How does Doxycycline interact with milk / dairy products?
Question posted by andy91 on 2 March 2008
Last updated on 30 April 2025
Hello,
I have 2 questions regarding DOXYCYCLINE HYCLATE 100MG (this is tetracycline antibiotic) twice a day medicine that I started to take.
1. The instructions say that I should not take this medicine with milk or dairy products. I normally take it with just water. However, the questions is if it says that milk and dairy products will reduce the absorption of this medicine, does that mean that I should completely eliminate milk and dairy products from my diet until I am done with this medicine, or that just means that when you swallow the pill do not do it with milk and do not eat dairy or drink milk for couple hours before or after taking this medicine? I am confused. Should I completely abandon milk products or not?
2. I am taking Whey Protein supplements. Since whey protein is a milk protein, does that mean I cannot take that too if #1 is true that I should completely abandon milk and dairy products?
thanks... I appreciate any help/advise you can offer.
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3 Answers
XI
XIPHIAS
1 May 2025
Let me explain this correctly to dispel all doubts.
To begin with, you do not need to give up all dairy products for the duration of treatment. Your goal is not to take doxycycline at the same time as dairy products. (Example: you can not drink doxycycline with milk, eat cheese, cottage cheese, etc.) Why is this so? Doxycycline, like most antibiotics, once in the "stomach", begins its laborious process of absorption into the blood. And dairy products prevent this absorption. For example, if you drink doxycycline with milk, you will get only 40% of the effect. But if you drink doxycycline with water, you will get 90-100% of the effect.
How to properly consume dairy products with doxycycline?
There is one way to answer this question. The digestion time of dairy products is 2-3 hours. The time of complete absorption of doxycycline by the body is 2 hours. Your task is to balance the time correctly. For example, you drank milk and ate cheese sandwiches, what should you do? Answer: Wait 3 hours until the dairy products are completely digested, and only then take doxycycline.
But what if you've been taking doxycycline and now you need to take protein powder? Then you wait 2 hours for your body to absorb doxycycline, and then take the protein powder with a calm mind.
Your main task is to prevent dairy products and doxycycline from entering your digestive tract at the same time!! There's nothing supernatural about it. These simple manipulations will help you take the drug correctly without losing its effectiveness, but also not to deny yourself the pleasures of dairy food.
Of course, I do not know how it is written in your instructions, but in my country it is explained quite well. Perhaps the text of the instructions has confused you. Get well!
Votes: +0
XI
XIPHIAS
1 May 2025
In addition, I want to clarify that all the dairy products you digest break down into the simplest trace elements that become part of your body and DO NOT AFFECT THE ANTIBIOTIC IN ANY WAY IN the BLOOD.
If you drink milk or eat cheese, your blood does not become milky (I do not know why I am explaining this, but you never know) After complete digestion of dairy products, taking doxycycline will not reduce its effectiveness.
In my entire message, the main thesis is that it is in the stomach that doxycycline should not be found with dairy products. But this does not mean that if you ate cereal with milk in the morning and drank doxycycline in the evening, then now the antibiotic will not work. On the contrary, it will work. Because a lot of time has passed between taking dairy products and taking doxycycline.
Again, remember, your doxycycline should not float in your stomach along with dairy products. All. Just divide the pills and milk by the hour, as I wrote above, and everything will work out right for you.
If you have eaten dairy products, but you need to drink doxycycline? We wait 3 hours until the dairy products are digested, then we drink doxycycline.
Did you drink doxycycline, and now you want milk or cottage cheese? We wait 2 hours for doxycycline to be absorbed into the blood, and then we eat at least 10 different types of cheese and cottage cheese. This will not affect the concentration of doxycycline in the blood.
XI
XIPHIAS
1 May 2025
I understand that this post is old, but it is quite popular in terms of views. And I would like to bring the right information to new people who were looking for answers. Because if this question still crashes among the first pages of my browser. Then it probably happens to other people too.
GA
Gale Ferron
17 Sep 2018
How soon after finishing the 21 day dosage are you allowed to eat cheese?
Votes: +0
CO
Coco12
2 March 2008
I'll offer you some advice on my experience with the same drug. I avoided dairy products and milk temporarily while taking this antibiotic. I didn't think it implied to completey stay away from milk/dairy, but rather to warn you that it reduces the absorption of the drug if you consume many dairy products on a daily basis. The best idea is to take it with water, and try to cut back on dairy until you are off of it. High consumption of dairy products would probably have a negative effect. Having a bowl of cereal once a day or a piece of cheese prob won't have any drastic effects on the absorption, but definitely don't overdo it. As for the protein powder, I'd temporarily lay off of that also. I use protein powder too and it stinks that I have no clue which drugs interact with the stuff. None of the drug websites say anything about the ingredients in whey protein (most have other ingredients so you should be careful) and their effect on other drugs. Good luck, perhaps a pharmacist will help ya out eventually with some more info.
Votes: +0
CR
craigalangray
14 Oct 2009
I am currently taking doxycycline hyclate 100mg, doc said i have pneumonia. It took five days of the med for me to feel "better." I always follow what the directions on the script and what the pharmacist says. SO, that really sucks, my normal snack is cheese/crackers or cake/milk, but i bought apples and oranges and have been snacking on that... my figure has not suffered at all... STILL 5'10" 150lbs...
