Doxycycline vs Minocycline

[Niteyorkie]

I was wondering if anyone was not able to tolerate minocycline but able to tolerate doxycycline or tetracycline. I took minocycline years ago for acne and after a few weeks develop a mild case of hive. I took one benadryl and the hive went away, but I stopped the minocycline at that point. My eye doc has mention trying doxycycline. I know these are both forms of tetracycline. I've looked into the adverse profile of both mino and doxy and found more case reports of urticara (hives) with minocycline but not as much with doxy. Just wondering if anyone else has had an experience similar to this.

Yes, the same thing happened to me when I was on Minocycline. I broke out in really bad hives. I have the same question, will I be allergic to Doxy because I am allergic to Mino? I don't want to take that chance again but I might if things don't get better.

[Niteyorkie]

Please let me know if you do try doxycycline. My derm said that he had people that could tolerate one but not the other. But he wouldn't write for me doxy. So I go to a new derm in Oct. Can't decided if I am going to tell her about the minocycline rash or not.

[Rojzen]

Echoing this experience! sort of. . .I was on doxycycline, for a while, but when it didn't significantly change my DES symptoms, a doctor tried me on minocycline. . .What was so exciting was that minocycline has been found to eliminate serious symptoms of some autoimmune diseases, like RA, and since I had some vague autoimmune problems (more like fibromyalgia), the prospects looked good. . .

My reaction to minocycline was not hives, but was, instead, severe dizziness. . .This is a well-known side-effect, for some. . .So I went back to doxy, and then to tetra-. . .These continued to help a little. . .but not much. . .That said: If one has living, functioning meibomian glands, I believe that doxycycline can be hugely effective in normalizing function and reducing symptoms. . .If it didn't work much for me, it's because my meibomians are severely damaged or gone. . .

I would like to raise a related issue on antibiotics: Doctors do not pay much attention to this, but there was a study MUCH publicized in Winter 2004 pretty clearly demonstrating that women who take multiple or long courses of antibiotics increase their risk of breast cancer. . possibly by a lot. . .Dr. Latkany once very astutely mentioned this here. . .but I'm not sure it registered. . .

I would at least raise the breast cancer issue with the prescribing doc, before committing to a long or repeated course of any antibiotic. . .I, for one, do take antibiotics in a crisis (I had a haemophilus infection a few years ago, that could have damaged my eyes BUT for the antibiotics), but I try to measure the risks. . .

I am so sorry I don't have the antibiotic/breast cancer study at my fingertips .. If I find it, I'll post a URL for it. . .

[Rojzen]

http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pre...tibioticsQandA

There it is. . .An excellent web site addressing how to respond to the study that linked antibiotic use with breast cancer. . .

Hope that helps . . .

As much as I despise meibomitis, I would rather have messed up eyes then breast cancer. This eye condition is very painful but probably not half as painful as chemo.