Oral Antibiotics for Acne

[LittleRumor]

I am considering adding oral antibiotics to help my acne. I'm getting REALLY impatient with retin a micro (granted it has only been 4 weeks) but I had a few nodules and pustles flare up over the weekend. I wondering a few things and thought I'd get the forum users opinions before I invest time and money into orals. (I'm pretty afraid of oral antibiotics to begin with as well). Here are a few questions:

Does it cause skin sensitivity?

Are you on it permanently or stop when they go away?

How long does it go into affect?

Any side effects that you think aren't worth clear skin?

Thanks

 

[beautynista]

Hey there

I've taken oral antibiotics several times for acne, and ive tried a few differentl types. The one that worked best for me in terms of clearing up my acne was Minocycline (tetracycline) but over time, i started getting nausea and palpitations from it so i had to stop. The other one i took was arithromycine, which was extremely inconveninent because i had to take it 3 times a day after a meal and to be honest it did nothing for my acne.

Ive always used and still use topical antiobiotics which seem to help quite a bit with acne - the one im using is called Strymycine or something like that. It's not a miracle worker but it helps quite a bit. Allt his might work differently on you, i really believe its worth a try! there shouldn't be any serious side effects - since they're prescribed, your GPshould tell you if its right for you....etc.

HTH!

 

[Lia]

You should talk 1st with your doctor to check it out if you can or can't take antibiotics.

I don't know the name of meds in english, but have you taken isotrethynoine yet? (it's the base of roacutan -its the name in portuguese- or accutane i think) If it's really really bad acne it's a good med, even though at first you might think that it's getting your acne worse, but after sometime it'll make beter. And have you tried topic antibiotics? It can be a good thing too. My sis was using benzoyl peroxide + erithromycin topically and it was a nice treatment.

 

[AnitaNa]

I am currently taking a mix of doxycycline and spiroloctane (sp?) my acne was never severe but i dont want any

and this helps me during my time of the month. It hasnt caused any side effects for me ..the doxy maybe made me a little nauseated for the first week but i was good after that. but my face is clear so its helping .

 

[xjackie83]

I took various meds for acne for about a year. They do make your skin sensitive to sunlight. None of them ever did anything for my skin or body acne. All of them made me extremely nauseous at times to the point where I started to miss work and school frequently.

The only medicine that has ever helped with my skin is diane35 (or dianette) which is a birth control.

 

[Twinkles-TX]

My teenage son was prescribed Adoxa 100 mg. along with the Retin-A Micro. He started clearing up immediately. He only took the antibiotics for 1 month & only occasionally uses the Retin-A now. His dermatologist said acne would not clear without an antibiotic. He also said to quit using the acne products I had been buying (including ProActive). Just soap & water.

 

[LittleRumor]

I'm mostly convinced. Thanks for your comments. I took antibiotics for other things before and I havent got sick from it, so hopefully I will do fine. Sounds like it won't be a permanent thing and that's cool. Just have to stay way from alcohol for a while

.

 

[Enchantedcameo]

I took Antibotics for acne for about 5 years and it helped quite a bit. I used Minocycline, the only problem was i took it before i went to bed and over the years it affect my Liver and for about 6 months my liver enzymes where high like i had mono so just don't take them before you go to sleep because it can cause liver damage and heartburn to. But other then that it was wonderful.

 

[Kelly]

I tried a few different antibiotics when I was younger. Then last fall/winter was on monocycline, then off and all was good. Then I got a cyst and freaked out. So I went on doxycycline, it was cheaper and the derm thought it might help a little with my oily skin (it tends to have a more drying affect). As for the drying affect, ummmmm no it didn't help my oily skin.

As for skin sensitivity: yes it will cause your skin to be sensitive to the sun. My derm weaned me off it before the summer. If you are on it in the summer months or in the sun, you MUST use a sunscreen, because YES you are more sensitive to the sun (this includes tanning beds).

How long is a person on it? Depends on the person, everyone's different. I know, nice answer. But I can go off it for like 6 months, then start to break out again and freak and ask to be put back on it. I only go back on it though if I get the cystic kind of acne (and then I'm only on it about a month....that seems to be all I need).

My only concern is my back, shoulders and chest area - my face is doing great with just my taz cream at night and my clyndamiacin in morning a 2.5% bp as a spot treatment only (very rare do I use this). Oh and I also use a bp wash in the shower....but I'm not sure it's helping, just drying (in regards to my body acne).

Oh and I agree with the fact that if you are on a prescription acne med, do not use any other acne products (over the counter)....only a mild cleanser and water. I learned this the hard way and found it over irritates the skin.

 

[LittleRumor]

Originally Posted by kwitter my face is doing great with just my taz cream at night and my clyndamiacin in morning a 2.5% bp as a spot treatment only (very rare do I use this). I thought BP should NOT be used with retinoids since they neutralize each other. Is it ok to use them at different times of the day?

 

[Kelly]

Originally Posted by LittleRumor I thought BP should be used with retinoids since they neutralize each other. Is it ok to use them at different times of the day? I only use it I'd say about once every 2 weeks. And ONLY on a spot area. So I'm not sure. I also will use the BP on spots or areas on my back, shoulders area - the areas that I do not use my retinoid. I'm not sure if it's ok, my derm suggested it. So????

 

[4getmeNot]

I took tetracycline and was very disappointed. It didn't help my acne at all.

I got sooo discouraged..I got it from my doc though-not a derm. That might have been the problem. From then on, I decided to treat it myself and it's doign better than it did on that stuff.

 

[LittleRumor]

I got the doxycycline and topical antibiotics as well.

The doctor also wanted me to wash with medicated BP wash.

We'll see about that. Funny story though with the doxy pills today...

I'm used to taking two of everything else, vitamins, etc. Just part of my morning routine to take a lot of pills.

Anyway, I took TWO of the doxy pills (100mgs) out of habit

I REALLY didn't mean too!

Well, needless to say

Guess I have to be more careful