There are several previous posts on this topic – Doxycycline causes Suicide and Suicide is Painless and becoming suicidal on an antibiotic. None of them give as compelling a picture of what the problem is like from the inside as this letter that came to RxISK some months ago.
A Life in Good Shape
I am a thirty-eight year old active mother and partner who regularly practices yoga and meditation and enjoys time in nature often.
On Friday, July 23, 2021, I saw a doctor virtually for a rash that looked like it may be a tick bite. The doctor prescribed Doxycycline “just to be safe.” That day, I started taking the medicine as prescribed. 100 mg capsules, 2x day for 10 days.
The next day I started to feel odd in a way that I could not articulate.
By the third day of taking the medicine as prescribed, I had this intense sadness set in. For what may have been the first time ever I had insomnia and was up for hours throughout the previous night. At times during the night, I felt incredibly anxious and panicked, but it was unclear why and unusual for me. I normally sleep soundly and easily – so much so that it’s a family joke.
By day four of the medicine, I was what I describe as mentally hijacked. I felt remarkably sad, was crying uncontrollable at times and almost was certain I’d somehow dropped into a depression seemingly overnight.
I usually have an acute awareness of what is happening in my body, so I was incredibly curious about what was happening. I looked at the side effects for the medication online, almost certain insomnia and depression would be listed, and I did not see them. I was baffled by this as the only lifestyle change I’d made in the previous days was starting the medication. I reached out to a friend who is a pharmacist hoping he’d have some insight. He said it was “unlikely” that the medication was causing the depression and insomnia. I thanked him but felt differently.
The second night of insomnia was far worse and markedly different than the first. Before going to bed, I had very unusual thoughts and urges about writing negative comments online – something I do not do. During the sleepless night, I went downstairs and walked aimlessly around in the darkness, something I’d never done. I tossed and turned on my sofa and decided to end my pursuit of current study, deeming it ridiculous, unlikely and selfish. This is a field I am deeply engaged in and very passionate about and I’ve never questioned my participation in it.
As the night went on I decided that my whole life was fake and a waste and I would not go on living in the same cheerful way I had been. I am a generally upbeat, optimistic and inspirational person. I deemed this ridiculous.
I’m also a writer and working on a book. I decided that my writing a book was trash and stupid and I’m destined to sit around the house and do nothing. I’d release any and all career aspirations and live the Disney movie role of old woman who casts her dreams aside.
I’ve NEVER thought any of these things before. Not once. And alone, in the dark in the middle of the night they set in like a fog. I saw no other way to be. The scary part is that my reason and logic had been completely absent. Normally if I have a negative thought, I notice it and adjust or tell myself I’m being too harsh or I’m being insecure. This was not the case here. There was no reasoning or awareness of the absurdity of thought.
The next day, my husband was perplexed by my nighttime wandering as I’d never done that before.
I then had an awkward call with my sister, whom I am very close with and we have a great relationship. We were preparing for a family vacation together in just a few days to celebrate our mom turning 60. I’d been looking forward to the vacation for months and the excitement I’d felt for all that time had completely vanished. I couldn’t care less about the vacation and did not even want to go.
On the call with my sister I remember sitting on my porch loathing the idea of vacation and feeling numb to life for no apparent reason. I could tell that the tone and things I was saying were confusing to my sister and she could not understand my behavior. I was supposed to go to lunch with her and our friend that day and I said I didn’t feel like going and cancelled. That was incredibly out of character for me also. I looked forward to all social things, especially with my sister and I’m not one to cancel anything.
I remember my husband coming out to the porch after the call ended. I nonchalantly told him I’d cancelled the lunch and his jaw nearly dropped. That moment I saw fear in his eyes. He was worried about me. I could see this clearly but did not care. It’s as if I was watching from above and saw all the awkwardness of the phone call and all the unusual behavior I was displaying but I was so disconnected from what was happening and I did not even care.
In between interacting with people and being alone I felt little snippets of my normal self. In one of those snippets I started thinking about gut health, a topic I’m interested in and have done some research on. I reasoned that if probiotics can support and strengthen gut health, especially when taking antibiotics, perhaps the antibiotics were having a dramatic and inverse effect on me. Knowing that gut health is tied to mental health and aware that some studies have seen probiotics work like antidepressants, I wondered if my deteriorating gut health due to the antibiotics was making me depressed and causing a deteriorating mental state.
When I specifically googled Doxycycline, I came across the NIH study linking the drug to suicide in otherwise healthy individuals.
I suddenly had a strong feeling that I should discontinue the drug. I immediately had a chat with my husband who agreed I must stop taking immediately, and I did.
In all, I took the medication for 4 days, 8 doses. By day two, I started to feel unusual. As someone who focuses on subtleties in the body through yoga and meditation, I’m grateful that I listened to the cues I received. Without that awareness I am scared to think what may have been otherwise.
The most startling part for me was the second night of insomnia and the negative self talk and disgust that I had towards myself. Once my head cleared again the day after I stopped taking the medication, I felt so violated and shocked. It was as if someone had come into my brain and rearranged things.
I am someone who respects modern medicine and all that it may offer. I also appreciate holistic health and choose natural options when available. I was reluctant to take the medicine to begin with because I was worried about the effects on my gut bacteria but I weighed the pros and cons and took it. I will not take this medication again but will continue to be aware and research future medicine thoroughly.
Most importantly, if Doxycycline was labeled properly with the various side effects people have experienced, things may be different for future patients. Parents can be more informed for their children and know what to supervise them for.
I’m grateful that I was able to perceive that I was being mentally hijacked as it was happening and that I discontinued the medication after 4 days. Each day the side effects got stronger so any additional days would have been even more detrimental.
If patients are not interested in research and attune to what may be happening in their body, taking this medicine is dangerous.
In the weeks after this happened, I struggled to feel calm, in the same way our bodies have a hard time settling after we just miss getting into a car accident.
I am incredibly grateful for this study as I believe it saved my life.
Googling Doxycycline
A few weeks before getting that account, we had another startling letter.
My 14 y.o. son with no mental health history had been taking doxycycline 100 mg daily for mild acne for a couple of months when his school nurse called me to pick him up Wednesday. When I arrived, he was shaking and crying uncontrollably. He said, Mom, I think the pills I’m taking are making me want to kill myself. All I can think of is taking the whole bottle to kill myself.
A couple hours later we were interviewed by a social worker at a Behavioral Health facility. His BP was in the 140s systolic and HR 115. He appeared calm however and explained how he became fixated on his pills and asked his teacher for help after having the thought to google “doxycycline and suicide.” Yours was one of the websites he found.
We were instructed to discontinue the medication and follow up with his pediatrician. Although a dermatologist has prescribed the medication and has also been alerted, his pediatrician interviewed and assessed my son and said he will code the incident as an adverse reaction to doxycycline.
Thank you for what you are doing to create awareness.
The thought that a 14-year-old boy can make connections that MHRA, FDA and the New England Journal of Misinformation can’t make is a good one to start the week on if you take a glass half-full approach to the world.
annie says
Doxycycline has been authorised as an anti-malaria drug for more than 50 years. It is also prescribed to treat bacterial infections and skin disorders. An MHRA spokeswoman said they had reviewed the “suspected association between doxycycline and psychotic disorder” after the coroner’s report and work was “continuing”.
Alana Cutland: Parents’ shock over malaria drug behind plane fall
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-54818652
The parents of a student who fell from a plane after a psychotic reaction to an anti-malaria drug were “shocked” to find its side effects were “virtually undocumented”.
Alana Cutland, 19, from Milton Keynes, died after the fall in July 2019 in Madagascar.
A coroner has asked for a review of the information sent out with doxycycline.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it was gathering “further information”.
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020-0151-Response-from-the-Medicines-Healthcare-Products-Regulatory-Agency_Redacted.pdf
Overall, these spontaneous ADR reports provide limited evidence on which to base a thorough assessment of causality between doxycycline and psychotic reactions. While under-reporting is a common problem with spontaneous ADR reporting, given that in the context of malaria prophylaxis, doxycycline is often given to healthy people, it may be that we would expect to see more cases of a serious reaction like psychosis if it were a true ADR for doxycycline. In addition, there is no established biological mechanism to explain an association between doxycycline and psychotic reactions and there is little in the way of published literature suggesting a causal link, including a lack of any well-controlled studies.
The CHM Pharmacovigilance Expert Advisory Group advised that overall, the evidence to support a causal association between doxycycline and psychotic disorder was limited considering the cumulative exposure to this drug in the UK which is likely to be in the order of tens of millions of people. The PEAG advised that prior to the possible addition of psychotic type reactions in the doxycycline product information, which may cause patient alarm, further data is needed to enable a more robust assessment. The EAG recommended that the marketing authorisation holder (MAH) for the brand-leader doxycycline product should be requested to propose how this additional data may be collected, for example by investigating the feasibility of conducting a study using electronic healthcare records which compares rates of psychotic reactions following doxycycline, with another antibiotic.
Action being taken by the MHRA …
Jap says
“In comparison to doxycycline recipients in the nondeployed cohort, mefloquine recipients were at a statistically significant lower risk for adjustment disorder, insomnia, anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, vertigo, and PTSD.” Table 4
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28077744/
“Last, Nevin neglects to mention that the same study found that mefloquine reduced the risk of PTSD compared with doxycycline (odds ratio = 0.69, 95% confidence interval: 0.52, 0.91) among nondeployed service members [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28077744/].”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29733346/
“SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Matrix metalloproteinase-9 inhibition appears to attenuate memory consolidation. It could also be a target for blocking reconsolidation. Here, we test this hypothesis in human threat conditioning. We find that doxycycline has no specific impact on a reminded cue, but confers a global reduction in extinction learning and threat learning beyond the clearance of the drug. This may point toward a more long-lasting impact of doxycycline treatment on memory plasticity.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31615840/
adam jukes says
i am a mental health worker with 40 yrs clinical experience and no history of emotional or mental disturbance
i developed a serious respiratory problem for which i was presc doxy
within 5 days i could not stop crying, terrible anxiety attacks. could not sleep, nausea – the whole gamut of depressive symptoms incl suicidal ideation
i stopped it and within 3 days was back to myself.
Dr. David Healy says
A
Thanks for this – a very convincing account
D
Mikr says
Absolute same. I was prescribed Doxy for Labyrinthitis. Within in one day I had horrible panic attacks, couldn’t sleep and actually felt like crying. I kept telling my GF that I don’t feel like me anymore.
This stuff almost sent me to the ER.
I stopped it immediately. I’m back to me again.
Kim says
I am just going through the same experience of symptoms. I do have a past history of anxiety and depression so it was confusing the way the medication suddenly made the suicidal thinking and overpowering urge to kill myself so strong. Even though I experienced suicidal thinking in the past, the ebb and wane of the powerful urges clued me in that it was tied to medication. This has been one of the most frightening experiences in my 63yrs of life. I thank God for the availability of the internet to validate my suspicions of this drug. I honestly don’t know if I’d have survived the next day or two if I hadn’t seen others experiences and stopped taking doxycycline. Very scary. I’ve never felt such overwhelming suicidal urges in my life.
tim says
MHRA: “suspected association between doxycycline and psychotic disorder”.
I’d rather be ‘alarmed’ than HARMED.
Why not recommend that prescribers are aware of this concern and increase reporting. How is an acute confusional state as an ADR to doxycycline to be differentiated from ‘First Episode Psychosis’. In the tragedy that destroyed the life and health of our loved one: an SSRI (inappropriately prescribed) resulted in acute, intense AKATHISIA which was misdiagnosed as ‘psychotic depression’.
“Psychotic depression is vanishingly rare compared with treatment induced akathisia”.
To accumulate further evidence for Doxycicline induced ‘Psychosis’ it would be
necessary to avoid misdiagnosis as a Psychotic presentation, which will be followed by inappropriate detention, forced drugging, physical, psychological and emotional injury and a kaleidoscopic collection of Psychiatry labels for Life.
Why not insist that all who are labelled as first episode psychosis have a detailed prescription dug history entered into a centralised, anonymous, computer data base held by an MHRA more committed to patient safety? If all those so-labelled had an identifiable history of doxycycline ingestion, SSRI/SNRI ‘Rx’ (or dose/product change) and/or other akathisia inducing/neurotoxic drug ingestion identified: further evidence of association may increase awareness of this ADR. It may also reduce unforgivable psychiatric misdiagnosis and subsequent loss of all human rights.
The use of the term ‘psychotic disorder’ by the MHRA surely invites misdiagnosis?
chris says
“To accumulate further evidence for Doxycicline induced ‘Psychosis’ it would be
necessary to avoid misdiagnosis as a Psychotic presentation, which will be followed by inappropriate detention, forced drugging, physical, psychological and emotional injury and a kaleidoscopic collection of Psychiatry labels for Life.
Why not insist that all who are labelled as first episode psychosis have a detailed prescription dug history entered into a centralised, anonymous, computer data base held by an MHRA more committed to patient safety?”
Do do this will require psychiatry to admit what it resolutely refuse’s because it knows all the harm it has created along with pharma. Everyone in a psych ‘hospital’ is on antipsychotics no matter what the diagnosis and most are on high dose and have akathisia – this is a major human rights crime going back a long way.
The agencies set-pup to over see psych hospitals, to date, have only covered up what is happening – they are not exposing and shutting down these operations which lead to this:
https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/sandwell/west-bromwich/2021/03/26/man-absconded-from-mental-health-facility-before-being-found-dead-on-motorway/
tim says
“Everyone in a psych ‘hospital’ is on antipsychotics no matter what the diagnosis and most are on high dose and have AKATHISIA”. Press Report: ‘HE WAS PACING AROUND’ —–(my emphasis).
chris says
“Mrs Perry said Hallam Street Hospital is not a psychiatric intensive care unit, that there are patients who choose to go there and those who are detained for treatment but it is “absolutely not” a prison.”
Also worth noting from the article ‘it’s “absolutely not” a prison’ but negate to inform the public there are two locked doors to the outside world. After being informed of this recent atrocity I sent the CQC and the trusts governance support manager a link to akathisia on here and this quote:
“as David Foster Wallace put it before he died:
“The person in whom its invisible agony reaches an unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will jump from the window of a burning high-rise… The terror of falling from a great height is still just as great… It’s not desiring the fall, it’s the terror of the flames… You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to understand a terror beyond falling”.
They have a CQC report being published on 2nd Dec I bet they will be given a good rating.
susanne says
Chris ,It’s going to be ‘interesting’ to see how Austria enforces it’s mandate that all citizens are to be vaccinated starting in Feb 22.
Will they take lessons from psych hell holes on how to pin people down and forcibly inject them… In Russia dissidents are forced into Covid ‘hospitals’ and forced to ‘accept’ vaccines. It’s not a huge step to ‘diagnosing’ people who decline to be vaccinated as mentally ill. Potential harms from enforced vaccs plus harms from enforced psych meds – in a totalitarian nightmare in a world led by psychopaths such as the Austrian chancellor who wants ‘turn the screws’ on unvaccinated citizens. The police would always be willing to assist as shown by the often heavy handed surveillance and fining of citizens in UK during ‘lockdowns’ and firing on and water hosing of protesters throughout Europe presently.
chris says
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/11/24/delingpole-australian-army-puts-covid-19-close-contacts-into-quarantine-camps/
“Will they take lessons from psych hell holes on how to pin people down and forcibly inject them”
It will happen, probably already has happened to many in psych hell holes. The general public will be in shock if it starts happening in public ala….
RE: https://vimeo.com/206396594 13mins in
“The nurses will give depo injections where they see the clients if that’s in the day centre or a park or a toilet of MacDonalds then they’ll do it because that’s where it’s needed.”
Boot on the other foot if they mandate it to psychiatrists and psych ‘nurse’s’…..let’s see. I can barely type write or spell as a result of what these people did to me.
susanne says
Not so long ago, certainly it increased after the menace Tom Burns psych persuaded the government to introduce ”treatment’ in the community , forced ie depot injections, people in areas with independant ‘user-survivor’ networks set up safe houses where refusniks were looked after by friends. A few psychs would give advice off the record on meds but many were knowledgeable anyway. . The nasty campaign by politicians and their allies against people who refuse vaccs scapegoats and set citizens against citizens so we take out eye off the way more and more rights are being abused – in our name. If it goes too far it’s likely no-vacc safe houses will be set up and for sure more false proofs of being vacced will become a more lucrative business than it already is.. It is sad that groups who know first hand what discrimination can lead to are keeping pretty silent about the creeping violations . It;s not just a question of taking or not a vaccine but of to some extent grieving as well as resisting with protests and riots all across Europe against the undermining of democracry.
Stacy H says
These people urgently need to consider Lyme disease or other infections and Google “Lyme herx reactions” or “Doxycycline herx reactions.”
The first lady said she had a rash from a possibly a tick bite. I had this in 2016-2017. If you have Lyme disease, and you take medicine to treat Lyme disease, including doxycycline, you are going to have a Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction (a “herx”). It’s NOT the doxycycline itself, or whatever else you are taking – IT’S THE INFECTION ITSELF dying off and causing a flare. Not a doctor, I just personally struggled through Lyme disease and the 50 or so symptoms it was causing me that doctors could not figure out. I finally was cured after combo treatment of antibiotics and powerful herbs.Herxes can be extreme, a lot worse than the infection you may or may not have even realized you had to begin with.
Dr. David Healy says
These are not Herx reactions. Nothing like Herx Reactions. I can say this having known Andrew Herxheimer, the son of the original Herx well. They happen in completely healthy people given this drug for mild acne, or prophylactically – that is who have nothing wrong with them. Doxycycline inhibits serotonin reuptake and this is the likeliest cause. Perhaps though you think all suicides and homicides on SSRIs are Herx reactions as well
David
Jap says
David, No! MMP9 Inhibit, Microglia Inhibit, Synaptic pruning Inhibit, Neurogenesis Inhibit, It is consistent with the mechanism of action characteristic of dissociators and hallucinogens.
Jap says
Abstract “… In reviewing this field, it is argued that #minocycline is actually probing and modulating a deeply evolved and intricate system wherein psychosocial stimuli sculpt the circuitry of the “social brain” underlying adult behavior and personality. Furthermore, this system can generate psychiatric morbidity that is not dependent on genetic variation. …”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33448432/
Jap says
Lyme treatment: 1st Doxy -> Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome
Acne treatment: 1st Doxy Mino -> 2nd Isotretinoin “related” poisoning symptoms
Malaria prevention: 1st Doxy -> 2nd Mefloquine “related” poisoning symptoms
Georgia says
Thank you so much for writing this. I am usually a very happy up beat person. I am a 25 year old woman. I meditate and exercise daily and try my best to stick to a holistic life style. I entered a job which burnt me out very quickly, I quit the job and went home to gather my energy back and ground myself back to health. I had a stye come up on my eye (something I’ve never had before) but I know they can be due to stress which makes sense. I usually try my best to not go to the doctors and try every way possible to self/naturally heal before using modern medicine. For the first time in a long time i contacted my doctor for fearing I had an infection and I was prescribed Doxycycline. Day 1 of taking this medicine I started to feel sick, nauseous and very anxious. That night I couldn’t sleep ATALL and was feeling very low with intrusive thought starting to bubble through my mind. Very dark thoughts of wanting to hurt myself and feeling generally depressed. I didn’t get to sleep until 6am. I woke up at 12:30 feeling very low with no energy at all. I was feeling again nauseous and kept going hot and cold. At this point I just thought I had caught something or managed to somehow gain depression over night. I knew in my soul and spirit I didn’t feel okay. I knew in myself that this weren’t ME!!!! I looked to the left of me and there they were, the pack of doxycycline staring right back at me. My gut feelings instantly told me to research the side effects on Google. To which I found hundreds of comments from people and parents saying the EXACT same thing to what I’ve been experiencing. This drug is DANGEROUS and should be taken off the market. I’ve never trusted big pharma but my god, I don’t trust it at all now. It sickens me that these doctors just dish out these tablets to people and young teenagers. Nothing on the leaflet says about any of the severity of these side affects. This drug is playing with peoples lives. I was intuitive enough to pick up on these dark tablets but for the teenagers and people who are much more vulnerable and trust in these doctors, I’m scared that some will have no hope or even realise that these are the causes of their mental health deteriorating. I’m going to spread as much awareness about this as I can!!! Stay strong people, always follow your gut instincts and please try your best to self heal first x
Cindy says
I was recently prescribed Doxycycline for a UTI – 7 days – 100 mg – 2x a day. I am totally balanced, healthy and fit with no history of depression.
Day 2 I felt a bit down – so took myself to the gym. Day 3 I couldn’t stop crying and found it difficult to leave the house. Day 4 I was anxious and messaged people close to me with the most bizarre messages – I have re-read them since and they are so not me. Day 5 I stood on the platform of a busy station and felt a sudden urge to jump in front of a fast train.
I have NEVER been depressed and I have NEVER had suicidal thoughts. Day 6 I researched the medication and stopped it. I have spoken to my GP who tells me that this is a side effect that can happen (but apparently rare….although researching online I am not so sure how rare it actually is!). He has said I should feel back to normal within 14-21 days….I feel considerably better a week after stopping the medication but far from okay.
I think the potential mental health impact of these drugs needs to be clearly stated and patients informed of potential side effects prior to taking them. I would never take this medication again.
DoxyHacked says
I have just experienced the same thing. After 4 weeks of taking this for a mild folliculitus on the scalp. I began having massive panic attacks that wouldn’t stop. Major regret about who I was as a person. Never in my life have I felt this way. Most websites don’t show this as a side effect and this page has really helped me to know I am not alone. It’s been 5 days since being off doxy and while I’m improving there are waves of anxiety and these awful thoughts. I woke up in the middle of the night into a panic. Very lucid and scary dreams. I really hope this gets better every day
A.s says
I had this same thing happen on Doxycycline and will never take it again. I had a chest infection. Day one I took it and I don’t remember much happening. Day two I was overcome by emptiness and sadness. Day 3 my mind went to the pointlessness of my existence. The burden I was to everyone else. I walked into the pharmacy that prescribed this medicine and said “Hi, I’m not mentally Ill. I was prescribed these and now I feel depressed and suicidal” the pharmacist looked at me and said “Well it’s not the medicine”. I left immediately and in a daze drove to the railway station round the corner, and decided I was going to throw myself in front a train. I sat on the station and saw one coming, I thought that I’d watch this one and gauge the speed etc. The train pulled in and it had a young female driver and families got off, this is not what I’d expected to see. I’d imaging just a dead looking, empty, metal carriage. Something clicked in my head and I realised how awful and selfish this would be for me to go ahead with. I abandoned my plan, devastated but thought I should try stopping the medication immediately. I did and I was back to my normal non-suicidal self in 2 days. Never again will I touch the stuff whether scientific studies support my experience or not. I know what happened, as do those close to me. Hope this helps others who are going through any frighting experiences on it. It does end.
DS says
I had just started doxycyline this week, and on the 3rd day, I just found myself binge watching and crying over youtube videos which is very unlike me. I didn’t have the drive to exercise, which I usually do twice daily, ang just started felling down generally, which led me to this thread.
Sabrina says
I took 100mg doxycycline for dry eye for 60 days in 2022.
By day 2 – I was mentally numb, then the physical numbness started breasts/genitals…. and loss of libido. It’s been 1 year now and not much improvement. I am devastated and not sure what to do – doctors are stumped.
I know it was 100% the doxycycline. I read about men affected but I would very much like to read about women in this same situation …. and if there’s still hope.
I want my old self back. I’ve tried every supplements with not much help.
TW says
I am going to go out on a limb here and say the altered mood was likely inflammation from the bodies reaction to a lyme infection and not the doxycycline. Not that a bad reaction to the drug would be impossible. Either way, I hope when you discontinued, you sought an alternative antibiotic to continue treatment.
I think a lot of people make this mistake. They take a drug for a medical condition that causes inflammation and their body mounts an attack. We know that inflammation can lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety. Further complicated that there is likely a die off of the pathogen in question. But the drug is blamed because its what the patient has control of.
I’m not disputing negative reactions to medications. Only that I think negative reactions like described here are often (but not always) attributed to the wrong causal agent – the illness not the medication.
Dr. David Healy says
You’re making a mistake TW. This lady did not have Lyme disease. She noted a tick bite and as a precaution took Doxy which may have helped her never develop Lyme disease. She stops Doxy and the problem clears up.
You can have Lyme disease which causes problems and go on Doxy and be smart enough to distinguish the effects of Doxy from Lyme. You should read the other posts where people with one pimple get put on Doxy and become suicidal There is no question it can cause problems
D
MH says
I’ve recently completed 21 days on doxycycline for Lyme disease. A single dose of 200mg once a day. The nausea kicked in pretty much immediately on day 1. I’m an otherwise healthy an active woman in my late thirties. By the second day, I was already withdrawing from social interactions and my mood was erratic. Often crying, feeling numb, withdrawing from people I spoke to regularly. When I contacted my Dr explaining the nausea, I was told to soldier through the course otherwise the effect of lymes would be far worse. It is by sheer will that I have completed the full course,but it has left me the shell of a person I was. I’ve had to commence therapy because I feel I am on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I will never take this medication again and hope I can salvage my old self in the near future.
Greg says
I got prescribed Doxy for Lyme some months ago. Developed sore muscles and my sleep, which was not great to begin with, got much worse shortly after starting Doxy. I was wondering whether these were a side effect, so went through the information leaflet but found no insomnia or muscle problems listed as a side effects. I asked chatgpt and here is what it came up with:
(…)
“Neurotransmitter Problems: There is limited research on doxycycline’s direct impact on neurotransmitters. However, it is known to influence serotonin, a neurotransmitter that plays a role in mood regulation and sleep. The mechanism involves inhibition of an enzyme called tryptophan hydroxylase, which is involved in serotonin production.”
(…)
“Calcium Ion Binding: Tetracyclines are believed to interfere with neuromuscular transmission by binding to calcium ions. Calcium ions play a crucial role in muscle contraction and neurotransmitter release at neuromuscular junctions. Tetracyclines may disrupt calcium ion channels, reducing the availability of calcium ions for proper neuromuscular function.
Inhibition of Acetylcholine Release: Tetracyclines might interfere with the release of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that transmits signals from motor neurons to muscle cells. By inhibiting acetylcholine release, tetracyclines can impair neuromuscular signaling, leading to muscle weakness or paralysis.”
I verified this by googling specifically in this direction and found some studies that confirmed what the AI was saying. “Neuromuscular blockade” and insomnia are definitely a thing with tetracyclines.
Chloe says
I had a simliar reaction to doxycycline. I was prescribed doxy for my acne. By day 2 I was withdrawing from everyone, paranoid people were talking about me. By day 3 I was having full blown suicidal thoughts and uncontrollable crying. I could only hack 5 days. Another thing I thought was so strange was always at dinner time, I’d sit down and have a meal with my family at the table and as soon as I’d start eating, this weird wave came over my body. It was like my brain was shutting down, it’s hard to describe. I’m guessing the doxy caused a major chemical imbalance in my brain. It was actually really scary to think that I could go from being a happy person to full blown suicidal with in two days. This drug needs to come with a warning. I’d hate to think how many people haven’t realized what it was causing these feelings, continued to take it and have actually followed through. If I didn’t know about the effect gut health has on the brain, I probably wouldn’t have put two and two together.
Liz says
OH MY GOODNESS me too!! I was prescribed it by a supposed functional medicine doctor due to a yeast infection. I had tried holistic approaches in the past that didn’t seem to nip it in the bud, so she prescribed doxy. The first day (friday), I took it in the evening and within 10 minutes had a bloodshot eye.. odd, but I figured my body just wasn’t used to it because I’ve only had 1 or 2 antibiotics in my life (I’m in my 30s). About 2 hours later, I went to bed and my heart was pounding and had a bit of a headache. Ended up getting up and couldn’t fall asleep until midnight. The next day, I decided to just take one dose mid-day (instead of 1 morning and 1 evening) and was fairly ok. 3rd day was NUTS. I went back to normal dose and mid-morning cried for no reason, then got super depressed and sleepy in the afternoon. This morning I took it and noticed blurred vision on my drive to work, so I called the doctor’s office (Monday morning) and they told me to discontinue it.
After I realized it was some sort of allergy, I FLIPPED out at work. Ended up doing that silent scream cry where you hyperventilate in a closet for like an hour. WTF. So that was the only dose I took today. It is now 1am and I have been aimlessly roaming around my house crying, trying to do yoga, considering going on a walk??? and being angry with my husband for no reason. Having thoughts of failure in my life, business, and feeling like I have no friends or family I can talk to, even though I do.. this drug is NOT SAFE and I can’t believe that after all these years of being a crunchy, holistic mom, I opted for the quick fix literally 1 TIME and this happened. Insane. Thank you for writing this blog post, though. I needed to read it to realize I am going to be ok, I just need to detox this drug.
Lisa says
Why in the world were you prescribed any antibiotic for a yeast infection?!?!? A yeast infection is considered a fungal, not a bacterial. A matter of fact, antibiotics can cause yeast infections in women, because they kill good bacteria as well as bad bacteria. This is why anyone taking any antibiotic should be taking high doses of probiotics. Please, find a different doctor!
Angie says
My 16-year-old son was prescribed Doxycycline by his pediatrician for his teen acne. He was prescribed to take 100 milligrams a day. I just figured that Doxycycline was like a super strong antibiotic like Amoxicillin is. There wasn’t anything on the label of a warning on the bottle that stated that Doxycycline had been known to cause suicidal thoughts, suicidal ideations, withdrawn, night terrors etc. My son was your typical teenager enjoying his life to the fullest. Soon after taking Doxycycline, we noticed my son was withdrawing from us, and not at all being himself. Things that he was once interested in didn’t interest him anymore. He didn’t share this with us, but he was having terrible thoughts of death, darkness, and hopelessness, and thinking of ways to die. My son’s acne was not clearing as he hoped, so the doctor upped the milligrams from 100 mgs to 200 mgs a day. Again, not knowing the side effects he was experiencing were from the Doxycycline, he continued taking the medication.
Immediately after upping the dose, my son started to lash out, and did not have a desire to go to school anymore, just simply not care about anything. We thought he was going through some teenage angst; We had no idea it was the side effects of Doxycycline. We realized that his behavior was something that needed immediate attention and fast! Opening to us, he shared what he was feeling and that he was going to unalive himself on a tree with a belt. We asked if he was feeling this hopelessness right now and his response was yes, I want to die. We had no choice but to Baker Act our son that very second.
As a parent I was thinking how could my very healthy son go from living life to the fullest to destitute and despair wanting to end it all so quickly??! I immediately thought the only change recently would be that acne medicine, so I googled Doxycycline and to my surprise was shocked to find a mother’s petition on change.org of her heart break story about her son that had committed suicide while taking Doxycycline. Her story was like my story, only her son went all the way and ended his precious life!! I was so scared and upset that suicidal thoughts and actions weren’t labeled on the bottle and was just doled out like pez to kids with acne. That very next day while being hospitalized and off Doxycycline, my son showed immediate signs of improvement, so much so that he was cleared to be released to us and got to come home. I noticed his smile was back, and that he was so chatty and full of hope, and so glad to be coming home with us. I told him he is never taking Doxycycline again! How come there isn’t a warning label on Doxycycline? and how come the doctors haven’t been notified by the FDA when prescribing Doxycycline to their patients and to go over the negative side effects with them? Especially the fact that the side effects of Doxycycline is taking a healthy person just like my 16-year-old son, and turning them essentially crazy and shut down to the point of them wanting to take their own life? I guarantee you that if people knew what the side effects were with taking Doxycycline, they wouldn’t take it. I believe that pharmaceutical companies know this, they have to by now, there are way too many stories just like mine out there. They are turning a blind eye to profits at the cost of lives!
Dr. David Healy says
Thanks for this comment. Its compelling
David
Brogen says
Just to say thanks everyone for this post and sharing. I take doxy for recurrent chest infections, 200mg/day. I can usually manage find on a 7 day course but when I have to take a 10 day course this heavy sadness settles in. A feeling that everything is rather pointless and too much for me to manage. I feel this aggressive sort of unbearableness about being in my own body. There are hours when I’m not sure I can bear it.
I’m on day 9 of a course now and it just hit in. Spend all morning wondering why I’m struggling so much – then remembered. I’ll make it to day 10 but if people didn’t know this associations they could make terrible decisions and damage their relationships or themselves.
Anya says
I am taking doxycycline for 2 months now for acne. First, my acne got only worse and second, I really couldn’t figure out why I started to feel weird mentally… until a few hours ago I googled doxycycline and depression. After founding this article and reading comments made me realize I have exactly same. I couldn’t understand what is wrong with my mood, because everything is good yet nothing makes me happy and I have zero energy for anything or anyone. I am usually happy and social person, but now I started to have obsessive thoughts that I am burden for people and I have no mood, I don’t want to work, I dont want to get up from bed and canceled many plans with my friends, even though usually I am very excited for those! Wrote my doctor already, hopefully it will take me quick enough to get back to normal! Same experience I had with birth control pills, that totally messed up with me mentally too.
Dr. David Healy says
A
Thanks for this report. It is a very good description of some of the effects that can happen on Doxy. If you haven’t stopped it – I advise stopping. If you start feeling better, this is proof positive the drug is causing the effect in you.
Other related drugs sometimes used for acne like minocycline can also cause problems like this. Isotretinoin (Accutane) is the most dangerous.
David
Grace B says
You… you just saved my life… I… I almost… I didnt understand what was happening only that i felt off and that i wasnt acting right but… but now my parents believe me… I… I dont know how else to thank you for bringing attention to this… I may not have ‘never’ had mental issues but they had not been this bad since i got off abilify which caused me brain damage and can no longer control my thyroid nor my hormone development so to have such a reaction again brought me ptsd and i hope once i feel better i can report my symptoms to the relevant authorities. im tired of people thinking rare = not happening or capable of being ignored. nothing should be ignored. ‘you’ are the one experiencing this not any doctor. you should have the right to know and not be forced to take it should there be significant mental risk for any real people. thank you…
Veyrona says
I was on Doxycycline this month (August 2024). I commenced with one tablet on Thursday evening and ceased this medication on Sunday afternoon.
I went to the doctor and handed back the 2 boxes! I refused to take it any longer. In my opinion, this medication is EVIL. It is a drug of HORROR and ABSOLUTE HELL.
My doctor assured me that the desolate feelings were not the result of Doxycycline; rather viral pneumonia.
I’d never, ever risk taking this medication again because next rime I might never pull out of it.
Four days after ceasing the drug, I am still in a LIVING HELL. Ain’t I now I don’t know how long before I get back to normal.
Thank you to the author of this article for drawing my attention to the CATASTROPHIC HORROR that is – in my opinion – Doxycycline.
Poppy says
Hi, thanks for your comments everyone, it’s help to normalise my experience with this drug.I’m an older adult female and I’ve been on doxycycline for 21 days because of possible limes. I’ve just taken the last of it. I’ve dealt with the nausea by splitting the dose. I soon started to experience a lot of anxiety and gradually have felt more and more down and sad. I’ve been feeling pretty ‘what’s the point’ and crying a lot, feeling like I need to give up things that mattered to me before. Ive also had some suicidal ideation. I’ve had very bad insomnia but started to take valerian which has helped a bit. I had a feeling that it could be the drug, but when these strong feelings build it’s so easy to get lost in them. I’m taking heart from everyone’s posts that if I hold on and be kind to myself while I go through this it will hopefully wear off before too long.
Jesse says
How long did it take for the negative side effects to go away after stopping medication? I’m at day 6 still very moody.
Jess says
I’ve been taking Doxycycline since June 2024 but stopped last week. I had zero side effects whilst taking this medication. Upon discontinuation, I have had the worst mental health of my life. I wanted to end my life and these feelings came on suddenly. It was very scary. I realised it was the doxy and started taking it again; I am now fine. It’s strange how I only had these thoughts when not taking the medication.
George Stroud says
I was recently prescribed Doxy for Lyme disease.
It has decimated my life.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, it’s made me feel much less alone.
I’m a film student at LFA in Fulham, London.
I’m shooting a documentary about the effects of Doxy on mental and physical wellbeing, with a focus on the mental side.
In my case, Doxy made everything so much worse. It’s been three months since I’ve come off it, and I’m still not fully recovered. I can barely eat. If I eat food, it brings on a crushing depression. My head goes foggy, my vision errs.
Please contact george.stroud1999@hotmail.co.uk if you’re interesting in being interviewed for our documentary. In-person would be preferable but online is fine too.
Dania says
Hey! I found this extremely helpful.
this year I was started on doxycycline twice (7 months apart) and in each time I became overly emotional (I cry in public for stupid reasons), also I have very negative self talk with negative outlook of the world and suicidal ideation. All of that apart from heartburn and stomach ache and muscle pain.
I told my dermatologist and she mentioned it’s less likely to be due to doxy but after the second experience I am sure it is the cause.
I was prescribed doxycycline by my dermatologist for a rash on my chest (she said doxycycline has anti-inflammatory characteristics which may help my condition).
I am not sure if this is related to CYP2C19 (as I read a case report of a young man that had a mutation in this gene and was prescribed doxycycline and he ended suiciding unfortunately.
I did a DNA test out of curiosity and it told me I have an issue in CYP2C19 too!
Dr. David Healy says
D
This is very helpful – thanks. Can you find the report linking CYP 2C19 to Doxycyline
D
Dania says
It is a case report that did not conclude a definite correlation, however, this is the link https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3888527/
Mel says
This thread is alarmingly similar to our experience. Doxy prescribed to my healthy, mentally stable, joyful teen boy for moderate acne. He soon began getting panic attacks (he had had one on a short round of doxy and doc said it was under related) .
After panic attacks he also began having mood swings, rage, withdrawal, appetite issues, but it was not fully evident till his suicide ideation became known through a cell phone check one night.
He has never struggled with mental health like this. He was terrified by all the emotions and thoughts.
Doxy was the only new thing added to his life during this span. We are very confident it triggered his cascading mental health crisis. He has been off for a week and we are noticing small improvements but not enough to keep him from requiring lots of mental health assistance and possibly meds (which I obviously am hesitant to do after his response to doxy).
It has put our family in a catch 22 of treating our child for major depression which may have never occurred without the stupid doxy.
Once our family is on the other side of crisis mode. I intend on doing everything in my power to bring attention to this dangerous side effect as I was told by at least 2 doctors that this med simply did not have any links to psychiatric side effects.
Dr. David Healy says
A very bad idea to let your son be put on ADs. Doxycycline makes people suicidal because it inhibits serotonin reuptake inhibitor – putting him on a drug acting on the serotonin system, especially a serotonin reuptake inhibitor would be a very bad idea. This sounds like it is caused by doxycycline and the last thing your son needs is any mental health input.
D
B says
Thank you for this post, I’ve been on doxycycline for 2.5 weeks now, and for ~2 weeks I’ve noticed what feels like a sudden drop in mood. I’ve been having suicidal ideations, and tonight they were increasing.
I’ve been in therapy for a while and not had suicidal ideations. I’m going to stop taking doxy
Dr. David Healy says
Can you keep us posted on whether the problems clear up as the drug gets out of your system
David
B says
Hi! I’m happy to day after stopping doxycycline I’m back to my normal self! My primary care physician agreed that doxy could be the cause and added it to my allergy list.
Thanks again for this page