Gram Negative Folliculitis After Tetracycline

[goodandevil]

Got some really bad cystic acne and the worst dry skin ive had in my life, seems to be abating, anyone else have problems with gram-negative acne after tetracycline? Might try 250 mgs/ day once i fully recover.

 

[goodandevil]

Youd think the tetracycline would prevent thqt, but maybe it's caused by endotoxin? I hav3 w history of appendectomy and long term a/b use for gram-positive (erythromycin), although thatvwas years ago. I get a steven johnson / erythema multiforme rash everytime since then on a/b. Initially incurred EM from lamotrigine. Opiates also cause similar rash, best i can figure it's endotoxin, aothough i read it is common knowledge that tetracycline also interferes with bacteriophages, again i dont know if that's endotoxin-related.

 

[messtafarian]

Are you sure it's acne? Bumps and dry skin sound like a cutaneous allergic reaction. How do you know it's gram negative?

 

[goodandevil]

Are you sure it's acne? Bumps and dry skin sound like a cutaneous allergic reaction. How do you know it's gram negative?

Well i presumed because it's a sequele to tetracyclinex and also comparing pictures. I had large accumulations of lymph or interstitial fluid, some very significant boils under my jaw and on my neck. Presumably infectious, responded to sulfur solution in hljojoba oil. They're resolves to either very productive boils or impetigo lesions. Yku think that could be an allergic reaction? I am allergic to penecillin. Comparing photos and also as i say the association with tetracycline made me suspect graham negative. There was a lot of itching as well.

 

[goodandevil]

I think large vitamin a doses concurrent to the start of the tertracycline course may have caused the dry skin, and exacerbated the problem, could be wrong, it was maybe 20-30k /day

 

[messtafarian]

post 114351

Are you sure it's acne? Bumps and dry skin sound like a cutaneous allergic reaction. How do you know it's gram negative?

Well i presumed because it's a sequele to tetracyclinex and also comparing pictures. I had large accumulations of lymph or interstitial fluid, some very significant boils under my jaw and on my neck. Presumably infectious, responded to sulfur solution in hljojoba oil. They're resolves to either very productive boils or impetigo lesions. Yku think that could be an allergic reaction? I am allergic to penecillin. Comparing photos and also as i say the association with tetracycline made me suspect graham negative. There was a lot of itching as well.

Well...TC is active against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria to some extent so I wouldn't assume the cause is gram negative bacteria, and I wouldn't rule out an allergic reaction. Drug allergies can include nearly *any* inflammatory symptom. Have you tried Benedryl?

 

[goodandevil]

Yes, ibtried benadryl cream, which helped the itching very much. Thiught about trying clobetasol, but didnt wwnt to exacerbate the infection. If it was an allergic condition, wohld it be prudent to expect less of it at 250mg /day?

 

[messtafarian]

Sorry I missed your reply.

How is it doing now?

 

[goodandevil]

Hey, that's allright. It's mostly resolved, apparently. I stopped everything, including thyroid. I've started back up again and what's left seems to be rapidly fading. Still have a lot of drainage. I have a long history of severe scalp acne that went away on t4, might be related. Skin is no longer dry, but have digestive issues again. Im thinking about buying some bulk charcoal powder and methylene blue before i try another round of tetracycline. Found an interesting abstract ill post below. Thanks for checking back bro.

 

[goodandevil]

Abstract
Toxic epidermal necrolysis and Stevens-Johnson syndrome are severe cutaneous drug reactions of unknown mechanism. Nitric oxide can cause apoptosis and necrosis. The inducible form of nitric oxide synthase generates large amounts of nitric oxide and has been described in human skin. We propose that a large burst of nitric oxide in toxic epidermal necrolysis and Stevens-Johnson syndrome may cause the epidermal apoptosis and necrosis. Skin biopsies were taken from seven patients with actively progressing Stevens-Johnson syndrome or toxic epidermal necrolysis. Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase was examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and by immunoperoxidase staining for inducible nitric oxide synthase protein. Messenger RNA for inducible nitric oxide synthase was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and confirmed by the sequencing of polymerase chain reaction products. Strong staining for inducible nitric oxide synthase was observed in inflammatory cells in the lower epidermis and upper dermis. Diffuse, weaker staining was observed in keratinocytes. Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase is consistent with the hypothesis that nitric oxide mediates the epidermal necrosis in toxic epidermal necrolysis and provides a potential target for therapeutic intervention.

Source: Nitric oxide synthase in toxic epidermal necrolysis and Stevens-Johnson syndrome. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[mayweatherking]

tetracycline i believe has some pretty crazy side effects, doesn't it? it's possible you are having a side effect from it, but the cause, who knows what it is. is your thyroid status good? i believe there is a quote from peat that says usually acne will clear away if someone gets on thyroid and has liver 1x a week. are you getting enough vitamin A or how are your temps/pulse? those two things could probably help, if not getting off the medication entirely would help as well. haidut has said methylene blue can be used as an antibiotic as well.

 

[goodandevil]

If it improves gut health as well as tetracycline, that might me j7st what i need.

 

[EIRE24]

If it improves gut health as well as tetracycline, that might me j7st what i need.

Did you say that vitamin A dried your skin out more and caused the acne to be worse?

 

[goodandevil]

Did you say that vitamin A dried your skin out more and caused the acne to be worse?

Yes, indeed. Vitamin e seems to reverse it somewhat, along with pregnenelone.

 

[EIRE24]

Yes, indeed. Vitamin e seems to reverse it somewhat, along with pregnenelone.

I find this contradictory to what the rest of the people say on here about vitamin A. I have dry skin and acne at the moment and I'm not sure what to do, do I take vitamin A or not? Zinc? Is it in the gut? It's extremely frustrating but everyone on here just seems to say vitamin A, vitamin A, vitamin A....

 

[marikay]

I find this contradictory to what the rest of the people say on here about vitamin A. I have dry skin and acne at the moment and I'm not sure what to do, do I take vitamin A or not? Zinc? Is it in the gut? It's extremely frustrating but everyone on here just seems to say vitamin A, vitamin A, vitamin A....

Hi. If you can get vitamin D from the sun (depending on where you live) you may find the dry skin problem goes away quickly. Oral vitamin D never works for me. Ray says he uses topical D in the wintertime. I just use a UVB tanning bed in the dead of winter (beds are getting harder to find though) for vitamin D when the sun doesn't provide UVB rays.

As for the acne, some of it might depend on how much vitamin A you are taking. After reading one of @Hsidut's posts I realized I was taking far too little vitamin A and increased it and got much better results (though I wasn't really having acne problems). To get good results, I think a minimum of 24,000 iu's is called for. @haidut says you can use up to 100,000 IU's and still not overdose (according to a study he has posted here somewhere). I've never known vitamin A to cause dry skin, just to balance out oily skin, among other things.

Hope this helps. Good Luck.

 

[goodandevil]

I find this contradictory to what the rest of the people say on here about vitamin A. I have dry skin and acne at the moment and I'm not sure what to do, do I take vitamin A or not? Zinc? Is it in the gut? It's extremely frustrating but everyone on here just seems to say vitamin A, vitamin A, vitamin A....

In my experience, vitamin A dosage can be very tricky. Ray himself cautions against too much vitamin A interefering with thyroid function in the same manner as PUFA. Excess vitamin A can take a long time to deplete. I have severe gut problems as well, i think i'm particularly hypothyroid. The tetracycline seemed to contribute as well, i think i had a temporary endotoxin increase. My gut problems are so severe that every vein becomes apparent in my palms after i take a dump, so perhaps im an exceptional case.