AboutDr Alan Galbraith Expertise I can answer most questions on most drugs. Answers can be given in either technical or layperson terminology. My main areas of interest are psychiatric, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular drugs.
Experience I have been a university lecturer/head of department for almost thirty years, but am now retired. My research interests were alcohol, smoking and cardiovascular disease.
Organizations Institute of Biology, London.
Publications Author of "Fundamentals of Pharmacology" 5th Edition published in November 2007 by Pearson Education, Australia.
Question I've just started taking 100mg of Doxycyline per day (to continue for a week, after which I am to take one per week for 23 weeks). This is to keep me from developing further chalazia, following the excision of a few two days ago, and was prescribed by the ophthalmologist I visited.
My dilemma is: I am visiting my fiancée in a few days and she is mildly allergic to penicillin (which I know doxcycline is unrelated to, so that part shouldn't matter) as well as has been warned by her doctors not to take practically any antibiotics/antihistamines/most medication, due to her heart condition (noncompactive cardiomyopathy of the left ventricle) in addition to her having allergies to various other common things.
Essentially, I'm worried about passing any dosage of doxycycline on to her via saliva/semen. Do you think the fairly small dosage of doxycycline I'm taking could potentially dilute into my bodily fluids enough to cause her any harm?
Answer Dear Matt
I think you are worrying unnecessarily and can see no problems at all. I have never heard of such a restriction on drugs anyway for a cardiac myopathy and even though this were the case the amount of doxycycline or its metabolites secreted into semen or saliva etc would definitely not be enough to cause any harm. I also think her her penicillin and possible other allergies are neither here nor there in this instance. Peanut allergy is really the only one that trace amounts can cause a severe allergic reaction anyway.
