Tetracycline must never be used by women that are pregnant or breastfeeding, as serious health consequences for the baby are possible. Always make sure you take pregnancy test if you suspect you may be pregnant before starting the treatment, as otherwise serious birth defects are possible. Tetracycline can cause permanent teeth discoloration in an unborn baby if taken by a pregnant woman. If taken by a breastfeeding woman this medicine can affect bone and tooth development in the child. At the same time, it is known that tetracycline can make your birth control pills less effective. You will need to use an additional non-hormonal method of contraception – such as a condom – to avoid getting pregnant. Your doctor will be able to provide advice on what other methods of contraception are available. Make sure you follow all the recommendations concerning birth control and inform your health care provider immediately if you think you may have got pregnant while on tetracycline. Do not start the treatment if you are allergic to demeclocycline, doxycycline, tetracycline, or minocycline, as in that case tetracycline is not going to be effect and you will be forced to stop the treatment once you get an allergic reaction. At least 2 hours are supposed to pass between your dose of tetracycline and any other products, such as antacids, laxatives, multivitamins, iron supplements, calcium supplements, or any other products of the kind. Your doctor will provide you with all the necessary information about possible drug interactions. Any other product that you will want to take durum your treatment with tetracycline must be first reported to your health care provider to make sure they are not going to cause serious interactions. Your health care provider needs to know if you have or used to have kidney or liver disease before taking tetracycline, as additional tests may be required to establish the safety of using this medicine. A dosage adjustment may also be required in that case, or your doctor will want to monitor you more carefully for side effects. Tetracycline has been classified as FDA pregnancy category D. Using a non-hormonal method of birth control is recommended, as this drug can affect the effectiveness of your birth control pills. Condom, diaphragm, spermicide are most commonly used non-hormonal methods of birth control. You are never supposed to share tetracycline with other people or ask someone else to give you a dose of tetracycline, as one is supposed to take this medicine regularly, and the dose must be right. In order to be prescribed the right dose you will need to take into consideration all your medical conditions, drugs you are taking and a number of other aspects – al that seems like something a health care professional can do for you. In case you develop any side effects that seem serious – make sure you let your doctor know about them for your treatment to go just as planned without suffering from any health consequences that are possible in some rare cases.