Tetracycline and Acne: What Users Say

• Anonymous
• October 14, 2020

For Acne "I've suffered from acne since I was around 12 years old, where it started off on my forehead and progressively moved around my face, on my cheek areas in particular. By the time I hit the age of 18, my forehead was completely clear, but the cheek areas still had bad acne. The acne began to clear as I hit 21, with just major scarring there (not toothpick scars, just surface ones - blemishes). A few months ago, the acne returned to the cheek areas, and it was the worst it had ever been. I had a consult with my doctor who went on to say that I had severe acne (my acne had never been classified as this before). She prescribed me Tetracycline (as well as a topical cream). Within 2 weeks of the antibiotic treatment, my skin was even worse than before, and I came up in big spots. However, I'm now 5 weeks into the treatment, and the acne is almost gone - I still have a couple of spots here and there, but it's nothing like before. I still have 3 weeks left on the antibiotic course!"

• Mtc...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 11, 2019

For Acne "Tetracycline was the worst thing. It gave me acne that I never even had after I stopped it (1 month usage). My oh my, do I regret using this. I'm regretting taking this stuff, and I want to tell everyone to try to stay away from antibiotics. Overall, it isn't healthy, and it isn't a long-term solution. While I was on it, it gave me whiteheads and the most oilest skin I have ever dealt with. Almost two weeks into stopping it, I am still very oily... :( I'm so sad... I think I'll try to use Retin-A. I now have terrible texture. Deep cystic acne and clogged pores everywhere, please, please, please be careful, guys... Antibiotics aren't something you should play with."

• Mtc...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 11, 2019

For Acne "Tetracycline was the worst thing. It gave me acne that I never even had after I stopped it (1 month usage). My oh my, do I regret using this. I'm regretting taking this stuff, and I want to tell everyone to try to stay away from antibiotics. Overall, it isn't healthy, and it isn't a long-term solution. While I was on it, it gave me whiteheads and the most oilest skin I have ever dealt with. Almost two weeks into stopping it, I am still very oily... :( I'm so sad... I think I'll try to use Retin-A. I now have terrible texture. Deep cystic acne and clogged pores everywhere, please, please, please be careful, guys... Antibiotics aren't something you should play with."

• Abi...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 24, 2021

For Acne "I had some bumps on my skin, and the doctor prescribed me tetracycline. After using it, my face exploded with acne. Terrible acne. Very red, huge, with whiteheads, and very deep into the skin, and with very big sizes. I kept using the medicine for over a month, and it kept getting worse and spreading. It ruined my face."

• Abi...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 24, 2021

For Acne "I had some bumps on my skin, and the doctor prescribed me tetracycline. After using it, my face exploded with acne. Terrible acne. Very red, huge, with whiteheads, and very deep into the skin, and with very big sizes. I kept using the medicine for over a month, and it kept getting worse and spreading. It ruined my face."

• Heb...
• December 22, 2016

For Acne "I've been on Tetracycline for about 10 months. I tried different face cleaners, then went on to topicals including TAC2O. But nothing worked. I started this and my acne did start to clear up, acne on my chest went away completely, back acne was almost gone, and my face was 10x better than it was before. The only problem for me was that even though my acne wasn't terrible around my period, I would spike dramatically, and my entire face would break out. But for the most part, my face did stay mediocre, having between 4-7 spots rather than my 15-20."

• Jes...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 30, 2020

For Acne "I used tetracycline for about 1 month. For 3 weeks, I took 500 mg a day (one capsule in the morning and another at night) and on the last week, just 250 mg (in the morning), besides, I took them with probiotics (at least 2 hours after the evening antibiotic dosage to not kill the probiotics). So my antibiotics are over, but I'm still taking the probiotics. After 2 days, I've realized that I've broken out a bit, but my face is still red."

• Amy...
• August 2, 2021

For Acne "I was prescribed this in Dec 2020 and was given a 3-month prescription. In this time, it cleared my subclinical acne, but I started getting closed comedones, which would become pustules and leave scarring, which I had never experienced before. After this, I stopped the medication for about a week, but the subclinical acne started appearing again, so I went back on it. This was around March, and I then asked for a repeat prescription and have stayed on the medication since then. Around April, my skin stopped producing closed comedones/pustules, and it has been clear ever since. I have not stopped the medication - I tried to stop it for 2 weeks to see how my skin would react, and I started getting clogged pores and oily (it reverted to a form of mildish acne, manageable but definitely not as clear as it was while I was on the medication). Along with this medication, I use Epiduo and a simple skincare routine during the day."