Doxycycline is an antibiotic that belongs to the class of tetracyclines and works to slow down the growth of bacteria in your body. It can be prescribed by your health care provider in case you have some infections caused by the presence of bacteria (please note that doxycycline, just like any other antibiotic, is not intended for viral infections, such as cold and flu and is therefore going to be inefficient in their treatment). Your health acre provider can prescribe this medicine for the treatment of any of the following conditions that you have: urinary tract infections, periodontitis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, acne, as well as blemishes, bumps and acne-like lesions resulting from rosacea. This list is not complete and there are of course many other conditions this medicine can be used to treat. Make sure you always ask your health care provider about how exactly you are expected to take doxycycline in order to benefit from the treatment. Some people may experience problems because they do not know how to use this medicine the right way and may get it online or elsewhere without having a clear idea about its contraindications, possible side effects and other aspects of the treatment. It’s very important to understand taking doxycycline may be associated with a number of side effects that are impossible to foresee. Doxycycline has been reported to make birth control pills less efficient, which may result in a pregnancy. However, pregnancy is a contraindication for using doxycycline as this medicine can be harmful to an unborn baby causing teeth discoloration. When doxycycline passes into breast milk it can also affect bone and tooth development. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding gat the moment of asking your doctor for a prescription, make sure he knows about it. Make sure you use two reliable methods of birth control while using doxycycline. It’s also very important to talk to your health care provider about any other health problems you have to see if they can in any way interfere with the success of your treatment. In general taking doxycycline is considered to be safe and it works in most cases. However, it may not work for you if you have already developer tolerance to this particular antibiotic. When people take antibiotics all the time to treat bacterial infections, the bacteria may become resistant to the medicine and your body may not respond to the treatment as well. In that case your health care provider will need to prescribe some other treatment. If you see doxycycline is not helping and you have the same symptoms that only get worse – talk to your doctor an you may be required to have some tests done in order to find out if the bacteria in your body is resistant to the effects of doxycycline. It’s also very important that you continue taking this medicine for as long as prescribed in case the bacteria are sensitive to doxycycline. If you start the treatment before its time – the bacteria may get used to doxycycline and a relapse of infection will be possible. Make sure you follow all the recommendations your health care provider gave in order to benefit from the treatment as much as possible.