Scared of taking Doxycline/ Prenisone

[Kenny220]

I was just prescribed Doxycline and Prenisone for an infected bug bite or pimple, and have read that people have thrown up from it. Is there a good way to take or, or should I wait until tomorrow morning to call the doctor and ask for a different medicine like Amoxicillin, which I know agrees with me. I also didn't mention my emetophobia.

[AIR32]

I took that when I was younger, my dermatologist prescribed it for acne. I don't remember any stomach issues at all I just remember getting headaches from it. As far as prednisone goes I have had that quite a few times and so has my daughter and a bunch of other people in my family and no one has ever gotten sick from that only side effect was a lot of energy which was nice! I think you will be fine. There is a website that tells you the % of people who have had what ever side effect and vomiting is only 8.1% nausea said up to 13.4% which both are very low. The headaches were most common over 26%. Hope that helps you!

[mhartse]

I do believe I took that one time and never had any issues. Also I have a reaction to the -cillin's and I think they're a little worse.

[mdgirl1977]

also keep in mind that pharma companies have to list every single thing reported to them even if it unrelated to the medication itself....so just because it says it may cause something doesn't mean there is a correlative effect. try one med alone and eat before. if you do fine, take the next one at another time (ie if they are both twice daily take one in the am and if you are fine take both at night bc you know the first one didn't make you feel yucky). make sense?

[jkl81]

Doxy is usually pretty well tolerated, but unless directed otherwise by your physician, you really need to eat with it, That usually seems to be the thing that allows people to avoid the stomach issues. Your bug bite/pimple is probably either a spider bite or a staph infection. If it was bad enough to go to the doctor for, you should probably take an antibiotic. I have avoided antibiotics with similar places before, but I could not in good conscience recommend it. It wasn't very safe. As long as it's localized, it's just painful, but these infections can quickly become systemic and you can lose the affected digit or limb or even die from an overdose of the toxins produced by the staph bacteria. If it is localized and you have no symptoms of a systemic infection, you could probably wait and call the doctor and ask about a different antibiotic or perhaps an antiemetic to take with the Doxycycline. Your doctor might have jumped to Doxy because Amoxicillin is a methicillin antibiotic and quite a few stapyhlococcus bacteria are now methicillin resistant (aka MRSA). If it was a common staph infection something like cephalexin or even your amoxicillin would resolve it, but without culturing it, no one knows for sure what exactly it is. Please let us know what you decided to do and what the results were. I hope you feel better.

[Goingmonkeys]

I took Doxycycline once, and from my experience... please eat with it. A lot. A huge heavy meal, you won't feel anything. I once took it after eating a light meal, and nearly died I was so nauseous. I researched it and most people advised to eat eat eat! before taking it. I made sure I was good and stuffed... ta-da! No issues. I took it for a week, 2 pills a day.

[reevagee]

you MUST drink w doxy. i take it all the time. eat and drink it down with a FULL glass of water!!!! this pill once opened in my esophagus because i took it with a pb and jelly sandwich.. HORRIBLE..

[Goingmonkeys]

you MUST drink w doxy. i take it all the time. eat and drink it down with a FULL glass of water!!!! this pill once opened in my esophagus because i took it with a pb and jelly sandwich.. HORRIBLE..

I second this, and also forgot to mention the water thing. Full glass of water is mandatory, and DO NOT lay down after taking the pill. Doxycycline has a reputation for burning holes in the esophagus if you lay down immediately after. Give it an hour before attempting to.

[Kenny220]

Thanks for the advice. I talked to the doctor and she switched me to Augmenton, which I have taken before with no problems. I probably an take Doxy if I absolutely need to if I eat and drink enough before, since I took it once or twice without any side effects.

[jkl81]

Good deal. I hope it knocks the infection out. Otherwise it's a long, painful process even if you don't get really sick with the infection.

[joeylynn]

I second this, and also forgot to mention the water thing. Full glass of water is mandatory, and DO NOT lay down after taking the pill. Doxycycline has a reputation for burning holes in the esophagus if you lay down immediately after. Give it an hour before attempting to.

Third, I was one of the unfortunate ones who got a hole burned in my esophagus from not drinking a full glass of water with my pill and lying down right away....IT WAS THE WORST PAIN I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED and I had no idea what it was....on the bright side I do take it at night without food and have never had a problem with n* but I cannot take erythomycian or tetracycline at all!

[jkl81]

Another person here in the emet community experienced that problem with Doxycycline, maybe not a hole in the esophagus but definitely a bad burn. Be careful with it. It's very useful but has an obvious downside.