Doxycycline for Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (DoxyPEP)
What is DoxyPEP?
DoxyPEP is a new way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) like syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia.
DoxyPEP stands for:
- Doxycycline (Doxy) is an antibiotic doctors have safely used to treat many bacterial infections since 1967.
- Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is a medicine someone takes after exposure to stop infections before they start.
Taking DoxyPEP is easy. It is two pills taken by mouth within 72 hours after having sex.
It can reduce your chances of getting syphilis and chlamydia by up to 70 percent and gonorrhea by up to 50 percent. DoxyPEP cannot protect against viral STDs like herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), or HIV.
Can I take DoxyPEP?
Talk to your health care provider about DoxyPEP as an option for protecting yourself from STDs when you have sex.
Right now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends DoxyPEP for cisgender gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men and transgender women who have sex with men, especially if they:
- Have had syphilis, gonorrhea, or chlamydia in the past 12 months; or
- Participate in sexual activities that can lead to contracting STDs.
The CDC does not currently have recommendations for DoxyPEP for:
- Cisgender women,
- Heterosexual cisgender men,
- Transgender men, or
- Non-binary individuals assigned female at birth.
This is due to a lack of studies to show that it works for these groups.
Getting DoxyPEP
Visit a health care provider to get a prescription for Doxy PEP.
DoxyPEP is a new way of treating STDs, so your provider might not have heard about it yet. If your doctor has questions about prescribing DoxyPEP, you can refer them to the Texas Department of State Health Services’ (DSHS) DoxyPEP for Providers page.
Steps to getting DoxyPEP
Make an appointment to see your health care provider to get a prescription.
Before prescribing DoxyPEP, your provider should:
- Test you for any STDs such as syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV.
- Talk to you about combining DoxyPEP with other ways of protecting yourself from STDs, like:
- Condoms,
- Reducing sexual partners, or
- Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV.
- Talk to you about side effects, interactions with other drugs, and the need for further testing.
- Tell you when to return to the clinic for STD testing.
See the CDC Clinical Guidelines on the Use of Doxycycline PEP for Bacterial STI Prevention.
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