Drug Database: Doxycycline

How is doxycycline used in people with HIV?How is doxycycline used in people with HIV?

How is doxycycline used in people with HIV?

The Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV and the Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Children with and Exposed to HIV include recommendations on the uses of doxycycline in people with HIV to:

• Treat:
  • Malaria
  • Certain Bartonella infections (also called bartonellosis)
  • Syphilis
  • Community-acquired pneumonia
  • Toxoplasma gondii encephalitis
• Prevent
  • Malaria
  • Certain Bartonella infections (also called bartonellosis)

The recommended uses may not always be consistent with FDA-approved uses of doxycycline. See the Adult and Pediatric Opportunistic Infection Guidelines for complete information on recommended uses of doxycycline in adults and children with HIV. Doxycycline may have other recommended uses not listed above.

What should I tell my health care provider before taking doxycycline?What should I tell my health care provider before taking doxycyline?

What should I tell my health care provider before taking doxycycline?

Before taking doxycycline, tell your health care provider:

• If you are allergic to doxycycline or any other medicines.
• About any medical conditions you have or have had.
• About anything that could affect your ability to take medicines, such as difficulty swallowing pills, difficulty remembering to take pills, or any health conditions that may prevent you from receiving medicine by injection or infusion.
• If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Talk to your health care provider about the risks and benefits of taking doxycycline during pregnancy. The Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV may include other recommendations on the use of doxycycline during pregnancy. Please refer to these guidelines for additional information.
• If you are breast/chestfeeding or plan to breast/chestfeed. For people with HIV in the United States, the Guideline recommends speaking with your health care provider to discuss options for feeding your baby. People with suppressed viral load have a less than 1% chance of transmitting HIV to their baby via their own milk.
• About other prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products you are taking or plan to take. Doxycycline may affect the way other medicines or products work, and other medicines or products may affect how doxycycline works. Ask your health care provider if there are interactions between doxycycline and the other medicines you take.

Ask your health care provider about possible side effects from doxycycline. Your health care provider will tell you what to do if you have side effects.

Take doxycycline according to your health care provider’s instructions. Your health care provider will tell you how much doxycycline to take and when to take it. Before you start doxycycline and each time you get a refill, read any printed information that comes with your medicine.