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Hi all,
So I'm going to the GP tomorrow and am going to ask for an antibiotic. I was on Accutane from fall 2013 to summer 2014 and it cleared me up briefly, but then my acne started coming back. For a year, I've been on a night-only BP (Acne.org) regimen, which keeps my skin pretty smooth. Unfortunately, I have been fighting big hormonal cysts that hurt like hell and leave crazy scars. BP can't touch them. I feel like I need something killing them from the inside, which is why I'm leaning towards an antibiotic.
I was wondering what antibiotic you guys might recommend? I've been on a bunch of them before. I was on tetracycline and doxycycline back in high school, which - as far as I remember - were pretty slow-acting and gave me upset stomach. I was also on bactrim for a month during my accutane course. As far as I remember, it cleared up the cystic breakout I was having at the moment and gave me no allergic reactions - but I really don't know what to attribute to accutane and what to attribute to bactrim. I was also on a very brief course of dicloxacillin back in September of last year, which a nurse practitioner gave me because she thought I had folliculitis.
I need a quick fix. I have these gigantic cysts right now that show no intention of going away. I've heard good things about bactrim (as well as terrible ones), and in my relatively short (month-long) experience it didn't give me any allergic reactions. My initial thought was to ask the doc for bactrim again - but is there something else you guys would recommend?
For me,doxycycline was the best.I was on it for 7 months.70% clear on the first three and about 99% clear on the last three months before acne relapsed once again.Then I eventually got prescribed for accutane since I was scarring.
I think you should go for accutane once again if you keep on getting cysts and scars.
I think Accutane would be an option if the antibiotics don't work, but I would like to try other options before I dive in again. I got through my first course without any lasting side effects (that I know of), but it was crazy expensive on my insurance.
I am currently less than a week into doxy. I know it takes longer to work than some other antibiotics, so I guess I'm just going to wait for 3-4 months to see if there's any improvement.
I started Doxycycline 100mg per day in 2009 for cystic acne. It worked great, clearing my acne almost completely. Did have the occasion (but rare) breakout but never cysts. In July of 2015, I started breaking out again with the painful cysts.
My dermatologist has taken me off the Doxy (as I seem to have become resistant) and I will be starting Minocycline 100mg twice per day.
I am 39 years old and have been dealing with this since I have been a teenager. Unfortunately, I am allergic to quite a few other antibiotics so I hope the Minocycline works.
Good luck!
1 hour ago, kimmynunz said:I started Doxycycline 100mg per day in 2009 for cystic acne. It worked great, clearing my acne almost completely. Did have the occasion (but rare) breakout but never cysts. In July of 2015, I started breaking out again with the painful cysts.
My dermatologist has taken me off the Doxy (as I seem to have become resistant) and I will be starting Minocycline 100mg twice per day.
I am 39 years old and have been dealing with this since I have been a teenager. Unfortunately, I am allergic to quite a few other antibiotics so I hope the Minocycline works.
Good luck!
I am on the same dosage... so you were on Doxy for 5-6 years? That's a long time! Did you take breaks, or was it one continuous course of antibiotics?
I had two rounds of minocycline with beautiful results. All my cysts cleared up within a month. I stayed on Mino for three months and remained clear for three more months after stopping. I got the same results both times.
7 hours ago, wombat666 said:I am on the same dosage... so you were on Doxy for 5-6 years? That's a long time! Did you take breaks, or was it one continuous course of antibiotics?
I was on it continuously for the 6 years. No breaks. It is a long time. I figured at some point it would stop working.
I'm on my third day now without any antibiotics in my system...my derm wants the doxycycline out of my system prior to starting the minocycline...my face is awful & now I'm suddenly sick. I never get sick. This is so frustrating & annoying.
If I never have a future day without a breakout...at least I did have those 5-6 years of nice skin due to doxycycline so I hope it works for you as well.
11 hours ago, kimmynunz said:I was on it continuously for the 6 years. No breaks. It is a long time. I figured at some point it would stop working.
I'm on my third day now without any antibiotics in my system...my derm wants the doxycycline out of my system prior to starting the minocycline...my face is awful & now I'm suddenly sick. I never get sick. This is so frustrating & annoying.
If I never have a future day without a breakout...at least I did have those 5-6 years of nice skin due to doxycycline so I hope it works for you as well.
Are you allergic to Bactrim?
2 hours ago, acnehardcase said:Wombat666
To answer your original question. Yes bactrim is spectacular but I think it's mostly used as a last resort. I used it for a year but like a lot of people, it came back when i stopped. Goodluck with doxycycline
Thank you! Yes, from what I've heard it's a "last resort" because it's normally used for infections stronger than acne. I guess it's better to steer away from it unless my acne really gets out of control.
On February 28, 2016 at 9:05 AM, wombat666 said:Ah, that's unfortunate... are you using any topicals between the doxy and the mino, or just going completely cold turkey?
No, just using the Benzoyl Peroxide wash. I actually used the Mino for three days & stopped because it made me so nauseous that I couldn't eat. My derm is now saying that I am out of oral antibiotic options since I'm allergic to such a wide range. She put me on topical Clindamycin to use at night.
On March 1, 2016 at 5:55 PM, kimmynunz said:No, just using the Benzoyl Peroxide wash. I actually used the Mino for three days & stopped because it made me so nauseous that I couldn't eat. My derm is now saying that I am out of oral antibiotic options since I'm allergic to such a wide range. She put me on topical Clindamycin to use at night.
Have you tried any stronger topicals? Benzoyl peroxide or any retinoids?
My son is taking 100 mgs minocycline for cystic acne and is a month and a half into his 3-month course. He's also doing the Acne.Org Regimen twice a day, and using clindamycin on his back (won't bleach his shirts). So far the combined treatment is working beautifully! He still gets the odd pimple here and there but otherwise his acne is under control, and they heal fast when they do show up. Lots of PIH so hard to really see the progress...we're treating that with AHA+ every other night. His forehead PIH is almost gone, but cheeks are still pretty marked so still look pretty bad, although the skin is flat at least. The derm also prescribed .05% tretinoin cream (retinoid) but we didn't start using till recently. Waited for most of his acne to clear up first. He uses this on the nights he doesn't use AHA+ and it's doing a nice job smoothing is skin and purging all the whiteheads/blackheads. His skin is really soft and smooth and the products are also absorbing much better!
Hoping for long-lasting results! But if he needs a round of antibiotics once every 12-18 months to get him through his teen years, it's not so bad. Really hoping to avoid Accutane but it's an option if we need it. I think the only reason the derm didn't just go straight for the Accutane is he had never been on antibiotics for acne.
7 hours ago, Chloe123 said:My cousin has been on doxycycline 50mg for the past 10 years and she is still on it, her face is clear. However, she has developed IBD and has come off it, her skin is still clear. Personally, i dont mess with antibiotics.
10 years? Geez... so does she come off doxy whenever the IBD flares up? Or was it more recently that the IBD developed?
1 hour ago, DeLovely said:My son is taking 100 mgs minocycline for cystic acne and is a month and a half into his 3-month course. He's also doing the Acne.Org Regimen twice a day, and using clindamycin on his back (won't bleach his shirts). So far the combined treatment is working beautifully! He still gets the odd pimple here and there but otherwise his acne is under control, and they heal fast when they do show up. Lots of PIH so hard to really see the progress...we're treating that with AHA+ every other night. His forehead PIH is almost gone, but cheeks are still pretty marked so still look pretty bad, although the skin is flat at least. The derm also prescribed .05% tretinoin cream (retinoid) but we didn't start using till recently. Waited for most of his acne to clear up first. He uses this on the nights he doesn't use AHA+ and it's doing a nice job smoothing is skin and purging all the whiteheads/blackheads. His skin is really soft and smooth and the products are also absorbing much better!
Hoping for long-lasting results! But if he needs a round of antibiotics once every 12-18 months to get him through his teen years, it's not so bad. Really hoping to avoid Accutane but it's an option if we need it. I think the only reason the derm didn't just go straight for the Accutane is he had never been on antibiotics for acne.
That's a pretty intense regimen... I imagine once you add the Tretinoin, the acne won't stand a chance. I'm currently using the Acne.org regimen at night only, and while it does do a decent job of keeping the upper half of my face clear, there's nothing it can do for the cystic acne that comes up on the lower half of my face. I've tried using the Regimen 2x a day before, but moisturizing afterwards burns my face off.
23 minutes ago, wombat666 said:10 years? Geez... so does she come off doxy whenever the IBD flares up? Or was it more recently that the IBD developed?That's a pretty intense regimen... I imagine once you add the Tretinoin, the acne won't stand a chance. I'm currently using the Acne.org regimen at night only, and while it does do a decent job of keeping the upper half of my face clear, there's nothing it can do for the cystic acne that comes up on the lower half of my face. I've tried using the Regimen 2x a day before, but moisturizing afterwards burns my face off.
My son's only 14 but has some pretty intense acne. He really needed a 3-prong attack to kill acne bacteria inside and out, plus a retinoid for all the congestion. It's getting better now but before his skin was so clogged with whiteheads and blackheads that the products weren't absorbing that well.
That's a shame you can't do the Regimen more than once a day. Doing it twice a day has made all the difference for my son. Have you tried a different moisturizer?? (Cetaphil, CerAve, etc.)
On 3/3/2016 at 11:33 PM, wombat666 said:Have you tried any stronger topicals? Benzoyl peroxide or any retinoids?
I have when I was younger without luck I have tried all different types of BP up to 10%. So, now I am using the BP wash twice per day and the topical Clindamycin at night. Are you on an antibiotic at the moment?
9 hours ago, Chloe123 said:My cousin has been on doxycycline 50mg for the past 10 years and she is still on it, her face is clear. However, she has developed IBD and has come off it, her skin is still clear. Personally, i dont mess with antibiotics.
I developed GERD while on Doxy. Awful. I don't ever want to take antibiotics again...for an extended period of time anyway.
28 minutes ago, kimmynunz said:I have when I was younger without luck I have tried all different types of BP up to 10%. So, now I am using the BP wash twice per day and the topical Clindamycin at night. Are you on an antibiotic at the moment?
I developed GERD while on Doxy. Awful. I don't ever want to take antibiotics again...for an extended period of time anyway.
Yup, I asked the doctor for an antibiotic and he put me on Doxycycline. It's been about two weeks on it, no results so far, but I know it takes time.
2 hours ago, DeLovely said:My son's only 14 but has some pretty intense acne. He really needed a 3-prong attack to kill acne bacteria inside and out, plus a retinoid for all the congestion. It's getting better now but before his skin was so clogged with whiteheads and blackheads that the products weren't absorbing that well.That's a shame you can't do the Regimen more than once a day. Doing it twice a day has made all the difference for my son. Have you tried a different moisturizer?? (Cetaphil, CerAve, etc.)
Yup, the Regimen worked a lot better for me back when I used it 2x a day, but I just couldn't stand having a red lobster face all the time, as well as the constant staining of my clothes. I am considering switching to an SA-based moisturizer than I can use during the daytime instead of a regular moisturizer, so that I'm not spending half the day without any sort of acne medication on my face.
4 hours ago, wombat666 said:10 years? Geez... so does she come off doxy whenever the IBD flares up? Or was it more recently that the IBD developed?
She got the IBD from the long term antibiotics. There have been many reports of people getting bowel diseases from long term antibiotic use or short term accutane use. However, im pretty sure she was immune to it anyways, which is why she got it. Dont think its possible to 'randomly' get it. Not sure. She's currently under strict corticosteroids use, and her face is all puffy (idk why) but im not sure if shes still talking the doxy, i dont think so? Maybe i should ask ahhaha
I have been on Bactrim for a month and it has completely stopped cystic acne. Now just small pimples every few days or weeks. However, I would do an antibitoitic for a few months and then consider another round of Accutane. A second round may be the Magic amount to eradicate your acne without having to take a harmful antibitoic for years. Just my advice! Bactrim is awesome!