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Doxycycline Depression

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Posted 1/17/2011 4:56 AM (GMT 0)
Hi. I've noticed there is already a forum topic that already has to do with this one but it is locked and I cannot tell my story. A little background about my story that I will try to keep as short as possible. I am a 21 year old male, turning 22 this year, and have suffered from acne since I was 15 (not so much now but still). So anyways, about 2 months ago i started a cycle of something that sounded like Doxycycline but wasn't, I forgot what it was called but apparently as my derm told me its just an alternative to doxy if doxy doesn't work, or vice-versa. Anyways, after a few weeks acne was getting worse, so I went back and my doc prescribed me doxy which I have been taking for a good 3 weeks now, maybe more I'm not sure. Over the time when taking the first prescribed medication that I explained, I began feeling a little depressed, but nothing out of the ordinary cause I am always depressed about acne. After stopping that medication because it wasn't working, i switched over to Doxy and here I am now more depressed than you can imagine. I took a few weeks off of work cause I told my manager I was depressed (he is my friend so he understood). I am doing a 1 year course Sound Engineering and I am not excited at all about it anymore. I feel worthless, I have frequent thoughts of suicide, everything including things I love bore me, I often just go in my bed and lay down, sometimes sleep during the day. I don't go out anymore (I didn't do anything this new years, I visited family for a few hrs then went home). I know some people are gonna say (you already feel depressed from acne, so it must be that). No it really isnt because that feeling I normally feel about my krappy acne, is a different feeling than what I'm feeling right now. Basically my acne right now isn't what's bothering me. I honestly have no idea what it is. It is a depressive heavy feeling in my chest that omits off feelings of worthlessness... I can't explain it... I don't know what to do anymore I would appreciate someones opinion. I hate my life... ugh

PS - I tried to keep it short. I don't talk to anyone about my problems... that could be why this turned out to be longer than I wanted.

Post Edited (mrcantcatchabreak) : 1/16/2011 9:59:10 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/17/2011 9:01 AM (GMT 0)
Have you talked to your dermatologist about the side effects? There are LOTS of meds to treat acne & though I know it can be physically and emotionally painful, I would rather live & have a job & stuff than die with clear skin. Maybe they can pull you off the doxy & then see what else might work.

Beyond that, it's not really that common to be severely depressed from acne. I had the severe, painful kind & still wasn't depressed from it. I wasn't happy about it. I hated taking pictures. Went to the dermatologist to get accutane, which only helped enough to prevent permanent scarring ... a bit frustrating. But I wasn't clinically depressed. If quitting the doxy isn't enough to resolve your depression, it may be time to reconsider professional help.
Posted 1/17/2011 1:51 PM (GMT 0)
Have you talked to the doctor about your depression? Maybe you could take something temporarily to fight it until it goes away.

The thread was probably locked because it got too long. We do get a lot of people with this complaint, so you are truly not the only one.

I hope that the depression goes away for you. Talk to your doc about it please.

Have a good day.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 1/17/2011 9:22 PM (GMT 0)
Frances and getting by thank you very much for replying to my topic. Well no I havn't told my derm yet about what has been happening. I know it has to be the meds because when I wasn't on them, I wasn't really depressed about my acne. I was used to it, and at that time anyways it wasn't that bad. it got worse, and now its a lot better again... BUT still I am depressed beyond belief, and I rarely think about my acne so I know it CANT be that. It's just an underlying feeling of worthlessness and a heavy feeling in my chest pretty often, moreso at night. I have also asked for other alternatives to this drug, and Accutane came up. And I said noooooo thankyou. I already took a 5month course a long time ago. It helped a lot, but guess it didn't get rid of my problem, and ontop of it all that drug is really dangerous with all those side effects. I wish derms would tell you the side effects of the drug. My derm never told me about the side effects of Doxy... I didn't ask but still, I pay like 30 bucks every time I go see her so I expect atleast that. Well, at the moment I don't have a family doctor because she quit. She was the sweetest lady in the world!!! but I definitly will seek help, I just don't think therapy is a good alternative right now but we'll see what the professionals say.

Thank you very much Frances and Karen

Hugs and god bless you,
Andrew
Posted 1/17/2011 9:47 PM (GMT 0)
Andrew,
I wasn't necessarily recommending accutane. It did keep me from getting scars, but the monthly liver function tests certainly were disconcerting.
But nothing is worth staying on something that is causing you to consider taking your life. Call your doctor & tell them you have an emergency and need to talk to the doctor or at least a nurse. They shouldn't make you come in just b/c you are having horrible side effects. It's up to your doctor, but I really think you're better off with the worst possible acne than life-threatening side effects. The awful thing is that even if the docs did go over the most common side effects, there are always things that occur rarely -- which is the case with what you're experiencing with doxy. The only meds I didn't get icky side effects from were the topicals. They didn't do a great job of clearing up my skin, but they did help some & at least weren't horrible to take. They tend to be quite costly but usually my derm gave me plenty of samples.
Crazily enough, it seems like the OTC stuff can end up working nearly as well as prescriptions. Sadly, no one product line works for all people. I finally found that DHC works fantastic for me. But I know other people who have used Neutrogena or Proactive or whatever & while they didn't work for me, they got great results for some of my friends.

If you do decide to try more prescriptions, pharmacists are usually the best resources for finding out about side effects. For general info about classes of acne meds & their side effects, you can check out the Mayo Clinic site:
www.mayoclinic.com/health/acne/DS00169/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs
Posted 1/17/2011 10:13 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Frances. You are right. I rather not take any acne medication actually, but the only ones my derm recommended for my case... even though I actually don't have that many pimples... were Accutane, Doxy and something thats pretty much exactly the same as Doxy (forgot the name). I am currently using topical sometimes and VERY little of it because I don't want it to damage my skin AKA age it. I'm 21 for gods sake... It sucks at my age that i've felt one of the most deepest depressions someone can feel. Thank you for the information Frances I will talk to my derm but I also want too talk to a family doctor about this, but I must go find a new one... Ugh...

What I use now is Cetaphil Cleanser twice a day morning and night, with a weak bp followed by the night rinse, VERY little of it spread over my face and that's it. I barely have any acne right now, I was really depressed about it before but now it doesn't really bother me as much... although this feeling that the Doxy gives me in my chest and all these feelings im feeling for no reason that don't have a backup to why I'm feeling them (feeling worthless?). why do I feel that way... I mean... not to brag but I'm a music producer, once I graduate from school I might have a shot to make it in the music industry... yet I feel like utter garbage... anyways sorry for typing so much, I have a million things to say.

Anyways thank you very much for the info Frances,
I appreciate your time,

Andrew
Posted 1/19/2011 6:11 AM (GMT 0)
for frances,

scool   scool scool smurf smurf smurf scool scool scool smurf smurf smurf jamie.

Posted 8/29/2013 12:33 PM (GMT 0)
Hi there. I know this is late but wanted to put this out there. I came across this sight because I googled doxycycline and depression. I had. Even taking a probiotic for a couple months and bad been feeling better than I had felt my whole life. Mood emotional well being and issues of ADD feeling like they were being totally resolved. Went to doctor for unresolved female issue and he put me on a 7 day cycle of doxycycline - cannot believe how quickly my mood dropped and ADD back with a vengeance!! I am not surprised that others are reporting the same thing re depression. I can't say that I am totally depressed but mood way down and no drive etc. this would not be fun if it continued for any length of time. I will do the 7 days and then will go back on the probiotics to see if they work like they did before.
Also I wanted to mention that my kids took doxycycline for acne about 2 years Go and it worked for a while and quite working. I saw on another blog that people had good results with fish oil so we tried it. My sons took a table spoon the first day of carlsons? Very finest fish oil from whole foods and within a few HOURS their very red skin was no longer red. They continued to take 1-2 teaspoons daily and within about 1-2 weeks their very deep cystic acne was completely gone!! Several years later now when they get a few pimples they take a little fish oil and they go away. FYI my sister didnt have the same results with her son ??
Posted 8/29/2013 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you Mags for your post and welcome to the forum. I know you know that this is an older thread, but I am sure everybody will appreciate your information that you shared. I want you to feel free to start a new thread of your own to introduce yourself if you are comfortable with that. If not, no worries. I think you will like posting here and reading threads. It is a very relaxed place where you can just kick back and chat with others.


I take fish oil daily. I take in in gel caps though and the kind that doesn't make you burp. I can't stand the taste of it so I wouldn't be able to take it without being in a gelcap.

I hope you don't get too depressed. Talking here helps. Everybody is really supportive.

Take care and have a good day...

Hugs, Karen...
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