Adoxa

Dr. Rockoff,

   My 15 year old son started geting acne several months ago. It is worse on the forehead not too bad other places. He has been trying Proactive for about a month and it doesn't seem to be improving the acne. Recently he went to the dermatologist who prescribed Adoxa. Is this a safe antibiotic for him? Also, he loves milk and they say you cannot drink milk with it. Any way around that. Finally, he plays sports and I'm concerned about the precaution to avoid long exposure to sunlight - is this a concern. Thanks for any info you can give.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

It takes most acne treatments 2-3 months to work.  Adoxa is a form of doxycycline.  It works best of milk is drunk a couple of hours before or after taking it, but it isn't necessary to avoid milk altogether.  As for sun, most patients who take doxycycline have no problems in the sun as long as they take appropriate precautions like using sunscreen.  I'm not sure where you live, but in colder climates there isn't going to be enough sun to make a difference in this regard for some time.  You should discuss these and similar matters with your son's dermatologist.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff