Lymecycline

What is Lymecycline?

Lymecycline is a treatment for bacterial acne. It’s an antibiotic capsule that you swallow everyday. Bacterial acne is caused by inflammation and an overgrowth of bacteria on your skin, often on the face. Lymecycline effectively brings down your acne, unclogs your pores and encourages healthy skin.

It can also treat other skin conditions like hidradenitis suppurativa and perioral dermatitis (although it’s used off-label for these conditions). Hidradenitis suppurativa is a skin condition that causes painful lumps to form under the skin and perioral dermatitis is a rash around the mouth. As they’re both caused by inflammation and are aggravated by bacteria, Lymecycline helps to control flare-ups and alleviate symptoms.

How does Lymecycline work for acne?

Lymecycline is a type of antibiotic called a tetracycline. It fights bacterial acne from the inside out by bringing down inflammation and killing off bad bacteria. It does this by stopping your body from making a protein which causes an overgrowth of the C. acnes bacteria, which can contribute to and cause acne.^[1]

It also helps reduce the levels of bad bacteria on the surface of the skin. This stops any remaining acne lesions from getting infected and makes them less red and raised. The anti-inflammatory effects of Lymecycline bring down the symptoms of perioral dermatitis and hidradenitis suppurativa too. The antibiotic effects also stop the sores from hidradenitis suppurativa from becoming too inflamed or painful.

What doses of Lymecycline are there?

Lymecycline is more quickly absorbed than the medication that it’s derived from (tetracycline), so you don’t have to take as high a dose for it to work for acne. This can also mean that you get fewer side effects from the medication.

Lymecycline comes in 408mg capsules (equivalent to 300mg of tetracycline base), of which you’ll usually take one a day. For other infections, the dose may be one tablet twice a day. If your dose isn’t working for you, let our clinician know. We’ll help you figure out the right treatment and dosage for you.

How to take Lymecycline

Your clinician can tell you exactly how to take Lymecycline. If you have questions or concerns, ask our clinician — they should be able to point you in the right direction.

• Swallow the capsules whole while standing or sitting upright, and avoid taking it just before lying down or going to bed.
• Drink a glass of water while taking Lymecycline.
• You can take your capsules with or without food.
• Try to take your Lymecycline capsules around the same time each day. You can use alarms or reminder apps to make sure you remember.
• Keep taking your Lymecycline for as long as you’ve been prescribed it. Don’t stop taking them without the approval of your clinician.
• If you take medications or supplements with calcium, aluminium, magnesium, zinc or iron in them, wait for two hours before and after swallowing Lymecycline to take them.

How long does it take Lymecycline to work?

For acne, Lymecycline is usually prescribed for eight to twelve weeks. You might find your acne is looking much better before then, but talk to a clinician before you stop taking it. If you don’t see any improvement by the time your course of Lymecycline is nearly over, chat to your clinician or message us. It might be worth trying a different treatment.

For perioral dermatitis or hidradenitis suppurativa, you might take Lymecycline for a different length of time depending on your symptoms. You’ll usually take it until your symptoms disappear, or for a few months. If you talk to us about your health, we’ll find the right treatment plan for you.

What do I do if I make a mistake while taking Lymecycline?

If you forget to take your Lymecycline at the usual time, take it as soon as you remember. Although if it’s nearly time for your next capsule, skip the missed dose and carry on with your treatment as normal. Don’t increase your dose to make up for the missed capsule.

If you take too much Lymecycline, get medical attention. Make sure you bring the packaging of the medication with you so that they know what you’ve taken and how much.

If you’re taking the contraceptive pill and Lymecycline gives you vomiting or diarrhoea, it may be less effective against pregnancy. Use an extra method of contraception like a condom and talk to your clinician if you need more advice.