Macrobid (scientific name nitrofurantoin) is an antibiotic used to treat uncomplicated or lower urinary tract infections in women and is also used to prevent urinary tract infections.
Please join me in this article as I discuss what happens when your Macrobid therapy doesn't work for your UTI condition or doesn't clear your UTI.
Also, we'll discuss why Macrobid sometimes doesn't work for your UTI and how to fix it, as well as making sure it works at full capacity so you don't waste medication.
First of all don't panic
If your doctor prescribes Macrobid for your UTI and it doesn't work, there are many other antibiotics besides Macrobid that can kill UTI bacteria, some of them are specific to some UTI-causing bacteria and others can kill almost all types of UTIs. . can cause a urinary tract infection, such as ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.
If Macrobid isn't working for your urinary tract infection, swapping out or adding another antibiotic, such as fosfomycin, or a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, such as ciprofloxacin or levofloxacin, is enough to clear the infection.
In the worst case (and this happens very rarely) you will need an intravenous antibiotic such as ceftriaxone, amikacin, vancomycin or perhaps meropenem for very severe cases.
Your doctor(s) will decide what is best for you if God forbid you reach such a severe level of UTI.
In most cases, and you're probably one of them, Macrobid will suffice for you and you won't need any other antibiotics.
Generally, if you are taking Macrobid or any other generic name for nitrofurantoin, you will take it as directed by your doctor.
I don't think there are people who take Macrobid alone because it's not as popular as amoxicillin or keflex and other antibiotics that people (at least in my country) take without medical advice when they're feeling nauseous.
If you are taking Macrobid without medical advice, I strongly recommend that you stop taking it immediately and consult your doctor if you think you may have a urinary tract infection.
Taking any antibiotic without a prescription is increasing the problem of bacterial resistance worldwide, and antibiotics can sometimes have side effects.
If your doctor prescribes Macrobid (or any nitrofurantoin) for you, in most cases you are probably a woman with what is called a lower urinary tract infection, or uncomplicated UTI.
Note: UTIs and uncomplicated UTIs are practically (though not exactly) identical to community-acquired UTIs.
If you are a woman and have an uncomplicated UTI (lower UTI), Macrobid will likely work for you and clear your UTI, you should feel your symptoms improve within 2-3 days.
Even if your symptoms improve, you should continue treatment with Macrobid.
Macrobid is used for urinary tract infections that are resistant or difficult to treat with other first-line antibiotics.
You see, today first-line antibiotics like ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim (Septrin) are facing increasing bacterial resistance, which means that some cases of UTIs are not being treated with them.
On the other hand, Macrobid (Nitrofurantoin) has much lower bacterial resistance rates than Cipro and Septrin and is an ancient antibiotic that was discovered in the 1950's and has had few cases of bacterial resistance since.
accordinglyNCBI Instead, the probability that the E. coli bacterium (the bacterium responsible for about 80% of UTIs) is resistant to nitrofurantoin is 1-2%.
Also,WebMDagree with that too.
If you are unfortunate enough to be in the 1-2% range, don't worry, there is an antibiotic called fosfomycin that has also been shown to be resistant on very rare occasions and can be used to treat your UTI.
Read more about the effectiveness offosfomicinano UTI treatment
Ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole can also be used for macrobid-resistant bacteria.
The doctor will decide what is best for you. You can use these antibiotics together or separately if neither works, which I don't think will happen. There are also intravenous antibiotics like amikacin-ceftriaxone that will clear the infection completely.
There are two types of UTI, a so-called community-acquired UTI, which accounts for about 80% of UTI cases worldwide, you can get it by going about your normal daily life at home, in the community, at work, etc.
The second type is called hospital-acquired UTIs, which patients get from their contaminated catheters.
In summary, Macrobid can kill almost all types of bacteria that can cause community-acquired UTIs, including E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter spp., VRE, and VSE.
It is safe to say that Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) is effective against all bacteria that cause community-acquired urinary tract infections.
Side note: E. coli bacteria are responsible for approximately 80-85% of community-acquired UTIs.
So if you didn't get your UTI in a hospital, don't worry if Macrobid doesn't work for you.
Therefore, it is very unlikely that Macrobid will not work for you, especially when correctly prescribed for the right conditions that it can treat.
There are some cases where Macrobid will not work for your urinary tract infection i.e. H. if it has been prescribed incorrectly or if you have not taken it correctly.
the best way to take macrobid
The best way to take Macrobid (Nitrofurantoin) for your UTI is to follow your doctor's instructions carefully; In general, it is best to take Macrobid (100mg per capsule) one capsule twice a day after meals for 7 days.
other forms of nitrofurantoin may be included at 50 mg per capsule, so it's best to take it four times a day. You can ask your pharmacist if your nitrofurantoin is 50mg or 100mg and also the dosage.
although it is very difficult for a doctor to misprescribe Macrobid (Nitrofurantoin), since it only has a maximum of 2-3 uses and its functions are very different from other drugs.
If this happens, here are some possible scenarios where Macrobid (Nitrofurantoin) can be misprescribed or taken without a prescription, and what to do about it.
Macrobid misprescribing situations in which the drug may not work in UTI:
1) Macrobid is administered in a man's intensive care unit.
UTI in men is most often a complicated UTI or upper urinary tract infection where other antibiotics like levofloxacin, amikacin, ciprofloxacin are preferred over macrobid.
If you are a man receiving Macrobid to treat your UTI, wait 2-3 days and if you do not see any improvement in your symptoms, you should ask your doctor to switch you to an appropriate antibiotic. In the meantime, drink plenty of water and some orange juice to keep your condition from getting worse.
Here is an article I wrote about itUTI for mencan help you
2) Macrobid is given for hospital-acquired UTI
While I very much doubt that this has happened, will happen or will happen, I don't think Macrobid would join the discussion if you or anyone close to you have a UTI that was acquired in hospital, there are many other antibiotic options that appropriate for this type of case.
If that happens, just change or add a more appropriate antibiotic.
Antibiotics such as ceftriaxone, amikacin, gentamicin, vancomycin or cefotaxime, especially intravenous antibiotics; but ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin can also help doctors decide what is best for the patient.
I wrote an article about ithome remedieswhich can help treat and also prevent UTIs.
3) Macrobid is administered to a non-susceptible community-acquired UTI
While we have previously found Macrobid to be effective against almost all community-acquired UTIs, there may be some instances where the bacteria that cause community-acquired UTIs are not susceptible to Macrobid.
Keep in mind that the chance of this happening is very, very rare; So, as said above, you don't have to worry about Macrobid not working for your community-purchased UTI.
It most commonly occurs in people who have mistreated their UTIs or in people with recurrent UTIs and related conditions.
So what you need to do in this situation is to wait up to 2-3 days before taking Macrobid and if you don't see improvement in your condition consult your doctor about switching to another antibiotic or possibly add an antibiotic. for Macrobid.
Your doctor should refer you to an antibiotic that will completely eliminate the infection, aggressive therapy is required in this situation.
4) Macrobid is given for a urinary tract infection caused by another condition, such as B. Kidney stones or an enlarged prostate.
In this case, there's a chance that Macrobid will actually handle your UTI condition, but there's also a chance that it will fail.
The bacteria that cause UTIs in such cases are sometimes out of reach of Macrobid or more resistant to Macrobid.
Although I've never seen a case like this, you could have kidney stones and these kidney stones are causing a urinary tract infection, but your doctor or pharmacist might mistakenly think it's a normal urinary tract infection.
In this case you will get Macrobid and there is a high possibility that it will not work for this type of UTI.
The solution here is to do some lab tests, it can be a urine test and a sonar to find out if you have kidney stones in the urinary tract, if you are over 50 you should have a prostate exam.
Treating the disease that causes it makes UTIs much easier to treat, good treatment with antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin will do.
5) wrong diagnosis
There are many infections and diseases that can cause symptoms very similar to a UTI.
Although they are very similar to UTIs, treating these diseases and infections is very different from treating UTIs.
I think this is the most common way macrobid or nitrofurantoin won't work on your UTI because it's not a UTI in the first place.
Cystitis can have almost the same symptoms as a UTI, so it's very common to be misdiagnosed as a UTI, Macrobid won't help you with that.
STDs like Chlamydia can sometimes, albeit to a lesser extent, be misdiagnosed as UTIs, and Macrobid won't help you with that either.
I wrote an article entitledwhat a UTI can mimicTo help you differentiate between them and a UTI, this can help your doctor make the right diagnosis.
Also read this helpful article byWebMD
6) Macrobid is administered in the intensive care unit for the elderly
In general, older people's immune systems are weaker than younger people's, so antibiotics used to treat UTIs in young people may not be enough when it comes to an older person.
Older UI is usually severe and characterized by dementia and symptoms such as delirium and confusion.
Macrobid is not effective in treating urinary tract infections in the elderly, perhaps it can be added in conjunction with other antibiotics, but in most cases other more appropriate antibiotics are used.
Therefore, if it has been used on an elderly person, there is a high possibility that it will not work very well. Other antibiotics must be given in addition or switched to Macrobid.
Ways to improve Macrobid performance
Do not use Macrobid with antacids, especially those containing aluminum hydroxide
Take Macrobid with milk to increase its absorption
Protect the Macrobid box from light and store at room temperature.
Take the full Macrobid regimen as directed by your doctor, even if the urinary tract infection goes away, before stopping the regimen.
elderly people and people with impaired kidney function should not take Macrobid.
Pregnant women can take Macrobid, but not before childbirth.
Don't use it to prevent urinary tract infection unless your doctor tells you to. Try to avoid long-term use as it is associated with serious side effects.
accordinglyNational Health Service websiteMacrobid may change the color of your urine to dark yellow or brown, this is perfectly normal, keep taking Macrobid, the color will disappear after you stop taking Macrobid.
How do you know if your UTI is free of complications?
We have already said that Macrobid is very effective when it comes to treating uncomplicated UTIs or lower UTIs or community-acquired UTIs and you should expect little or no resistance to Macrobid from these infections.
So how do you know if your UTI is one of these types, of course your doctor should tell you but what if you want to be sure or maybe they didn't tell you?
_ The symptoms of uncomplicated urinary tract infection are not very severe, they consist of frequent and urgent urination, as well as a burning sensation when urinating, pain in the lower abdomen, etc.
_ must not have a fever, chills, nausea or severe fatigue, which means that the urinary tract infection is getting worse
_ Uncomplicated UTI pain should be in the lower flank or lower abdomen, not the upper abdomen.
_ The color of the urine is darker during an uncomplicated UTI, but it shouldn't be red or even pink, which basically means you're losing blood with your urine and this is a sign of a complicated UTI.
Some medications like Azo (phenazopyridine) can change the color of urine to red and this is perfectly normal
_ Usually, the symptoms of a complicated urinary tract infection are much more severe than those of your little sister. If you notice any of your symptoms in yourself or a loved one, contact your doctor immediately. Check out this article for more information on complicated UTIs.
summarize something
You shouldn't worry if a professional doctor prescribes you Macrobid (Nitrofurantoin), it will work for your urinary tract infection.
Even if it hasn't worked for your UTI, there are many other antibiotics that are stronger or better suited to the bacteria you are dealing with.
If you have been taking Macrobid alone or on the advice of a friend, you should be concerned as it may not work for your urinary tract infection.
To find out if Macrobid is working for your urinary tract infection or not, you should wait 2-3 days and contact your doctor if you don't see any improvement in your symptoms.
Macrobid is primarily effective for uncomplicated or community-acquired UTIs, although it is not indicated for hospital-acquired UTIs or any type of complicated or upper UTI.
Clinicians note that Macrobid is better than ciprofloxacin or trimethoprim at treating uncomplicated UTIs because it has much lower bacterial resistance rates than ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim.
Thank you and you can browse my website for other useful articles about UTI