Doxycycline

A member of the tetracycline family of antibiotics, doxycycline is used against a variety of inflammatory conditions including Lyme disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and cystic fibrosis. Although the MP antibiotic minocycline is also a tetracycline, doxycycline and minocycline are significantly different from each other – both in terms of structure and function.

Doxycycline's effectiveness over short periods of time is due in part to the relatively high doses at which it is typically administered: 200 mg per day.

The rationale for using minocycline (or demeclocycline) as opposed to doxycycline is as follows:

• Doxycycline does not kill as wide a range of bacteria as minocycline. For example, doxycycline doesn't kill Staphylococcus, a genus found in at least three recent studies in which the human microbiomeThe bacterial community in the human body. Many species in the microbiota contribute to the development of chronic disease. was sequenced. In the absence of immunopathology, some patients may falsely assume they have fully overcome their disease.
• Doxycycline can lead to addiction unrelated to bacterial die-off.

Short-term use of doxycycline (a month or so) will do no harm, but in the long term the species which are resistant to it will continue to proliferate and exacerbate the chronic disease.