acne - antibiotics
 

so i've suffered from acne since i was super young. i was prescribed cephalexin for the last two years, one in the morning and one at night. all my family doctor says to me is, "you still got a lot of acne" my reply is, "those are not acne i don't have any acne on my face, those are SCARS". however, i still get acne back when i stop taking the cephalexin for a couple weeks. i need to stop because im sure all these antibiotic is really messing me up and isn't a long term solution.
do any of you guys know how bad the side effects are for long term usage of cephalexin? any recommendations?

The commonly known problem is that as the use of antibiotics becomes more and more widespread, the bacteria become more and more resistant. This is especially common when people quit their antibiotics prescription halfway through because they "feel fine"; some of the surviving bacteria then mutate into more resistant strains.

I don't think you're doctor should of prescribed two years worth use of antibiotics, most acne medicine (oral) are submitted to a 6 months period in which you discontinue use. Although I'm not a health professional, I would recommend possibly reducing dosage if you wish to stop treatment of cephalexin. (maybe one pill everyday instead of two that way it's easy for your body to adjust to the changes)

Another thing I would recommend is to get your general practice to refer you to a dermatologist (specialist in skin) and they can find alternatives (topical treatments) to your situation.

Antibiotic resistance is probably the thing I'd worry about most.. Cephalexin is in a class of one of the most commonly used antibiotics in the hospital.. and considering that new antibiotics haven't been developed for many years now, it'll probably be mainstay of treatment for the upcoming little while as well...

The problem? Say you get into some medical trouble (car crash, get super sick for some reason etc.), and you need to stay at a hospital to treat some kind of infection you might have developed. The bugs that are living within your body are surviving b/c they've developed a resistance to the cephalexin, say an overgrowth of those bugs happens, the docs will have a difficult time trying to cure your bacterial infection if all the bugs are resistant to a big proportion of the drugs that are available..!

I'd also talk to your doc about maybe looking at some other alternative methods for acne control... maybe try the benzoyl peroxide if you haven't gone for a long treatment with topical stuff. Maybe even try out accutane... Cephalexin isn't usually used to treat acne anyway. In the mean time, try to have some yogurt (..or other probiotic type food/supplement) so you don't become over run with drug-resistant bacteria

If I am going for oral medicine for acne, I wouldn't go for longterm antibiotics. Health issues aside, its not as effective as accutane which only requires less than half a year.

As has been mentioned, it's not good to be on antibiotics for so long. The other problem, is that when you stop taking the antibiotics your acne often comes back, because you are not really treating the cause of the problem. The bacteria that the antibiotics kill, are present on everyone's face and are not actually responsible for your acne, although they do play a part in the process, that's why you can usually reduce the inflammation for a while with antibiotics.

The cause of people's acne outbreaks is rooted in their diet and lifestyle choices, which causes an imbalance of hormones that stimulates the sebaceous glands to produce excess oil. Stress can also play a part. That's why facial skin care products fail in the long run for so many people. Even if they do get some initial success (and usually only people with mild acne do), the acne usually comes back if they stop using the products, because they were only treating the symptoms of the problem.

If you are an acne sufferer, you have to target the root cause to get your skin clear for good. I used to have bad acne, and i used almost every skin care product out there, believe me. But none of them worked.

I got rid of it in the end, but what you have to do is change your diet and lifestyle, because that's what's causing it. It took me a couple of months, but i've never had any problems since. The free guide on this site http://bestacneproductsx.org can show you the right way to start getting rid of it.

I tried accutane for a while, and I really don't recommend using it. The numerous bad side effects that can come with it, dry skin, liver damage, hair loss, depression etc. are not worth risking. There is no need to put your health at risk in this manner. It does help to clear up acne for a lot of people, but this is often not a permanent thing, as accutane really only targets the symptoms of your acne problem rather than the cause, and many people find that it comes back again in the future.

thanks for the replies! i spoke to my doctor before regarding accutane and he said no doctors should be using it because it causes lung cancer......i don't believe it but hey im not a doctor.
i think im going to pay more attention to my diet and lifestyle and find myself a dermatologist in the mean time.

^^ The diet is true.

Yet I'm a "survivor" of using Accutane. I had only 1 side effect, dry skin, and my acne cleared it up after 8 months of treatment.

If your just seeing your normal family doctor/GP then I do recommend you tell him to give you a reference to a dermatologist. Depending on your location, Dr. Gary Tullis @ Metrotown, was a good dermatologist who I've gone to for years when problems arise.

:thumbsup: GL, acne's never a nice thing.

PS. A dermatologist might beable to fix the acne scarring on your face too.

Any tips on getting rid of the scarring and prints from acne?

bump

Are you talking about actual pitted scars or just pigmentation?

I once took an antibiotic for acne I think it was called tetrocyclene it worked pretty good and was not long term. Ask your doctor

Use minocycline, it was very effective for me

cephalexin is an odd choice for acne... usually used for skin and soft tissue infections... but not acne...

Usually minocycline or even doxycycline would be more commonly used... are you allergic to medications in this family? (tetracyclines)

I would also echo that you should get a referral to a dermatologist as well. Be forewarned, depending on the severity of your acne, they may indeed want you to try accutane. At that time, talk to them about risks/benefits. There are alot of side effects, but many people will have great results from it. You will have to make a tough choice.

i decided to stop taking antibiotic just after i started this thread. i just made sure i drank enough water a day, ate lots of fruits and vegetables, benzoyl peroxide every night before sleeping and i also changed my sunscreen.
My conclusion, it worked. my scars are fading, my super red T zone area is pretty much back to normal except for my nose, and i just get the odd 1 or 2 pimples from time to time.