Recent Switch From Minocine To Doxy…

[fastspinW]

Hi,

I've been on 100mg x 2 Minocin therapy for my RA for about 5 years with incredible results! Alas, my face has been turning a darker and darker shade of blue over the past several years. As I run a boat tour business and therefore wish to appear at least reasonably healthy to my guests I made the decesion to switch to Doxy several months ago to reverse the blue pigmentation.

For the past 8-10 weeks I've been taking one 100 MG tablet of generic Doxy in the morning. For a time all went well and then I began to experience some soreness in my hands. Recently after completing maintainence work on my boat before launching it that involved a lot of use of my hands I've noticed the soreness has gotten worse. I am also feeling rather tired, another indication that I may be experiencing a flare.

At this point I am trying to decide whether to increase my Doxy dose to 100MG x 2, or else go back on minocine for the summer. Has anyone had a similar situation, and if so any advice would be appreciated.

All best,
Winston

[pam]

After 18 months of 200mg/day of minocin, I had to switch to doxy due to high liver enzymes. Even 200 mg of doxy/day were elevating the liver enzymes, so I was forced to reduce the dosage to 100 mg/day. I can certainly feel the difference in dosage as I am much stiffer on the lower dosage.

I was really dark tan on minocin but have no sun issues with the doxy.

 

[dianaw]

doxy never did work for me – but I was  on minocycline for 11 yrs and had to go off  of it 2 yrs. ago because my symptoms started to come back. if you read the info on the Road Back site it does say one should rotate drugs. but I think you should try 100mgs of doxy 2 times a day (doxy is less penetrating than mino). Also you may want to talk to your Dr. about adding zithro to your regime. Itake zithro 250mgs-M-W-F.           Best, Diana

[Cheryl F]

Just another idea to look into and discuss with your doctor:

If the doxy isn't fully doing the trick, consider adding the digestive enzyme Bromeline which is known to potentiate the effect/penatration of antibiotics.

My daughter started to get the blue spots on her legs a year ago. She switched to doxy and they were completely faded within a few months. She did fine on doxy but switched back to Minocin a few months ago, the blue spots do not seem to be returning yet.

Good luck,

Cheryl Ferguson

[Maz]

[user=313]fastspinW[/user] wrote:

At this point I am trying to decide whether to increase my Doxy dose to 100MG x 2, or else go back on minocine for the summer. Has anyone had a similar situation, and if so any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Winston,

Nice to see you again!

Was there a reason you took the lower daily doxy dose (100mg per day rather than 100mg bid) when you switched from mino?

Diana's suggestion to talk with your doc about adding azithromycin as a pulse might help to boost the doxy, which doesn't have the same degree of lipid soluability (and thus tissue penetration) that mino has. Forgive me if I'm wrong on this, but I seem to remember you had the added complication of diabetes, so this might figure into the equation (?), but have you considered IVs?

Peace, Maz

[A Friend]

[user=2]Cheryl F[/user] wrote:

Just another idea to look into and discuss with your doctor:

If the doxy isn't fully doing the trick, consider adding the digestive enzyme Bromeline which is known to potentiate the effect/penatration of antibiotics.

My daughter started to get the blue spots on her legs a year ago. She switched to doxy and they were completely faded within a few months. She did fine on doxy but switched back to Minocin a few months ago, the blue spots do not seem to be returning yet.

Good luck,

Cheryl Ferguson

Just read Cheryl's reply above and remembered a link I found fairly recently that discusses enhancing the antibiotic with Bromelain, and mentions it can enhance other antibiotics (which it names).  Dr. Brown even wrote about taking ibuprofen 30 minutes before the abx to enhance the effectiveness of the abx.  I believe this was in his Sensitivity Document.  

The link I'm pasting below also mentions supplementation of Vitamin K when using antibiotics, which I read about a number of years ago.  Fairly recently I've experienced a problem with excessive bleeding from the nose, probably because of diminished Vitamin K.  This required a visit in the early hours to the ER, and then two more times to the ENT office in the daytime.  I asked the ENT what I could do to stop this, and he shrugged and said nothing. I finally had to figure out for myself how to stop this from occurring — some of which I learned from a slolam skier who'd had the problem since the age of 10.  If anyone else has the same problem, will share what I learned. 

Another thing the link discusses is the need for probiotics.  (Isn't it about time we're hearing about this need in print!!! … after years of not being told this was needed.) 

http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/health/1315009/

AF

[lee]

Doxy did not work for me at all.  Minocin is much stronger.  I was told if you are using doxy it needs to be at a much higher dose.  I switched back to minocin.

[m.]

I've been on Doxy for just about a year now, and doing well. Only 100 mg MWF, having started out at 50 mg MWF.

Just recently, my most stubborn joint (meaning, it always hurts)—my right elbow—has had some days where there is no pain at all.

YMMV

[fastspinW]

Maz,

Good memory! And thanks for the welcome back.

To answer your questions, I do indeed have type 1 diabetes (and a half dozen other ailments as well) but this didn't play any role in my deciding to go with a single daily dose of 100 MG Doxy. I chose that regimen because I've long felt that less is better than more and I was hoping that would prove to be the case.

Paid a visit to my GP yesterday for my annual physical and I discussed my options with him. He checked his files for the letter from Dr. T talking about the switch to Doxy and found that Dr. T had recommended 100 MG bid so he suggested I double my dose. When he examined me he also agreed with me that the “whites” of my eyes have developed a definate Blue Tinge so he thought I should not go back to Minocin unless absolutely necessary. Blue eyes may be attractive and all, but only if the iris is the part that's blue…

So I guess I will double up on the Doxy and hope for the best. I have already begun Advil to increase the penetration of the Doxy and I will also look into Cheryl's suggestion that I add Bromeline to the mix. Anyone know what the suggested dose would be?

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

Winston

[Author]

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