Minocycline for MGD

[Jade]

I just started on minocycline about 2 weeks ago because my mgd debris in my eyes is much worse lately. So far I'm not allergic to it, and if that continues, I'm going to stay on it at least 3 months. I tried platelet rich plasma tears for a few months and used a scleral lens in my right eye often and I think those things contributed to increasing the bacteria in my eyes, even though I was using Azasite. I read that bacterium acnes is not usually resistant to minocycline, and is more resistant to doxycycline. I've read that staph is also more likely to be resistant to doxycyline than minocycline. I've tried doxycycline several times for prolonged periods over the past few years and it's never improved my eyes.

[spmcc]

I'm talking about the benefits disappearing whilst you are still taking them! (which is what i found with doxycycline) I wouldn't expect them to work if they weren't in my system

Supposedly continuous usage of doxycycline (or any antibiotic?) can make your body immune to it.

Or, if doxy suddenly stops working, you could do what my derm always suggests: up the dose (but I don't know if she just says this to get me out of her office!). *PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE DOING THIS*.

How long did you take minocycline for spmcc? Did you notice any deterioration in its effectiveness over this time?

It's hard for me to answer specific questions on antibiotics... I've been on them since the mid-1980s. At that time I was prescribed tetracycline for rosacea. I had to take 2 pills 4 times a day on an empty stomach, far away from meals, without dairy or antiacids or iron preparations, and on and on. My schedule pretty much revolved around tetracycline! That went on for about 8-10 years.

(NOTE: antibiotics do nothing, nada, zilch, zippo for blushing/flushing rosacea which I have. They supposedly help/work for papulopustular and ocular rosacea.)

Then I was prescribed doxycycline (I don't know why... may be an opthalmologist decided doxy was better (I was diagnosed with ocular rosacea by then) or tetracycline got expensive and/or scarce). But my stomach seemed to get more irritated by doxy. So at some point I went on minocycline... maybe for a couple of years.

Then I found a book on rosacea (Nase's) and read about the macrolides. So I went on biaxin (clarithromycin) for ~6 years.

Then I went back to doxy. Then mino. At some point, an opthalmologist prescribed erythromycin (easier on the stomach).

In Nov last year, I had a drawer full of 1/2 bottles of antibiotics - doxy, mino, erythro, and biaxin.

If I had to rank minocycline, I don't know if I could do it. Everything depends on your personal feelings and/or experiences wrt side effects, effectiveness, life style (e.g., in the sun a lot), diet, etc.

[redandunhappy]

Thanks for all of your help everyone.

I know that when taking antibiotics, the bacteria you are trying to kill can become resistant, thus rendering the antibiotic useless, but that's if you are using it for its antibacterial properties.

In our cases (for ocular rosacea and MGD), it's the anti-inflammatory properties that we are using the antibiotics for, so it's this pathway that has stopped working.....but apparently can happpen.

spmcc - I know it's hard to work out how effective the antibiotics are when you use them because of so many other factors and things that you might be doing....but if you had to rate which one worked the best, what would it be? If you don't mind me asking...

So far I've only tried doxy and oxytetracycline. In terms of effectiveness I'd say doxy is better than oxy....but that was when the doxy was working well!

[spmcc]

I know that when taking antibiotics, the bacteria you are trying to kill can become resistant, thus rendering the antibiotic useless, but that's if you are using it for its antibacterial properties.

In our cases (for ocular rosacea and MGD), it's the anti-inflammatory properties that we are using the antibiotics for, so it's this pathway that has stopped working.....but apparently can happpen.

The antibiotic doesn't know it's being used for anti-inflammatory properties so it will work to kill bacteria *unless* you're taking a low dose.

spmcc - I know it's hard to work out how effective the antibiotics are when you use them because of so many other factors and things that you might be doing....but if you had to rate which one worked the best, what would it be? If you don't mind me asking...

It's purely individual.

[redandunhappy]

I'm a bit confused spmcc.... is the implication that then when the antibiotic can no longer kill the bacteria, it won't work at all....i.e. its anti-imflammatory properties won't work either....

I was told by a doctor at Moorfields that sometimes your receptors to drugs stop working....but this is a different thing to what I think you're saying above.

[spmcc]

I was told by a doctor at Moorfields that sometimes your receptors to drugs stop working....but this is a different thing to what I think you're saying above.

Yes, they are different theories of why antibiotics don't work in individual cases.