Chest pains from taking doxycycline. Can I still continue to eat some foods

This sounds all too familiar! I'm probably one of the strongest 46 year olds around and even stronger at 34, that was the age I was given this horrific drug for a sinus infection, on the 3rd night I too took the drug with little water then went straight to sleep, exactly like you, woke up at 2 thinking it was still in my throat and after a few attempts to throw it up I eventually went back to sleep thinking I'll be fine in the morning. WRONG!!! This drug crippled me for 2 years +!!! Endless doctor visits, endless pill and endless panic attacks! I cried everyday for 2 years and even after I still struggled. I've broken my back in a what should've ended my life in a car accident and broke my back but that does not compare to what I experienced with this drug. Shame on the pharmaceutical companies and the doctors that prescribe this medication!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 years??? Well then I will have to count my blessings. In fact, you have finally made my decision to stop taking the drug. It was prescribed to me for acne and I have since stopped taking it but have thought to maybe revisit it if it is said to work. I don't think it's worth it. I didn't realize how lucky I was to only have this pain for 2 weeks. I agree with you. I cannot believe that I was prescribed this drug with NO precaution, in fact, I was prescribed to take it AT BEDTIME. Really???!!! I guess I will throw the rest of my prescription away and seek a new dermatologist.

I took the doxycline hyclate too close to bedtime and had the WORST heartburn all night. Today I have the same feeling that you describe in the middle of the chest. It feels like a lot of food is stuck there plus heartburn still. My appetite decreased because of it. I have been reading about this drug and realize that this horrible feeling in my chest is from the medicine. YUK!

What did the drug do to you to cripple you for 2 years?

Well I have the same problems taking Doxycycline. When you take it without water or with little water it will give you a severe burning sensation in your chest that will last from 2 weeks or perhaps up to 2 years if it's that severe. The pain is crippling to the point that you can't eat any food that is hard, you can only stick to soft food or no food at all. It may be so bad for whoever is taking the medication that they have to force themselves to eat. For me though, it takes me 10 minutes to eat a small piece of bread because I have to force it all down with the pain in my throat and my chest. The pain is equivalent to swallowing sharp rocks. I'm so glad that other people are having these side effects because I thought I was the only one.

I took this medication last wednesday at around 9:30 pm, not enough water apparently.  I woke up with severe pain around 2 am and starting vomiting, I felt like I was having a heartattack.  I went to the ER on Monday and was given a xray and ekg only to be given Naproxen.  I'm still in severe pain down in my chest and thorat everytime i swallow anything thing (regardless of the size). I went and saw my primary care doctor and was given omeprazole and sucralfate and was told that it would get better with time.  I forgot to tell my doc that I took Doxy the night prior to these symptoms.  Here it is a week to the date and I'm still in severe pain and to read these other reviews saying that it takes 2-3 weeks for it to go away, I have no ideal on how i'm going to make it.

I am in the same boat as everyone else.  I used these tablets as anti malaria drugs.  I am still in Vietnam now but around 5 days ago I took it without enough water ana lay down to watch tv I fell asleep and woke around midnight with what I thought was extreme indegestion. It's now been 5 days I can't swallow and sometimes just breathing is difficult.  I'd started to question whether it was my heart until I stumbled across this website.  I fly home today so will hopefully see my doctor tomorrow.  I've tried everything but nothing works to relieve pain.  Paracetamol eases it slightly.  If anyone has any other suggestions until I get home.

Ya dude i think it is the pill ive had the same weird ass pain when i swallow for three days now i thought it was heart burn at first but it won't go away..anyways the night before i woke up with the pain i took my doxycycline pill with no water

Guys don't worry I'm now ten days on from the most excruciating pain and it's on the mend.  Doc said it was scarring caused by dioxycycline and gave me tablets to eaindegestion symptoms until it mends itself. Def feeling away better

I was having these same symptoms: woke up one night with excruciating pain in my chest that felt like I was having a heart attack, almost, I couldn't swallow anything without intense pain and it felt like chronic heartburn. I also started to get a really bad pain in my back. It almost felt like I could literally breathe fire. I also broke out on my neck, chest and back. It was horrible. My doctor told me it sounded like GERD and didn't sound like a symptom of the medicine.. :/ Retarded. I talked to my pharmacist and he said that if you don't take the doxycycline with enough water or you take it right before you lay down, it literally stays in your esophagus and causes extreme inflammation. This is the cause of the severe pain and it will take several days to heal. Needless to say, I quit taking the doxycycline, even though my doctor told me to keep taking it anyway, and had them call me in something else. I told them I absolutely was not going to continue taking it!! Hope this helps.

Yes, I had this as well. It is the same as the upper chest pain, as mine fluctuates between these two areas. My doctor told me to take an antacid and it only sort ot works....which I mean, not really.

I'm experiencing these exact symptoms- chest pain, painful burping/swallowing, feeling every bite go down. I am afraid to stop taking doxy because it is treating Lyme disease, and my doctor said that I probably inflamed my esophagus and a liquid antacid should help it go away. I'll let you know if it goes away without discontinuing medication.

I was prescribed doxycycline 50 mg, 2 x a day for 3 months to cure blepharitis in my eyes (meibomiam gland dysfunction) - I am 32. In the first few days of taking it I had mild stomach cramps, but they went away.  At the beginning of the third week (on Sun night) I took it with just a few gulps of water (it seems that I should have had a full glass of water) about 15 mins before going to bed.  I went to bed at 11.30pm and was suddenly woken by a burning sensation in my food pipe at 2am.  It was so painful I couldn't lie down or go back to sleep, and the only temporary relief was to keep drinking sips of cold water (warm water was more painful to drink) to force the acid back into my stomach. After seeing a doctor in the middle of the night (who gave me 20 mg omeprazole to take) I eventually managed to get back to sleep at about 5.30am in the morning. It is now 3 days later and I have severely struggled to eat any food for the past few days. The pain in my food pipe (oesophagus) went away quite quite quickly on the Monday, but the pain moved to my stomach and I have constant hunger pains and wind - I also have a stabbing pain just below my ribs, and ANY food or drink I swallow (apart from cold water) makes the stabbing pain worse. I think I have some form of scar or ulceration in my stomach which gets irritated whenever food goes past it. I also feel constantly like my stomach is full of gas, and I can't seem to burp to get rid of it - if I try to burp the stabbing pain worsens suddenly.  So far I have only been able to eat small amounts of cold soft food in tiny mouthfuls very slowly, with sips of water in between mouthfuls... it still hurts to eat after every mouthful though. I have managed so far to eat cold boiled well cooked brown rice with a bit of milk added, cold tinned chicken soup, soya yoghurt, and fresh ripe apricots are ok :-)  Foods that have been very painful to eat so far have been, a banana, cows milk yoghurt, a satsuma, a weetabix, bread.  I'm now taking 'Gaviscone Advance' 10 ml after each meal (3 x a day), and 20 mg of omeprazole on an empty stomach in the mornings (30 mins before eating). I hope my posting helps other people with the same problem. 

I think that all doctors/pharmacists should write clearly on the top of the label that is stuck onto the box of doxycycline drugs in bold capital writing: IMPORTANT: TAKE WITH A LARGE GLASS OF WATER AT LEAST 1 HOUR BEFORE LYING DOWN OR GOING TO SLEEP.

I am having the same chest pain and it is torture. I have broken my hip before and it wasn't this bad. I'm a 31 year old healthy male and was given doxymycilin for preventive malaria treatment. One night I took the medication right before bed and woke up with the feeling of something being stuck in my esophagus the heartburn was bad on day one and was right below buy rib cage. The next three days have been torturous and the pain has moved up to my right chest. I can not eat or drink anything without excruciating pain.  The doctor put me on a proton pump inhibitor and it has been day 5 and no real improvement. This drug should be taken off the market this pain is unreal. Nothing seems to work to help it either !!! I hope it gets better soon