<p>My son tells me this is a very common practice. Is it really?
He tells me 4 out of 5 of his closest friends are on it.</p>
<p>My friend, while in her 30’s , has been taking ABX for acne and I thought then, about 10 years ago, that it was completely stupid, especially since she really did not have acne, maybe a blemish once a month…
I can understand taking antibiotics for a deep acne, the kind that will leave scars, but why go through this for a regular, superficial, teenage type? Image is a big thing at this age, but isn’t your liver more important???
Please share, I really would like to find out if it is a national phenomena or something completely local here ;)</p>
<p>Hmm. 3 out 4 of his friends? That does seem like a lot. Both of my daughters have been on them for acne but it was for very stubborn acne and for one of them it was for cystic back acne. Neither of them stayed on them very long as they had adverse reactions. </p>
<p>I do remember being on Tetracycline when I was in my late teens. I had bad back acne for a period of time and that did clear it up. I guess I would go by the dermatologist’s advice.</p>
<p>S was offered abx for his acne but he declined. It was doxycycline and most abx upset his stomach & gut so he prefers topical treatments, if anything. We notice he does best if he keeps his hair short & minimizes junk food intake. When he’s stressed and/or tired, it flares, as does D’s. Fortunately, hers is quite mild. She’s never been offered abx & would not be interested anyway. Regularly cleaning the face & keeping hands away from the face make a huge difference as well. </p>
<p>I think it can be over-prescribed and lead to various problems as mentioned in this thread, in addition to digestive upsets.</p>
<p>One of my kids was on either doxy or tetracycline for moderate acne about 10-12 years ago. The acne did not respond well enough to any of the topical treatments. They were on it for about 2 years and had to go for blood tests every so often to check liver function. It did the job and as a result (plus perhaps time, maturity, hormones changing) it has remained fine.</p>
<p>I was on tetracycline for ten years during my late teens and twenties. I had bad cystic acne on my face, and it helped immeasurably. My son gets cysts also, on his back and chest. Sometimes they don’t clear up on their own; he has to have them drained and removed. I’d love for him to take abx routinely but no derm has ever prescribed them.</p>
<p>Don’t have a son, but my daughter has been on Yaz birth control for a little over a year. It has definitely helped her acne, and has a pretty good side effect too! I was a little leery about antibiotics and this pill is still pretty new on the market, but it wasn’t my decision and it seems to have done a couple of good jobs for her.</p>
<p>My son just began using tetracycline for acne. We tried OTC topical options and they were only mildly helpful. Then we tried prescription creams (golly are they expensive!!!) but that was merely better than the OTC. They did not eliminate the acne.</p>
<p>This month, he began tetracycline and I have already seen an improvement so I’m helpful that this will work. The other benefit is to my wallet as it’s cheap. </p>
<p>My husband used this back in the day and it was almost miraculous how well it worked to clear up his acne. Yup, I knew him back then. :-)</p>
<p>There are some previous, very extensive, threads during the past year on this subject you may want to read.</p>
<p>Both my kids did the progression from topical cream, to antibiotics, and then on to Accutane. To your son, it may seem like 75% of his classmates are taking a prescibed medicine for acne. It’s probably a lot lower percentage, although I don’t really know what the number is. In the care of a good, conservative, dermatologist I would not be overly concerned with the side-effects and long term problems with liver function, etc. They will be monitored VERY carefully with regular blood tests. Should it be necessary to go on Accutane, they will be monitored MONTHLY before the next dose can be taken and then once more after the final dose is completed. My kids (DD and DS) both had excellent results with Accutane.</p>
<p>When I was a teen I was on tetracycline and then erythromycin. But birth control pills were what ultimately made a huge difference (I know this won’t help our sons!)</p>
<p>My D struggles with acne, using topicals. She tried abx, but was allergic - and together with another known abx allergy, she cannot use abx for acne as a result. She tried BC, which cleared it right up, but had migraines, so that was out. Her problems are hormone related, so she does take supplements to try to keep her body in balance.</p>
<p>My S went from topicals to abx to Accutane. Accutane worked wonders, although he still has to use topicals to manage small issues. He had cystic acne, though, so a blemish here or there is nothing now.</p>
<p>I used to have problems with acne, even as an adult. Menopause took care of that!</p>
<p>My son had mild, but stubborn acne. I successfully avoided Accutane with him for several years by using milder ABX, etc. He made the decision on his own (at age 21) to go with Accutane. Said he’d had “tons of friends” who’d had success with it and he wanted to try it. Felt very self-conscious with acne the older he got. Got the original script from our local dermatologist, but due to logistics with script renewal, etc. he needed a local doc. He lined up a dermatologist near his campus, went through the 5 month regimen and never looked back. Worked very well for him and he calls me a Nervous Nelly for my hesitation! Not really sure if my hesitation was warranted. </p>
<p>On another thread, someone said Accutane is not being prescribed due to litigation. Can anybody confirm that?</p>
<p>Antibiotics are frequently used for acne (both topical and oral). Like others my son tried everything including antibiotics. My son rarely sunburns, but on doxycycline he would get fried after 30 min in the sun. Ultimately nothing worked so he was started on Accutane in December. He has 2 months to go but he looks great. Accutane (manufactured by Roche) was withdrawn from the market (voluntarily by the manufacturer), but there are at least 2 generics available. If you are prescribed Accutane you have to sign up with a special program called iPledge. He has his blood taken once a month and we see the dermatologist once a month. He has not had any side effects, but the side effects you read about are very scary which is why I was very resistant. According to our derm all acne is hormonal. My daughter had some acne which completely went away with Yaz.</p>
<p>^ Accutane is some serious stuff. I met this girl who was on it. She said her skin used to flake off (it drains the oils). She didn’t have any of the adverse health effects, but she didn’t have the “right skin” for it and now has horrible acne scars at 16(!) that she has to live with for the rest of her life. They can’t be covered with makeup; seriously – though it might be harsh – it looks like her face is disfigured.</p>
<p>Topical and oral ABX are very common around here for acne. We just taked about how none of our neighborhood kids or Ds friends have any acne. They all see the same dermatologist and all take ABX. They all have great teeth, too! ( same ortho) ;)</p>
<p>Lol, north minnesota! D started on topical creams and then to abx. Taken only twice weekly and so far it’s helped. I wonder if I should talk to dr. about BC pills before she goes away to college as the next step in acne treatment. I just read another thread on BC about that issue!</p>
<p>One of our parenting regrets is making our son wait so long before going on acutane. It worked wonderfully and he really suffered for several years needlessly. </p>
<p>This was all some time ago . . . not familiar with ABX but it sounds very good.</p>
<p>Acne is so random. Second child has never had so much as a clogged pore.</p>
<p>I took tetracycline for a number of years for acne, starting in my ealry 20s. I was late bloomer & got real trouble from it then.</p>
<p>No problems from it, other than I could not go out for long in the sun. But I was in a northern clime & aorked all day so it was pretty moot. It worked great on the acne.</p>
When he’s stressed and/or tired, it flares, as does D’s. Fortunately, hers is quite mild. She’s never been offered abx & would not be interested anyway. Regularly cleaning the face & keeping hands away from the face make a huge difference as well. </p>
I was a little leery about antibiotics and this pill is still pretty new on the market, but it wasn’t my decision and it seems to have done a couple of good jobs for her.</p>