I'm Declan and I have been an acne sufferer for over a decade - but in the last 12 months I have been clear of pimples and cysts. I have tried many different products and I have been prescribed cabinets full of medicines trying to get my skin clear, one of those medicines was Minocycline. Minocycline is an antibiotic used to treat skin infections like acne - my experience was a success at first, but ultimately it ended in failure - Minocycline did not help my acne - However something much better did.
I was diagnosed as having moderate acne and therefore I was prescribed 50mg of Minocycline to be taken twice a day. I was told that the antibiotic would work after a certain period of time (6-8 weeks). I started my course confident that the drug would work, at the time my acne was pretty bad - I had cystic lesions on my neck, shoulders and my face - which was becoming a social nightmare. The first 2 weeks saw very little to no improvement to the acne at all, but after 5 weeks I had noticed the cysts on my back had gone! I thought this was incredible. Most of the spots and pimples on my face and neck were still there, but they were no longer red or sore.
After 12 weeks the doctor started me on my second course of Minocycline. This was when I would start to get thrush, in my view it was worth it for all the good the tablets were doing. I have since learnt that thrush is thought to be a common symptom of Minocycline and many other antibiotic treatments. After 24 weeks my cystic acne had almost gone, but unfortunately this was as good as it got...
When I stopped the antibiotic treatment (As advised by my doctor), the spots started to come back, but this time it was much worse. The cystic acne on my back began to spread to a larger area and my neck was incredibly red and swollen. As expected, the doctor increased the dosage to 100mg, but there was little effect... Antibiotic resistance was thought to be the cause.
What I had experienced was an antibiotic resistance to Minocycline - this occurs because certain bacteria quickly evolve and become resistant to the drug, they then continue to multiply until the acne returns - this is much like the phenomenon of natural selection.
Fortunately only 6 months after giving up on the Minocycline and trying something else I was able to become acne free, but this treatment was not antibiotics - it was something much easier, and unlike antibiotics - it's still working to this day.
I was diagnosed as having moderate acne and therefore I was prescribed 50mg of Minocycline to be taken twice a day. I was told that the antibiotic would work after a certain period of time (6-8 weeks). I started my course confident that the drug would work, at the time my acne was pretty bad - I had cystic lesions on my neck, shoulders and my face - which was becoming a social nightmare. The first 2 weeks saw very little to no improvement to the acne at all, but after 5 weeks I had noticed the cysts on my back had gone! I thought this was incredible. Most of the spots and pimples on my face and neck were still there, but they were no longer red or sore.
After 12 weeks the doctor started me on my second course of Minocycline. This was when I would start to get thrush, in my view it was worth it for all the good the tablets were doing. I have since learnt that thrush is thought to be a common symptom of Minocycline and many other antibiotic treatments. After 24 weeks my cystic acne had almost gone, but unfortunately this was as good as it got...
When I stopped the antibiotic treatment (As advised by my doctor), the spots started to come back, but this time it was much worse. The cystic acne on my back began to spread to a larger area and my neck was incredibly red and swollen. As expected, the doctor increased the dosage to 100mg, but there was little effect... Antibiotic resistance was thought to be the cause.
What I had experienced was an antibiotic resistance to Minocycline - this occurs because certain bacteria quickly evolve and become resistant to the drug, they then continue to multiply until the acne returns - this is much like the phenomenon of natural selection.
Fortunately only 6 months after giving up on the Minocycline and trying something else I was able to become acne free, but this treatment was not antibiotics - it was something much easier, and unlike antibiotics - it's still working to this day.
