Doxycycline Capsules 100mg (50)

Doxycycline is a pharmaceutical antibiotic that is available in 100mg capsules, used to treat a wide range of infections such as gum inflammation and abscesses. 

What is Doxycycline used for?

Doxycycline contains the active substance Doxycycline and is an antibiotic belonging to a group of medicines called tetracyclines.

Doxycycline is used to treat many different types of infections including: 

Chest, lung or nasal infections e.g. acute worsening of chronic bronchitis, pneumonia,  sinusitis - Urinary tract infections (the passage through which urine passes) e.g. cystitis, urethritis - Soft tissue and skin infection (including acne) - Eye infections - Sexually transmitted diseases e.g. gonorrhoea, syphilis, chlamydia - Fevers associated with louse or tick-borne infections - Malaria, when chloroquine is not effective - Gangrene, tetanus, bacterial infections caught from contaminated water or certain animals (e.g. cattle, poultry and rodents).

Doxycycline capsules are also used to prevent certain infections developing, these are scrub typhus (a disease carried by small insects), travellers’ diarrhoea, malaria and leptospirosis (a bacterial infection).

Your doctor may want you to take Doxycycline capsules to treat another infection not listed above.  

You may also be prescribed an additional medicine to take with Doxycycline capsules to treat your infection. You must talk to your doctor if you do not feel better or if you feel worse. 

What do you need to know before taking Doxycycline Capsules?

Do not take Doxycycline capsules:

• If you are allergic to doxycycline, any other tetracycline antibiotic or any of the other ingredients of this medicine.
• If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant.
• If you are breastfeeding.

You should not use Doxycycline capsules during periods of tooth development (pregnancy, infancy or in children below 8 years old) as such use may lead to permanent discolouration (yellow-grey-brown) or affect the proper growth of the teeth.

There may be circumstances (e.g., severe or life-threatening conditions), where your physician may decide that the benefits outweigh this risk in children below 8 years and Doxycycline capsules should be prescribed. 

Warnings and precautions of Doxycycline

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking Doxycycline if any of the following apply to you:  

• You are likely to be exposed to strong sunlight or uv light (e.g. on a sun bed). You should avoid exposure to strong sunlight while taking this medicine as your skin may be more sensitive to sunburn than normal.
• You have kidney or liver problems. 
• You have myasthenia gravis (a disease which causes unusual tiredness and weakness of certain muscles, particularly in the eyelid).
• You have porphyria (a rare disease of blood pigments). 
• You have (or have ever had) systemic lupus erythematosus (an allergic condition that causes joint pain, skin rashes and fever). This condition may be worsened by taking Doxycycline capsules.
• You are suspected as having syphilis. Your doctor will continue to monitor you after your treatment has stopped.
• You have diarrhoea or usually get diarrhoea when you take antibiotics or have suffered from problems with your stomach or intestines. If you develop severe or prolonged or bloody diarrhoea during or after using Doxycycline capsules, tell your doctor immediately since it may be necessary to interrupt the treatment. This may be a sign of bowel inflammation (pseudomembranous colitis) which can occur following treatment with antibiotics.
• You are taking oral retinoids as there is a higher risk of suffering from increased pressure in your skull (severe headache with change in vision) when taken with Doxycycline capsules.
• You have oesophagitis (inflammation of the oesophagus or gullet). 

When used for a long duration, Doxycycline capsules may cause infections that cannot be treated with this antibiotic.

Your doctor can explain the signs and symptoms of such types of infection. If you need to have tests on your urine be sure to let the doctor know you are taking Doxycycline capsules, as this medicine may affect the results of these tests. 

Other medicines and Doxycycline 

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking, have recently taken or might take any other medicines, including medicines you have obtained without a prescription.

If you are taking any of the medicines listed below tell your doctor before taking Doxycycline capsules. 

Do not take Doxycycline capsules: 

• If you are taking penicillin for infection.
• If you have the anaesthetic methoxyflurane. 

Some medicines can reduce the effectiveness of Doxycycline capsules - these include:

• Antacids (indigestion remedies), iron preparations, oral zinc or bismuth. These should not be taken at the same time of day as Doxycycline capsules.
• Carbamazepine, phenytoin (medicines used to control epilepsy) and barbiturates (used to control epilepsy or as a sedative).

Doxycycline capsules can affect the action of some other medicines - these include:

• Any drugs which prevent blood clotting (e.g. warfarin)
• Reduced effectiveness of oral contraceptives (birth control pills), any antacids (indigestion remedies) containing calcium, aluminium or magnesium, or any iron preparations
• Preparations containing zinc
• Bismuth salts (used in the treatment of stomach ulcers and piles)
• Carbamazepine or phenytoin (treatments for epilepsy), or any barbiturates (sedatives)
• Ciclosporin, a drug used to suppress the body’s natural defences against infection
• Tell your doctor or dentist you are taking Doxycycline if you are due to have surgery (including dental procedures) requiring anaesthetic, as the dose of Doxycycline may need to be reduced or stopped before have an anaesthetic. 

Taking Doxycycline with food, drink and alcohol

Alcohol may reduce the effect of Doxycycline capsules and should be avoided. 

Pregnancy and breastfeeding with Doxycycline 

If you are pregnant or breast-feeding, think you may be pregnant or planning to have a baby, as this medicine can cause problems with the colour and development of teeth and the bone development of the unborn child or young infant.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before taking this medicine.

Doxycycline capsules must not be taken if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. 

Driving and using machines with Doxycycline 

• This medicine should not affect your ability to drive or use machines. 

How to take Doxycycline Capsules

Always take this medicine exactly as your doctor or pharmacist has told you. Check with your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure. 

• The capsules should be swallowed with plenty of water.
• It is best to take your capsules at the same time(s) each day, when sitting or while standing.
• It is important not to lie down for at least thirty minutes after taking Doxycycline capsules, so that the capsule can move as swiftly as possible into the stomach and prevent irritation of the throat or oesophagus (canal taking food from the mouth to the stomach).
• For the treatment of infections, Doxycycline capsules can be taken with or without food.
• For the treatment of acne, it is recommended to take Doxycycline capsules with food or a drink.
• If Doxycycline capsules upset your stomach, then taking it with food or milk is recommended. 

What do Doxycycline Capsules contain?

• Each 100mg Doxycycline capsule contains 100mg of doxycycline equivalent to approximately 115.41mg of doxycycline hyclate. 
• The other ingredients are: Hypromellose, Sodium lauryl sulphate, Microcrystalline cellulose, Magnesium stearate. The capsule shell contains: gelatin and titanium dioxide (E171). 
• Doxycycline 100 mg capsules also contain Brilliant Blue (E133) and Iron Oxide Yellow (E172). 

References and useful links for more information on Doxycycline Capsules:

• NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/doxycycline/ 
• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/doxycycline/  
• Report an issue with a medicine to the MHRA Yellow Card scheme: https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/  

Contents

• 50 x 100mg Doxycycline Capsules