4 doses of Doxycycline turned my life upside down.

[Joanne61876]

I have had anxiety in the past, but have controlled it without meds for 5 years. On Thursday, July 12th, I was diagnosed with Rosacea and put on Doxycycline. By Saturday, July 15th, I was in the ER with a massive panic attack. I hadn’t had one in so long, I truly thought it was an allergic reaction. The doctor said I possibly had an adverse reaction to the drug and to stop and see my primary. I have an appointment for tomorrow. Since Saturday and stopping the med, I have a little relief, but I get these waves of intense panic and negative thoughts. I am hoping they subside with time. Has anyone else gone through this and have you been able to get back to normal? What could be in an antibiotic that would wreak havoc on a person this way?

[Paxiled]

Yes, antibiotics can cause this.  It's not necessarily an allergic reaction, which would more likely manifest as skin problems or breathing difficulties, not anxiety.  It's because antibiotics kill things in the body besides what they're targeting, and these things are part of normal mental health.  Some of this you've heard of, which is your probiotics.  Antibiotics are indiscriminate killers.  Knowing this should ease your mind, and if you do ease your mind, this probably goes away.  If it lingers, it means the experience so frightened you the brain internalized the feelings, and so if it lasts, therapy might be a good thing to do to learn some relaxation techniques, maybe learn some meditation or hypnosis, and get rid of it so it doesn't become chronic.  But I'm guessing just knowing this is one of the reasons medical experts are trying, so far futilely, to stop giving out antibiotics so freely will allow you to relax back down.  If you look at the archives on this forum, there are several threads with people getting this reaction -- it's not what happens to most people, but it happens to a lot of people.  Peace.

[Joanne61876]

Thank you. Are you aware of any antibiotic that doesn’t cause this? Ofcourse I’m going to ask my doctor today, but seems like now I’m anxious about taking one at all. Is a probiotic pill something to consider in your experience? This was so disturbing and the panic was not the normal type I recall, for me, anyway. It was far more intense and totally out of the blue. Saddens me to know that after all this time an antibiotIc can cause a setback, but I also don’t want to be a victim to it. I need to get back to where i was.

[Paxiled]

I would personally go to the best health food store near me and buy the best multi-spectrum probiotic they have in the refrigerated section of the store and take it for awhile.  But we have a lot more probiotics than are in supplement form, still, it's a very good thing to do whenever you take an antibiotic.  All antibiotics can cause this, doesn't mean they will, just that they can.  You might want to try alternative medicine for the rosacea and skip the antibiotic at least until this calms down.  It's a hard thing to treat, and antibiotics don't generally get rid of it for good, just temporarily at best, so the risk might not be worth the reward.  Do some homework on this condition and see where you come out.  For not, the important thing isn't a red face, it's not becoming chronically anxious, so deal with that first.  Then move on.