minocycline
minocycline
Minocycline is an antibiotic which I took daily from the age of 21 to 27 years old for the treatment of acne. It is a tetracycline antibiotic, and I stopped it when I learned of my pregnancy with my second child at 27 years old, because this drug can cause birth defects. My daughter was born healthy, however, 3 months after her birth I developed "bell's palsy". Over the following years I had vague neurological complaints, then finally diagnosed with MS in 2000. There have been small studies with this drug for treatment of MS. Anyone know anything about this?
Sorry, time to leave the board.
-finn
-finn
Last edited by finn on Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
minocycline
It is safe, but you can't take it if there is a possiblity you may get prenant, as it can cause birth defects. Alos, make birth control pills ineffective (found that out the hard way), as it is a tetracyline antibiotic.
Re: minocycline
Sorry, time to leave the board.
-finn
-finn
Last edited by finn on Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
I had no side effects from the minocycline. I had my first MS problem, bells palsy, the following year after I disconticued the drug, which was 3 months after the birth of my 2nd child. I took the minocycline until I was 3 months presgnant, because I did not miss my period or suspect pregnancy until then. And yes, all tetracycline antibiotics make birth control pills ineffective-you must use some other form of BC during that time. Like I said, I did not know that at the time. My child was born healthy, thank God.
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Adam
Minocycline
I can't be sure is it is the Minocycline working, however, I have not had one symtom in the 2.5 years I have been taking it. I do use any interfereons or Copoxane. I take a 100 mg a day of Minocycline. You can get it over the Internet very easily. Just say you have acne.
Sorry, time to leave the board.
-finn
-finn
Last edited by finn on Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:32 am, edited 5 times in total.
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Wilna Meyers
Minocycline as tretment for MS
I find the results from treatment with Minocycline exciting. Just tonight there was a short story on research done in Calgary. Just an idea how to get a hold of the article mentioned by Finn. Ask your neurologist if he/she subscribes to Annals of Neurology and see if you can have a photocopy; or if you are closed to a university with a medical school you might be able to find it there. 
more on minocycline
• Home Page
Acne drug may help treat multiple sclerosis
Wednesday, 2-Jun-2004, by News-Medical
Dr. Luanne Metz, an associate professor of neurosciences and physician-scientist in the Neuroscience Research Group at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine, has found that minocycline, a drug currently used to treat such conditions as acne, decreases the activity of lesions in the brains of people suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS). The results of her study are published in the May edition of the Annals of Neurology.
The randomized study looks at ten people with active relapsing-remitting MS - characterized by clearly defined attacks (relapses) followed by partial or complete recovery (remissions). It assesses the effect of oral minocycline on people with active lesions in their brains. Each participant was given an MRI at the onset of the study, and then every four weeks after that, to determine whether or not the lesions caused by MS were getting worse or stabilizing.
"For reasons that are still unclear, people with MS suffer from immune system malfunctions which trigger attacks of the nerve cells and myelin in the central nervous system,” says Metz, Director of the Calgary Health Region’s world renowned MS Clinic. “Current treatments being used today do not eliminate MS completely – they only lessen the severity and slow progression of the disease. Our new findings are exciting because we discovered that minocycline significantly reduces the activity of the lesions in the brain. These findings offer us the possibility of a new and safe treatment option for people with MS.”
Donna Smith, a 46 year old Calgarian participating in the clinical trial, has struggled with her MS symptoms in the past. “Before I began taking oral minocycline, I was having relapses every couple of years, especially during or following stressful events, which sometimes caused my whole lower body to go completely numb,” says Smith. “Since taking part in the study, my relapses have completely stopped.”
In 2002, Wee Yong, PhD, Metz’s colleague in the Neuroscience Research Group at the University of Calgary, and a professor in oncology and clinical neurosciences, found that minocycline decreases tissue damage and significantly improves movement in mice with symptoms of MS as well as spinal cord injury. The results of his study are published in the April 2002 and July 2003 issues of the prestigious journal Brain. These studies provided the basis for the human trial.
Metz and Yong are currently collaborating on a new study that looks at the potential for minocycline to be even more effective when used in combination with Copaxone – another drug used to treat MS. This combination study, led by Dr. Metz, is concurrently being announced by Teva Neuroscience Canada. The ability to rapidly translate the laboratory data to clinical studies is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
“Canadians have one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world,” says Richard Hawkes, PhD, associate dean of research, U of C’s Faculty of Medicine. “Research like Drs. Metz’s and Yong’s offers new options to manage this devastating disease – and it gives us hope that we’re getting closer to finding a cure.”
Metz’s and Yong’s research is funded by the Alberta Foundation for Medical Research, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Teva Neuroscience, and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.
For more information, please contact Dr. Metz at 944-4241 or lmetz@ucalgary.ca.
http://www.ucalgary.ca
Acne drug may help treat multiple sclerosis
Wednesday, 2-Jun-2004, by News-Medical
Dr. Luanne Metz, an associate professor of neurosciences and physician-scientist in the Neuroscience Research Group at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine, has found that minocycline, a drug currently used to treat such conditions as acne, decreases the activity of lesions in the brains of people suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS). The results of her study are published in the May edition of the Annals of Neurology.
The randomized study looks at ten people with active relapsing-remitting MS - characterized by clearly defined attacks (relapses) followed by partial or complete recovery (remissions). It assesses the effect of oral minocycline on people with active lesions in their brains. Each participant was given an MRI at the onset of the study, and then every four weeks after that, to determine whether or not the lesions caused by MS were getting worse or stabilizing.
"For reasons that are still unclear, people with MS suffer from immune system malfunctions which trigger attacks of the nerve cells and myelin in the central nervous system,” says Metz, Director of the Calgary Health Region’s world renowned MS Clinic. “Current treatments being used today do not eliminate MS completely – they only lessen the severity and slow progression of the disease. Our new findings are exciting because we discovered that minocycline significantly reduces the activity of the lesions in the brain. These findings offer us the possibility of a new and safe treatment option for people with MS.”
Donna Smith, a 46 year old Calgarian participating in the clinical trial, has struggled with her MS symptoms in the past. “Before I began taking oral minocycline, I was having relapses every couple of years, especially during or following stressful events, which sometimes caused my whole lower body to go completely numb,” says Smith. “Since taking part in the study, my relapses have completely stopped.”
In 2002, Wee Yong, PhD, Metz’s colleague in the Neuroscience Research Group at the University of Calgary, and a professor in oncology and clinical neurosciences, found that minocycline decreases tissue damage and significantly improves movement in mice with symptoms of MS as well as spinal cord injury. The results of his study are published in the April 2002 and July 2003 issues of the prestigious journal Brain. These studies provided the basis for the human trial.
Metz and Yong are currently collaborating on a new study that looks at the potential for minocycline to be even more effective when used in combination with Copaxone – another drug used to treat MS. This combination study, led by Dr. Metz, is concurrently being announced by Teva Neuroscience Canada. The ability to rapidly translate the laboratory data to clinical studies is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
“Canadians have one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world,” says Richard Hawkes, PhD, associate dean of research, U of C’s Faculty of Medicine. “Research like Drs. Metz’s and Yong’s offers new options to manage this devastating disease – and it gives us hope that we’re getting closer to finding a cure.”
Metz’s and Yong’s research is funded by the Alberta Foundation for Medical Research, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Teva Neuroscience, and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.
For more information, please contact Dr. Metz at 944-4241 or lmetz@ucalgary.ca.
http://www.ucalgary.ca
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wilna meyers
U of Calgary research
Thanks Cathy. This was the news item I saw earlier this week.
Wilna:D
Wilna:D
Sorry, time to leave the board.
-finn
-finn
Last edited by finn on Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Sorry, time to leave the board.
-finn
-finn
Last edited by finn on Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Wilna Meyers
Minocycline & Copaxone
I am wondering if in the UofC study patients took Avonex, Rebif or Betaseron with the minocycline 
I have been on Copaxane but unfortunately it did not work. It would be great to take just a couple of pills a day and no needles.
Wilna Meyers
I have been on Copaxane but unfortunately it did not work. It would be great to take just a couple of pills a day and no needles.Wilna Meyers