Skip to main content

Nitrofurantoin User Reviews & Ratings (Page 2)

Brand names: Macrobid, Macrodantin, Furadantin

Nitrofurantoin has an average rating of 4.4 out of 10 from a total of 1,842 reviews on Drugs.com. 30% of reviewers reported a positive experience, while 52% reported a negative experience.

Reviews for Nitrofurantoin

  • Aster
  • September 24, 2020

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Urinary Tract Infection "Macrobid was the worst antibiotic I've ever taken. I have never had a UTI and when I saw my Doctor she prescribed Macrobid 2x daily for 7 days. I have taken plenty of antibiotics in my lifetime and have never had any significant side effects. Within 4 hours of taking Macrobid I had terrible diarrhea for about 2 hours, after that I was nauseous to the point of vomiting (and I never vomit). No medication has ever made me this sick before. I had chills, weakness, diarrhea, and vomiting all within the first 12 hours. However, I know you're not supposed to stop taking medications so I took my second dose and the symptoms preceded to the point of not sleeping at all overnight. I stopped taking it the next day and my symptoms resolved completely. I went back to my doctor and got a different antibiotic that I had no problems with."

1 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
80 Report
  • Merma...
  • September 18, 2019

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Urinary Tract Infection "Please do not take the bad reviews seriously. Talk to your doctor not the internet. I have extreme anxiety. The thought of taking an antibiotic scares me to no end. But the knowledge of understanding that a UTI will get worse without treatment was enough for me to just take it. I have had no side effects from Macrobid. A little anxiety but that is just my nature not from the pill it self. Please don’t be afraid to take this medicine. It has helped me so much. Take it from someone who can not stand antibiotics."

10 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
94 Report
  • Moe
  • July 10, 2021

For Urinary Tract Infection "I would definitely listen to the reviews. I have never once had a reaction to medication like this. The morning of day three is when I had to pull over my car because I thought I was having a stroke and my friend rushed me to the ER. The day before I had weird arm cramps, abdominal cramps and headache but thought it was due to a possible UTI - then while driving my head felt extreme pressure, my vision blurred, my jaw started chattering, both my arms had numbness down through my hands and my speech was slurred. I am an extremely healthy and athletic 31 year old with no pre existing conditions. When I went to the ER all of my tests came back normal and they sent me home. I immediately stopped taking the medication and continued to have these random “episodes” over the next few days that were less extreme. A week later I am still weak and tired, my primary doctor told me it could be a week to two weeks to work it way out of my system. I’m worried it did permanent damage!"

1 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
62 Report

Frequently asked questions

  • Mom_o...
  • December 11, 2019

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Urinary Tract Infection "Started Macrobid 5 days ago. I’ve taken Cipro before and it’s always worked well. My doc was on vacation, so I went to another clinic. She told me that they stay away from prescribing Cipro, so she suggested Macrobid and said it was well tolerated. First, I want to let you know that it did not work for me. I’m on day 5 & the burning right now is just as it was when my UTI started. When I started taking it, I felt nauseous, dizzy, balance issues, weak arms, depressed and weepy. This is out of character for me. I’ve hardly worked due to feeling incredibly weak and tired. I'm self employed and 4.5 of my days have been completely wiped out by this drug. I also have cramping in my feet and today I had bizarre facial flushing, hot ears and high blood pressure for 5 hours. I’ve always had normal blood pressure so this was scary. DO NOT TAKE THIS!"

1 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
85 Report
  • User
  • May 23, 2020

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Urinary Tract Infection "Took Macrobid (Nitrofuratoin) twice for a UTI. The first time, I experienced a slight fever, chest pains, and difficulty breathing. I switched medication after speaking with my doctor, but I did not know that it also went by the name Macrobid as the generic brand. I had taken macrobid before and was fine, so assumed that this was a one-off instance of bad side effects. Now taking for a second time, and am experiencing very bad side effects of nausea, splitting headaches, slight fever, fatigue.... no other UTI medicine I’ve taken before has caused similar reactions. Would not recommend taking something so risky when there are plenty of other just as effective alternatives."

2 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
76 Report

Are you taking this medicine?

  • TPRN
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • July 7, 2019

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Bladder Infection "This medicine caused severe lung problems after taking 2 doses. I became septic and was hospitalized for 4 days. I am a nurse and have never been sick in my life. It did clear up my UTI but the respiratory complications nearly killed me! I wish they would pull this dangerous drug off the market."

1 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
83 Report
  • Kiley
  • Taken for 1 to 6 months
  • March 31, 2018

For Prevention of Bladder infection "Hello! I honestly have had great experience with this medication. I take one pill of Nitrofurantoin 100mg right after sex and also eat an apple with it. I used to not eat food while taking it or on an empty stomach and got so nauseous but would not throw up. I’m the type of person that gets a uti/bladder/kidney infection every single time after sex. I tried every natural preventative measure I could and still got infections. This saved my sex life tremendously and it’s made me so happy to be able to be intimate again. The reviews are scary but it was definitely worth a shot and I’m so glad I took it!"

9 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
98 Report
  • Vano
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • June 1, 2020

For Urinary Tract Infection "I was given this drug to treat my UTI. It felt like it started to work on the 3 day. Now on day 4 I start feeling urgency again. I am on a 7 day course. Do I have to wait for the medicine to finish before it starts working. I am so frustrated."

4 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
67 Report
  • Alway...
  • January 26, 2014

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Urinary Tract Infection "For everyone posting bad reviews did any of you take it after eating a complete meal? I made the mistake of taking one before after eating a light snack and I got the fever chills etc. like everyone else, but if I take it after eating a good size meal then I'm fine. DON'T TAKE ON EMPTY STOMACH! These antibiotics do work great! Don't let the bad reviews stop you from taking them just do what I said and eat real food and if you still have side effects then call your doctor. But from my experience as long as I eat no problems with them."

10 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
136 Report
  • SDO
  • September 27, 2015

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Urinary Tract Infection "Was so traumatized to take this med based on other reviews. I'm 120 and 5"4 and get sick and nauseous from even one tynenol regular strength. I got pedialyte to prepare... Took the pill and waited. And NOTHING happened except my uti going away. Do yourself a favor and don't read the Internet. Trust your dr!"

10 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
119 Report
  • Tony...
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • December 29, 2019

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Urinary Tract Infection "I am on my fourth day of taking MacroBid for UTI. The burning sensation, when I pee, has gone. The foul smell in my urine has gone, it now smells like urine again. My urine is clear again. It was very cloudy and slightly brown in colour. The two aspects of the infection that remain are the weakness of the flow and the frequency of origination, which is about every half hour. I have not had any side effects. So I feel that this has been a success so far. I have seven days worth to take and I will keep going."

8 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
68 Report
  • Dizzy...
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • March 2, 2020

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Bladder Infection "The first three days I took 100 mg generic Macrobid twice a day with large meals because it was causing mild queasiness. UTI symptoms subsided. On the 4th day I took with a small breakfast and experienced dizziness and heart pressure. I called the doctor who said that I was on it long enough and to stop. A decade or more ago I took Cipro with no side effects for UTI but now they say Macrobid is better due to antibiotic resistance and targeting UTIs specifically. The dizziness and heart pressure side effects were enough to make me stop and re-consider ever being on this medicine in the future."

7 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
65 Report
  • AMoon...
  • Taken for 1 to 2 years
  • March 4, 2013

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Prevention of Bladder infection "I have had frequently reoccurring urinary tract infections for almost 15 years and tried pretty much every trick out there to prevent them, to no avail. When discussing this with an Ob/Gyn she decided to prescribe Macrobid to be taken on days of intercourse in order to prevent me from getting another infection. I went from getting an infection every couple of months to not having one for a year and a half, until I ran out of the medication. The only side effect was a change in urine color which did not have an effect on my quality of life beyond wearing panty liners as a precautionary measure on days I had taken it to ensure my underwear did not get stained. Taking this to prevent infections was a life changer for me."

10 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
131 Report
  • Lydia
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • December 16, 2019

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Bladder Infection "I had a pretty bad UTI so went to urgent care to get some relief. They prescribed this drug macrobid 100mg x 2 for 5 days. I’m very sensitive to medications. Within 2 doses my constant urge to pee was gone. By the 3rd dose the burning was gone. I’m ending out my 4th day and 8th dose feeling completely better. The drug does cause some drowsiness and I have been dizzy as well, which I got after my first dose. I’ve also had some diarrhea but not too much. After my 8th dose tonight I do feel a little bit queasy.... but all antibiotics have some side effects. I’ll keep taking it. Cipro and Bactrim made me feel way worse."

9 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
64 Report
  • Deb
  • July 4, 2021

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Bladder Infection "The first few days after taking Macrobid the symptoms weren’t too bad, I was experiencing a little stomach problems, diarrhea mainly. About day three on I got really sick, really bad nausea and upper belly ache, pounding headaches, felt lightheaded. I couldn’t function, had to lay down and rest all of the time. I realized I was halfway through the dosage and thought I could tough it out, but had to stop at day six, (7 day dosage). This is now day 7, and I haven’t taken any medication but still have strong symptoms, hopefully will reside soon. I will never take this medication again, I felt like my body was being poisoned."

1 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
46 Report
  • Jules
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • September 24, 2019

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Urinary Tract Infection "Had a UTI and my doctor prescribed Macrobid twice a day for 5 days. I’ve had zero side effects and my UTI went away. I’m an overly anxious person so online reviews worry me, but all of these reviews seem to be from those that have had obvious allergic reactions to Macrobid and these are likely pretty rare or they had another illness that coincided with their UTI?"

10 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
65 Report
  • Marleah
  • January 28, 2020

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Urinary Tract Infection "Took the antibiotic for 5 days for a UTI. First day it did cause a bit of nausea and dizziness but nothing too drastic. The rest of the days I had no side effects at all. Always took with a meal to prevent nausea or upset stomach."

9 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
61 Report
  • Knokke
  • March 13, 2017

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Bladder Infection "I have taken this medication tons of times and every time without side effects. It is the only thing I can take to take care of my UTIs. I took it off and on in the past for UTIs due to having 4 urether instead of two. Then I had to take it for 9 months while I was pregnant (one a day for prevention), never had a problem. Now years later, Just had a hysterectomy and had a UTI again. Asked for macrobid and within two days the pain is gone and I am getting better. Couldn't live without this medicine. I don't know what these people are talking about."

10 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
87 Report
  • OBXbr...
  • October 1, 2019

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Bladder Infection "Macrobid DOES help a lot of people with no issues at all. I happened to be one of the people that had a bad reaction, but that’s MY experience. I had to stop taking the medication after the 2nd dose because I quickly had severe pain and burning in my legs. It was so severe it lasted for weeks. I was scared it would never go away. But it did. I was put on a different antibiotic and I was fine. I probably had a rare allergic reaction to it since the severe pain and burning happened so quickly after starting the medication. Don’t let the rare reactions keep you from taking a medication you need, because most people are fine on this."

4 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
61 Report
  • Debby...
  • Taken for 2 to 5 years
  • January 14, 2017

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Prevention of Bladder infection "I have had recurring uti's for 5 decades. I've been on macrobid for a couple of years. I've found it does help prevent the kidney and bladder infections with few side effects. The side effects I do have are: darkened urine, diarrhea occasionally, nausea and dry heaves occassionally, dizziness occasionally and peripheral neuropathy on occasion. Now I know you would think that these side effects would deter someone from taking this drug but for me those side effects are better than having bladder and kidney infections for 6 months at a time. For me the macrobid is the lesser of the two evils. Living with the infections is worse than these few issues."

9 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
79 Report
  • Danie...
  • February 10, 2017

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Bladder Infection "Both extremes of Macrobid are accurate. I've had a lot of UTIs- to the point of having Macrobid prescribed with refills as needed. I never experienced any symptoms and this stuff was like a miracle. Took 24 hrs to kick in and felt great. I didn't get a UTI for 2 years and then just got one. I took Macrobid and it has made me feel horrible! I feel weak, have no energy, am always dizzy, have headaches, diarrhea, bad pain around my lymph nodes and always feel like I need to throw up. Fortunately I'm a sahm (stay at home mom) so I'm able to deal with it at home, but I had to have someone take my child to school because I couldn't get out of bed! Also it feels like it hasn't completely started working. So it can be great and horrible, even with the same person!"

5 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
78 Report
  • Laine...
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • April 20, 2017

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Bladder Infection "After being prescribed Monurol (a single dose, powder satchet antibiotic) for a pretty nasty Bladder Infection, I had to go back to the doctor because I was still in serious pain. My family doctor prescribed Macrobid, and after taking ONE dose, I started to have relief. I'm pretty sensitive to medications, I usually get the full list of side-effects; headache, nausea, diarrhoea, but with Macrobid, absolutely nothing-not even the weird possible "darkening of urine". Believe me, I'm a big baby, I'd whine about anything, this medication was amazing."

10 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
76 Report
  • MadWo...
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • November 13, 2019

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Bladder Infection "If I could give macorbid a score of a negative 1 million I would! Because of this antibiotic I have been sick for 4 days. Had to take a trip to the ER and had 2 bags of IV fluids put in me and a chest x ray. All for a simple bladder infection. As soon as I took the first pill I was instantly sick. I ended up taking 3 of my doses and stopped. I have chest pain, nausea, headaches and very tired. Bladder infection gone in 24 hours but I’m sick as a dog. I’m so angry this pill was prescribed to me. By the looks of it I don't think it should be on the market!!! Do not take! Drink some cranberry juice."

1 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
54 Report
  • Sheila
  • February 29, 2020

For Urinary Tract Infection " I am usually a light weight with most medications, so when I was given Nitrofurantoin I was nervous. I ate something small before taking it, to my surprise after the first pill I was feeling relief from the pressure and burning from the UTI. It has made my a little drowsy but that it is. I’m on day 5, I would take this again. Everyone different. I have high blood pressure and anxiety, both were not effected."

9 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
51 Report
  • Lulu
  • Taken for less than 1 month
  • December 6, 2019

Macrobid (nitrofurantoin) for Bladder Infection "I was prescribed this medication due to a kidney infection. I must say by the second day of taking the medication I was able to void (pee). The lower back pains subside a little I was elated that I was able to move. I advice to always eat first before taking any antibiotics it could be a little harsh on your stomach. I will definitely take this medication again. Keep in mind that every medication has a side effect everyone tolerate medication very differently. Give the medication some time to work you can also take two Tylenol with your antibiotics to avoid headaches. Feel better soon everyone"

10 / 10
Was this helpful?YesNo
53 Report

Reviews may be edited to correct grammar/spelling or to remove inappropriate language and content. Reviews that appear to be created by parties with a vested interest are not published. This information is not intended to endorse any particular medication. While these reviews may be helpful, they are not a substitute for the expertise, knowledge, and judgement of healthcare professionals.