Bactrim for Urinary Tract Infection User Reviews (Page 2)

• krs...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 6, 2015

"I've taken my fair share of medications for UTIs, and so far, this one seemed to be the most effective as far as relieving symptoms quickly. My doctor prescribed me to take two pills a day for 10 days. I felt relief from UTI symptoms as soon as the 2nd or 3rd day. That being said, it has some nasty side effects. They say you can take it with or without food, and I'm guessing that because it makes your stomach feel horrible either way. I've experienced diarrhea, painful gas and bloating, and nausea since the first day of taking it. From my experience, this can usually be expected with strong antibiotics. My advice would be to take a probiotic to help counterbalance! I've done it before, and it helps me."

• Bri...
• March 21, 2017

"The ONLY side effect I had from this medicine so far is very slight fatigue right after I take it. Had a pretty bad UTI, took the first dose (2 a day every 12 hours), and within a short amount of time there was no more burning, fullness feeling, or pain. I take this for 10 days and I am on day 7. And no dizziness, nausea, vomiting, or anything. Don't be afraid to take this medicine BUT! EAT BEFORE YOU TAKE IT!! Like a full meal! I think many people aren't doing this, and you should."

• All...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 29, 2019

"Never again. It has been only 2 days. I'm already dizzy, fatigued, anxiety-ridden, and it's 2 a.m., and my heart won't stop racing! I've had the jitters all day and very unpleasant heart palpitations that feel like my heart is going to explode. Also, I can't sleep."

• Mab...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 22, 2021

"Irregular heartbeats that 'feel' like a panic attack. Weak feeling all over body and loss of strength after doing something simple, such as throwing out the trash. Bactrim may give you brain fog and feelings of depersonalization - it may also affect your electrolyte levels. Be prepared for possible psychotic effects on your brain and not knowing why you are losing yourself/mind. More importantly, watch for the development of pernicious anemia. Again, this may not happen to everyone, but watch yourself carefully while on this drug. This won't cure every UTI. Before you take this, beg your doctor to culture your urine so that you will be put on the 'right' antibiotics. This interferes with your body's ability to break down folate into a usable form and can interfere with your bone marrow, which produces red blood cells."

• hgg...
• May 29, 2017

"I took this medication for the first day, and I only ate a small breakfast just so I could take the medicine. I was sick all day and felt like I had the flu. So the next day, I ate a full meal (so that I was completely stuffed) and had no side effects. THIS MEDICINE MUST BE TAKEN WITH A FULL MEAL."

• Que...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 1, 2022

"I wanted to leave this review to help anyone worried about taking this. I'm in my late 30s and get UTIs often. They seem to come anytime I have intercourse, and I try to combat them with D-Mannose. I typically have to get an antibiotic twice a year. Bactrim is my drug of choice in combination with pharmaceutical Pyridium. Bactrim does not cause the gut issues that Cipro does, and I find it to work quickly. The key to Bactrim is to take a pill after you eat with a full bottle of water. In between doses, take a probiotic. So morning Bactrim-lunch probiotic-dinner Bactrim-bedtime probiotic. There will be obvious relief of symptoms within 24 hours, and you need to complete the entire 7 days. In addition, if you are going to be in the sun, wear long sleeves and a hat. If you cannot cover up, remember the 1 to 3 rule. When on sulfa antibiotics, 1 hour in the sun is equivalent to 3 hours in the sun. Take AZO or Pyridium the first 2 days to relieve urge/pain."

• Des...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 15, 2016

"They prescribed Bactrim to me, worst thing ever. Ended up in the hospital, body aches, fever, insomnia... & went to the hospital. Ended up with a low blood count, ran all kinds of tests. It was just awful. I will never take this again, and it's been about a month, and I'm still not 100% better. I will never take this ever again!"

• KM5...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• February 1, 2025

"I have used Bactrim for many, many years, having had UTIs for most of my life. Yes, some people have side effects. But I can tell you that I tolerated it fairly well. Sometimes better than others. Mostly, the side effects included some fatigue or just feeling blah. But that could also be the infection, or just that I didn't eat enough, or basically antibiotics can make you feel blah! I never had a severe reaction - never had a scary reaction. And I have taken likely hundreds or thousands of Bactrim pills over the 40+ years of having UTIs. If you concentrate on side effects, you could feel them more. That is not to say some people won't have side effects, but for the most part, if you take it as you are supposed to and follow directions/dr. directions, and not go searching on the internet for horror stories, you likely will be fine. There are always exceptions. But for me personally, Bactrim has saved me many times from horribly bad UTIs when I was younger especially."

• Ana...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 17, 2019

"This is my first and last time I will ever take it. Now, firstly, some people have good experiences with this med, so it's all up to your body. My body said no. The headaches are bad, the rapid heartbeat scared me, and the restlessness was awful, and it made me jittery/nervous. I took the whole dose. You will not know how your body will react to this med until you try it. I have a friend that took it, and she was fine and swore by it, her body makeup is different than mine."

• JDK...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 7, 2021

"Okay, here is my story..... I'm 3 days in, and after the first dose, I felt amazing. The next day, even better. Today, not so good, I have had sweats at least thrice and stomach pains with burping constantly. My tongue is actually peeling. I have had no appetite throughout the course of 3 days thus far!!! I'm stopping it in fear of something even worse happening!! I cannot take my daily runs on this medication. Anxiety is high, and my mouth hurts!!! I had sepsis 21 months ago, which started with a UTI, and several antibiotics do not agree with me!!! I will update as time goes on. Right now, I want my mouth to stop hurting!!! I would be very cautious if you are prescribed this medication!!"

• bre...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 13, 2023

"Bactrim is a very good antibiotic in my experience. At first, I was so scared to take it because of all these negative reviews. My UTI was antibiotic resistant, and Bactrim cleared it up within 3 days. Don’t let these reviews scare you. The people who have bad reactions usually don’t follow the instructions: stay out of the sun, drink tons of water, eat a full meal before taking your dose! :)"

• Bek...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 27, 2019

"Cured my UTI but gave me insomnia, anxiety, swollen lymph nodes, headache, muscle and joint pain all over my body, and pins/needles feeling all over my body. Ended up going to the hospital for the side effects. So I would not, in any circumstance, recommend this antibiotic."

• Bre...
• August 16, 2016

"I called the doctors due to weird symptoms after my 5th day of taking this medication. This concludes (chills, nauseous, diarrhea, headache, and even numbness throughout my entire face, lips, and mouth, and the shakes). The pain I get from my UTIs (burning sensation, hard to pee, and hurts). I felt like Bactrim made my pains worse, the burning was 100x worse! I felt as if I was dying!!!! I even had severe insomnia up until 6-7 am! Called the doctors and they said I should have called when the headaches and shakes came along! Cut me off it immediately and prescribed me Macrobid instead. Hope it helps!!"

• Gat...
• May 27, 2015

"This treatment is the best to kill any bacteria in your body. I treat my urine tract infection. Started taking the medication at 5 pm, by 9 pm, it was a relief. No pain at all and able to urinate without any discomfort. Always, you have to follow up all steps after this treatment: drink lots of water. Very happy, no upset stomach at all."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 13, 2014

"It's currently 12:30 am, and I'm wide awake on a school night typing this. I didn't exactly have all the symptoms of a urinary tract infection, but I always have the urgency to pee. I went to urgent care, and the doctor prescribed me Bactrim. I've been on it for 3 days (today will be my 4th), and I have yet to see results. According to some of you, it doesn't start working until the 5th day, which still gives me hope since the doctor told me it would work within 2 days. What I have been seeing is nausea, diarrhea, shakiness, insomnia, extreme headaches, and loss of appetite. I really hope this works. The constant urge to pee pretty much ruins what little social life I have. Having to make constant trips to the bathroom doesn't fit well with football games."

• Suz...
• September 15, 2020

"I went to urgent care for unbearable pain from a UTI, and they put me on Bactrim. This made me feel awful. Lots of anxiety and panic attacks, and constantly feeling dizzy like the room was spinning and like I was going to fall down and pass out. Felt very shaky on day 5. Also experienced neck pain and pain in my lower back. Also experienced headaches. It cleared up the UTI but had horrible side effects. I’m someone who also has neurological Lyme disease, so the left side of my jaw just goes into spasm when I have a flare-up, which is another painful condition I live with, and I’ve taken many other antibiotics for Lyme and for sinus issues, but I’ve never experienced symptoms like this."

• not...
• February 20, 2016

"Bactrim doesn't seem to help, have a UTI and the doctor put me on Bactrim, even after I told him it didn't work for me in the past. Been on it for a week, and I can barely urinate. (Cipro has worked well for me). Now the doctor wants me to make another office visit because he gave me an antibiotic that I told him has not worked for me in the past. I asked him to call in a prescription for Cipro, he won't. He is convinced that if Bactrim didn't work, I need another visit. So now I have to pay for another visit. I almost always test negative for UTI, which makes me wonder how inclusive their culture test is. Anyway, ask for Cipro if Bactrim doesn't work."

• jro...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 22, 2018

"Never again! I was put on this for 3 days-2 pills a day for a UTI. I was laid up in bed for 4 days. I was extremely nauseous, chills, sweats, headache, dizzy, couldn’t eat a single thing, and after day 2, I got a SEVERE yeast infection. The pain was unlike anything that has ever happened to me. I took 2 trips to the doctor and over a week to feel somewhat normal again down there. This was way too strong and unnecessary for a simple UTI infection. Never will I ever take this again. I wish I could give it a zero, I am still having nightmares about this drug."

• Joe...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 28, 2016

"Started taking Cipro for a bladder infection but had some bad side effects in the tendon in my right hand. Went back to the Dr. and he gave me Bactrim (Septra). I took it for 3 days in total before I had to stop. The symptoms literally made me feel like I was dying. I had a really foggy head, headaches, dizziness, I almost passed out one day. I got zero sleep the whole time I was on it. My joints hurt in the night, my skin got really itchy and developed a rash, I also developed extreme anxiety and I felt like I was having a heart attack with the palpitations. I was close to panic attack, that's when I said enough is enough. I've never had a reaction like that and I have trouble remembering those days. It was a blur of pain and confusion."

• MMa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 10, 2019

"Got a UTI after my first sexual intercourse. My first UTI as well. Peeing was so painful the doctor prescribed me Bactrim to take 2 times a day for 3 days. I was so scared reading all the reviews here, I was expecting horrible side effects, but here I am on my 4th pill, and the only side effect I noticed was minor tightness in the chest, which made me breathe heavily around 30 minutes after swallowing the pill. It lasted for like 5 minutes. The painful urination disappeared gradually after taking the first pill. I took it at 12 pm, and by night, I could urinate without any problems. I took the pill with a full glass of water, and I drank a lot of water too to flush out the bacteria. To anyone who needs to take this pill, don't worry too much reading the scary reviews here, it works well to clear the infection. Well, it depends on your body too, I guess. Glad mine works just fine."

• Ren...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 28, 2022

"While I understand that people who do not have many side effects from meds may think it's a mind-over-matter thing... some people do experience adverse effects that are seemingly unbearable. I am now myself on Bactrim: fatigued, depressed, irritable, and having nightmares. These side effects haven't gone away, even with the best probiotics. I still have another week to go, and so I basically have to just suck it up and do the best I can. However, to those of you who can't relate to those of us who have side effects that aren't related to the infection... please try to be more understanding! Thank you."

• Cap...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 15, 2019

"Horrible, horrible medication. I was put on a 7-day course of Bactrim for a fairly mild UTI by local urgent care, and the day after starting my dosage, I experienced SEVERE heightened anxiety, panic attacks, low fever, back tension and pain, uncontrollable shaking, and insomnia. Some hallucinations and nausea as well. After day three, I couldn’t take it any longer and stopped taking it— most of the severe symptoms went away within 24 hours, but it’s been almost 3 days since quitting, and my muscle pain and anxiety are still far worse than they were before taking Bactrim."

• Anonymous
• June 8, 2016

"My experience was horrible! Prescribed 2 pills a day for 3 days. After the last pill, I started feeling strange and had severe headaches from the time I started taking it until a week later. I didn't think much of it until I went home from work and didn't leave the couch. I had no appetite, constipated, sweating and chills. I wanted to puke, my eyes hurt so bad. Couldn't shake whatever was going on and drank as much water as possible. My body was sore, I slept almost an entire weekend away. I can't tell if my UTI is completely gone or not because I'm still constipated and it hurts! I've never had an antibiotic like this, and I never want it again! All my doc told me was to keep pushing fluids and eat yogurt. Good luck, people."

• Anonymous
• January 24, 2012

"I took Bactrim for 3 days for a urinary tract infection. I found relief only hours after taking the antibiotics but experienced severe nausea that continued to get worse no matter how much water I drank or how much I ate. Needless to say, I will be calling my family doctor to try something else."

• Jan...
• May 10, 2019

"Took Bactrim for a UTI. I had never taken it before. At day 3, I started feeling horrible, short of breath, and intense stomach pain. I had never had a UTI before, so I assumed this might be just a bad UTI. Day 6, I was shaking with chills and could not pee AT ALL. Went to the ER, I had a fever, high eosinophils, and a very elevated creatinine. Turns out I had an acute kidney injury from Bactrim. I was given fluids, and I woke up the next morning covered in the most painful drug rash. That rash lasted two weeks. Not to mention, I was put on prednisone for the rash and because I had interstitial nephritis. The prednisone drove me out of my mind. Awful experience."