Long term doxycycline use

[Alix]

I was on doxycycline for a couple of weeks but stopped to do IPL. I have had 3 IPL sessions now and am not planning to do any more since it didn't make a single bit of difference, so it's safe to go back on it.

Now I really do not want to use antibiotics long term - I am wondering if it does work to control inflammation/MGD (when I was on it before, I believe it was starting to work, but hard to tell) will I have to take this forever, or is it something I can take for one or three months say, and the inflammation stays down after that?

Has anyone here been on antibiotics for more than a year or even longer??

[Guest]

I think we’ve been through this before, maybe it was someone else. Im speaking from personal experience, I’ve been on 200mg (moderately high dose) and I feel great. As long as you eat properly, you shouldn’t have any gut issues. Did it bother your stomach when you were on it those couple weeks? The only time it does bother my stomach, is if I eat bad food. Then I’ll get a bit upset. Otherwise, it’s one of the best medications I have used for my eyelids.

It directly reduces MMP9 inflammatory markers. So yes, it controls inflammation well. Will you have to take it forever, possibly. But if it works, who cares. Again, I was just like you. I was very unhappy that I had to take an antibiotic. I have avoided them my whole life as best I can. So to think of taking I’ve forever really bothered me A LOT. But I’m here to tell you, 5 moths later, I wish I started sooner. Good luck! If your doctor suggests it, iid take the max dose he will give you. Long term, you may only need 20-50mg which is no big deal. Do yourself a favor and take it!

[Alix]

I think we’ve been through this before, maybe it was someone else. Im speaking from personal experience, I’ve been on 200mg (moderately high dose) and I feel great. As long as you eat properly, you shouldn’t have any gut issues. Did it bother your stomach when you were on it those couple weeks? The only time it does bother my stomach, is if I eat bad food. Then I’ll get a bit upset. Otherwise, it’s one of the best medications I have used for my eyelids.

It directly reduces MMP9 inflammatory markers. So yes, it controls inflammation well. Will you have to take it forever, possibly. But if it works, who cares. Again, I was just like you. I was very unhappy that I had to take an antibiotic. I have avoided them my whole life as best I can. So to think of taking I’ve forever really bothered me A LOT. But I’m here to tell you, 5 moths later, I wish I started sooner. Good luck! If your doctor suggests it, iid take the max dose he will give you. Long term, you may only need 20-50mg which is no big deal. Do yourself a favor and take it!

Yes I think it might have been me, when I was initially thinking about taking it. I didn't have any stomach problems but I did get a rash on my face which I never experienced before.....this put me off, but in hindsight I believe it was unrelated.

I am a bit worried being female, and haven't had any children yet, but if it will reduce the inflammation I guess why not?

Have an appointment for scleral lens set up, not too keen on this idea either but I am willing to try anything at this point to stop the burning.

[Guest]

Yes I think it might have been me, when I was initially thinking about taking it. I didn't have any stomach problems but I did get a rash on my face which I never experienced before.....this put me off, but in hindsight I believe it was unrelated.

I am a bit worried being female, and haven't had any children yet, but if it will reduce the inflammation I guess why not?

Have an appointment for scleral lens set up, not too keen on this idea either but I am willing to try anything at this point to stop the burning.

I always push people to find the cause of their dry eye. I was being treated for advanced MGD, but I have floppy eyelid syndrome. Initially, I was being treated wrong. Had I gone and got sclerals, I would have made my problem worse. My eyes hurt because my eyelids were damaged and inflamed. I was told sclerals would be bad for me because they would rub my eyelid and make things worse. Even though they may provide relief while I wear them. So just keep that in mind.

Also, I’m not aware of any reproductive issues with doxy. I’ve seen women shoot heroin and take insane dugs and have zero problem getting pregnant. Maybe that’s a naive way to look at it, not all drugs are he sane. I just feel doxy is reletively safe. Id ask my doctor but again, I don’t think it will effect your ability to have children.

When i I first took the doxy, I was literally just like you. Afraid to take it. Upset I had no choice and fought it. I had gotten food poisoning a week into taking it. So I stopped, thinking it was the doxy, just like your rash. But it wasn’t. Once I restarted, I felt stupid I let 4 months go by while my eyes burned like hell.

[Guest]

Alix Unless I had no other choice, I'd go off it while pregnant and breastfeeding.

But when NOT in those situations, I'd take it if I needed it. I was on oral tetracyclines (including doxy) for several years. The only reason I stopped mine was because it was starting to cause vaginal infections. It was unfortunate, because doxy was definitely a benefit to my eyes when taking it.

re: long term

I think of these things in terms of what's the lesser evil. If my eyes are intolerable and doxy can make it better, I'd take doxy now and worry about the future later since we don't know FOR SURE if long-term doxy will cause harm. Additionally, I think it's important to minimize long-term inflammation to preserve MG function as long as possible (hopefully preserve it forever) - so if I see doxy helping me (a sure thing) without deal-breaker side effects, I'd take it since that's a sure thing and any concerns about long-term use are merely POTENTIAL problems, not a guarantee of problems.

re: "I am a bit worried being female, and haven't had any children yet"

I'm not aware of any known impacts on fertility from doxy... so I think the odds are excellent that it won't cause you any issues in that regard.

re: "I am wondering if it does work to control inflammation/MGD (when I was on it before, I believe it was starting to work, but hard to tell) will I have to take this forever, or is it something I can take for one or three months say, and the inflammation stays down after that?"

The answer to whether or not you'd have to take it forever would be very individual and be different for everyone. If the overall inflammation in your eyes lowers enough, it could eventually allow your tear system to recover and start working better even without doxy (in which case you could discontinue it). Or maybe doxy will lower inflammation enough for you to feel better when taking it, but not enough to allow your lacrimal system to heal enough to work well withOUT doxy on board to help out.

For this reason, take it one step at a time... see if you can make NOW better... see if you can make the next year or two better... and deal with "forever" later since it's impossible to know for sure today whether or not you'll need doxy long term :-)

[Alix]

@Dowork123 @SAAG Thank you both, I can see alot of sense in what you are saying. There is nothing stopping me from taking doxycycline again, I guess the bottom line is that I am afraid that if it does work and I stop taking it, my eyes will revert to how they are now ie. red and burning, and it will be just devastating. Like when I use eye drops and it feels soothing but the burning comes back after 30 seconds....my life seems just full of hope and disappointment at the moment....

Yes I need to do whatever I can to make my life now better.... If I take end up taking doxycycline long term, maybe in the meantime new medical techniques/medication might become available. I'll think of it like that.

[mbperso]

Just want to share new and very interesting about doxycycline
It seems low dose 20mg/40mg is more effective for inflammation than 50mg/100mg as says Dr Sandra Lora Cremer too.
Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Low and High Doxycycline Doses

High dose administration (100 or 200 mg/day) is often responsible for development of bacterial resistances and endogenous flora alterations, whereas low doses (20–40 mg/day) do not alter bacteria susceptibility to antibiotics and exert anti-inflammatory activities.

Probably, low doxycycline doses are more effective to prevent inflammation (pretreatment setting) or to reduce it if the process is already in progress (posttreatment), because they are rapidly absorbed and have a prolonged half-life, with potential preventive or antagonistic effect toward the damaging stimuli

Our study provides in vitro evidence that both low and high doxycycline doses are able to directly modulate the expression of inflammatory mediators, in accordance with previous in vivo studies, highlighting the better efficacy of low doses in multiple settings. Thereafter, we suggest that low doxycycline doses could be safely used in case of chronic or acute inflammatory skin disease in which the inflammatory process, either constantly in progress or periodically recurring, has to be prevented or controlled.

[Alix]

Just want to share new and very interesting about doxycycline
It seems low dose 20mg/40mg is more effective for inflammation than 50mg/100mg as says Dr Sandra Lora Cremer too.
Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Low and High Doxycycline Doses

High dose administration (100 or 200 mg/day) is often responsible for development of bacterial resistances and endogenous flora alterations, whereas low doses (20–40 mg/day) do not alter bacteria susceptibility to antibiotics and exert anti-inflammatory activities.

Probably, low doxycycline doses are more effective to prevent inflammation (pretreatment setting) or to reduce it if the process is already in progress (posttreatment), because they are rapidly absorbed and have a prolonged half-life, with potential preventive or antagonistic effect toward the damaging stimuli

Our study provides in vitro evidence that both low and high doxycycline doses are able to directly modulate the expression of inflammatory mediators, in accordance with previous in vivo studies, highlighting the better efficacy of low doses in multiple settings. Thereafter, we suggest that low doxycycline doses could be safely used in case of chronic or acute inflammatory skin disease in which the inflammatory process, either constantly in progress or periodically recurring, has to be prevented or controlled.

Thank you it's good to know that the low dose works equally well. I am so annoyed that the doctor at Moorfields just gave me 3 months worth of 100mg pills without even mentioning or exploring the possibility of a lower dose pill. Once again, very disappointed and angry at the lack of interest in/knowledge of dry eye in the UK.