
Did not clear acne
Difficult-to-take capsules (inconvenient and VERY bad-tasting)
Many side effects that I thankfully did not experience. Difficult to swallow those nasty capsules twice a day (on an empty stomach--requires timing), finally quit after it did not help my acne four months down the line.
December 3, 2011
Pros:
cleared up acne, but not worth long term results and potential intestinal damage
Cons:
was on it for a few years, then doxycycline, then minocycline. after stopping, acne immediately came back. ended up getting GERD, terrible bad breath, and ended up needing hemmorhoid surgery. then OCD got really bad. now spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars in ayurvedic treatment which is finally working. spend more time focusing on your diet and understand your own food allergies (wheat, dairy,etc). cutting out sugar and low-glycemic carbs is really hard, but helped clear up my acne
long term effects not worth short term fix. look into lifestyle and diet changes. was male in 30s when taking
November 1, 2011
Pros:
Reduced number of large cysts
Easy to remember to take
Some reduction of back acne
Relatively cheap
Cons:
Had no effect on blackheads
Easy to take, and a good step up from benzyl peroxide. But, ultimately, did not make a huge difference, despite taking it for over a year.
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!
Pros:
cleared up my acne by about 75%
few side effects