Doxycycline Capsules

Doxycycline is an antibiotic used to treat a range of bacterial infections, including chlamydia. Doxycycline is the first choice treatment option for chlamydia because it is proven to be highly effective.^[1]

Usually, 1 capsule is taken twice a day for 7 days.

Chlamydia is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease (STI) in the world. A recent WHO estimate put chlamydia infection rates at 127 million per year.  It’s most common amongst teenagers and young people, and is transmitted through unprotected sex.

Common symptoms include:

• painful urination
• discharge from the vagina, penis or anus
• in women, pain in the stomach and bleeding after sex
• in men, pain and swelling in the testicles

Some people do not experience symptoms when they have chlamydia. It’s advised that men and women under 25 who regularly engage in unprotected sex get tested for chlamydia once a year.

To get treatment for chlamydia, you need to provide us with a positive test result. You can get a test at your local sexual health clinic, or through your GP, and upload the result for our clinicians to review. If your test returns a positive result, we can offer you treatment.

If your partner has tested positive for chlamydia you can start treatment without providing a test result for yourself. You don’t need to wait for the test result to come back before beginning your treatment.

It’s recommended you have another test three weeks after your treatment, to see if it has worked.

Doxycycline is also an anti-malarial treatment and is taken by those travelling to areas where there is a high risk of malaria.

Malaria is a tropical disease spread by mosquitoes. Malaria enters the bloodstream when an infected mosquito bites a person. It is serious and can be fatal if left untreated.

Symptoms usually appear one to two weeks after being bitten, and include:

• feeling hot and shivery
• fever (temperature of 38C or above)
• diarrhoea
• vomiting
• muscle pain
• headaches  .

Malaria is found mainly in tropical regions, including Central and Southern America, Africa and Asia.

Doxycycline kills the infection by attacking the bacteria that cause it and stopping it from multiplying. Doxycycline passes into the bacteria and binds to the protein chains within it. This weakens the bacteria and prevents them from thriving.

You should be infection free within 7-14 days of finishing the course (but you should still wait two full weeks until after finishing the course before having sex).

Doxycycline contains an active ingredient called doxycycline hyclate. If the malaria parasite enters the body, doxycycline hyclate first prevents it from growing and then kills it. It can be useful for regions where Chloroquine resistant strains of malaria are present.

It’s a bit different to other antimalarial treatments for malaria like Lariam, which aren’t antibiotics. But it works in a very similar way, by stopping the parasite from reproducing.

If you don’t have a positive test result but your partner has tested positive, you’ll need to take a test before you start your course of treatment.

If you’ve got a positive test result, your clinician will usually tell you to take one 100mg capsules twice daily for 7 days.

You should take Doxycycline as follows:

• swallow each capsule whole with a glass of water
• take your capsules at the same time each day
• sit or stand when taking your capsules
• avoid lying down for thirty minutes after taking your capsules because it needs to move straight to your stomach
• if you experience stomach irritation, take your capsules with milk or a meal.

Doxycycline takes about 7 days to kill the chlamydia infection, although some clinical studies show that it can take as little as 3 days.^[1]

After finishing your course of treatment you should wait for at least 7 days before having vaginal sex, anal sex, oral sex or sharing toys, so that you don’t risk passing on the infection to someone else.

When you take Doxycycline to prevent malaria, your clinician will usually tell you to:

• Take one 100mg capsule once a day.
• You’ll start taking the capsule 2 days before you travel, take it whilst you are in the high-risk area and continue to take it for 28 days after you get back.
• Take your capsules at the same time each day with a glass of water.

To cover the extra days around your trip, you should order one capsule for each day that you are away, plus 30. It’s also a good idea to bring a few extra in case of flight delays (or in case you love your holiday so much you don’t want to come home).

If you make a mistake when taking Doxycycline, it’s important that you contact your clinician. If you’re taking it for chlamydia you may need to restart the course or take a different treatment. It’s really important not to have sex until you have completed a full course of treatment exactly as prescribed by your clinician because you risk passing on the infection to someone else.

If you make a mistake when taking Doxycycline for malaria you may need to take extra precautions to stay protected.

If you forget to take your medicine, you shouldn’t take a double dose. Take your tablet as soon as you remember, and then continue the course of treatment as prescribed.

You should contact our clinician if you have any questions about how to take your medicine.