Okay, so you've been asked to take an oral antibiotic
for your acne, and it's important that you understand a couple of things about the oral antibiotics
so that you can get the desired results.
Now, sometimes we give these oral antibiotics in a very low dose, and those very low dose antibiotics
are not functioning as an antibiotic, because the dose isn't high enough.
So you don't really have to worry about resistance issues, or yeast infection issues,
or those type of issues when we're giving antibiotics in an extremely low dose.
It's kind of like taking an aspirin. All of us have heard of an 81 milligram baby aspirin,
and no adult would take a 81 milligram baby aspirin if you're having a raging headache. You would take the adult dose.
When you take the 81 milligram dose, it doesn't function as an anti headache medication.
Much like when you are taking an antibiotic in a very low dose, it doesn't function as an antibiotic.
It just functions as an anti-acne.
Now, the medications that we do in these very low doses,
most of those are the low dose Doxycycline, or Minocycline, or sometimes
Tetracycline. Now whether you're taking these Doxycycline, Minocycline or
Tetracycline medications in a very low dose, or in the actual full strength antibiotic dose,
it's important that you take them on a
belly that does not have any dairy in it. So milk and cheese and yogurt,
they won't allow these medications to absorb into your body.
And so you just pass those medications through, and you don't get any of the therapeutic benefit.
It's also very important though, to take these medications with a full belly of food,
so that your belly is not getting irritated, or upset
by them. We also recommend that if you're taking these medications at night, take them a good two hours before you go to bed,
because we don't want you taking the pill, and then going right to bed, and having the pill just sit in your stomach and cause
belly problems. For the Doxycycline, Minocycline and Tetracycline
antibiotics, you will be more sensitive to the sun. So please be very careful when you're out in the sun.
Please use sunscreen and sun-protective clothing
when you're out in the sun, and please make sure that the sunscreens that you're using do not cause acne.
The word for that is
non-comedogenic or non-acne causing. One of those is going to be on your sunscreen.
Some of the sunscreens also,
especially the more chemically based sunscreens, can burn and irritate your skin during acne treatment.
So I usually recommend doing as natural a sunscreen as possible, and one with the active ingredients of zinc oxide or titanium
dioxide. If you can find a sunscreen that is more natural, less chemically based, and has zinc
and/or titanium dioxide
with an SPF of 30 or above,
and you reapply every two hours while you're out in the sun, and you're using sun-protective clothing of hats and shirts,
you're gonna be just fine.
For all of these medications,
I do think it's reasonable to take a probiotic at the same time.
Now probiotics are good bacteria that we can put into our gut.
And if we're taking an antibiotic, we might be killing off some of those good bacteria.
So please talk to your local healthcare provider about which probiotic is best for you,
and take those. Some people just use yogurt. But if you're doing yogurt for this, please make sure it doesn't have a high sugar content.
Please also make sure you're not taking it at the same time as these antibiotics we just spoke about.
Now, sometimes we use other types of antibiotics to help you out,
and sometimes those are the penicillin class of antibiotics,
or maybe ones that contain sulfur, or other antibiotics that we can use to help you out.
I would recommend taking those with a full belly, and I would recommend for all of these medications that you read the package insert
before you take the medication.
You need to know what the risks and side effects are
for these
medications, and
the best way for you to do that is to read the package insert and then to ask your local healthcare provider if there's any
questions that you have,
before you start taking the medication.
If you can't find these package inserts online, then you can look at it when you get the prescription.
But I like to look at things before I get the actual product.
I like to ask my questions before I actually am paying for it,
to make sure it's right for me, and I would suggest you doing the same for you.
Now obviously if you're allergic to any of these medications, or medications that they're related to, you can't take them,
so don't take anything you're allergic to. And if you start experiencing unusual side effects,
then please stop the medication and contact your local healthcare provider.
Please also if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you're questionable on the status of your pregnancy,
don't take the medications. Either take a pregnancy test, or if you know
you're pregnant or breastfeeding, talk to your local healthcare provider to make sure these medications are right for you at your stage of pregnancy.
As always, we thank you for allowing us to help you become comfortable in your skin.