Doxycycline Hyclate and shortness of breath

Within 12 hours of my first dose, I started experiencing irritability, racing of thoughts, rapid heart beat, shortness of breath, nausea, sweating, and then ultimately, a panic attack. I have history of successfully treated depression from several years ago, yet this med brought forth all those painful old feelings of angst. I am discontinuing doxy immediately. I wish that one of the warning labels on the Rx bottle read, "Do not take if there is a history of depression." It sounds like that would have save a lot of people a lot of grief. Best wishes to all for good health.

started this 7 days ago for a prostate infection... I thought i've been going crazy this week until i saw this post..im having a horrible reaction to this stuff..although it does seem to help my prostate...it leaves the rest of me in bad shape. First off ive been getting lightheaded like every other day to the point as i think im have a panic attack but heart isn't racing...I've gotten diarrhea 3-5 times a day i go now...i had a bagel the other day for breakfast..it was the hardest thing to eat as i felt sick to my stomach and knew i had to eat something so forced it in..today i had a banana and some grapes and 15 minutes later was throwing it all up. I just called my doctor and asked for a change in antibiotics as this thing has lead me to believe there was something wrong with me although my doctor seems to think these side effects don't generally happen...i come here and see they happen EXACTLY how i have been feeling and just hope this doesn't last much longer in my system!

I took this garbage for four days until I had to go to the ER for shortness of breath, chest pain, stomach pain, pins and needles sensation in limbs, hot flashes (felt like I had a fever) and blurry vision. The worst was the complete and utter mental breakdown, I became suicidal and had just horrible images coming through my brain.

It's been a week now and while the depression/suicidal thoughts have subsided, the anxiety, exhaustion, shortness of breath, and stomach pain remain. I'm curious how I can still have these horrible effects taking into consideration the half life of this drug. It should be out of my system now.

Any idea of how much longer this is going to last?

I will be honest with you I was having these symptoms before I was put on Doxycycline for Lymes Disease. The pins and needles in the hands, lightheadedness, major fatigue, shortness of breath. That was the reason I went to the doctor. I knew something was wrong and I also had been bitten by a tick. The blood test came back positive and I started on Doxycycline immediately. I actually get up about 6 and take the 1st dose and then go back to bed and the morning nausea stopped. The only new side effect is the very foggy feeling. What ever the side effect is can not be as bad as the symptoms of Lyme's Disease, before you stop taking the meds please read the symptoms, they are definitely are worst than the cure.

I'm so glad I found this site. I was prescribed doxy for a rash I got in the Dominican that they thought lead to some sort of infection. The first couple days were fine but one night I took the medication before bed and was up all night with the worst chest pains. I have been nervous ever since that when ever I take the pills I'm going to get the same reaction. I have had chest pains the past couple days and I've been really careful with what I take them with and have been making sure I drink at least two bottles of water with each pill. But today I feel so weak. The last week on the medication I've been so tired I want to take naps when I get home from work which is unusual for me. Today my head feels heavy and my leg feels like it's about to twitch but it doesn't. I've felt some tingling in my left leg and my left arm. I thought this was from whatever infection I had since the rash was on my left ankle, but I think it's from the doxy instead. I've also been feeling a dull pain in my thigh every once in a while. I normally have some anxiety but a couple days after I started the doxy I put myself into a panic and spent the entire day at work researching tropical diseases on the internet because I thought I had one from the rash. I've also had some shortness of breath. I have asthma but it feels nothing like that. Also the doxy made my birth control stop working and I started my period. I thought I just had bad cramps but I'm starting to think they were more stomach aches from the doxy. I've had diarrhea also. And I feel so light headed that I'm going to pass out but I don't. I'm definitely calling my doctor today to get a different antibiotic. Thanks everyone for your posts!

Thanx for this site. I took Doxy for 3 days (100mg twice a day) and i woke up with a terrible headache on my right forehead. I took ibuprofen then my left hand started shaking and my heart was beating so fast. I ended up calling 911 thinking something was more serious with me but by the time the paramedics came my pulse and heart beat were normal. Almost 48 hours later i still had the headache and now was having shortness of breath, feeling tired, back ache, panic attack and light headedness. I called my DR and she said i probably just needed some rest. No mention of some possible side effect to doxy so i used my initiative and googled this stupid doxy drug..Wow the results were very helpful and now i know its the doxy doing this to me for sure. I stopped taking it right away which is after only 3 days after but my body hasn't gone back to normal. No more shortness of breath but still have back ache, Oh and for some reason i cant sleep..its 5 am right now and am on my computer..so i think i'll add insomnia to the list of side effects..NEVER AGAIN WILL I TAKE DOXY

I've been taking Doxycycline for two days now. I have a severs case of insomnia. I have not slept in over 36 hours, which is very unusual for me. I am experiencing shortness of breath, extremely exhausted (but can't sleep), nausea, dizziness, feeling of something in my throat, and weird weird moods (getting mad for no reason, which isn't usually me and people are noticing that something is different).
I'm supposed to be taking it for another 5 days for an infection. Any advice on what I should do? This whole no sleeping thing just isn't working for me.

I took this medication as a malarial prevention whilst traveling through India.
Never EVER again. My boyfriend had suffered from depression in the past and we had heard bad things about Larium in relation to anxiety and insomnia so we specifically asked our doctor for the malarial tablets with the least amount of side effects associated with that kind of stuff. He reassured us that there was no record of Doxcycline ever having caused those sorts of effects.
So off we went- we followed the instructions exactly and began our trip.
A week or so into India I began to notice shortness of breath and stomach pain- I put it down to typical India travelers upset and thought no more about it. A bit later I began to suffer moments of anxiety that were really out of character ( I've never suffered from anxiety or depression). I'm very well traveled ( I work in the travel industry and have traveled extensively in the Americas, Africa, Australasia and se Asia) and so although this was my first trip to India- i knew my anxiety had nothing to do with India itself. ( people kept telling me this but I loved India)
It came to a head on a overnight bus from Goa to Hampi- I was feeling really anxious, sweating and clammy, I couldn't sleep and my breathing was really tight. Eventually I had a full blown panic attack that was almost like a out of body experience- I couldn't see and I couldn't breath. The whole bus had to stop ( embarrassing!) at 3am in the morning. Eventually I managed to get back on and make it to the next town ( although not as far as Hampi) so we could take stock.
I was petrified and had no idea whatsoever what was going on. It never occurred to me it could be the malaria tablets as we had been so clear and our doctor so confident they didn't have these kinds of side effects.
I was worried about being on buses, trains even planes again since I didn't know what caused the attacks and I was terrified another one would happen. I had no valium or any other sort of thing that might have helped. In the end we had to cut our trip short and make it back to Mumbai - In Mumbai I suffered from another two panic attacks- one where I could see the walls closing in in our cheap hotel room. Shortness of breath, tightness all through my body, hysteria, blurry vision - it was awful! And also this ongoing pain and upset in my stomach.
I ended up cutting short a RTW trip that my boyfriend and I had been saving for for over a year and coming home to Australia 2 months early.
It was devastating and I still had no idea what was causing it. Finally a friend said her doctor had mentioned sleeplessness and anxiety as a rare side effect of this drug when she was taking it for some problems to do with vaginal bleeding and spotting. I started searching on the internet and was amazed to find loads of sights with people experiencing heaps of the side effects that I'd been told were never a problem with this drug!
Obviously Malaria is really serious but if I had been properly informed I could have made the decision to come off the drugs and look at alternate medication. For now - Im taking the risk of no malaria tablets at all for my next couple of trips (to Borneo- so not a major risk anyway) and will actually research much harder before taking anything again!

Tips while taking this medication:

1. Sit up for at least an hour after taking doxycycline. And always with at least 8oz of water, 16oz is better. This will help with the majority of stomach discomfort. Take on an empty stomach. If you have any nausea, consult with your doctor or pharmacist BEFORE you opt to take this medication with food. DO NOT TAKE WITH MILK (See item 4.)
2. Suncreen is suggested, minimum of SPF 50, your pharmacologist can assist you with the selection during your consult. If they don't voluntarily consult you on this drug, find a new pharmacy. You can get sunburn even in your house depending on the sun's direction. Any stinging on the skin is a good clue to apply sunscreen and move out of the sunlight.
3. Do not take any form of antacid or vitamin within four hours unless directed otherwise.
4. Doxycycline is a tetracycline, therefore avoid dairy products. This includes cheese and yogurt. You can render the medication totally inactive by cosuming dairy. This can result in your infection not being cleared, superinfection or resistant organisms.
5. If you have recently taking a *cillin type antibiotic, be sure to tell your doctor or pharmacist. Do not take concurrently with these type of antibiotics unless your doctor tells you to do so.

If you develop hives, swelling of the face or throat, shortness of breath contact your doctor or pharmacist right away. These side effects are very rare, but can be serious.

Most side effects from this drug can be avoided by following these simple steps.

I have been on Doxy for three weeks now to treat a skin infection. I am now experiencing bad chest pain where my heart is and also into my upper left back. I have had the tingling in my head and some shortness of breath. I have also noticed that my joints like my kness and hands are aching. Has anyone had these symptoms too?

I've been taking doxycycline for a few days now. The first few days i felt dizzy, and I had shortness of breath and a heavy chest, the next day I vomitted, and had sharp pains in my stomach. I realized it was because I didn't take it with food, now I take it after a few bites of a meal and basically try to cover the pill with food and liquid so it doesnt upset my stomach and its working...but I'm surprised this antibiotic is has so many side effects..I also have chronic headaches and advil doesn't work at all. I advise anyone taking this medication to eat it with your food or shortly after, especially in the morning.

It seems to be clearing up my bladder infection though, I couldn't take two medications at once so I took this one for a bacterial infection, and I think its killing 2 birds with one stone.

WHAT!!!??? ANTHRAX TREATMENT??? NO WAY!!!
I have never had so many side effects from any pill!!!
I just did a little online research on my twice a day 100mg Doxycycline, and I didn't see hardly any side affects listed.(I think asprin had more.lol) Anyways, I'm taking the med for a possible bacteria infection in which I kinda complained to my wife about alot. Now, I know i'm driving her crazy after I've been complaning about HEART BURN, DIZZINESS, CRAMPS IN SIDES AND LOWER BACK(bed time hours), APPETITE LOSS, LOSS OF ENERGY, SHORTNESS OF BREATH, CONFUSION. This is only my 3rd day on the medication. The crazy part for me about taking the pill is thinking it's the illness that is causing the problems, not the pill. Now for the positives- (1)Hopefully getting rid of my bacteria.(2) Regular bowl movements that I am very proud of!!!
REMEMBER TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS TO A TEE. THIS STUFF IS NO JOKE, IT'S GIVEN TO SOME PEOPLE THAT ARE EXPOSED TO ANTHRAX.

I'm so glad I found this site!!
Today was the first day I noticed any symtoms and I've been taking it for 3 days now. About 30 minutes after taking it, I've been feeling nauseated and dizzy and some abdominal pain. I'm a college student and I was on my way to class this morning when I started feeling these symptoms. Literally 1 minute after being in my class, I had to get up and leave back to my dorm because I felt like I was about to faint and vomit at the same time! I didn't know its better to take it with LOTS of water and I just had a sip before I went to class just to swallow the pill. Anyways, I started to panic because I thought I was having an allergic reaction to this because in the evening when I took it again, i had shortness of breath. I guess this is just an effective remedy with evil side affects.

shortness of breath

Here is my doxy experience.

Been taking Doxy for 7 days so far to treat a bacterial infection (epididymitus), 2 pills a day. (The doc also prescribed an anti-inflammatory pill for the pain from the infection.) I didn't notice any real side effects for the first few days aside from a little fatigue and lack of energy. However, on the 4th day, I started feeling a slight tightness of chest, mainly on the left side. On the 5th day, started feeling lightheaded, shortness of breath. The chest tightness was a little more noticeable, can't really describe it as pain, but was concerned enough to go to the ER. The ER doc said chest discomfort could be acid from the stomach, so she prescribed Prilosec (anti-ulcer medicine) and took me off the anti-inflam. medicine, but kept me on the Doxy b/c of the infection. Felt better after leaving the ER, but did notice a little discomfort in my esophagus while swallowing my dinner that night. (Haven't had that since.) Next morning (day 6) I felt good enough to go into work. The shortness of breath and dizziness went away completely (maybe was due to the other pill). However, late in the day, started feeling the chest pain again even worse. I should note that I was experiencing some stress at work which seemed to be a factor. After I left work, the pain subsided. I took a valium after getting home which seemed to help.

Now at the end of Day 7: felt a little fatigued, but haven't had any serious chest pain, but still some mild discomfort when trying to go to sleep (which is why I'm still up writing this!). I should note that I ate some greasy fast food for lunch and didn't have the healthiest dinner.

After reading some of the side effects on this website, I am concerned about continuing to take this pill (3 more days to go), but will keep taking it as long as my side effects don't get worse. My advice based on taking this medicine is this: take it with lots of water, try to avoid taking it around bed time, be careful not to eat foods that are too acidic, and try to remain upright after taking it. I will post again if any side effects pop up during Day 8.

I have been taking Doxycycline for only 4 days, already I have had some pretty horrible side effects; vomitting, nausea, dizzyness, shortness of breath as well as being extemely moody and irratable. I wanted to know if these were common side effects among other people of the same age/health as I that have taken this drug. Im fit, in my early 20's and never before have had such a reaction to any drug prescribed to me.

I was prescribed Doxycycline for any possible STD I could have contracted when I was raped 2 weeks ago. I have the horrible sunburn feeling, especially on my upper and lower extremites. Severe vaginal itching with a white discharge. Feverish, vomitting, shortness of breath. I am a college student with a very busy athletic schedule, but for the past 2 weeks I haven't been able to even walk a mile without feeling faint. (I normally RUN about 8-10mi/ day) I am debating whether or not to go to the doctor...