Doxycycline for Chlamydia

Doxycycline is a tetracycline antibiotic, this antibiotic prevents bacteria making proteins and slows or stops their growth and reproduction. It is used to treat many infections of the skin, gums, eyes, respiratory system, reproductive system and urinary tract. It is also used as a preventative medication to prevent malaria, travellers’ diarrhoea, scrub typhus and leptospirosis.

The doxycycline cure rate has been reported at 98 % and it is therefore very effective for treating infections. In effect only 2 out of every 100 people treated with doxycycline will still have an infection after the antibiotic treatment is completed. This it is why it is important to go back to see your doctor or talk with a health professional to ensure that the treatment has worked. If you still have symptoms you may be within the small percentage of people for whom the treatment doesn’t work.


Dose of Doxycycline

Follow your doctors or pharmacist instructions about the dose you are required to take. As a general guide; on the first day you would take 1 or 2 doses of 200 mg. Then daily, for 7-10 days a single dose of 100 mg. Under some circumstances the daily dose may be as much as 200-300 mg for 7-10 days.

Is Doxycycline for Chlamydia Safe?

Doxycycline is safe to take provided that you are not over 15 weeks pregnant, you do not have any existing medical conditions, you are not taking any other medicines and you are over 12 years old. You should talk with your doctor before taking this medicine if you have diabetes or any disease or disorder affecting your kidneys or liver.  Diabetes, Stevens-Johnson syndrome (particular relating to ocular symptoms), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), kidney and liver problems may be exasperated if you take doxycycline. This antibiotic may be naturally removed from your body and processed by the liver and kidneys. If your kidney or liver function is impaired, doxycycline may on rare occasions build up and cause toxicity. You should therefore consult your doctor before taking this medication if you suffer from diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus, myasthenia gravis or any disease or disorder of the kidney or liver.

Rarely, you may be allergic to this medicine and commonly you may experience some side effects when taking Doxycycline (see Doxycycline side effects section).

Taking Doxycycline with other medicines

Don’t take doxycycline if you are allergic to tetracycline or sulfites (check with your doctor if you are not sure).

Ask your pharmacist or doctor if it is safe to take doxycycline, if you are taking any medications that are prescribed for diabetes, other infections, epilepsy, and acne or to prevent heart disease, or as an anesthetic or as an immunosuppressant (normally following transplant surgery). If you are taking the oral contraceptive pill to prevent pregnancy and experience sickness or diarrhea after taking doxycycline your pill may not work properly. You should use extra protection against pregnancy if and whilst you experience vomiting or diarrhea. The oral typhoid vaccine will not work properly if it is administered whilst you are taking doxycycline.

Be aware that if you are taking remedies and medicines containing aluminium, calcium, iron magnesium, bismuth and zinc salts, these will reduce the effect of doxycycline by reducing the amount of the medicine that your body absorbs and this can prevent the treatment from being effective. Medicines such as laxatives, antacids and vitamin supplements may contain these minerals. To counter act the effects of these other remedies you can take doxycycline 2 hours before preparations like vitamins, laxatives or antacids that may contain the above minerals.  Alternatively you may wait until 3 hours after you have taken other remedies before taking doxycycline.

Taking Doxycycline during Pregnancy

Doxycycline should not be taken if you are more than 15 weeks pregnant because this may harm your baby. If you are more than 15 weeks pregnant and have already taken doxycycline or are breast feeding, your baby may develop tooth discoloration and their bones may grow to a smaller than expected size. Doxycycline can be taken if you are less than 15 weeks pregnant because no adverse effects have been reported.

Children under 12 years old may also have grey/discoloured teeth as a result of taking this medicine and it may also detrimentally affect the development of their bones.

Taking Doxycycline with Alcohol

It is not recommended that you take alcohol with doxycycline because some forms of alcohol or high alcohol intake may reduce the amount of medicine absorbed into your body. This may cause the treatment to fail to cure the infection. You should talk to your doctor about using alcohol and taking doxycycline. In some circumstances the dose prescribed may be adjusted to counteract the effect of alcohol consumption.

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