Long Covid and Doxycycline: Inflammation Theory

I was given doxycycline and azithromycin last November for Covid/Pneumonia. I was quite ill with sore throat, cough, fever etc. I was also given Paxlovid. A week later I felt much better and then a week after that I felt worse. I stopped the doxycycline after 20 days due to stomach upset, but did take the full course of other drugs. I now suffer from heart palpitations all the time, extreme fatigue, in and out sense of smell and taste, brain fog, and muscle pain. My energy is not even half of what I used to enjoy.
I decided to take the rest of the doxycycline which is about 10 tablets, one each day. Doxy has been proven to help with inflammation and my primary doc said the virus causes inflammation and that is what I am suffering from based on my symptoms. My primary doc who did nothing but talk to me, my cardiologist who tested me with a 7 day Zio heart monitor, Urgent Care team when I went back for a final x-ray, all had this advice: "wait it out, it could take two months or two years." I am an established older female college professor and I am not going to sit around and watch muscle loss, suffer exhaustion, have poor memory, etc. without trying SOMETHING. So, I am taking the remainder of the Doxy that was prescribed for me in November 2023. I am taking it for the anti-inflammatory benefits. Has anyone else tried Doxycycline for long Covid symptoms?

No, haven't tried Doxycycline but I was put on Celebrex for hip bursitis and inflammation. It helped a great deal but I had to stop it after 11 days because I had a severe allergic reaction to it. Broke out in a bad rash/hives over all my body. On 40mg Prednisone now. It's helping. Will most likely get the cortisone/steroid shot for my hip bursitis.

Oh I am so sorry about your post Covid pain. Inflammation is the #1 post COVID issue and it is just this past year being recognized as a disability. I have heard about Celebrex causing allergic reactions and worse pain, even without COVID. I think the Prednisone is a good idea and the shot really helped me with my shoulder pain. Best to you!

I have had long covid since April 2021. I was given doxycycline for something else (now forget what) and it had the side effect of greatly reducing my LC symptoms. Doxycycline reduced the symptoms by more than half while I was on it, but then when I stopped the symptoms came right back. I then tried a second round of doxycycline but the second time it had very little effect. My Stanford clinic said this is not usual and they have seen it with doxycycline before.
Sorry to be a bearer of bad news ... I wish it was a good treatment. Best wishes to you.

I hear you about NOT sitting around waiting for symptoms to improve!! I’m a doctor of physical therapy and the blasé attitudes with lack of searching outside the box for solutions by doctors is reprehensible. I’m personally sick of feeling shamed for their lack of understanding, interest, imagination, and knowledge of post viral conditions!

I had Covid back at end of 2019 in Europe. And have had a myriad of symptoms that keep popping up over the years. Sure, the shortness of breath got better finally after 2 years, but then 2 years later, I had severe allergic reactions (anaphylactic episodes for 9 months). Last year, was the worst of all with severe heart palpitations, weakness and shakiness and complete inability to do anything, showering takes all day to recover from.

And I totally agree that inflammation is a major issue with LC. My dermatologist recommended 50mg/day for anti inflammatory effects. (This is low enough dose that it isn’t antimicrobial).

However, there’s more to it than anti inflammatory. Like what’s the upstream cause of it? This is where I feel real treatment will occur.

I found through a random turn of events that paxlovid actually helped me long term (6 months), and then cipro along with paxlovid was even better… but then got off both and everything returned with a vengeance.

I’m finally seeing an infectious disease specialist who has been treating chronic illness for decades (which most practitioners have no experience with and oftentimes downplay that chronic illnesses even exist (most chalk these up to mental issues) think CFS, fibromyalgia, etc). My ID specializes in LC too.

She’s said most LC patients have some kind of underlying illness causing LC. Like chronic undiagnosed Lymes, Bartonella, or a reactivation of EBV, CMV, etc. I’m being tested now for all of them.

My hope is that there’s some kind of antimicrobial cocktail that will kill everything off and my life will return!

It seems possible since the antivirals along with antibiotic really helped me.

I just couldn’t stay on paxlovid any longer as it was causing GI distress and I got diverticulitis (which my doc says I’m too young to have). Being off of the Paxlovid has helped my GI. Just the rest of my symptoms are bad again 🙁

Most people who are recovering from Covid do take a while before things return to normal and then they’re fine. My dermatologist said she was bad for 4 months then has been back to normal since.

Then there are those like me who never fully recover after years. This is where finding the underlying causes are imperative for finding cures.

Medicine focuses mainly on symptom management that are downstream issues. I want the upstream cause addressed. And I hope to find it BEFORE it causes autoimmune disease! ( which a lot of chronic viral or bacterial infections cause - epigenetics of viral exposure turning on full autoimmune dysfunction which attacks the body, a.k.a. Autoimmune disease)

I believe the healthcare world is needing a BIG wake up call that chronic illnesses need to be addressed and treated early on. No more sticking their heads in the sand saying people “get over” things after someone has an illness (Covid, chickpox, mono, etc) or insect bite that goes away initially ignoring that it can come back later.

Finding the right practitioners who actually give a shhhh, you know the ending, is where real solutions will come. As well as someone who has knowledge and understanding of chronic diseases.

Sorry for my long rant! Lol

I am so sorry to learn about all of the issues you have had since COVID. And as a person with a long ago medical career and trainer of EMT's (really long ago), I probably know enough to be dangerous. Your situation sounds similar to mine. I was given Doxycycline when I had what they thought was a chest cold as COVID test was negative. I knew something was really wrong and the Urgent Care I went to did not have an x ray machine. I wanted an x-ray as I felt something "not right" in my chest. Two days later I went to a different Urgent Care, they had an x ray machine and I said I NEED AN X RAY. Still tested negative. But the kind doctor, retired Air Force medical director showed it to me and I had pneumonia. He gave me a Z-pack. Well I went home and the next day could hardly swallow, and I tested myself for COVID and BINGO, positive....so back to the retired air force doc and he tested as well, and said "well there is our answer." He had me stay on the Doxycycline, finish the Z Pack, and gave me Paxlovid. He wanted to place me in the hospital saying I was one very ill woman, but I said no, just give me 3 days. I went back to see him on Thanksgiving night, three days later and I felt so much better. He took another x ray and the pneumonia was clearing up. He said I had turned the corner and to finish up the meds. A week went by and BANG....I had a relapse and that is when I truly felt like I had COVID. Fever, sore throat that felt like I swallowed glass, no sense of taste or smell, chills, fever and body aches. And that was Thanksgiving. The sore throat went away, fever and chills gone, pneumonia gone, but body aches are awful, and constant 24/7 heart palpitations began and haven't stopped. I also have intermittent loss of smell and taste. I had Lyme Disease back in 2016 and was miserable but eventually it cleared up with Doxy. So, after much research from my Lyme experience, and now COVID, Doxycycline seems to maybe be one part of an answer. All I can say is that I started taking Doxy as of 4 days ago, and the unbearable fatigue has diminished by about 75% almost immediately. There are people who take Doxy for rosacea skin issues 100 mg a day and it keeps it at bay. This has been for years now. So, I am giving it a go hoping it continues to let me feel somewhat normal with less scary side effects. NONE of my physicians really want anything to do with me because why? Well I've know for years there is no money in a condition I have from a tick bite and that is Alpha Galactose Allergy AND Lyme Disease, and they don't want to spend time learning about if it's not their specialty. But it is the first thing many blame on odd symptoms such as heart palpitations, etc. I know what I have is not from AG or Lyme, it is from COVID Nov. 2023. And there truly hasn't been enough time for physicians to know what will happen to people who have had it.
I will end my rant.....no apologies from you necessary.....LOL.

My husband takes Doxy for a skin condition and has for several years, every day, 100 mg. I have taken it in the past for Lyme Disease for 60 days at a time. That seems to have ended and the blood test shows it is no longer active. However, I am going back to that doctor, because I have another tick borne illness called Alpha Gal (mammal allergy from a tick bite) and the treatment is Doxy for 30 days. I don't plan on stopping the Doxy. I will definitely keep your words in my mind and I don't consider it necessarily bad news. Thank you for sharing and I hope your LC goes away!

--Just finished 10 days of prednisone to see if it helps long covid dizziness and malaise.---Sorry to report NO CHANGE. The NYC Sinai Hos. study evidently doesn't help everyone--again -as all people react differently to each medication.. Keep up with hope and prayers.

I am truly sorry your prednisone did not help. I have fatigue and non stop heart palpitations but no dizziness. I keep wondering if this is COVID or is it from Paxlovid? Or both?

Soooo cope-hope-prayer