Acne is a skin disorder which often strikes at the beginning of adolescence and at some point of adulthood to disrupt our normal life with the sporadic appearance of ugly blemishes. Nowadays with the advancement of medical science it is not hard to find a suitable treatment for any type of acne condition and for last few decades certain antibiotics such as
Doxycycline have become immensely popular among individuals who are suffering from mild to moderate acne conditions or those who failed to find any improvement from topical treatments.
Doxycycline is an oral drug from tetracycline family which is used as an antimicrobial agent to heal inflammatory acne conditions. This mediation is often found useful if acne has spread over a wide area of your body parts making it inconvenient for using any topical antimicrobial agent like benzoyl peroxide would be quite inconvenient.
How Does It Work
Acne lesions are the outcome of the clogging up of hair follicles caused by excess accumulation body oil or sebum along with piles of dead skin cells and proliferation of Propionibacterium acnes bacteria. This natural skin dwelling bacteria is known to cause acne inflammation inside lesions.
Doxycycline being a strong antimicrobial agent acts by destroying the P. acnes bacteria deep inside the jammed skin pores. These bacteria derive a protein called lipase which is essential for their survival. This antibiotic blocks the production of this protein which in turn impedes P. acnes to perform some activities which seem to be essential for their growth and repairment of cells. Being unable to proliferate further these acne causing bacteria eventually get exterminated from acne lesions. This significantly thwarts the infection inside skin pores.
This medicine also works to mitigate cellular activities which initiate inflammatory reactions inside our cells. Thus
Doxycycline helps to control the production of acne causing bacteria inside jammed hair follicles as well as it also alleviates the inflammation of acne blemishes which plays an important factor in the removal of acne.
How to Use This Medication
Doctors usually prescribe a dosage of 20 mg for six months to treat acne. However, this course of medication entirely depends on the patient’s acne condition. It is preferable to take this antibiotic along with other foodstuffs, which helps it to assimilate in a better way. However a few nutritional components like vitamins and minerals prevent the assimilation of this medication. These are mainly calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium bicarbonate, etc. which blocks the digestion of
Doxycycline by our digestive system. Therefore it is advisable that you take all food stuffs containing those food supplements at least two hours before the usual timings of the administration of this oral drug. It has been found that it takes about 3 to 6 months before your acne responds to this medication. At the initial stages acne condition might worsen in some patients which eventually would improve after prolong usage of the medicine.
Probable Side Effects and Related Precautions
This oral antibiotic possesses numerous side effects which might be enlisted as below:
1. This medication could harm your gastrointestinal (GI) system by causing severe watery blood dysentery and indigestion. After extended use of this medicine you might experience this GI disorder for longer period. It is believed that
Doxycycline might have destructive impact over the existing useful bacteria in our GI tract which lead to these digestion problems.
2. This oral medication is often found to cause some skin disorders which might include symptoms like rashes, peeling, swelling of tongue and lips and other facial area.
3. This antibiotic enhances the photosensitivity of individual’s skin. Therefore it is preferable to use a proper sunscreen cream before going under sun.
4. Intake of
Doxycycline pills might trigger some mild side effects like allergic infections, breathing problem, asthma, etc.
5. Women undergoing this antibiotic medication often face the vaginal fungal infection called candidiasis.
6. Doctors do not prescribe this antibiotic to pregnant and breast-feeding patients as this medicine might inflict serious side effects like illness of the liver or permanent defect in the unborn child. Also children under twelve years of age should not consume this drug as it might cause swelling of the brain and discoloration of teeth.
Interference with Other Drugs
Some well known medicines like antacids, cholestyramine, warfarin, and penicillin are found to interact with
Doxycycline, obstructing its assimilation in our body. Also some contraceptive pills do not match with this antibiotic properly and they might not prove to be as effective as they should be to prevent conception whilst undergoing this acne medication. It is therefore better to take proper medical advice from an experienced physician who should be able to guide you through this medication in a proper and effective way.
