Should i take doxycycline with milk

No, it would help if you did not consume doxycycline with milk or any other dairy product like yogurt, cheese, etc. This is because dairy products reduce the body cell's absorption capacity of doxycycline through a process called chelation. It involves the formation of chelates chemical compounds when tricyclene compounds react with calcium ions. Doxycycline is a tetracycline drug, and milk products are rich in calcium ions. Hence, they form chelate in the body that reduces overall absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and thus, in turn, nullifies the impact of doxycycline.

What Else Affects Doxycycline? Here are some other compounds that do not work well with doxycycline for the same reasons mentioned above: Barbiturates. Anticonvulsants Laxatives. Proton pump inhibitors. Vitamin A. Who Should Not Have Doxycycline? If you belong to any of the following groups of people, you should consult your doctor before taking doxycycline: Women sensitive to tetracycline drugs: Some people are more prone to side effects of tetracycline drugs because of prior health conditions.

Side effects may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, allergies, anemia, iron deficiency, etc. Children below eight years of age: This is the age when teeth develop. They require a high amount of calcium ions. However, doxycycline reacts with calcium to form chelate. Thus, children may suffer from tooth discolouration , making them appear yellow-grey-brown instead of white.

Pregnant women: Tooth formation occurs in a fetus in the second trimester of pregnancy. If a pregnant woman takes a regular dosage of doxycycline, her unborn baby may also have tooth discoloration for similar reasons.

One should avoid certain Indian foods during pregnancy as well. Breastfeeding mothers: Doxycycline may also enter an infant's body through breast milk and cause tooth discoloration. Women can also try lactogenic foods for their breastfeeding phase to pass smoothly.

Women taking anticoagulants: Doxycycline drug interactions reduce blood clotting and cause bleeding. Anticoagulants serve a similar purpose. Taking a high dosage of both of these drugs may cause excessive bleeding. In another study, Meyer et al. The authors concluded that, like other tetracyclines, doxycycline should not be administered together with milk.

Although Pfizer's doxycycline Vibramycin product labeling cautions that the absorption of tetracyclines is reduced when the drug is taken with foods, especially those containing calcium, it adds that the absorption of doxycycline is not markedly influenced by simultaneous ingestion of food or milk. The manufacturer even recommends that Vibramycin be administered with food or milk if gastric irritation occurs.

The editors of this publication add that this effect is not usually significant. Jack Rosenberg. Should patients on doxycycline avoid dairy products? Drug Topics Oct.

October 20, References are available upon request. The authors of this article are: Joseph P. One estimate says among the 8. When it comes to doxycycline, there are some things you should know about dairy consumption. In short: Dairy reduces the absorption of doxycycline and other tetracycline drugs. Put another way: it can lessen the effectiveness of the drug.

Several studies have concluded that dairy should not be consumed with doxycycline, going back several decades due to the long life of this drug. For example, as early as , researchers found that the absorption of doxycycline was reduced 20 percent in the presence of skim milk. A few decades later, in , a very small study of just nine participants found drinking ml of milk with doxycycline reduced absorption by 30 percent, on average, and plasma concentration by 24 percent.

These studies, and likely others, have led regulatory bodies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Health Service of the United Kingdom to recommend doxycycline not be taken in conjunction with dairy products. For instance, the FDA offers no caution about using doxycycline with dairy products. In fact, the FDA actually recommends taking doxycycline with food or milk specifically if you experience gastrointestinal irritation as a side effect of the medication.

The FDA does note, however, that peak serum concentration of doxycycline decreases pretty significantly — 24 percent — if consumed with food or dairy products. Sounds a little confusing? Well, it is.