Oracea side effects


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I have been taking Oracea for about three years. It has done wonders for my rosace symptoms. However, I have had multiple outbreaks of skin fungal infections on my back and jock itch in my groin. I never had any skin fungus until I started taking the Oracea.
I use a Metrogel in the evening prior to bedtime and I was my face with Cetaphil followed by Roseula (it smells bad, but seems to work). I'm going to quit taking the Oracea due to the skin fungal outbreaks and see what happens. I have has six IPL laser treatments, one month apart, out of my own pocket, on my cheeks and nose, but I was a little disappointed that it didn't seem to make much of a difference.
 


A lot of what others have posted seem to be true. Oracea does seem to work and has made my face a lot clear. However, I do want to through some caution in the wind. Even though a physcian has prescribe this medication for you, be on your guard for any side effects and mention them to your physcian. I just discoverd after being on Oracea and Minocin previous to that, my liver enyzmes have increased. My regular physcian noticed this within the past year doing blood work. I have stopped taking the medication and the enzymes have gone down and I will take another blood in a couple weeks to see if it decreases more. Meanwhile, make sure to get a blood test at least once a year.
 




Sounds like Pseudotumor Cerebri ... Is your vision disturbed? Blind Spots, or loss of peripheral vision? See your eye doctor or have your optic nerve checked (after your eyes are dilated).

Anonymous said:
Since about my 2nd week of taking Oracea, I have had 24/7 severe intracranial pressure, pounding head, trembling, dizzyness, feeling very unbalanced and very tired. I have also experienced dry mouth, hoarseness and lost alot of my upper singing range.
These side effects have happened to me in the past when taking Doxycycline; and now I find that even at the lower dose, this drug is no different.
I hope it wears off soon; as I can barely function.
I have been thru blood tests, tilt tests, MRI's, EEG's, etc. Everything shows me to be normal.
This is the only conclusion for me. Even my doctors didn't realize that all of this could be a side-effect of the Oracea.
Doxycycline in any form is terrible for me.
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So glad I came across this string. I have been taking Oracea for two weeks now, and although I am quite familiar with antibiotics and side effects, I found myself wondering if anyone else was suffering from constant and extreme bloating. I've read through the possible side effects, and as an Emergency Room Registered Nurse, know that almost any antibiotic can cause GI upset. I've not changed my diet (which is quite healthy) and spend an hour on the treadmill daily, but now I can't do so due to the most uncomfortable sensation and pain (like I'm constantly being punched in the gut). Before I called my doctor, I wanted to google and see if anyone else was experiencing such effects as well. So many of you here have said the same thing. I'm glad I did and have decided to promptly discontinue this medication, not only because of the extreme bloating, but simply because I'm afraid that the bloating may turn into a colitis or C. Diff. And trust me, none of you want either.
 


I was going to ask my Dr for this medicine at my next check-up but after reading all of these messages I am petrified to try it!! Maybe there is a reason she never prescribed it, she only prescribes topicals. Shame, rosacea is such a PITA to deal with and this seemed so promising till you read message boards! Thanks for all the feedbacks!
 


Anonymous said:
Hi all,

My dermatologist just wrote me a prescription for Oracea. She said it had little to no side effects. Of course I had to research it myself and found that its doxycycline. The first thing I thought was "Great -- my teeth will turn yellow." I was hoping to get some feedback here from reps who sell this drug.

What are some of the most common side effects? My biggest worry is that it will mess with my cholesterol or trigliceride levels which I have worked so hard to reduce. Will this drug cause weight gain? I've lost weight and want to keep my numbers down. Can you lend some insight?

I asked my Dermatologist about these things and she said she didn't believe they would be affected. But I know reps would be "in the know" since they see lots of docs who prescribe to hundreds of patients. What can you tell me?

Thanks.
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I have been on Oracea for 2 years. I use it for adult acne (yes, 40 years old and still have acne - thanks Mom). Over the last 6 months or so I have noticed a major change in my stomach - severe bloating after every meal - no matter what I eat (or don't eat). I started taking Beano (I am a vegetarian and have been for 14 yrs, but it seemed recently that my stomach was just so bloated) in hopes of easing my stomach gas/pains. I was at the derm today and he asked (this is the 2nd time he has asked this - once at my appt 6 months ago) about any side effects - he mentioned acid reflux, yeast infections, which I haven't had any of. It wasn't until he asked me again today that I thought that my stomach pains perhaps is a side effect of this drug. In addition, about 1.6 years ago my white cell count was extremely low - tested several times, went to a hematologist, ruled out cancer, the works. I told both my GP and the hem. that I was on Oracea and they thought there was no way that could be causing my count to be so low. After reading all of this on this chain, I now know that Oracea is exactly what caused that. My stomach and weight gain (never thought that either, until reading this chain - I run 30 miles a week, I walk 3.5 miles 5 days a week, I do a cycle class at least 3 times a week. Bottom line is I work out and my eating habits have decreased, if anything, over the last 2 months - gave up everything bad for me for Lent). Ironically, or should I say luckily, my derm suggested that I go off of Oracea, not because of these side effects b/c I didn't tell him about them as I didn't think until just now that the two were related, but because less is best he said and my acne has really calmed down. We shall see. I hope my body returns to its previous state.
 


I also gained weight taking oracea.. took me awhile to figure it out but the timeline is perfect. I had started working out because of the weight gain and i kept gaining.. i know it wasnt from building muscle because my clothes were getting smaller, not bigger.

I am now taking adoxa.. is anyone else on that? I really hope it doesnt have the same affect or I will just have to suffer with a red face
 


Anonymous said:
I also gained weight taking oracea.. took me awhile to figure it out but the timeline is perfect. I had started working out because of the weight gain and i kept gaining.. i know it wasnt from building muscle because my clothes were getting smaller, not bigger.

I am now taking adoxa.. is anyone else on that? I really hope it doesnt have the same affect or I will just have to suffer with a red face
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I stopped taking the adoxa, I didnt realize it was the same thing is oracea
 




So glad I found this site! I, too, started taking Oracea and experienced weight gain, bloating and tiredness. I had not changed much in my diet & exercise plan and couldn't explain what was happening. When I looked in what was different in my life, I realized I had started this new med. After reading about weight gain on this site, I decided to get off and see what happens. In just 6 weeks I have lost 5 lbs and regained my energy! This, without changing my diet/exercise program. I looked into the side effects and, medically, Oracea increases your triglicyrides. Thus, it makes your body less able to digest the starches (sugars) in your body!
 


I was on Oracea for about 1 year. My face had the small pimples, scaly & flaky patches that I could'nt get off (they seemed like they were growing in all directions-yuck.) The oracea worked very well in clearing this up. I couldn't afford the prescription any longer so I quit taking it. It was only a short time after I noticed an awful smell in my sinuses. I lost my sense of smell & taste. I could only taste sweet and salty things. My sinuses seemed to dry up and this went on for a while. When I would open the coffee container to make a.m. coffee it had and still does have a strange odor. Weird thing is my urine smells like the now different coffee aroma? When to the Dr. and he said it was a sinus infection and put me on Zithromax. Made no difference. It's now been almost 1 year since I quit taking it and still have little sense of taste or smell. Has anyone else had this happen to them?
 


Well, lots of side effects posted here on this thread. I am currently taking the full strength doxycycline 100 mg. for acne rosacea. Since starting this drug I have not had one pimple or postule show up. It has totally cleared up my face. I still get some flushing but no pimples. So I am very happy and ok with a few side effects now and then. I have not noticed any weight gain or bloating. I have had some indigestion symptoms and about 2 weeks ago started noticing my voice was a little raspy, kinda horse. I made a doctor appt thinking I had something weird going on with my voice box. Turns out the acid reflex thing is causing this. The doctor wants me to try prosesec for 2 weeks. I am pretty sure it is the doxy and I was thinking maybe the low dose doxy (oracea) might not be as hard on my stomach. I am just so happy with the results of this drug I hate the thought of going back to a terrible acne problem. So I am going to try it and see. Other than that I don't have any complaints in the 5 weeks of taking doxycycline.
 




Anonymous said:
I have been taking Oracea for 13 days now. I started having a yeast infection on the 6th day plus a white patch on the back of my throat. The dermatologist gave me a prescription for Diflucan and told me to continue taking the Oracea. I still have the yeast infection and white patch on my throat. I also have an unexplained itchy rash on the back of my leg. It has helped the ocular rosacea, but these side effects are the pits.
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I also have been on Oracea for about two weeks and been noticing increased vaginal itching. I plan to talk to my doctor who said to eat yogurt with brewers yeast tablets. I think I am going to stop taking it-can't stand the chronic itching.
 




Just started Oracea a few days ago, don't see any results just a upset tummy.
A few months ago I had a infection so my doctor gave me Cipro. After just a few days my face was all cleared up and had no side effect. Just a heads up.....
 


Anonymous said:
Oracea is doxycycline...a very old antibiotic. It does help the complexion but also causes a "leaky gut syndrome" with an overgrowth of yeast and chronic fatigue. Check it out
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I took Oracea for 30 days and now have chronic fatigue and darkening of the eyes. Not sure if both symptoms were caused by the Oracea, but it seems the likely culprit. Months after discontinuing the Oracea I'm still suffering from both symptoms. I would not take this drug again and will stick to topical treatments like Metrogel.
 


Hi, all. Microbiology degree here, maybe I can be of some help. I took Oracea a while back and it worked very well for my rosacea/acne but caused bloating, so I got off of it. It is indeed doxycycline, just released in smaller amounts at slower rates as to minimize side effects. The bloating is likely due to the antibiotic killing off natural intestinal flora which can keep harmful, toxin producing bacteria such as C. dificile in check. In the absence of your natural bacterial flora, the uptake of dietary nutrients is also changed and food is absorbed differently in the gut. This is the likely cause of weight change. Oracea is a good antibiotic, but should not be trusted for long term use, as no antibiotic should be. Hope that helps.
 


How long does it take to see benefits from this med? I started taking Oracea 7 days ago. The rosacea bumps on my face are no longer contained to two small patches on my cheeks. They've spread across my entire face. I have horrible diarrhea each morning after taking the med though it eases later in the day. I'm already taking Methotrexate for autoimmune disease so fighting yeast is already a daily struggle. Naturally, this med has thrust me into a full blown vaginal yeast infection with bonus itching on my face, shoulders, and back. I already have elevated liver enzymes due to drugs used to treat autoimmune disease. I'll know within 2 months if I can tolerate this drug from that standpoint.
From earlier posts, it seems that the time it takes to see results varies. I'm trying to get an idea of how long to give it a try.
In response to earlier comments regarding weight gain: I too have noticed a small gain though it seems to just be water retention. Reminds me of the type of weight gain I've experienced from taking steroids (cortisone) for inflammation.
Additional side effects: dry eyes, blurred vision (probably from the dry eyes), headaches, dizziness (annoying but tolerable).
 


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