Are there any medications that will negatively interact with sunlight?
There are many medications that interact directly with the suns ultraviolet rays. These drugs can cause the skin to become hypersensitive to sunlight and to burn as much as 3 to 5 times faster than normal. This can occur with many drugs such as sulfa-based compounds, like sulfa-based antibiotics or diuretics that contain sulfa compounds as well as with tetracycline type antibiotics such as doxycycline for instance. The best way to avoid a problem when taking medications of this type, is to stayout of the sun for extended periods of time. This will decrease the likelihood of burning the skin. If you must be out in the sun, then you should use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or greater on all your exposed skin surfaces. This will block out mostof the suns rays and protect the skin to some degree. Another important consideration is tanning beds. This should go without saying, but you should avoid tanning beds or tanning of any type for that matter while taking medications that increase thes
