Cpirofloxacin for UTI
Posted , 9 users are following.
Why do doctors prescribe ciprofloxacin for UTI ?Don't they know how dangerous it is?
0 likes, 15 replies
We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.
×
Notes on Cpirofloxacin for UTI
brittany25516 donald16398
Posted
How is it dangerous? & because it treats the infection.
marilee43089 brittany25516
Posted
https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm500143.htm
marilee43089 donald16398
Posted
Some don't care. Some don't know because they fail to read the multiple warnings on the drug insert. Some think that the serious lasting side effects are trumped up and not that common. One doctor tried to prescribe it to me, and I immediately refused. I'm pretty frank, and I questioned him on why he would prescribe this to a lady my age (I'm a senior). He just sort of rolled his eyes, as if it was no big deal.
All that said, I always wonder if I had taken Cipro with my first UTI if it would have killed all the bacteria and I wouldn't have spent 7 months using various other antibiotics to cure my persistant UTI.
One doctor said to me "well, I've never had a patient have a problem with it". That's probably true. Many people take it without problems. It's been around for a long time. I also think that sometimes people had problems, such as tendon issues, and never associated it with the antibiotic. Who would think that an antibiotic would cause that?
donald16398
Posted
I ignorantly took cipro.I hope I don't get floxed.
lynda20916 donald16398
Posted
They prescribe it because it tends to work. When a patient has a UTI, the overgrowth of bacteria that is causing it needs to be reduced. Cipro does it quickly and efficiently. The patient can help by taking probiotics to enable the bacteria in their system to come back in to a more natural balance.
Nothing's worse than suffering through many, different, ineffective prescriptions that completely wreck the balance of bacteria in one's body systems, not only the urinary tract .
Micklemus donald16398
Posted
How is it dangerous? If you look in Mimms it is the first line antibiotic for prostatitis. Furthermore there are lots of differences in individuals reactions to any drug and many GP's state that it is rare that there are adverse reactions to Ciprofloxacin. Many microbes are susceptible to that antibiotic.
What do you suggest as an alternative to Ciprofloxacin?
marilee43089 Micklemus
Posted
My previous post that is awaiting moderation includes a link to the USA Food & Federal Drug Administration. Cipro has 3 'black box' warnings which is the most serious warning on a drug. There have been enough cases of tendon rupture (and law suits) to warrant the warning. Also, older people are most at risk.
Mick, of course Cipro is advised for more serious conditions, one of which is prostatitis. The recommendation here in the USA is not to prescribe Cipro for uncomplicated UTI's which is what a lot of doctors do.
I agree about the different reactions people have. If you read reviews on any drug, there will be hundreds of people saying they had horrible experiences. You mainly only here from people with bad reviews and I believe some of those are embellished.
brittany25516 marilee43089
Posted
sam6990 marilee43089
Posted
You are spot on correct about this drug. I was given this drug for my utis and am now disabled. Every tendon in my body is inflamed. It’s a nightmare life!! Please please anyone who reads this, think twice before taking it.
Best wishes to you all.
donald16398
Posted
Micklemus donald16398
Posted
No worries about that but the bad press about that antibiotic is on the whole unfounded because that particular antibiotic saved my life in 2001 and further down the road at 76 a year ago nearly it made me feel about ten or even twenty years younger & no doubt thousands of other patients feel the same.
Every single living being will have to die of something that is for sure but I did not have the choice in
2001 to ask the expert doctor surgeons on the emergency ward what to treat me with when I had septicemia but I do know that out of two of the intravenous antibiotics they put into me one was
Ciprofloxacin....... When I woke up the next morning I knew the evil bug that raised my temperature to 104 F had been hit 'for six' but they would not let me go so I had my Christmas day birthday in hospital
that year...... I cannot speak highly enough of those who got me right without their expertise I would have been dead then.
Since that 'event' I have always thought a person who has been given a second chance should show his/her appreciation by telling the truth as it is to all and sundry and this forum is here to be able to do just that.......... If a person closes their mind to the fact that all the lot of us are individuals and some may well suffer bad side effects when they take a certain drug but every drug in the modern world
has been tested to the best of the scientist's abilities to make sure it is as safe as possible & that the vast majority are not harmed by that drug. It is regrettable that some individuals have had a bad experience with certain antibiotics and that of course includes Ciprofloxacin ( flouroquinalone).
Tuberculosis is susceptible mainly to two antibiotics but these as other antibiotics are toxic and can in certain circumstances harm the individual taking them........ The anti brigade therefore would tell those who will take those antibiotics that may well cure the TB bacteria= I wouldn't take those if I were you it might harm you ! This may well occur but on the other hand if the antibiotics are not taken then that individual might die and take other innocent people with them. As I recall those people infected by untreated TB sufferers would be young children and pretty young girls who so readily were killed by TB up until the toxic, Streptomicin, Refampicin,Isoniazid,Ethambutol and Pyrazinamide was discovered.
miriam65408 donald16398
Posted
Ciprofloxacin belongs to a class of synthetic antibiotics called the Fluoroquinolones or FQs (others are Levofloxacin, Moxifloxacin/Avelox, Ofloxacin and Norfloxacin). This whole class carry a very long list of possible side effects and the FDA have recently put a further Black Box warning on them and restricted their use for 'regular' infections. This was after a Hearing where many affected people gave their testimonies to the FDA committee proving that, unlike most drugs, the side effects of FQs can be damaging, disabling and permanent. Not in every case but in enough cases for them to make these restrictions.
In Europe the EMA (European Medicines Agency - equivalent to FDA) are currently reviewing the side effects of FQs after a German group of over 2,000 sufferers petitioned the Medicines Agency. There are groups of sufferers in most EU countries including the UK. The EMA have just this week announced that there has been so much public interest that they will hold a Public Hearing as part of their review so that affected people may actually go and tell the EMA about their experiences. This will be only the second Public Hearing that the EMA have ever held.
The studies that lead to most drugs being approved are not always as thorough as the public would like to believe and there is a lot of money at stake in getting the approval for one drug over another. Ciprofloxacin was rushed through the licensing process in the US after 9/11 as the Government were scared of Anthrax attacks and Cipro was claimed to be able to deal with Anthrax.
One thing that the manufacturers don't make a big song and dance about is that, while the FQs do a great job of damaging bacterial DNA so that the bugs can't reproduce, they are also damaging our mitochondrial DNA. (Our mitochondria are the thousands of teeny organelles in every cell that convert our food into energy - they are what give us life, so perhaps best not to kill them off!).
Not only do they damage our mitochondria but they also create havoc in our cells and they disrupt all the wonderful jobs they do such as repairing and rebuilding collagen. Collagen is the fabric of our tendons and just about every other muscle, wall, vessel, and organ. This is what can give rise to agonising pain and weakness everywhere. FQs can cross our blood/brain barrier and give us insomnia, anxiety, depression, panic attacks and brain fog. They can affect our gut for up to a year - or maybe longer because the study only followed patients for a year and their gut still hadn't recovered. The list goes on and on but this will do as Micklemus has glazed over by now!
The million dollar question is why are some people badly affected after just one or two tablets, or one or two courses, or maybe ten or twenty courses? Apparently a lot has to do with genetic make up and deficiencies - if you have a certain deficiency such as G6pd (look it up!) just one tablet may kill you or leave you in an agonised mess for a few years. If you have been exposed to many other drugs or chemicals or pollutants, these are called 'mitochondrial insults'. Your mitochondria can only take a finite number of insults, so previous exposure to many things may dictate how you react to FQs (including previous courses of FQs).
Most doctors have no idea how drugs work, they just know which ones are recommended for what. As Micklemus rightly says, in Mimms and the NICE guidelines, Cipro is recommended for prostatitis (without waiting for culture results!) and the dose is to be taken for 4 weeks. I have lost count of how many men have written to me in agony after taking this prescription. Many are told to keep taking them as the pain will stop when they finish them - but the the pain doesn't stop and generally gets worse.
Or sometimes, there is no pain until a week or month or many months later by which time the Cipro is forgotten and the doctor diagnoses Fibromyalgia or somesuch. For some the pain is so bad that they take the ultimate way out. For others, things can improve and they may be back to something near normal after a year or three. For most, they continue as best they can, always in fear that of catching a bug that will need some kind of medication that will set the whole thing off again.
MIcklemus, you have been very fortunate in that your life was saved (always a good thing!) and you had no ill effects after the Cipro. At your tender age you are unlikely to be offered Cipro again ( the risks get higher with age) but if you do need it I wish you all the best. Sam 6990 is not so fortunate, along with all the others on the FQ discussions on this forum.
There are pros and cons for every drug, especially antibiotics as they all ravage our bodies to some extent. The FQs undoubtedly are the worst of these. My husband was affected by Cipro some years ago and had a bout of sepsis (his second) just after Christmas. We told A&E that he was allergic to FQs and they gave him other IV antibiotics instead. He's still here with me. There is usually an alternative - it's just that the docs reach for the Cipro out of habit - as it kills everything!
Micklemus miriam65408
Posted
With respect all my GP's do not reach for Cipro but are very much against doing that. I took a months course of Trimethoprim that seemed to work but then the infection reappeared so then the Cipro was
eventually prescribed which did work..........
As I have said if doctors carried out in depth testing to confirm what a certain infection is all well and good but they do not do what is required whether it is lack of knowledge or some are simply lax.
As I said I have proof that many or rather most doctors do not refer to past medical history is both incredible but more importantly -negligent. Quite how this can be rectified bearing in mind the impenetrable 'club' they are all in would be very difficult!
miriam65408 Micklemus
Posted
Yes, you're right, most doctors now take notice of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Guidelines which list Cipro as one of the 'Four Cs' that shouldn't be used except with caution because of the danger of C.Difficile. (The Four Cs are Cephalosporins, Cipro and the other Fluoroquinolones, Clindamycin and Ceftazidine.)
For UTIs Trimethoprim is usually a 'first line defence' with Cephalexin as a second and Cipro as the third. Hopefully a culture would give results indicating which bug is causing the problem by the time the second line defence is needed and should indicate whether the bug is gram neg or positive so a specific antibiotic can be chosen. Cipro, being a broad spectrum 'cure-all' can often be avoided if the stronger but correct AB is used. But, of course, doctors are following the stewardship guidelines and are not worried (or haven't heard) about possible damage from the Cipro.
I agree too that the way doctors do not refer to past medical history is negligent - and terrifying! They also don't listen to what the patient (or carer) is saying to them. In my husband's case at Christmas we knew that another round of any Fluoroquinolone may cause him permanent damage so when they asked about allergies we said Fluoroquinolones. ' What do you mean?' they asked. We said about his reaction to Cipro, which took him many months to get over, so the doc smiled and wrote on the chart. When I looked later he'd written Ciprofloxacin, which meant my husband could have been given one of the other four FQs in his IV bag with disastrous consequences.
The doctors have no idea about many things. There are other things to worry about just as potentially dangerous as FQs and I believe they are trained to gloss over what 'concerned' patients say and just get on with the job. I don't envy them their work but I do wish there was more involvement with the patients. They are indeed an impenetrable club and they all all watching their rear ends!
I apologise if I came across as disrespectful in my previous post - just about everyone I have come across who has been affected by FQs (now running into thousands) says that they wished their doctor or someone would have warned them of the potential dangers before they took them. Everyone, me included, finds out the hard way by searching for something like 'pains after Cipro' when the deed is done. For many it's too late. I'm not saying don't take them again but I am saying that I warned you. There will always be an option (until we run out of ABs of course!).
Stay Healthy!
donald16398
Posted
I have been prescribed ciprofloxacin by 2 doctors.