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Doxycycline - Acne Cure or Killer Drug?

Natural treatments are by far the best way to cure acne. They are a safe, fast, cheap, and permanent cure for acne sufferers. Treating your body naturally, both inside and out, allows your body's natural defenses to fight and permanently cure those pimples and zits that make so many people so miserable.

In spite of the success of natural treatments, many people first choose to try over-the-counter and mail order topical treatments. These products rarely live up to the advertising hype and are never a permanent cure. When these products fail to work many people visit a dermatologist for a prescription medication such as Doxyxycline.

Doxycycline is a tetracycline antibiotic which is used to treat acne. It is the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects that are important, if your inflamed pimples do not respond well to topical acne antibiotics or if you have acne on many areas of your body, antibiotics in pill form can be more effective, easier to take, and more convenient. However, the average patient sees only about a 15-25% improvement in the number of inflamed pimples when using Doxycycline. Before taking Doxycycline patients must consider the risks.

Some possible side effects of doxycycline include: a life-threatening allergic reaction (symptoms are trouble breathing; closing of the throat; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; hives), blood problems (symptoms are unusual bleeding or bruising), liver damage (symptoms are yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal pain), irritation of the esophagus, vaginal yeast infection, increased sensitivity of the skin to sunlight, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Doxycycline can affect how other medicines work and other medicines can affect how the antibiotic works. Some medicines that can interact with doxycycline are antacids and supplements that contain calcium, iron, magnesium, or sodium bicarbonate. If you take products containing these minerals within 2 hours of the time you take doxycycline, these medicines could decrease the doxycycline’s effectiveness. Also, Birth control pills also may not work as well if you are taking doxycycline. Use other forms of birth control while you are taking this medicine.

Doxycycline is not generally approved for treating patients under 8 years old. It can cause swelling of the brain and a condition called bulging fontanels (soft spot on head) in infants. Doxycycline use is also associated with permanent tooth discoloration in children. If used for long periods, it may also slow down the growth of teeth and bones in babies born prematurely.

With the fast, easy, and inexpensive natural acne treatments available today it really makes little sense to risk one’s health using drugs such as Doxycycline. The solution for most people is in treating the body from the inside out. Smearing on lotions and creams and taking prescription drugs might temporarily mask the acne but only by treating the root cause of the problem can we ever hope to have a permanent cure. By making simple changes in our lives…what we eat, how we clean our skin, our mental attitude we can have long-term success in achieving clear and attractive skin.