Why do you recommend that we NOT take tiny doses of minocycline?
The lowest dose of Minocycline recommended is 25mg. Do not use less. Taking tiny doses of minocycline keeps the concentration down to the level where it works the best.
In the initial months of this study site, some members reported that they could not tolerate 25mg of minocycline and thought they had to take even smaller doses. After some investigation, we realized that these members could not tolerate 25mg minocycline because they had not been avoiding sunlight or bright lights erroneously thinking that aspect of the MP was only important for those with sarcoidosis. We concluded that their symptoms were not due to the immune response to the minocycline 25mg dose but caused by a flare in 1,25-D due to the sun/lights exposure.
Subsequently, we resumed our original advice to start minocycline at 25mg every other day. Hundreds of anecdotal reports from the original MP cohort and those currently compliant with all MP guidelines, indicate that patients who are diligent about avoiding sunlight/bright lights tolerate the waxing and waning of immune response symptoms best at doses of 25 mg and higher.
There is no advantage to starting at a tiny dose and it may even be detrimental. Taking tiny doses of minocycline keeps the concentration down to the level where it works the best and may account for reports of continued difficulties with intolerable immunopathlogy by noncompliant members who thought that tiny doses of minocycline were better.
Ramping up minocycline by a dose smaller than 25mg may be detrimental for the same reason.
Will bacteria be missed if tiny starting doses are not used?
Dr. Marshall replies:
There are no bugs which will be missed, because the 48 hours dosing interval ensures that the dose in your body has decayed away to a tiny value between each capsule of minocycline
The 50mg dose you are taking decays away to 1/10 of that in the 48 hours between dosing intervals. That is why the MP is so forgiving of small errors in dose or interval.
Last edited on Sat Apr 12th, 2008 01:58 by Foundation Staff
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