What is Minocycline?
Minocycline is a tetracycline antibiotic. It fights bacteria in the body.
Minocycline is used to treat many different bacterial infections, such as urinary tract infections, severe acne, gonorrhea, tick fever, chlamydia, and others.
Minocycline may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.
What is the most important information I should know about Minocycline?
Do not use this medication if you are pregnant. It could cause harm to the unborn baby, including permanent discoloration of the teeth later in life. Minocycline can make birth control pills less effective. Use a second method of birth control while you are taking minoocycline to keep from getting pregnant.
Minocycline passes into breast milk and may affect bone and tooth development in a nursing baby. Do not take this medication without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.
Do not give minocycline to a child younger than 8 years old. Minocycline can cause permanent yellowing or graying of the teeth, and it can affect a child’s growth.
Avoid exposure to sunlight or artificial UV rays (sunlamps or tanning beds). Minocycline can make your skin more sensitive to sunlight and sunburn may result. Use a sunscreen (minimum SPF 15) and wear protective clothing if you must be out in the sun.
Do not take iron supplements, multivitamins, calcium supplements, antacids, or laxatives within 2 hours before or after taking minocycline. These products can make minocycline less effective.
Throw away any unused minocycline when it expires or when it is no longer needed. Do not take any minocycline after the expiration date printed on the label. Using expired minocycline can cause damage to your kidneys.
What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before taking Minocycline?
Do not use this medication if you are allergic to minocycline, or to similar medicines such as demeclocycline (Declomycin), doxycycline (Adoxa, Doryx, Oracea, Vibramycin), or tetracycline (Brodspec, Panmycin, Sumycin, Tetracap).
Before taking minocycline, tell your doctor if you have liver or kidney disease. You may not be able to take minocycline, or you may require a dosage adjustment or special monitoring during therapy.
If you are using minocycline to treat gonorrhea, your doctor may test you to make sure you do not also have syphilis, another sexually transmitted disease.
FDA pregnancy category D. This medication can cause harm to an unborn baby, including permanent discoloration of the teeth later in life. Do not use minocycline without your doctor’s consent if you are pregnant. Tell your doctor if you become pregnant during treatment. Minocycline can make birth control pills less effective. Use a non-hormonal method of birth control (such as a condom, diaphragm, spermicide) to prevent pregnancy while you are taking minocycline.
Minocycline passes into breast milk and may affect bone and tooth development in a nursing baby. Do not take this medication without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.
Do not give minocycline to a child younger than 8 years old. Minocycline can cause permanent yellowing or graying of the teeth, and it can affect a child’s growth.
Minocycline Side Effects
What are the possible side effects of Minocycline?
Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Stop using minocycline and call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:
- severe headache, dizziness, blurred vision
- fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms
- severe blistering, peeling, and red skin rash
- urinating less than usual or not at all
- pale or yellowed skin, dark colored urine, fever, confusion or weakness
- severe pain in your upper stomach spreading to your back, nausea and vomiting, fast heart rate
- loss of appetite, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes); or
- easy bruising or bleeding, unusual weakness
Less serious side effects may include:
- sores or swelling in your rectal or genital area
- mild nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or stomach upset
- white patches or sores inside your mouth or on your lips
- swollen tongue, trouble swallowing; or
- vaginal itching or discharge
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Tell your doctor about any unusual or bothersome side effect. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
Minocycline Interactions
What other drugs affect Minocycline?
Before taking minocycline, tell your doctor if you are taking any of the following drugs:
- cholesterol-lowering medications such as cholestyramine (Prevalite, Questran) or colestipol (Colestid)
- isotretinoin (Accutane)
- tretinoin (Renova, Retin-A, Vesanoid)
- an antacid such as Tums, Rolaids, Milk of Magnesia, Maalox, and others
- a product that contains bismuth subsalicylate such as Pepto-Bismol
- minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, and over-the-counter vitamin and mineral supplements
- a blood thinner such as warfarin (Coumadin); or
- a penicillin antibiotic such as amoxicillin (Amoxil, Trimox, others), penicillin (BeePen-VK, Pen-Vee K, Veetids, others), dicloxacillin (Dynapen), carbenicillin (Geocillin), oxacillin (Bactocill), and others
This list is not complete and there may be other drugs that can interact with minocycline. Tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start using a new medication without telling your doctor.
What should I avoid while taking Minocycline?
Antibiotic medicines can cause diarrhea, which may be a sign of a new infection. If you have diarrhea that is watery or has blood in it, call your doctor. Do not use any medicine to stop the diarrhea unless your doctor has told you to.
Avoid exposure to sunlight or artificial UV rays (sunlamps or tanning beds). Minocycline can make your skin more sensitive to sunlight and sunburn may result. Use a sunscreen (minimum SPF 15) and wear protective clothing if you must be out in the sun.
Do not take iron supplements, multivitamins, calcium supplements, antacids, or laxatives within 2 hours before or after taking minocycline. These products can make minocycline less effective.
Minocycline Dosage
How should I take Minocycline?
Take this medication exactly as it was prescribed for you. Do not take the medication in larger amounts, or take it for longer than recommended by your doctor. Follow the directions on your prescription label.
Take each dose with a full glass (8 ounces) of water.
You may take this medication with or without food. Do not take the medication with milk or other dairy products, unless your doctor has told you to. Dairy products can make it harder for your body to absorb the medicine. Certain brands of minocycline may not have restrictions about taking them with dairy products. If your doctor has instructed you to take minocycline with milk, tell your pharmacist that you need a brand of minocycline that can be taken with milk.
Do not crush, chew, or break an extended-release tablet (Solodyn). Swallow the pill whole. It is specially made to release medicine slowly in the body. Breaking the pill would cause too much of the drug to be released at one time.
Shake the oral suspension (liquid) well just before you measure a dose. To be sure you get the correct dose, measure the liquid with a marked measuring spoon or medicine cup, not with a regular table spoon. If you do not have a dose-measuring device, ask your pharmacist for one.
Take this medication for the entire length of time prescribed by your doctor. Your symptoms may get better before the infection is completely treated. Minocycline will not treat a viral infection such as the common cold or flu. Do not give this medicine to another person, even if they have the same condition you have.
If you need to have any type of surgery, tell the surgeon ahead of time that you are taking demeclocycline. You may need to stop using the medicine for a short time.
Throw away any unused minocycline when it expires or when it is no longer needed. Do not take any minocycline after the expiration date printed on the label. Using expired minocycline can cause damage to your kidneys.
Store this medication at room temperature away from moisture and heat.
Edited from everydayhealth.com