How quickly will this medication work??

[antibioticsforuti]

I'm miserable, I have a severe UTI. Got a 3 day course of nitrofuratoin. I'm off work the pain is so severe but I have so much to do I need to be back asap. How long do these tablets take to clear up an infection? Any personal experiences? Also I'm feeling a bit lightheaded, tired and sickly, took the tablet an hour ago. Anyone else have similar side effects? I'm so miserable, UTIs are awful! 😟

Sympathies from a fellow sufferer. I find nitro works pretty quickly, and the usuals of lots of fluids and paracetamol make things slightly less grim too.

Thanks for your reply. I'm just wondering why I feel so wiped and "off", whether that's the side effects or the medication or just a coincidence.

A severe UTI as in kidney infection? You need more than 3 days. I get a lot of severe UTI s & it takes a couple of weeks & often need IV antibiotics.

Or do you mean a mild UTI ie cystitis? That usually passes in a couple of days.

sending sympathy. Take paracetamol and ibroprofen if you can as well. Y ou should feel much better by this afternoon and even better again by tomorrow in my experience. But your body is fighting an infection…. Give it time to recover. Xx

I had similar symptoms took the same medication for 3 days and powered through at work ended up with sepsis from a kidney infection the antibiotics hadn't worked as the course was either too short or I was putting too much pressure on myself at same time and gp was just giving repeats of the same course of antibiotics sporadically.

As previous posters have said, it depends on the severity of the infection, how bad the pain is and where (eg I had pain around my kidneys very soon after the start of other symptoms)

Get some of the cystitis relief sachets too. They help with some of the pain and stinging whilst you wait for the AB to work. I usually find after 24 hrs things feel more manageable.

I just had this but different antibiotics. I was completely miserable for a week, less miserable for the second week but now feel better than I have for months so think it's been lurking for ages before becoming really bad. Medication made me throw up everyday but I just generally felt shit anyway so it was just part of the overall horribleness. You need to rest, I think I basically lay on the sofa for a week and let my body do it's thing. After that I did work from home and that was fine. What I would say is if you get to the end of the medication and don't feel completely well go back to the doctor's immediately.

I don't want to worry you, but feeling tired and sickly can be a symptom of a kidney infection, so if I were you I'd get that checked out asap.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/kidney-infection/symptoms/

I wouldn't take anything else like the sachets along with the antibiotics without checking that out with a pharmacist first. I have a feeling I was told not too years ago for some reason but I could be wrong. They could also advise on the UTI I guess, or refer you on if needed.

it works quickly but Nitro always made me feel awful. Sic, struggling for breath & generally very unwell.

This sums up how I feel. Bloody awful 😞

Oh and very drowsy too, just want to sleep.

Have you been seen face to face by a dr? If you are feeling breathless you need to seek urgent medical advice now.

My GP gave me a different antibiotic (and I’ve had them all) and an anti histamine to counter act. So may be worth calling if you don’t feel you can continue on them.

@Starlingexpress yes, seen by dr, dipped my urine and confirmed UTI. It's not huge breathlessness, I'm not gasping for air. But my chest feels slightly tight and uncomfortable and I'm really fatigued and just "off", since I took the medication

You are potentially having an allergic reaction. My advice still stands. Seek medical attention now.

Hope you feel better soon.