Hi All,I’m just reaching out to you all to see if anyone can suggest a good antibiotic for a water infection.
I suffer severely with my stomach,and most antibiotics put me through a hell of a lot of pain. I’ve took one week of an antibiotic that seemed ok,but it turns out it hasn’t cleared it up. I’m not used to urine infections so I don’t know much about them. But I would be extremely grateful for any advise. I’m really struggling with pain. 😢
Written by
Breathless1943
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Your GP or pharmacist should be able to advise you, however, I also have problems with antibiotics, so, depending on your personal allergies, I have found that Amoxicillin, in the form of Co-Amoxiclav , is the only cure for me.
Thank you,for your reply. I suffer chronic stomach pain,right up until I’m asleep. But most antibiotics double the pain ,so what’s is bearable becomes unbearable. The reason I’m asking this question here is because my GP is useless.
You can’t just use any antibiotics people may recommend. You need a urine Culture If you haven’t had one. The Culture will say which antibiotics will work with the kind of infection you have.
Do GPs actually arrange cultures for UTIs as far as you know? Its never been done for my mum. If infection remains, GP just prescribes another a/b drug, then another...... I presume each one has had culture tests to confirm they can clear UTIs eg ecoli.
I understand the reasoning but unsure if practised.
No I wouldn't expect GPs to do anything but arrange, as I said. My question was how common is it - not very based on my mum's experience. From Breathless' comment, it seems it can be done albeit unsuccessfully!
All I can say is in my experience which has only been twice,I’m pleased to say. But both times my sample has been sent for culture,if that’s the right wording.
My GP has just got back to me with another anti biotic to try,called ,Cefalexin,so hopefully I will be ok with this.
No but we do that at home anyhow with urine dipsticks. No culture taken as far as we know though unless the surgery prefers to not tell us. After all, they never told my mum she had kidney disease from 2010 (my dad found out via Patient Access)!
I agree with you Margie,and my GP did send it off for a culture,but it never came back to him with any advise,so he was using his own judgement,and prescribed me Trimethoprim,the first one he tried me on was Nitrofurantoin, and that made me really ill.
My worry is if it didn’t work the first time will it the second time round. I’m 77yrs old and this is only the second urine infection I’ve ever had. The first time the antibiotic worked straight off,but that was a couple of years ago and I can’t remember the name of it.
Have you tried natural antibiotics? My mum reacts to a/b drugs but gets many UTIs so starts today on a herbal treatment for the current one with plans to drink pure cranberry juice regularly to avoid others. Happy to keep you posted.
But drinking more water (2l+/day) is probably more important as we've already demonstrated with her.
Thank you for your reply. My GP put me on Cefalexin 500mg,I only got them this morning and I’ve only took 1 so far. But I can tell you I’m going through hell with my stomach,now at the moment I can’t tell whether that’s due to the tablet or the infection. I shall take another one shortly and I will take it from there. I am and do drink a lot of water anyway,but thank you for your time.
Try taking a probiotic such as biocult at the same time as antibiotic. Helps your gut retain good bacteria.
My first port of call if I think I have cystitis is the pharmacy for potassium citrate mixture as I don't do well on antibiotics. Ask the pharmacist. Also cranberry juice and plenty of bland liquids.
Thank you,Is biocult something you would take all the time,or just while on the antibiotic??
The reason I ask this is,sometime ago a nutritionist recommended I take Optibac,to which I took for about six months,and as silly as it may seem when I stopped taking them for the first couple of days I felt terrible.
So I don’t really want anything I have to stick with.
You can take biocult all the time. Apparently gut health is very important. Think optibac does one specially for when you're on antibiotics, just to take for that period of time.
nitrofurition [not sure of spelling] was the only AB that ever cured my UTI. had loads ,one after the other.then a year on just one tablet a night got rid.good luck
That’s the first one I had,and I was really unwell. So I’m now on Cefalexin so far so good. But of course I won’t know if it’s done the job until I’ve completed the course.
I went through a period of numerous UTIs - 4 or 5 a year at one time. The antibiotic which worked for me was Trimethoprim. Nitrofurantoin also made me feel very unwell so I definitely wouldn't go back onto that. Thankfully, I haven't had a UTI for some years now - touch wood! Good luck, I hope the Cefalexin works well for you. UTIs are awful.
I suffer dreadfully from UTI's and, as another post says, you need the GP to send off a culture to see which antibiotic will work. Unfortunately for me nothing seems to be working and as soon as I finish the antibiotic, the infection comes back. The next step will be to go back to see the urologist about intravenous antibiotics which they only offer in hospital. If symptoms persevere even when you get the right antibiotic you may need a daily low dose though many do upset one's tummy.
Hi,to you all. Thank you very much for all your reply’s.
I would just like to clear a few things up. Before I had this uti,I suffer severely with chronic stomach pain anyway. It was just that the pain I suffer seemed to be getting worse,which is the reason my husband took a water sample in to my GP for me. Having stomach pain,and I’m not used to UTIs I can’t tell whether I have an infection or not.
The first one I had was ecoli though they never told me that,I found out.
This one,well all I can read in my records at the moment is Leucocytes we’re found,with the dip,so it was sent off for culture. I’m not sure what any of that means. But I suffer with Emphysema,and I have in the past had my fair share of antibiotics,so I know they excel the pain I already have. So far these Cefalexin are causing me no problem,but I’m just hoping they clear up the UTI.
If anyone can shed any light on what I am about to post,I will be grateful.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.