Take doxycycline for the entire length of time prescribed by your doctor. Your symptoms may get better before the infection is completely treated. Doxycycline will not treat a viral infection such as the common cold or flu. Do not give this medicine to another person, even if they have the same condition you have. Doxycycline can come in a variety of forms and you will be prescribed the one that will be best for you. For example, people that have trouble swallowing an entire pill may be prescribed the liquid form of doxycycline to make sure they get all the benefits of the treatment. Other people may find it more convenient to take capsules – and this is possible too in case of doxycycline. However, it’s very important to take doxycycline right in order to benefit from it and make sure your treatment is going just as planned. Each bottle of doxycycline has an expiration date printed on it. If you use expired doxycycline, serious health problems are possible. Make sure you throw away any doxycycline that has expired. Unless your health care provider recommended doing so, make sure you avoid taking doxycycline with milk or any dairy products. Milk has been reported to make it more difficult for your body to absorb the medicine prescribed, and this can have negative impact on your treatment. However, there are some doxycycline brands that can be taken with milk – if you are afraid this medicine may affect your stomach (some people report stomach upset), ask your health care provider about the possibility to take the form of this drug that will work fine even if combined with milk. It’s important that you continue taking this medicine for as long as recommended. Stopping the treatment before your health care provider told you to do so can lead to a relapse of infection, and it will be impossible to deal with the bacteria using doxycycline. You will need to look for some other antibiotic and make sure your bacteria are not yet resistant to it, which in many cases is a serious problem. If you are taking the liquid form it’s especially important to use a special measuring device that you will be provided with when purchasing doxycycline. Damage to the kidneys is possible if you use doxycycline past its expiry date. Make sure you check very carefully when your medicine expires and throw it away before that day. If you happened to miss a dose – make sure you always take doxycycline as soon as you remembered, but it’s very important that you skip the dose missed if it’s almost time for the next one. Taking a double dose to make up for the one you missed in unlikely to make your treatment more efficient, and can cause serious side effects that you’d rather avoid. Doxycycline has been classified as FDA pregnancy category D. Pregnant or breastfeeding women are not supposed to be taking this drug, as it can cause harm to an unborn and nursing baby. If you get pregnant when using doxycycline – call your doctor at once to learn about your options. In order to make sure your treatment is successful avoid using any supplements that contain calcium or iron, or antacids, laxative and multivitamins. At least 2 hours are supposed to pass between your dose of doxycycline and any of the products mentioned.