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Vincent – I have been on a search for a generic Minocycline that would work for me ever since I lost access to brand Minocin 3 years ago. One of those I tried was Zydus. It did not give me stomach pains, but it gave me serious bowel issues. Never had any stomach or bowel issues while on minocycline. Took me three months to figure out it was the Zydus. Some here take it without problems, so not saying you shouldn’t try it. Just reporting my experience. I am now getting Minocycline through Buylowdrugs in Canada. I’m using Accord tablets that come from England.
Good luck on your journey. Cindy
Last I checked Kroger pharmacy carries Torrent capsules. I was able to get Par tablets from Walgreens. Neither of these worked for me, although Torrent worked somewhat. I’m now trying Minocin MR from Britain as carried by buylowdrugs in Canada. Too early to tell if these are working. So far the only thing that worked for me was brand Minocin. I keep trying different generics hoping one will work.
Good luck, Cindy
Hi – Could be wrong, but pretty sure Bausch Health is owned by Valeant Pharma, which owns Minocin, so no change. Valeant definitely owns Bausch and Lomb. It’s too bad. We all need access to brand Minocin. I’m now on my 4th generic without significant improvement.
Cindy
Thought I’d report in on my experience. I, too, have had no luck with generic. Lost access to brand Minocin April 2018. Tried Par generic tablets with no success. Thought that Torrent generic had worked for me in the past when I took it for a few weeks so I went to that. After six months it was still not working so I switched to Zydus (formerly Teva). Tried it for 6 months and not only did I continue to decline but Zydus gave me pretty severe bowel difficulties. So I went back to Torrent. It’s not that Torent doesn’t work. It’s that Torrent doesn’t work very well. I was able to take Minocin 1xday with great success. So, I figured I’d try Torrent 2xday. Didn’t help. I’ve now ordered MinocinMR from buylowdrugs in Canada hoping that will work. I’ll report back and hope you all do the same.
Cindy
Hi Luck – I just purchased MinocinMR from buylowdrugs. When I go on their site just now it is still available. Are you sure their no longer selling it?
Cindy
Brand Minocin is no longer available. It became exorbitantly expensive so most insurers dropped it from approved drug list and then Valeant stopped making it. Seems to have been planned as Valeant also offers really expensive time released Minocycline for acne, Solodyn. Hopefully, some day it will be available again as it sure works. No one on this forum has been able to get Minocin for several years to my knowledge.
Hope Zydus capsules work for you.
I have tried Watson, Torrent, Par, and Zydus (used to be Teva) I’m on Zydus now for last 2 months and I seem to be herxing. Hoping this one will work. None of the others did for me. Torrent worked but not very well….
Maybe 50 percent.Hope this helps. Cindy
I switched to doxy because of bluing skin and eyes. Didn’t work for me. I’d stay on mino to maintain remission but reduce to 100 mg. MWF. At least that worked for me to maintain remission once I’d achieved that. My doc checks my liver count every six months because of the mino and I’m fine. Been on mino over 10 years. I do take liver support OTC 3x week. I know it helps because I had one lab where my count was on the higher end of normal. Started the liver support and next lab was much lower. PM me if you want the brand I take.
Hope that helps. Cindy
Hi Dunlop321 – I can only speak from my experience but would offer going down to two Minocycline per week may have been your undoing. Although AP offers improvement and even remission I do believe we have to stay the course by continuing to take a regular dose for life such as 100 mg MWF. I took that for years and was in remission until I lost access to brand Minocin and had to experiment with different generics to find one that worked. Once i found one that worked i had to take it more often to achieve the same results. I would suggest you may be herxing, not flaring. In October it was likely a flare due to your low dose but now that you’ve upped your dose it may be a Herx. Hopefully, you will see improvement but not sure how long that will take. In my experience it usually takes as long as you were off regular dose of minocycline so maybe for you a couple of months. I take Minocycline 100 mg. every day now as MWF isn’t enough for me any longer.
One other possibility is the generic you’re on. If it has been switched to a different manufacturer by your pharmacy that could be the problem. That is what happened to me as it did to Whaleharbor.
Hope that helps. Cindy
Hi JZL – I didn’t have IV. Also, didn’t have an AP Doctor. My rheumatologist was willing to give me Minocycline when I was first diagnosed in 2000 but I didn’t know about Road Back then. I had stumbled on studies done in 1997 and wanted to try it. When I wasn’t “perfectly” well six months later I dropped Minocycline and went on Enbrel. When Enbrel stopped working in 2008 I started searching again and stumbled upon Road Back. New rheumatologist wouldn’t give me Minocycline so I got brand Minocin from my GP and took 100 mg. MWF. I had to look back in old posts to see what my life was like then. I wrote “So now I’m really sick. I have been taking Minocin MWF 100 mg. I suspect a herx but I need some reassurance. I’m in bed most days…can’t walk very well…can’t sleep well…in pain….trouble dressing myself.” I remember being really scared and so tired of this dreaded disease but after about six months I would have a good day here and there so I kept going. When nearly all my symptoms went away a few months later it was amazing.
I tried doxycycline recently. It did not work for me. I’ve also had difficulty with certain generic Minocycline. I’m taking Torrent now and since I’ve been unable to get brand Minocin I am again herxing due to being off a Minocycline that worked for me for six months while experimenting with doxycycline and other generic Minocycline. I expect I’ll see good days again around February.
Anywho, I hope this helps. I know reading others stories helped me a lot. I know you’re hurting and scared, but Minocycline MWF did work for me, although it was brand Minocin which is no longer available. Maybe a switch to Minocycline would work for you. However, that first six-nine months is a really rocky road.
Cindy
Hi JZL – Yes, That was my experience. I was in really bad shape, as you describe, before taking Minocycline and got much worse for at least six months after. I know that is discouraging, but hang in there. I started in April of 2009 and by December 2010 I was in remission. About September of 2009 I started noticing better days and slowly got better and better. I have RA
Cindy
Similar story. Mine started with what seemed to be food poisoning. A few months later I was hiking and I thought my shoes were bothering me because I was having trouble walking. A few months after that I noticed I couldn’t get up from being on my knees without a struggle. Then I had surgery for something unrelated and POW within 4 days I was in excruciating pain and downhill from there. It took six months to get a diagnosis of sero negative polyarthritis. I read that RA can test negative for 18 months to 2 years. I also went into menopause during this period. By year 3 of i was diagnosed with sero positive RA. At first I went the biological route with success but that only lasted 3 years. I really struggled for several years until I found this forum. I started AP in 2009 and by 2010 I was in remission. Stayed there for 4 years until I lost access to brand Minocin and had to go on a hunt for a generic that worked for me. It’s been a lot of ups and downs the last 4 years because of that. I have never been tested for mycoplasma and don’t plan to be. AP works. It’s a long road back once you start taking it but it does work. You’re early in the disease so it should work faster for you. I’d suggest you give it a try and keep posting here. Many of us old timers have been having trouble since we lost access to brand Minocin so you may have to tinker with dose and brand of generic. If you haven’t, read Scammel’s book which contains Dr. Brown’s book The Road Back. It’s an eye opener.
Welcome and good luck.
Cindy
I too have experienced flares since starting Minocycline in 2009. I had a major flare 4 years ago when I was switched from brand Minocin to Watson generic. At the time my mother was dying so I suspect that contributed to it as well. Like Lynn every time I change generics, change dose, or have significant stress I flare. I’m herxing right now. Ran out of my final stash of Minocin about 6 months ago and went on Torrent generic which has worked for me in the past. So, I’m herxing, flaring, something? I suggest daily dose of 100 mg too. I took Minocin for years MWF and was in remission. Then when I flared from switching to generics Phil suggested upping dose. That did the trick and I went back into remission once I found a generic that worked for me.
Look around your environment. Has pharmacy changed your brand of Minocycline, are you under added stress, taking a new supplement, etc.? Hope that helps.
Cindy
Pinkmoth – That was so interesting. I googled for the transcript of the full interview. Here it is if anyone is interested.
https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=666933600
