Unsure.

[Befferly]

I started to feel a UTI coming on and imediately took one Ciprofloxacin. I felt relief and seemed to be fine. I have read bad things about Cipro and don't want to take it anymore. Would it be OK to stop?

[fbirder]

No.

You should always take a full course of any antibiotic, even if you feel well when halfway through.

Otherwise you are helping us move to the next major health problem to affect the world - antibiotic resistance.

If you stop before all the bacteria are dead then the ones that remain will be those who are better able to resist the antibiotic. The next generation of bacteria will be slightly less susceptible. Repeat that several times and you end up with bacteria unaffected by the antibiotic.

This video shows it in action -

youtu.be/plVk4NVIUh8(Not working as expected?)

[wedgewood in reply to fbirder]

Very good illustration of the consequences of not taking the full prescription dose of anti-biotic .

[fbirder in reply to wedgewood]

What would have been great is if they'd repeated the experiment, but inoculated just the 1000x strip with naive bacteria. To show that they all die off.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Befferly, I agree that looking at the reactions section of patient information is very scary

medicines.org.uk/emc/produc.... However, side effects are also stated as being very rare and you don't seem to be experiencing any. The patient information suggests that you should continue taking the full prescribed dose ... not doing so with some medications leaves your more susceptible to infections in the future.

Please speak to your GP or to the dispensing chemist before taking the decision to just stop, particularly if you aren't actually experiencing any of the listed side effects.

[Nackapan]

I agree that once started finish the course. When you need any antibiotic to work again in the future it wi then work.

I've just had 2 courses of antibiotics. After 16 years without needing any.

If the leaflet says it may cause thrush eat loads of natural yoghurt and if tolerated a probiotic.

[wedgewood in reply to Nackapan]

Yes I’ve always taken yoghurt for that reason , but I find kefir works better for me .

[Thyb]

Google...been floxed

[Tuscansun]

There are one dose antibiotics for UTI - ask your GP for prescription.

[Bonjourtristesse]

For future reference you could try d-mannose or Uva ursi tincture from the organic pharmacy. Both are excellent for bladder infections and you may well be able to get away without antibiotics for any future episodes.

[Sita505USA]

I agree that once you begin a course of antibiotics that you should finish the entire course. However, I would ask your doctor for another besides Cipro. The possible consequences are too dangerous to ignore.

Best, Sita