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Hi everyone.. A few questions:
First off I’m an “old timer” who has hit a brick wall in relation to AP therapy. Two questions:
Doctor wants me to try TEVA brand.. However it sounds like TEVA is no longer manufacturing Mino. Can anyone confirm this?
Has anyone tried mixing Plaquenil with AP?
Any old timers have an idea as to why I’m no longer responding? Am I on the path to traditional Rheumatology? Sigh…Diagnosed with RA 2011
Began AP in 2012
Initial success/remission- then it seemed to stop working
Current Dosage: 50 mg of Watson Mino M-W-F
In March, 2017 added Z pac to the the mix. Initial success (1) Z Pac tablet per week, was feeling better. Now nothing, feel bad, worse.
3 Aleve per dayHi,
Doctor wants me to try TEVA brand.. However it sounds like TEVA is no longer manufacturing Mino. Can anyone confirm this?
It’s true, the old Teva mino (dark red and pink capsules) that some people remember is gone. The new Teva minocycline was previously Actavis minocycline (and Watson before that).
Do you eat much corn?
Phil
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert EinsteinAs an experiment, you may want to eat some corn just to see if you have a reaction to it. It would be a good excuse to eat some corn bread or a small bag of corn chips. Of course, don’t do it if you are allergic to corn. You’re getting a small amount of corn starch every time you take your mino, and I am wondering if you have developed a sensitivity to it.
Also, have you tried not taking your antibiotics for a week or two to see if you feel any better without them? If not, that’s another thing to consider doing.
Phil
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert EinsteinHi, I found that Teva lately did me no good. Was able to get the Watson brand of minocycline from CVS. and that has put me back to where I was. When I first started it was ten years ago and with Minocin which you can no longer get. I then got it from Canada but no longer can do that. The brand name put me into remission. I hate the pharmaceutical companies and their greedy way of doing things.
Thanks, Phil. Sorry, can you define what kind of reaction I should be looking for during this experiment? Do you mean a flare up in RA symptoms? As for a washout I’m not sure if I have noticed a difference. I know that sounds stupid- it’s hard to tell when you feel like crap non-stop.
Hi Rose.. Thanks for your feedback regarding TEVA. It’s so hard to navigate what works best…
Sorry, can you define what kind of reaction I should be looking for during this experiment? Do you mean a flare up in RA symptoms?
Yes. I once ate some hand-breaded chicken tenders at a buffet restaurant. Within a few hours I was feeling achy. I knew then the breading for those hand-breaded chicken tenders likely contained corn meal.
Phil
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert EinsteinDoctor wants me to try TEVA brand..
I recommend trying Torrent mino capsules (or tablets). They contain no dyes, and multiple people have reported success using that generic. I also think you should try a higher dose (see below for the reason why).
Any old timers have an idea as to why I’m no longer responding?
You’ve been on a low dose of mino for a long time, which is not really a good thing. It’s possible that the bacteria have developed some resistance to minocycline. It’s possible that mino will no longer work for you, but it’s also possible that the bacteria are only partially resistant. If the bacteria are only partially resistant, then increasing your dose may be helpful.
Phil
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert EinsteinHi Woods. I was on the TEVA brand for years…TEVA acquired Actavis and now the minocycline pills that TEVA sells are the Actavis brand. However, my understanding is that the “old” TEVA brand (pink and red capsules) are actually now manufactured by Zydus…I’m looking into that because those pills did so well for me. I also had a major relapse earlier this year after 9 years in remission. I was taking the Ranbaxy (Torrent) capsules and they did me NO good…even though others have done well on them. For me it was worthless. Anyhow, at the time the only ones I could get my hands on were the Actavis (now Teva) and I’m 90% – 95% better but not like I was on the original TEVA. If I can confirm that they are being made by Zydus now, I’ll post it on this board for everyone to know etc…
Anyhow, my relapse I believe was a result of a major life crisis event (major major major) and my pharmacy switching me to the Ranbaxy/Torrent brand. It was the “perfect storm.”
There is also a section here on the website about the potential causes for relapses. See question 30 on this FAQ page
https://www.roadback.org/faqs/?faq-category=35Also relapses I know are dealt with on the New Arthritis Breakthrough book see the FAQ mentioned above.
Don’t despair…this may very be just a bump in the road…I am testament to that being 90%-95% where I was before with just a simple switch in generic brands and stress reduction.
Good luck and do keep us posted.
Minocycline 100mg every other day with food...lots of food: Zydus brand. Celecoxib 200mg twice per day: Greenstone brand.
However, my understanding is that the “old” TEVA brand (pink and red capsules) are actually now manufactured by Zydus…
Although the ingredients are similar, they are not identical. Also, since Teva is not making the capsules and selling them to Zydus, I wouldn’t consider them to be the same. Apparently they’re made in the U.S., so that’s a plus. I’m not happy about the red dyes, though.
Phil
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert EinsteinI’m not sure you are correct in that Phil…you might be…you might not…I’m investigating that exactly. I have not confirmed it yet, but it seems that Zydus may have been manufacturing the minocycline capsules all along for TEVA…anyhow, I’m still trying to figure this out and when I post my findings on this board once I have more details.
Minocycline 100mg every other day with food...lots of food: Zydus brand. Celecoxib 200mg twice per day: Greenstone brand.
Hi Woods — I have been mixing minocycline and plaquenil for almost 10 years now. Originally I was on a pretty heavy dose of the plaquenil but over the years I have cut it back substantially, so I only take it now a few days a week. I think they supplement each other well.
Are you seeing a regular AP doc? When I developed some deeper inflammation in my hands in 2012, I flew out to California for a consult with an experienced AP physician, as my local rheumatologist was just ‘humoring’ me with the mino prescription. He doubled my dose to 100 mg twice a day, MWF. That’s almost 5 years ago and it has worked fine. Your current dose is very low — maybe you need an increase?
Bonnie Lou
RA 02/07,AP 10/07
Minocycline 200mg MWF; Plaquenil 100mg 3 days/week
Fish Oil, Ubiquinol, Turmeric, Vit C (2 grams) , MultiVit, Magnesium, Astaxanthin, D3 (5000), probiotics and a daily dose of yoga!I have not confirmed it yet, but it seems that Zydus may have been manufacturing the minocycline capsules all along for TEVA…
No, Teva mino was made by Teva. And Zydus mino is made by G&W Laboratories. There is a Teva connection, though:
“Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has agreed to sell its Pennsylvania facilities to G&W Laboratories Inc. as part of the Israeli company’s cost-reduction program.
Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The sale includes 25 Teva products that will now be manufactured and sold by G&W in the U.S. G&W receives exclusive rights to sell up to two additional Teva products under G&W’s label, as well as all the building and land at the Sellersville, Pa., site.”
Source: Teva Sells Pennsylvania Facility to G&W Laboratories
If you liked Teva mino, then I think Zydus mino would be worth trying.
Phil
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert EinsteinHi, Michelle. So sorry to hear you’re not feeling well. I have been combining plaquenil and mino for 2.5 years now. I mainly started plaquenil to keep my rheumy off my back while waiting for the mino to do its job. It seemed the lesser of two evils. My current functional medicine doctor uses plaquenil regularly as she says it has anti-protozoal properties. About 7 months ago I wanted to stop the plaquenil because I wasn’t sure it was doing anything. A few weeks after I stopped it I guess I flared because my symptoms got so much worse. Around that same time, my pharmacy switched me to Ranbaxy mino, and I just wasn’t doing well at all. I decided to go back to the therapy I did so well on, which was Watson/Actavis mino and the plaquenil. Unlike Bonnielou, I’ve continued taking the originally prescribed dosage of 200 mg twice daily. I slowly improved, and returned to my baseline, and have seen additional signs of improvement. In fact I’ve been able to crochet once again.
Now that I think of it, once before I reduced my plaquenil to half, and started feeling worse, so I went back to the original dose.
I’ve kind of concluded that it’s doing something since both times I got worse when either reducing or stopping all together.
I’ve had no side effects from the plaquenil, so it might be worth a try for you as well. I’m also taking 100 mg mino twice daily on MWF.
Karen
Diagnosed with RA 10/2014 with very positive anti-CCP. Rheumatoid factor was negative and continues to be negative.
Began abx treatment 12/2014.
Currently taking minocycline 100 mg bid M-F, diclofenac 75 mg as needed, probiotics, various other supplements.Someone who had been taking Teva-Minocycline (from Canada) recently reported that she started herxing again after switching to Torrent minocycline capsules. In a separate message, this person also mentioned that she had tried Watson mino without much luck. Her experience makes me wonder how many people have switched from Minocin to a generic, or one generic to another, felt worse, and then assumed that they had been given a bad generic, when in fact it was the opposite case.
Phil
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert Einstein
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