Ph. Abbas – Page 14 – KNOW & TREAT UTI

Although you should not take any antibiotics without consulting the doctor first, and it's the doctor's job whether you need a certain antibiotic or not. but, it's important to know what the doctor has given and have knowledge about what's entering your body. so that you can have a knowledge-based discussion with your doctor about the pros and cons of taking this particular antibiotic over the other ones and to be prepared if any side effect appears or if anything happens during the course of the treatment. the antibiotics that are used to treat UTI are: 1_ nitrofurantoin (Macrobid) 2_ cephalexin (Keflex) 3_ amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (co-Amoxiclav or augmentin) 4_ ciprofloxacin 5_ Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole 6_ levofloxacin (Levaquin) 7_ fosfomycin (Monurol) 8_ ceftriaxone (Rocephin) 9_ Ampicillin 10_ cefotaxime (Claforan) 11_ meropenem (used as a last resort) before we discuss these types of antibiotics that are used to treat UTI we should notify you that bacterial resistance is a worldwide growing problem, and it's mainly caused because of the misuse of antibiotics. people who prescribe antibiotics for themselves without any knowledge about the antibiotics, taking antibiotics for the simplest of illnesses even though if the illness didn't need an antibiotic, prescribing antibiotics for the wrong types of infections, not completing the whole antibiotic regimen or course given by your doctor, all of these things can worsen the problem that the world is increasingly suffering from which is antibiotic resistance. now, for the main topic in this article which is the antibiotics that are used to treat UTI, we will list down the most important antibiotics used nowadays to treat the UTI with a discussion for each one of them along with their properties, benefits, side effects and more. keep in mind that the doctor may give you more than one antibiotic at the same time that's and can give other drugs with antibiotics like painkillers and others. 1_ nitrofurantoin (Macrobid): nitrofurantoin is an antibiotic that mainly used in the treatment of lower urinary tract infections meaning that it works best in the treatment of urethra and bladder infection, while it's not very effective in the treatment of kidney infection which is an upper urinary tract infection. nitrofurantoin can work against approximately every single type of bacteria that can cause the UTI, but the main problem with it is that it's not distributed very well, in other words, it can only reach a few parts of the human body and these parts are the lower urinary tract which is the bladder and the urethra while it's very hard or almost impossible to deliver nitrofurantoin to the kidneys that's why it's only used to treat lower urinary tract infections. it's best used to treat the UTI in its early stages if the UTI has developed and became complicated UTI the doctor will resort to using other antibiotics. why isn't nitrofurantoin used for complicated UTI? mainly it's because that complicated UTI will be in the upper urinary tract which means it will be a kidney infection in most cases and as I said earlier nitrofurantoin can't be used against kidney infections on the other hand nitrofurantoin is an antibiotic that works by decreasing the growth rate of the bacteria while other antibiotics can kill the bacteria or at least stop the reproduction of the bacteria so for that reason nitrofurantoin is used for uncomplicated UTI. no major side effects have been reported with this drug.because that this drug can only be taken orally whether as a capsule or as a suspension, because of that and just like most other antibiotics most of the side effects of this drug are related to disturbances to the stomach or other parts of the gastrointestinal tract. while it's rare but some people may have diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and flatulence, these rare side effects are best dealt with by taking this medication with meals. other side effects of nitrofurantoin might include a headache, dizziness, drowsiness, fever, chills, and others. it's worth mentioning that these side effects are not very dangerous and you should continue with using the medication if you had one of them, only if you cannot tolerate them anymore then stop the medication and report to the doctor. 2_ cephalexin (Keflex): I discussed this drug in the cephalexin article more heavily only I would say here that this drug is not designed specifically for the purpose of treating UTI only by using it you will contribute more to the bacterial resistance problem so there are better choices than Keflex to treat UTI. 3_ amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (co-Amoxiclav or augmentin): his drug is a combination of the two antibiotics amoxicillin and clavulanic acid, the combination of these two drugs are far better in dealing with UTI than amoxicillin alone, scientists have added clavulanic acid to amoxicillin so that it can make it more efficient in killing the bacteria and hell yes it does a good job at it. more information about this drug is in the amoxicillin article. 4_ ciprofloxacin: this antibiotic belongs to a family of antibiotics drugs called fluoroquinolones, this drug has very good effectiveness against most of the types of bacteria that cause the UTI and can usually kill all the bacteria that caused the infection within three to four days. however, it's associated with very dangerous side effects that's why it must be used only if the other drugs have failed to cure the infection. for the treatment of UTI, this antibiotic is given two times daily orally after meal. common side effects of antibiotics like nausea and vomiting and diarrhea are also found with this antibiotic however, rare but dangerous side effects can happen with the use of this drug like Tendinitis and seizures and others. 5_ Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (co-trimoxazole): this antibiotic is a powerful antibiotic it can kill almost all the types of bacteria that cause the uti whether it's a lower urinary tract infection (bladder infection) or it's upper urinary tract infection (kidney infection) and also works great on a variety of other infections like respiratory infections and gastrointestinal infections. what is the disadvantage of this antibiotic? the only problem with this antibiotic is that it can cause a lot of side effects (more than Trimethoprim alone) especially allergic reactions that can be dangerous. people groups that have an allergy to a group of drugs called sulfa drugs should not under any circumstances take Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole or it will lead to a severe allergic reaction that can lead to death. it must be taken twice daily after meal to reduce the gastrointestinal side effects of this drug. 6_ levofloxacin (Levaquin): this antibiotic comes from the same antibiotics family as the ciprofloxacin which is the Fluoroquinolone family they resemble each other in the way they fight the bacteria. however, levofloxacin is associated with lesser side effects than ciprofloxacin and it also requires to be given once daily not twice daily like ciprofloxacin and this is considered an advantage for the levo over the Cipro. warning: do not take levofloxacin or any drug of the Fluoroquinolone antibiotics family with any drug of the painkiller drugs like Voltaren and ibuprofen (ADVIL) or other drugs from the same family of drugs that are called (NSAID's), as taking levofloxacin with one of the NSAID's family is associated with dangerous central nervous system side effects. ps: the NSAID's family of drugs includes drugs like diclofenac (Voltaren), ibuprofen, meloxicam (Mobic) and others. 7_ fosfomycin (Monurol): fosfomycin is an antibiotic that has little side effects, in fact, it may be the least antibiotic among the antibiotics that we have discussed earlier that has side effects, in general, it's a very safe antibiotic to use. it comes as a powder in 3 grams packet to be dissolved in water and then to be drunken once. this antibiotic has shown good efficacy against the bacteria that cause the UTI but, increased bacterial resistance has made this antibiotic effective only against the UTI in it's early or medium stages. while if the UTI has progressed to advanced stages then other more powerful antibiotics should be used. 8_ ceftriaxone (Rocephin): ceftriaxone is an antibiotic used for a lot of other infections other than UTI like pneumonia, meningitis, otitis media, skin infections, and surgical prophylaxis. it's also used when the UTI has progressed to an advanced stage and has reached the kidneys or so. why don't the doctors give this antibiotic first? because it's a very powerful antibiotic it's saved for the last, and they don't want to increase the problem of bacteria resistance by giving powerful antibiotics first. if the doctors have tried other antibiotics and have failed, it can be given alone or with other antibiotics at the same time. it's given intravenously or intramuscular and cannot be given by mouth that's about the only disadvantage that ceftriaxone has. that's why it's associated with induration or sclerosis at the site of injection so it must be given slowly to avoid this side effect. it has low side effects profile meaning that it has no dangerous side effects, only with repeated and continuous use of this antibiotic that dangerous side effects can appear. if you have a type of allergy called penicillin drugs allergy then there is a 10% chance that you might be allergic to ceftriaxone as well. so you should tell your doctor about it before you take this medication. the allergic reaction may not appear at the first injection but can appear at the second injection so you should be careful. normally the doctor will make a sensitivity test to ceftriaxone to know if you are allergic to it or not. 9_ Ampicillin: ampicillin is an old antibiotic and it has become outdated nowadays, it's only effective against a small range of bacteria that cause the UTI. so it cannot work against all the bacteria types that can cause the uti. also, people with penicillin allergy should not take this medication under any circumstances. so it's not an antibiotic that works especially for the uti also bacterial resistance to ampicillin has grown and it's no longer as effective in treating the UTI as it was before so doctors have switched to newer better antibiotics. not soo dangerous side effects of ampicillin might include nausea, diarrhea, and rash, however, more serious side effects can occur like anaphylactic shock especially in the case of people with penicillin allergy. 10_ cefotaxime (Claforan): cefotaxime is a broad-spectrum antibiotic meaning that it's used against a wide range of infections including urinary tract infections (UTI) especially the uti that is caused by the bacteria Escherichia coli or E. coli. while it doesn't work so well on the other types of bacteria that cause the UTI like Staphylococcus saprophyticus or Klebsiella pneumoniae. but in most of the UTI cases, the UTI is caused by E. coli bacteria so cefotaxime can be given but it's not the preferred choice, doctors prefer more specific antibiotics. people who have an allergy to penicillin should not take cefotaxime otherwise an allergic reaction can occur. inflammation at the site of infection is one of the most common side effects of cefotaxime, diarrhea also has been noticed. __________________________________________________ so those were the 10 most common antibiotics that the doctor might give you if you have a UTI. but there remains just one other antibiotic but the doctors will not administer it to you unless the infection is really strong and the bacteria is resistant to all of the other antibiotics that I mentioned earlier. which is a case that might happen especially in countries where the use of antibiotics is not very much controlled. I have seen such case happen in one of the hospitals in my country, one of the patients had a bacterial infection that was resistant to all of the antibiotics that I mentioned earlier. so the doctors had no choice but to give a very much powerful and expensive antibiotic which is called meropenem (Merrem). meropenem (Merrem): is a very powerful antibiotic that can kill a very wide range of bacteria and can be used in the treatment of a lot of infections including the urinary tract infection (UTI). usually, it's used when the bacteria is resistant to the antibiotics that I mentioned earlier and this can happen especially when the infection has progressed. when the UTI is left not treated for a period of time or when it's neglected the UTI can progress to an advanced stage where killing the bacteria can be soo difficult for antibiotics like levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and others. (even though they are pretty much powerful antibiotics) so doctors resort to meropenem because it is powerful in killing the resistant bacteria. meropenem is considered as a last resort for doctors to treat the UTI. because of its expensive price and because it shouldn't be used too much so that bacterial resistance won't develop for it. it can be given only as an intravenous infusion over 15 to 30 minutes, meaning that it can't be given orally or by other routes. common side effects of meropenem include: nausea, diarrhea, rash, inflammation at the site of injection and constipation (similar to the former antibiotics), an allergic reaction can occur in case of sensitivity to meropenem. in recent times more and more reports have shown up indicating that there are some cases of bacteria resistant to meropenem and that is because even meropenem are beginning to be misused. additionally, the misuse of other antibiotics can lead to bacterial resistance to a powerful antibiotic like meropenem. so, in the end, my advice is that if you have UTI try out other methods for treating it like drinking a lot of water and cranberry juice and lemon juice or take other drugs like D mannose or making some lifestyle changes or so. you know what I mean try other solutions other than the antibiotics. but if the UTI didn't go. you can resort to antibiotics only this time make sure that the doctor gives you a suitable antibiotic that can eliminate all the bacteria in your urinary tract without leaving any trace of them. at last, I just want to take the chance to remind people that many of the UTI incidents are caused by having a weak immune system among other things (of course) but this is one of the most important causes. we cannot simply rely on antibiotics to save us every time we have a UTI. and we cannot improve a weak immune system by only eating healthy because simply our food does not contain all the vitamins and minerals necessary for strengthening our immune system. so we will need to take these vitamins and minerals in a more concentrated way, we can achieve this by taking multivitamin tablets like centrum which is basically on of the best and most complete option for multivitamins available in the market. take centrum once a day with food. here you can check out centrum price on amazon, of course, if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking other medications or supplements consult your doctor before use. also, take centrum silver men or centrum silver women instead if you are above 50 years old. now thank you, have a nice day.