So, you just saw a doctor about the pain and burning you experience when peeing and were diagnosed with a urinary tract infection (UTI). Most likely, after testing a urine sample to figure out which bacteria has caused the UTI, your doctor will, or already has, given you a prescription for antibiotics. How long your antibiotics treatment will be depends upon how serious your UTI is. A mild simple UTI may require 2-3 days of antibiotics, but it can go as long as seven days, and a complicated UTI may call for a two-week course of treatment. To ensure that all the bacteria are killed, it’s important that you follow the instructions of your doctor and take the antibiotics for the full duration of the prescription.
Bacterial resistance against common types of antibiotics has become a serious healthcare problem in recent years. For example, Bactrim, which is a combo antibiotic consisting of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole, has been found to be ineffective for about 1/3 of UTIs. Therefore, your doctor will first test your urine to determine which bacteria we’re dealing with and pick the appropriate antibiotic. If after 2-3 days of taking antibiotics you haven’t noticed any improvement in symptoms, contact your doctor again, as the medication you were prescribed may be ineffective. A different antibiotic drug may be required.
There are several things you can do to facilitate the effect of antibiotics and speed up recovery. In fact, you can consider these interventions, even after stopping treatment, to aid a full recovey and prevent recurrence. Helpful measures include:
Again, if you don’t notice any improvement within 2-3 days after starting antibiotic treatment, talk to your doctor again. In the rare event that things get worse rather than better, see your doctor right away or go to the ER. This is because a worsening condition, especially when accompanied by nausea, back pain, high fever and chills, may indicate that the infection has spread to you kidneys. This can be a serious, or even life-threatening, condition and requires immediate medical attention.