Side Effects Of Bactrim
- Sulfa Allergies: Sulfa medications can trigger a reaction in people who are sensitive to sulfonamides since Bactrim is a sulfonamide antibiotic.
- Common Side Effects: After taking Bactrim, common symptoms such as loss of appetite, vomiting, mild nausea, dizziness, lethargy, and buzzing sound in the ears may be experienced.
- Rare Side Effects: There are symptoms that indicate the need for an immediate medical attention. The symptoms that you should watch out for are swelling and pain in the tongue or face, itching, skin rashes, joint aches, consistent fever, nausea, paleness or yellowing of the skin and sclera , as well as trouble breathing.
Patients with liver or kidney diseases should consult their healthcare provider before taking any type of medication.
Other side effects of Bactrim may include:
- Headaches
- Prolonged diarrhea with fever
- Stomach cramps
If a person experiences difficulty in breathing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat, and develops hives after taking the medication, he or she should immediately seek medical attention.
What Is A Uti
Urinary tract infection is a common health problem. Between 40% and 60% of women will have at least one UTI in their lifetime. A UTI happens when bacteria from your skin or rectum get into the urinary tract. When this happens, it causes infection and inflammation. This results in symptoms such as pain with urination and needing to urinate frequently. In most cases, UTIs are easily treated with antibiotics taken by mouth.
UTIs are most common in women who have a vulva and vagina, but they can happen in women with other types of genitals as well. Every womans anatomy is unique, which means some women are more prone to infections than others.
Treatment For Utis In Dogs
Based on your dogs urine test results, your vet will prescribe an appropriate antibiotic for you to administer as directed.
For acute UTIs, vets usually prescribe an antibiotic for 1-2 weeks. If urine culture and sensitivity testing reveals resistant bacteria, then treatment will include an antibiotic found to fight off that particular bacteria.
To clear the infection for chronic UTIs, treatment will address the underlying cause. Antibiotics are usually prescribed for 4-8 weeks and are based on urine culture and sensitivity to avoid antibiotic resistance. In rare instances of chronic UTIs, your vet may prescribe a lifelong antibiotic for your dogs comfort.
Your vet may also prescribe pain medications, anti-inflammatories, and probiotic supplements to help treat and clear the infections.
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Use Of Antibiotics For Treating Utis In Dogs And Cats
JD Foster
VMD, DACVIM
Dr. Foster is an internist and Director of the Extracorporeal Therapies Service at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, D.C. He has lectured around the world on various renal and urinary diseases and authored numerous manuscripts and book chapters on these topics. He is the current president of the American Society of Veterinary Nephrology and Urology.
Urinary tract infections are common in small animal practice it has been reported that up to 27% of dogs will develop infection at some time in their lives.1
Most UTIs are successfully treated with commonly used drugs, dosages, and administration intervals. However, infections can be challenging to effectively treat when they involve the kidneys and prostate . In addition, it can be difficult to create an appropriate antibiotic prescription in patients with kidney disease due to reduced drug clearance.
Understanding drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics is essential when determining the most effective antibiotic therapy. In addition, successful antimicrobial therapy requires appropriate choice of antibiotic, including dose, frequency, and duration .
What Is Sulfamethoxazole And Trimethoprim And How Does It Work
Bactrim is a combination of two synthetic antibiotics, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim. Both drugs reduce the ability of some bacteria to utilize folic acid for growing. Sulfamethoxazole is an anti-bacterial sulfonamide, a sulfa drug. It disrupts the production of dihydrofolic acid while trimethoprim disrupts the production of tetrahydrofolic acid. Dihydrofolic acid and tetrahydrofolic acid are forms of folic acid that bacteria and human cells use for producing proteins. Trimethoprim inhibits production of tetrahydrofolic acid by inhibiting the enzyme responsible for making tetrahydrofolic acid from dihydrofolic acid. By combining both drugs, two important steps required in the production of bacterial proteins are interrupted, and the combination is more effective than either drug alone. Bactrim was approved by the FDA in 1973.
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How Should I Use Bactrim
Take Bactrim exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Follow all directions on your prescription label and read all medication guides or instruction sheets.
Drink plenty of fluids to prevent kidney stones.
Antibiotic medicines can cause diarrhea. Tell your doctor if you have diarrhea that is watery or bloody.
Keep using Bactrim even if your symptoms quickly improve. Skipping doses could make your infection resistant to medication. Bactrim will not treat a viral infection .
You may need blood and urine tests, and this medicine may be stopped based on the results.
Store Bactrim at room temperature away from moisture, heat, and light. Do not refrigerate.
What Is The Prognosis For A Person With A Urinary Tract Infection
Urinary tract infections typically respond very well to treatment. A UTI can be uncomfortable before you start treatment, but once your healthcare provider identifies the type of bacteria and prescribes the right antibiotic medication, your symptoms should improve quickly. Its important to keep taking your medication for the entire amount of time your healthcare provider prescribed. If you have frequent UTIs or if your symptoms arent improving, your provider may test to see if its an antibiotic-resistant infection. These are more complicated infections to treat and may require intravenous antibiotics or alternative treatments.
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Are There Any Risk Factors For This Medication
Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim should not be used in dogs with liver tissue damage, blood cell problems, dogs that are dehydrated or at an increased risk for urinary stones, or those allergic to sulfonamides. It should be used cautiously in Doberman Pinschers as they may be more susceptible to adverse side effects. It should be used with caution in pets with liver or kidney disease old, sick, or debilitated pet or pets with a folate deficiency. Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim should be used cautiously in pregnant and nursing pets, and should not be used in are near the end of their pregnancy.
How Is This Condition Diagnosed
If you think you have a bladder infection you should talk with your healthcare provider. To help diagnose a bladder inflammation , you will typically be asked for a urine sample. Your urine will be collected in a sterile cup in a restroom at your providers office. You may want to avoid peeing right before your appointment so that youll be able to provide a sample during your office visit. Your provider will most likely do two tests on your urine: a urinalysis and a urine culture.
- Urinalysis: This test involves checking the appearance, concentration and content of urine.
- Urine culture: This test determines the type of bacteria causing the infection and to which antibiotics the bacteria is sensitive.
Your healthcare provider may also order additional testing if you continue to get bladder infections including an imaging test to look at your kidneys and a cystoscopy, which uses a special scope to look inside the bladder.
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Causes Of Utis In Men
As we mentioned, UTIs happen when bacteria get into the urinary system. Normally the one-way flow of urine out of the body helps prevent this from happening. Additionally, fluid from the prostate has antibacterial properties. If you have a prostate, this can help to prevent UTIs.
Sometimes, though, bacteria do find a way in.
Here are some conditions that can make a man more likely to get a UTI, regardless of what types of reproductive organs they have.
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Can I Become Immune To The Antibiotics Used To Treat A Uti
Your body can actually get used to the antibiotics typically used to treat a urinary tract infection . This happens in people who have very frequent infections. With each UTI and use of antibiotics to treat it, the infection adapts and becomes harder to fight. This is called an antibiotic-resistant infection. Because of this, your healthcare provider may suggest alternative treatments if you have frequent UTIs. These could include:
- Waiting: Your provider may suggest that you watch your symptoms and wait. During this time, you may be encouraged to drink plenty of fluids in an effort to flush out your system.
- Intravenous treatment: In some very complicated cases, where the UTI is resistant to antibiotics or the infection has moved to your kidneys, you may need to be treated in the hospital. The medicine will be given to you directly in your vein . Once youre home, you will be prescribed antibiotics for a period of time to fully get rid of the infection.
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Treating A Urinary Tract Infection
Most urinary tract infections are treated with antibiotics.
Initially, a broad spectrum antibiotic that treats the most common organisms responsible for the infection, is usually employed until the culture results are available. Common medications include the penicillins, quinolones like ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin , and sulfa drugs like Bactrim. Nitrofurantoin is another medication that commonly treats the majority of UTIs.
It’s important to remember that urinary tract infections happen for many different reasons. Unfortunately, many traditional urine culture tests may not detect all the bacteria or even find all the possible causes for the infection. So what happens? UTIs often get treated to relieve symptoms but not for the real underlying reason – and then infections can continue to come back. At AUS, we have a unique, simple test that can help detect the bacteria that cause these infections. The comprehensive tests include sensitivity results along with identifying genes for antibiotic resistance so we can tailor your treatment to your specific infection.
Severe Interaction With Leucovorin
- Risk factors: People with HIV being treated for pneumonia
Experts have found that people with HIV that are using Bactrim to treat pneumonia are more likely to die if they take Bactrim together with another medication called leucovorin. These two medications should not be taken together. If you take leucovorin on a regular basis, make sure your healthcare provider knows this before prescribing medication to treat your pneumonia.
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Typical Dosing For Bactrim
- Urinary tract infections, Shigellosis, and Middle ear infections: The typical dose of Bactrim for adults is 800 mg/160 mg taken by mouth every 12 hours for 5 to 14 days. The length of time you take Bactrim for depends on the type of infection you have and how bad it is. The dose given to children is based on their weight and is taken by mouth every 12 hours for 5 to 10 days.
- Chronic bronchitis flare-ups for adults: The typical dose of Bactrim is 800 mg/160 mg taken by mouth every 12 hours for 14 days.
- Pneumonia in people with compromised immune systems: The typical dose of Bactrim for both adults and children is based on your weight and is taken by mouth every 6 hours for 14 to 21 days.
- Pneumonia prevention in people with compromised immune systems: The typical dose of Bactrim for adults is 800 mg/160 mg taken by mouth once daily. The dose given to children is based on their body size and is taken by mouth twice daily on 3 consecutive days per week. The maximum dose of Bactrim per day for children is 1600 mg/320 mg .
- Traveler’s diarrhea in adults: The typical dose of Bactrim is 800 mg/160 mg taken by mouth every 12 hours for 5 days.
Symptoms Of Utis In Infants And Toddlers
UTIs in infants and preschool children tend to be more serious because they are more likely to involve the kidneys. Older children are more likely to have lower UTIs and standard symptoms. Infants and young children should always be checked for UTIs if the following symptoms are present:
- A persistent high fever of otherwise unknown cause, particularly if it is accompanied by signs of feeding problems, listlessness, and fatigue.
- Painful, frequent, and foul-smelling urine.
- Cloudy urine.
- A recurrence of bedwetting or poor urine control during the day in a child who previously had bladder control.
- Abdominal and low back pain.
- Vomiting and abdominal pain .
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What Are The Side Effects Of Trimethoprim
Like all medicines, trimethoprim can cause side effects, although not everyone gets them. Often side effects improve as your body adjusts to the new medicine
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Amoxicillin/potassium Clavulanate Cefdinir Or Cephalexin
How it Works: is another combination drug that belongs to the penicillin class of antibiotics. and belong to a different class of antibiotics thats closely related to penicillins.
All three antibiotics kill bacteria by destroying one of its most important components: the cell wall, which normally keeps bacteria structurally intact.
Common doses:
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Amoxicillin/clavulanate: 500 twice a day for 5 to 7 days
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Cefdinir: 300 mg twice a day for 5 to 7 days
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Cephalexin: 250 mg to 500 mg every 6 hours for 7 days
Notable side effects: Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and rash are common side effects of these antibiotics. In rare cases, all three have the potential to cause the dangerous skin reactions, SJS and TEN.
If you have a penicillin allergy, your healthcare provider wont prescribe amoxicillin/clavulanate. They may or may not prescribe cefdinir or cephalexin since there is a small chance that a person with a penicillin allergy may also be allergic to these two.
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Precautions Before Starting Trimethoprim
- Are you pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding?
- Do you have problems with the way your kidneys work?
- Do you have allergies to antibiotics?
- Are taking any other medicines? This includes any medicines you are taking which you can buy without a prescription, as well as herbal and complementary medicines.
If so, its important that you tell your doctor or pharmacist before you start trimethoprim. Sometimes a medicine isnt suitable for a person with certain conditions, or it can only be used with extra care.
Diagnosis And Management Of Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections
SUSAN A. MEHNERT-KAY, M.D., University of Oklahoma College of MedicineTulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Am Fam Physician. 2005 Aug 1 72:451-456.
Patient information: See related handout on urinary tract infections, written by the author of this article.
Most uncomplicated urinary tract infections occur in women who are sexually active, with far fewer cases occurring in older women, those who are pregnant, and in men. Although the incidence of urinary tract infection has not changed substantially over the last 10 years, the diagnostic criteria, bacterial resistance patterns, and recommended treatment have changed. Escherichia coli is the leading cause of urinary tract infections, followed by Staphylococcus saprophyticus. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole has been the standard therapy for urinary tract infection however, E. coli is becoming increasingly resistant to medications. Many experts support using ciprofloxacin as an alternative and, in some cases, as the preferred first-line agent. However, others caution that widespread use of ciprofloxacin will promote increased resistance.
SORT: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE
A three-day course of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is recommended as empiric therapy of uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women, in areas where the rate of resistanceEscherichia coli are less than 20 percent.
SORT: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE
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What Drugs Interact With Sulfonamides
The increased metabolism of cyclosporine by the liver caused by sulfonamides (reduces the effectiveness of cyclosporine and can add to the kidney damage caused by cyclosporine.
All sulfonamides can crystallize in the urine when the urine is acidic. Since methenamine causes acidic urine, it should not be used with sulfonamides.
Blood levels of digoxin may increase blood levels of digoxin and possibly lead to serious toxic effects.
Specific Risk Factors In Men
Men become more susceptible to UTIs after the age of 50, when they begin to develop prostate problems. Benign prostatic hyperplasia , enlargement of the prostate gland, can produce obstruction in the urinary tract and increase the risk for infection. In men, recurrent UTIs are also associated with prostatitis, an infection of the prostate gland. Although UTIs are less common in men, they can cause more serious problems in men than in women. Men with UTIs are more likely to require hospitalization than women.
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When Should I Call My Healthcare Provider
- Fever.
- Back pain.
- Vomiting.
If you have any of these symptoms, or your other symptoms continue after treatment, call your healthcare provider. A UTI can spread throughout your urinary tract and into other parts of your body. However, treatment is very effective and can quickly relieve your symptoms.