Physicians use oral antibiotics to treat acne, and patients prescribed those antibiotics have dutifully popped their pills three or four times each day. However, some patients forget a dose, which can result in their acne growing resistant to the antibiotic used. Solodyn, a reformulation of an antibiotic commonly used to treat acne, attempts to correct that problem by providing a once-a-day medication regimen.
Cause
Solodyn fights bacteria. Bacteria do not cause acne -- acne results when your oil glands overproduce skin oil, which leads to plugged pores, according to the website MayoClinic.com. Once pores clog, bacteria that always lives on your skin can infect those pores, turning tiny pimples into larger, infected pimples.
Function
Solodyn is formulated from minocycline, a form of antibiotic in the tetracycline family, according to the website Drugs.com. Minocycline and other tetracycline antibiotics work well in acne treatment. Solodyn, made by Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp., holds Food and Drug Administration approval for acne in patients 12 years and older. In younger patients, tetracycline antibiotics can permanently discolor adult teeth.
Use/Side Effects
In almost every case, you'll take Solodyn once every day for 12 weeks, according to Drugs.com. You should take it at the same time daily with a full glass of water. Common side effects include swelling or sores in your genitals, swollen tongue or white patches on your tongue and mild stomach upset. You might also experience dizziness while taking Solodyn.
Research
Researchers found that Solodyn works as well as other antibiotics that require multiple daily doses. In a research study performed by Dr. A.B. Fleischer and colleagues and published in the October 2006 edition of the medical journal "Cutis," the researchers reported that Solodyn worked effectively to clear up acne lesions in 1,038 study subjects over 12 weeks.
Considerations
In the study reported in "Cutis," some 10 percent of study subjects experienced acute dizziness one or more times during treatment. However, study subjects taking Solodyn were more likely to remember to take their medication than others taking multiple daily doses of antibiotics.
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