Home Forums General Discussion Hyperpigmentation

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  • #306646
    MichaelsMom
    Participant

    After a few years of AP for RA,FM, I developed a terrible facial hyperpigmentation. I looked like I had a moustache and a goatee! As a woman, this was not a good look for me! After several treatments with a Fraxel Laser, there was some lightening, but even Dermablend make-up would not conceal it. The Dermatologist decided to try a Tattoo Laser immediately followed by the Fraxel Laser. I can’t even begin to desribe the pain! But…….it worked!! No more hyperpigmentation! BTW, I did try high amounts of Vitamin C prior to trying the lasers, but it didn’t help.
    I find that I am now pretty nervous about resuming AP. Does anyone out there have any experience with hyperpigmentation and the resumption of AP?
    Thannk you!!!

    #363106
    matv
    Participant

    I can see you are a new poster. Welcome to Roadback!

    Hmm.. people have theorized that hyper-pigmentation is due to iron build up and binding. It’s a good thing the tattoo removal process helped! ..

    I seem to remember people on this forum saying that Doxycycline doesn’t have the DILES or hyper-pigmentation side effects. Perhaps you could try that should you need to go back on?

    #363107
    PhilC
    Participant

    Hi MichaelsMom,

    How much minocycline were you taking?

    Phil

    "Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
    - Albert Einstein

    #363108
    bettyjo2
    Participant

    Hi, I was diagnosed with SD with renal involmentin 1999…I was so sick I wished for death. I began the IV protocal along with minocycline and had a dramatic recovery from pain etc. after the 3rd day.
    After approx 6 years I developed the pigmentation around my mouth and cheeks. Dr S said it was the mino and to try docy for awhile. I did, but it bothered my tummy so I went back to mino. I was very ill in the hospital with diverticulitis 2yrs ago and was on other antibiotics through iv and drs did not want to mix the mino with the other medi’s so I stopped the mino for 10 days. I had to continue other antibiotics orally when I came home and was not able to take mino. Altogether , I did not take oral mino for about a month and did not notice any changes in bloodwork, or physically or visably.
    I have not taken mino for 2 yrs and still have the pigmentation with no change. I would continue the mino and disregard how I looked if I felt the nessecity for my healths sake. I still do one IV per month of 900 clindo…afraid to totally stop the protocal that has saved my life..not sure if I am in remission. I cover the pigmentation with makeup as well as I can but it is still obvious.
    I do not think my ins would pay for the tattoo removal so I just deal with it….seems as though vanity has become less important to me…but would be nice to not use makeup. I am 74 yrs old and never used makeup when I was younger and always said I would never be like so many older women that I noticed wore heavy makeup….I have learned to never say never. Happy it is working out for you.

    #363109
    Patti D
    Participant

    I am so saddened that my hyper pigmentation has gotten so bad. I have been on mino for 8 years and had great success. The black spots showed up first about 3 years ago on my face above my lip. As described earlier, looks like a mustache. Covered it up with make up but it kept getting darker and darker. Now 3 years later it is below my mouth, above my lip, inside corners of both eyes, front of legs and back of legs. The dermatologist said it will not go away until you stop taking the minocycline and that if I continue to take to minocycline it will continue to get darker with more spots appearing.
    I am so saddened by this as minocycline has been a life saver. I believe when I started the placquenil it when I got really dark above my lip, almost black as both drugs cause hyper pigmentation. The dermatologist thought it was the mino as I have only been on the placquenil for 4 months.
    Today I am starting doxy. Not thrilled about it as was on it before for the lyme and got a really bad stomach ache. I sure hope it works as well as the mino as I don’t want to “go back there”

    #363110
    Maz
    Keymaster

    @Patti D wrote:

    I am so saddened that my hyper pigmentation has gotten so bad. I have been on mino for 8 years and had great success.

    Hi Patti,

    Really nice to see you and glad your RA has done so well on AP! Re: the hyperpigmentation, are you also taking Vit C daily to offset this side-effect (not in your sig line, so perhaps not?).

    Btw, it’s not a bad idea to rotate to another tetra for a bit after 5 or 6 years of being on another. πŸ˜‰

    #363111
    Patti D
    Participant

    Hi Maz!!!!

    Thanks for chiming in here. Good to know about the rotation of the antibiotics. I am starting the doxy tomorrow. And NO, I did not listen to the advice 😯 about the vitamin C. I believe when I tried it to begin with ,again a major stomach ache. I probably also thought I could outsmart the Mino by taking lots of good fruit a day instead πŸ˜†

    Glad to see you are still here helping people and hope you are well

    Warm regards Maz!
    Patti

    #363112
    Maz
    Keymaster

    @Patti D wrote:

    Thanks for chiming in here. Good to know about the rotation of the antibiotics. I am starting the doxy tomorrow. And NO, I did not listen to the advice 😯 about the vitamin C. I believe when I tried it to begin with ,again a major stomach ache. I probably also thought I could outsmart the Mino by taking lots of good fruit a day instead πŸ˜†

    Glad to see you are still here helping people and hope you are well

    Thanks, Patti! πŸ™‚

    Yea, there’s info on the main site about tetra rotation.

    I use ascorbic acid powder (1 2000mg scoop) that I add to my morning smoothie…no gut probs at all with it. If tablet form is used, it’s always best to get one that is buffered with rosehip, if poss, to make it easier on the stomach.

    How are the thyroid cysts going?

    #363113
    Patti D
    Participant

    So glad you asked. My thyroid cysts are gone. No trouble in that area at all. I am still on the iodine plus armour thyroid. How about you CYSTA 😎

    #363114
    Maz
    Keymaster

    @Patti D wrote:

    So glad you asked. My thyroid cysts are gone. No trouble in that area at all. I am still on the iodine plus armour thyroid. How about you CYSTA 😎

    YAY! What great news, Patti! You’ve rocked it all! Stupid hyperpigmentation, eh? Grrrr…

    #363115
    Patti D
    Participant

    You are so nice as always. Well I did have a rocky road this year from April until August, one MAJOR flare. That was enough for me. πŸ‘Ώ But it’s really been pretty smooth up until that point. I really didn’t fully understand a full fledge flare until this year. Yeow!
    So glad the Plaquenil along with the mino finally kicked some RA butt πŸ˜€ I will have to read your bio to catch up on your treatment. Hope it’s mostly good and terrific would be better πŸ˜€
    Hugs Maz!!
    Patti

    #363116
    Anonymous
    Participant

    Maz,
    Do you take 1200 mg or 12 000 mg of ascorbic acid? I am reading now the book “Why arthritis?” by Dr Harold Clark who worked with Dr Brown for 35 years as his lab manager. He says in this book that vitamin C is very important for the patients taking tetracyclines.

    :…taking plain aspirin or vitamin C prior to tetracycline could tie up the available calcium and thus promote other more active forms of tetracycline, resulting in better absorption and utilization”.” /from the book/

    The copy of the book I have received from Amazon was signed By Dr Clark: “Best wishes Harold Clark” /!/ It is second-hand of course.
    Linda L.

    #363117
    Maz
    Keymaster

    @Linda L wrote:

    Do you take 1200 mg or 12 000 mg of ascorbic acid? I am reading now the book “Why arthritis?” by Dr Harold Clark who worked with Dr Brown for 35 years as his lab manager. He says in this book that vitamin C is very important for the patients taking tetracyclines.

    :…taking plain aspirin or vitamin C prior to tetracycline could tie up the available calcium and thus promote other more active forms of tetracycline, resulting in better absorption and utilization”.” /from the book/

    The copy of the book I have received from Amazon was signed By Dr Clark: “Best wishes Harold Clark” /!/ It is second-hand of course.

    Why Arthritis? is a good book. Hope you enjoy it, Linda. A signed copy? Lucky you! Dr. Clark sadly passed away a few years ago, so you may just have a collector’s item in your hands. πŸ˜‰

    For daily maintenance, I take just a 2000mg scoop of ascorbic acid (in a salt form) that I put into my morning smoothie. Can hardly taste it, but it kind of adds a nice tang. However, I also do a Myer’s Cocktail every couple of weeks that includes 5000mg Vit C, along with other nutrients (B-complex 1ml, B5 250mg, B6 100mg, B12 1.5ml, Vitamin C 5g, Magnesium 2g,
    Selenium 200mcg, Calcium 100mg).

    #363118
    Patti D
    Participant

    So Maz do you think if I started taking the vitamin c now I may have a chance of clearing it earlier. The dermatologist said if it took 3 years to get it will be three years to get rid of. I sure didn’t want to hear that.
    After it clears can you go back on minocycline again?

    #363119
    Maz
    Keymaster

    @Patti D wrote:

    So Maz do you think if I started taking the vitamin c now I may have a chance of clearing it earlier. The dermatologist said if it took 3 years to get it will be three years to get rid of. I sure didn’t want to hear that.
    After it clears can you go back on minocycline again?

    I don’t think there have been studies on how long it takes for the hyperpigmentation to fade, but folks here have reported that it does over time and will probably do so at a different pace for everybody (e.g. someone with SD may take longer than someone with RA, just due to the nature of what is going on with their skin and also because Vit C is a building block for collagen and it is controversial as a supplement for SD).

    The idea with the Vit C is to help metabolize iron more effectively, so that it doesn’t cleave to the affected areas. People usually find they get the hyperpigmentation in areas that are sun-exposed or are susceptible to trauma, like on the legs, arms, face or oral mucosa, where they get bumped and bruised frequently. Makes sense that the bruised area would create a pool of blood rich in iron that just gets stuck and continues looking like a bruise. Minocycline is chelative, so it binds to iron and other minerals in the body.

    See Type 1 and 2 hyperpigmentation – the blue/gray variety – stain positive for iron and melanin in following study.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19595269

    In this study, the authors conclude the skin pigmentation is due to minocycline chelating with iron.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8217753

    In this rat study, the researchers were able to avert thyroid hyperpigmentation due to mino with Vit C.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9893512

    There are lots of similar studies online pointing to minocycline’s chelative effects (binding to minerals) in the presence of iron and the blue-gray hyperpigmentation associated with this particular abx. The Vit C just helps to prevent this from happening and it’s one reason that folks avoid taking iron supplements (unless they have a specific form of iron-deficient anemia), because it can make the situation worse.

    Just as an aside, iron supplementation can be neurotoxic, promote biofilm formation and feed various cancers, and it usually doesn’t help the form of anemia that goes hand-in-hand with rheumatic disease (see Brown’s comments in book on this). Most of the time, iron remains in the bones and tissues, being recirculated and re-used, so apparently it’s pointless to supplement with iron if the person doesn’t actually have anemia due to blood loss or some other iron-deficient form of it.

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