Macrobid for a UTI

[oopsiedaisies7.livejournal.com]

Hola VPistas,

Monday or Tuesday, I developed a UTI. I went to my university's student health center (I'm a grad student) Wednesday for some antibiotics. I was prescribed Macrobid/nitrofurantoin. However, the health center apparently just has an arsenal of pre-bottled antibiotics, and I was given a bottle of 20 pills (enough for 10 days). The MD I saw told me to just take it for 5 days, so I'd "have enough for another UTI" if I were to get one in the future (which is not unlikely...I've had several over the past few years) and if my symptoms weren't gone by the end of it, I could come back to the health center and get a 7-day prescription for Cipro. I thought that was a strange way to handle antibiotics, but whatever. I was already late for a meeting at that point and I didn't think to question her.

Anyway, I'm on day 4 of the Macrobid and while my symptoms have mostly gone away (the pain and frequency/urgency at least--I am still getting that weird itchy sensation that I can only assume is irritation on the inside of my urethra and bladder...which is a fairly normal symptom for me), I'm wondering if I *should* actually stop the antibiotics after tomorrow. In the past, when I've been prescribed Macrobid for a UTI, it's always been a 7-day course. And from what I've seen online, the standard dose of Macrobid for a UTI is indeed 2x100mg capsules daily for 7 days. I most certainly do not want to have a UTI-relapse and spend a week on Cipro, because a week of Cipro means a week of vomit-y unpleasantness for me.

So...is a 5-day course of Macrobid actually sufficient to treat a UTI, or should I take it for 7 days?

Gracias!

Comments

[kimie-catclaw.livejournal.com]

Call your university's health center and tell them you're still having symptoms. They should be able to advise you.

[onlyforever10.livejournal.com]

I've had a good many UTIs and I have always been prescribed a 7 or 10 day treatment (usually of Macrobid or Cipro). I've heard they can be cleared up in 3 or 5 day courses though and some doctors prefer that. So, it won't HURT you to take it for 7 days.

HOWEVER, since you're still having symptoms I'd call your health center and let them know. Even on a longer course of treatment, my symptoms always went away within 2 days or so if the meds were working. If you're still having symptoms, you maybe need a different antibiotic to kill the infection. I'd mention that Cipro makes you sick and see if they have any alternatives. Especially if you're vomiting because it might not get into your system all the way.

Hope you feel better.

[barrelofrain.livejournal.com]

my symptoms always went away within 2 days or so if the meds were working.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. It could be the wrong antibiotic for your UTI if you're still symptomatic after 5 days.

I'd give the health center a ring. They also might be able to grow a culture in a lab (they'd almost definitely have to send it out) to see what antibiotic would be best, that way they don't have to guess, though I don't know if a university health center would do that. The one at my college was a bit subpar.

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

This study says that a 5 day course is as effective as a week of Cipro. (http://184.106.70.54/abstract/gu/gupta-k_arch-intern-med_20071112.html)

Have your symptoms gotten better since you posted this? I usually don't feel 100% within four or five days of taking the antibiotics, whether I'm on Bactrim, Cipro or Macrobid. (Yes, I've had a few UTIs.) The weird itchy sensation could also be a yeast infection cropping up, though if you can distinguish between the bladder/urethra and labia, you probably know what's what.

[oopsiedaisies7.livejournal.com]

Awesome, thank you. An anecdote would have been sufficient, but significant p-values are extra-reassuring!

(I guess I should have been more clear--the itching isn't exactly a symptom of infection for me, I don't think. I've gotten it with all of my UTIs, and occasionally it has lasted a few days beyond the antibiotics (I got a follow-up urinalysis one time after a round of antibiotics because I still had this weird urethra itching, but it came up negative). I'm not sure if it's just residual irritation or how the membranes feel as they're 'healing' (you know how a scrape itches as it scabs over?). And, yeah, it's definitely not a yeast infection.

In any case, the itchiness seems to have gone away now. The other symptoms were gone around day 3 of the nitrofurantoin.)

[jennifer0246.livejournal.com]

Macrobid twice a day for 5 days is a common and thorough UTI treatment.