- This topic has 28 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 1 month ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I've been on minocycline for 6 weeks and just noticed that the skin on my face has changed its pigmentation. It is blotchy with dark brown, freckle-like spots (only much bigger). As soon as I did a little research, I saw that this was a side effect of the minocycline. So, what now?
From reading on the site I see that other antibiotics are a possibility. Has anyone dealt with this? Is it permanent? I have yet to see great results from the minocycline, but it has been a relatively short time and I am certainly willing to keep it up if I don't disfigure myself in the process.
Thanks for helping out a “newbie.”
P
Did you stop taking the minocycline and start a different antibiotic? My use is quite short, and from the research I have done, skin pigmentation changes are quite rare, but not unheard of, this early in the game. I cannot seem to contribute it to anything else, however.
I have a call into my doctor. I'll see what he recommends.
P
No i am still taking it, I started in November but noticed the freckle like spots appearing in a few places. I hadnt thought to much about it untill i read your post and now i guess i need to ask my doctor about that to. Thanks for bring that up.
Sharon
I've also had freckle like spots all over. They seem to multiply if I've had a little sun exposure-though the freckles are not necessarily in sun exposed areas.
Hey Patrice
I had that very same problem! It was a darkening over my top lip! I made me look like a had a mustache!!! It was bad! I had to use a ton of concealer to cover it up and I noticed it right after starting mino.. However, I was feeling good and did not want to give up the mino. so I went and got a bleaching system from my cousin who is an aesthetician. (sp?) She gave me a two step system and it exfoliated and evened out skin tone. It took a good 4-6 weeks to see results and absolutely no sun on my face!
Alot of the problem too was that I started mino. in the spring and I work outside in the sun daily! I also was not using a sunscreen!
Hope that helps
Blessings
Key
Hi Patrice,
This question comes up a lot on this BB. I was on heavy doses of tetracycline in the summer and got blotchy, brownish patches all up my forearms…not too bad when I was tanned, but took a long time to fade when I wasn't spending so much time in the sun. I still have faded remnants on my arms, but not too bad.
This type of brown, patchy skin hyperpigmentation occurs with minocycline, too, and some people also report blue/gray patches or spots/freckles, even on areas not exposed to sun. If you look on the RBF website under “side effects of minocycline”, you'll find studies that report this, as well as information about reducing likelihood of this with Vit C supplementation and reducing sun exposure. I'm now on Minocycline MWF 100mg (bid) and my doc insists I take Vit C along with the mino. It's best to buy one that contains rosehip (easier on the stomach). Currently I'm taking 1000mg per day, but may increase this in the summer. Hyperpigmentation is also said to be worse if you daily dose with mino.
Some people also get a gray buildup on their teeth, but some report that this comes off with regular dental hygiene appts and descaling.
Even before all this started with me, I noticed that as I began perimenopause, I was more prone to melasma on my face during the summer…brown patches that always faded during winter months. So, these brown patches can also be due to hormones.
Peace, Maz
I get blue blotches on my thighs if I don't take enough Vitamin C.
1000 mg C a day seems to work for me. 100 mg minocycline every other day here for 2 years.
Thanks for the advice. I daily dose 100 mg of minocycline generic. I cannot find the area of the site that talks about the side effects of minocycline in particular. I also do not remember that ever being mentioned in the book (Scammel). It truly came as a complete surprise to me. Will you tell me where on this site that I can get more information. I must be searching the wrong key words.
So, if I take vitamin C, will it go away? Where it is so obvious on my face I do not want to continue taking this antibiotic. I'm still waiting for a call from my doctor.
Wow, what a great support group. Thank you all.
P
[user=186]Patrice[/user] wrote:
I daily dose 100 mg of minocycline generic. I cannot find the area of the site that talks about the side effects of minocycline in particular. I also do not remember that ever being mentioned in the book (Scammel). It truly came as a complete surprise to me. Will you tell me where on this site that I can get more information. I must be searching the wrong key words.
So, if I take vitamin C, will it go away? Where it is so obvious on my face I do not want to continue taking this antibiotic. I'm still waiting for a call from my doctor.
Hi Patrice,
You'll find the hyperpigmentation info here:
https://www.roadback.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=studies.display&display_id=183
On the website, it's under “Education”, then “Physician Packet”, then “Current Protocols – Reviews”. Just scroll down this page to “Side Effects”.
Rheumatic.org also has some information on this topic if you want to research it further.
Hyperpigmentation usually fades once the abx is stopped, but it may take a while. Taking Vit C prevents hyperpigmentation from forming, but not entirely sure if it will reverse it once one has it. You can try supplementing with it for a whileand see if it helps while you're still on mino.
Alternatively, you could also ask your doc about pulsed dosing (MWF), as this may reduce the effects….or changing to a new abx for a while till it fades, then recommencing on low-dose, pulsed mino dosing. Really depends on your dx. For people with scleroderma, the hyperpigmentation issues with mino are likely a minor inconvenience, relatively speaking, as they are battling a life-threatening disease. So, probably depends on disease severity and whether you're willing to try something else.
Hope this helps.
Peace, Maz
I have spent over the course of my life much time in the sun, I started to notice spots on my skin several years ago and chaulked them up to sun damage. They are mostly on my face forearms and legs from the knee down. I have had my GP look at them every check up and they are not skin cancer, I have had a skin cancer removed from my face, this spot was very different from the previously mentioned spots. I started having painful SD symptoms Jan '06 and started mino Jan '07. Throughout the fall of '06 I noticed that my tan was not going away and parts of me that don't see the sun were getting darker. This was before I started mino, last summer while on mino I did tan very well – no burning but tanned well. My tan has now faded but I am still darker than before SD. Botton line is I think the SD made me darker and was the cause of my spots and the mino the tanning. Being a guy and kind of a lug I did not really care about the spots just figured they were a result of aging and many years of sun damage. I would think the women would be more in tune to these changes and notice them earlier. I also had the option of growing a beard to cover up my brown and red spots (some). I would be interested to know if others think the Brown spots are a result of SD or mino, as I said my spots and some darkening came long before mino. After the mino I just tanned better and have noticed no increase in my spots.
I thought I also had skin pigmentation changes due to mino, but when I went to the dermatologist they said it was actually a sunspot, not from mino. I think it's worth it to have it checked out — you don't want to stop the mino unless you really have to.
Jennifer
I have notice white spots, where it looks like the melanine has disappeared. Sometimes these spots get scaly. I also get tiny reds spots, something about capillaries breaking–they look like tiny blood blisters? Doctors have said, this comes with aging (I'm only 61), but I figured they said that because they didn't really know. I do know that you're supposed to stay out of the sun on antibiotics, but that's impossible for me here in the Caribbean.
Just a little more info I came across on the blue/gray hypermpigmentation that sometimes occurs as a result of minocycline…
This British Journal of Dermatology study determined that skin biopsies revealed iron granules that accumulated in the areas affected by mino hypermigmentation. This would also explain why Vit C helps with this side-effect, as C is necessary for proper iron absorption.
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2133.1989.tb01807.x
Dena, did you mention a thyroid imbalance before? I've been researching this for myself, as I also have small spots that lack pigmentation on my legs that have appeared since I was dx'd with thryoid issues. These are more apparent when I get a bit tanned. Apparently, it's called vitiligo. I also have quite fair skin and that has been a bit sun-damaged over the years living in equatorial and tropical places. When I get the little red blemishes on my face (either the spots or little burst capillaries), my dermatologist just has a little lazer zapper and zaps them away. Leaves a little scab for a few days, but then they're gone.
Peace, Maz
No, I didn't mention thyroid imbalance. I don't have that problem, I don't think. My cousin, a fabulous plastic surgeon, zapped two red ones on an eyelid when he was doing an eyelid surgery because they were drooping a lot. Haven't had him do anything else. Right now he is in California so he's not terribly accessible to me. I have too many of the other red dots to zap, but I'll keep that in mind if I decide to see a dermatologist.
Thanks for your research, as always.
The topic ‘ Minocycline question’ is closed to new replies.