Minocin Side Effects

[jmsmile]

I thought I posted the other day but cannot find it. Not quite sure how this works.
I have been on Minocin 100 mg, two a day since Thanksgiving. They give me gas & make me go to the bathroom a lot. I went to my reg. dr. and he gave me two meds to help with these side effects. I still have problems so I cut back to Mon., Wed., & Fri. I am afraid I will have to quit taking them. Is there an alternative? I am down to 1 Prednisone/day and trying to get off that and the Plaquenil.

[Margie]

Hello, I have had gas and bowel problems too. Things are much better since Doc said to take Merilax daily.

[mlouise]

Are you taking probiotics as well? mlouise

[Maz]

@jmsmile wrote:

I thought I posted the other day but cannot find it. Not quite sure how this works.
I have been on Minocin 100 mg, two a day since Thanksgiving. They give me gas & make me go to the bathroom a lot. I went to my reg. dr. and he gave me two meds to help with these side effects. I still have problems so I cut back to Mon., Wed., & Fri. I am afraid I will have to quit taking them. Is there an alternative? I am down to 1 Prednisone/day and trying to get off that and the Plaquenil.

Hi JMSmile,

Welcome to the RBF discussion forum. I found your first post in the Personal Progress threads (link below), but no other posts since then. ❓ You can find a person’s prior posts by clicking on their user name and then hitting the “search user’s posts” button on the right side. The Personal Progress threads are just for the poster’s personal journaling, so no one else can post there. 😉 Hope that explanation helps a bit. You’ve posted in the right place here in the “General Discussion” forum to receive responses from other forum users.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5370&p=49733#p49733

If this helps, I also take Plaquenil and it causes some gas issues. This has settled down over time, however, thankfully. As MLouise suggested, are you taking adequate probiotics to chase your antibiotics a good two hours after your mino dose?

I had a good read of your story in the link above and wondered if the rheumy checked you for other rheumatic diseases, such as the spondylarthritides? There are no definitive lab markers for Psoriatic arthritis or Ankylosing spondylitis, so usually a genetic marker will be run, called HLA B27. Do you know if this test was done or not? It’s not always positive in these diseases either, but can help narrow down diagnosis. I don’t like it when seronegative RA is diagnosed, simply because it could well be a reactive arthritis of some kind, like Lyme disease (which loves the knees) or one of the chlamydias, both of which require combination abx. It’s not uncommon for a stressor, like a surgery that you had, to trigger a latent Lyme infection. Just wondering if this was ever considered either? If so, a monotherapy with mino might not be enough for treatment. Plaquenil is fine, if it is Lyme disease, as it’s an anti-malarial and has some nice anti-inflam props…used to treat a coinfection of Lyme, called babesiosis. The real devil-drug is prednisone really, as it comes with some serious side-effects with longterm use and, while useful in small doses for flares in the short term, may just cause worsening disease at it enables underlying infections to proliferate. That said, it needs to be weaned extremely slowly as some breakthrough herxing will occur as the immune system kicks back in, as well as some rebound….also to allow the adrenals to start slowly producing their own natural cortisone again.

Just some thoughts that popped to mind, JMSmile. I hope something might ring some bells for you in your searches. If you want to add a signature line, it’s easy to do. Just go to the Control Panel at the top of this page and click on the Profile tab. You’ll see some options along the side and just select “Edit Signature,” to add your diagnosis, current meds, supps, etc. You can also add the link to your Personal Progress thread so others can read about your journey. This saves having to post them each time you post and can really help with responses from other forum posters.

A warm welcome to you! 🙂

[jmsmile]

I was checked for Lyme disease. Negative. For my side effects my family doctor put me on Zantac 150 mg BID, Laxtinex BID and told me to have two yogurts a day. I saw him on the 15th of this month. My bowels were pretty bad so last week I cut the Minocin back to three days a week. Was I wrong to do that without consulting my Rheumy?

[Maz]

@jmsmile wrote:

I was checked for Lyme disease. Negative. For my side effects my family doctor put me on Zantac 150 mg BID, Laxtinex BID and told me to have two yogurts a day. I saw him on the 15th of this month. My bowels were pretty bad so last week I cut the Minocin back to three days a week. Was I wrong to do that without consulting my Rheumy?

Hi JMSmile,

Unfortunately, two yogurts a day probably won’t control yeast overgrowth in the gut and may even worsen it, if it has a high sugar/fructose content. 🙁 Did you mean Lactinex? This is a probiotic, but not sure what it contains or whether or not your dose is sufficient? Once yeast overgrowth occurs in the gut, it can be tough to control and systemic candidiosis can actually mimic RA symptoms.

Is your rheumy AP Literate or has he just supplied you with the standard DMARD dose of minocycline? Mino 100mg BID can be hard on some folk, which is why Dr. Brown took a “low and slow” approach. I don’t know how open your rheumy is to you self-adjusting your dose, so not sure if he’d be upset or not ❓

Another “unfortunately,” but standard Lyme tests are notoriously inaccurate, missing 50% of all cases. This is why many here will get tested through IGeneX labs, which provides more sensitive testing methods and includes antibody bands that are highly specific for Lyme, but were either not included when they devised the test or were removed to prevent cross-reactivity when they were creating the LymeRix vaccine (which actually caused RA in those genetically susceptible), but was later removed from the market…and these antibody bands were never replaced! Standard tests also only test for one strain of borreliosis and there are around 100 strains in the US and 300 worldwide. Lyme ultimately has to be a clinical diagnosis, as it can be so immune-suppressive that some folk just don’t produce enough antibody to test. In fact, the tests are horrible during the early stages of infection, but even worse in some cases when a person has had Lyme a long time. Some people are even told they’re negative when their results were conclusively positive, which is pretty crazy, considering how hard it is to actually get an accurate positive read on the tests.

[jmsmile]

@Margie wrote:

Hello, I have had gas and bowel problems too. Things are much better since Doc said to take Merilax daily.

What is Merilax? I never heard of it.

Joann
jcsmile

[jmsmile]

You are talking foreign to me. What is yeast overgrowth? I did mean Lactinex. Actually my doctor prescribed something else but it was not covered on my RX card so the pharmacist suggested Lactinex and just told me to take two a day. The bottle says chew 4 tablets 3 or 4 times a day.

I am not sure if my rheumy is AP (What does this stand for?) Literate. I was just happy he agreed to let me take the Minocin. My next visit I am going to find out more. I saw him a couple of times since I started on it and he seemed to think I was progressing. Unfortunately these side effects hit me.

I have heard that the Lyme tests may not be accurate. I insisted that I get tested for it because we had a lot of ticks around our house. Where are the IGeneX labs? I never heard of that either.

Hopefully someday I will be privy to all this strange language.
Joann

[jmsmile]

Forgot to mention since I have all these bowel problems, my hemorrhoid has been bleeding and also I have a vaginal discharge which at first I thought was from the hemorrhoid. I read somewhere that is a side effect of the Minocin. Could it be serious?

[a50505]

From the first result on Google for “yeast overgrowth”: In common language, Candida albicans overload is often referred to as “YEAST OVERGROWTH’ or infection. When seen on the tongue or mouth as a white coating, …

AP = Antibiotic Protocol. Google is your friend here, too. I liked this book a lot: http://www.amazon.com/New-Arthritis-Breakthrough-Improvement-Inflammatory/dp/0871318431

I can’t comment on IGeneX; that is something I’m still learning about, too. 🙂

[Maz]

@jmsmile wrote:

You are talking foreign to me. What is yeast overgrowth? I did mean Lactinex. Actually my doctor prescribed something else but it was not covered on my RX card so the pharmacist suggested Lactinex and just told me to take two a day. The bottle says chew 4 tablets 3 or 4 times a day.

I am not sure if my rheumy is AP (What does this stand for?) Literate. I was just happy he agreed to let me take the Minocin. My next visit I am going to find out more. I saw him a couple of times since I started on it and he seemed to think I was progressing. Unfortunately these side effects hit me.

I have heard that the Lyme tests may not be accurate. I insisted that I get tested for it because we had a lot of ticks around our house. Where are the IGeneX labs? I never heard of that either.

Hi Joann,

Sorry not to have explained things well. 😳 I sometimes get carried away and forget that new folk might not get the lingo. It’s hard to know who knows what they arrive here as some folk are really new to AP (antibiotic protocols as per Dr. Brown) and some folk are really well-versed. And many thanks to A505050 for chiming in with the links – that really helps! 😀 🙂

Yes, an itchy bottom (anal pruritis) and vaginal discharge may well be symptoms of candida overgrowth in the gut. If you’re only taking 2 chewable probiotics a day, then this likely isn’t enough. To give you an example, I use PB8 vegetarian cap probiotics and I take 8 to 10 a day, adding in acidiphilis pearls on occasion. PB8 has a number of different probiotic strains in it. Some folk here will use two or three different probiotics at once or will rotate them to ensure they getting good probiotic strain coverage. The reason why probiotics are so important when on abx is because when the abx go through the gut, they disturb the natural bugs (both good and bad) and when these populations of bugs – called gut fauna – are disturbed, this can allow the naturally occuring yeasts – called gut flora – to get the upper hand. An overgrowth of yeast in the gut can cause all kinds of systemic issues (hence why it is called “systemic” candida). These problems can include things like itchy rashes, diarrhea and sometimes constipation (like irritable bowel syndrome), itchy bum, oral thrush, vaginal yeast infections, chronic fatigue (because one of the byproducts of yeast metabolism of sugars is alcohol), cravings for sugars and simple carbs, malabsorption of nutrients in foods, and worsening rheumatic symptoms due to increased inflammation,etc. So, it’s really important to protect gut health while on “AP.” It’s far simpler to prevent candida overgrowth from starting with adequate probiotics, but once it sets in, it can be a real devil to reverse, sometimes needing systemic anti-fungals to control. I hope that explains a bit better, Joann? Most mainstream docs don’t acknowledge systemic candida unless a person is on their deathbed, but it can be a real cause for concern for anyone who is chronically ill or on any DMARDs, as well as antibiotic therapy.

I’m guessing that if you didn’t find your rheumy through Road Back, then he is not “AP Literate,” meaning that he’s not familar with Dr. Brown’s antibiotic protocols. If you get a chance to read the book that A505050 mentioned above and also the info on the main Road Back website (under the Newcomer’s and Education tabs), then it should help to understand why Dr. Brown felt that infections were at the root of rheumatic diseases and the rationale for using AP. Here are some links to help you find these sections on the main site (which you can also access by clicking on the picture banner above):

http://roadback.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/education.sub/subgroup_id/8.html

http://roadback.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Education.main.html

IGeneX labs in Palo Alto, CA, is a specialty lab that specialises in testing for tickborne diseases. You can find their website here:

http://www.IGeneX.com

If you decide to get tested through this lab (a basic western blot test costs approx $200), we can help with instructions on how to go about this. Just let us know. It sounds like you’ve had plenty of opportunities for tick exposures, Joann, so it’s just smart to get this testing done, because ticks pass a lot more than just Lyme disease and the coinfections of Lyme all need separate treatment or this can leave patients very unwell and thinking that “AP” (monotherapy with just minocycline) isn’t working for them. A test result that looks indicative of Lyme would mean a trip to what is called a LLMD (Lyme Literate MD) who can assess for tickborne coinfections and treat these accordingly.

Don’t worry, Joann – once you’ve hung around here for a month or two, all the lingo will make sense!

[jmsmile]

Thanks for the info. I did read that book. It is just full of information. I will have to go back and review my highlighted spots. There is so much in that book that it was hard to remember it all, especially with all the medical language. I can see I have a lot to learn.

[jmsmile]

I am thinking I should probably find a doctor who is AP literate. Any help would be appreciated. I live in the Northeast part of Ohio, south of Youngstown. When I get a chance I will call my doctor to find out if he is AP literate. Thanks.

[jmsmile]

I read up on the Yeast Overgrowth and it fits me perfectly. I think I will call my dr now, although, not sure which one to call. My rheumy or family dr.

[nspiker]

Hi jmsmile,

If you have Candida overgrowth, the usual recommendation is a sugar-free, or low sugar, low carb diet. I know, it’s no fun! The medications often prescribed are Nystatin and Diflucan. Diflucan is a pill and is very good for systemic yeast. Nystatin can be taken orally, or given in an oral suspension for yeast overgrowth in mouth. Many times candida overgrowth alone can cause many symptoms.

Probiotics are critical when you are killing off good and bad bacteria in your gut. It’s best to get a probiotic with billions of good bacteria to replenish you system. I take VSL#3, which has 220 billion organisms. Those with irritable bowel syndrome are prescribed this probiotic. There are other good ones like Theralac, and you can find them at your local health food store.

If you live in an endemic area, and have many known tick bites, I would highly recommend pursuing lyme testing by Igenex. As Maz said, lyme testing is historically inacurate, and misses more than half of those infected. If you do have lyme and/or co-infections, it’s best to know now as Minocin will not be enough to treat lyme.

Let us know if you would like the names of any AP docs in your area, or any guidance with Igenex testing…
nancy

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