Antibiotics can have side effects, such as fever, rash, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, headache, tendon ruptures, and nerve damage.
Antibiotics can cause future problems.
Antibiotics can kill “friendly” germs in the body. This can lead to vaginal yeast infections. It can also lead to other infections, severe diarrhea, hospitalization, and even death.
Also, antibiotics may help “drug-resistant” bacteria grow. These bacteria are harder to kill. They cause illnesses that are harder to cure. Your health care provider may have to try several antibiotics. This increases the risk of complications. The resistant bacteria can also be passed on to others. If you get an infection from resistant bacteria, you may need more visits and medicines that cost more.
When should older people take antibiotics for a UTI?
If you have UTI symptoms, antibiotics can help.
- The most common UTI symptom is a painful, burning feeling when you urinate.
- Other UTI symptoms in older people may include fever, urge to urinate, and frequent urination. Along with these symptoms, there can be pain on one side of the back below the ribs or discomfort in the lower abdomen.
Some kinds of surgery can cause bleeding in the urinary tract—for example, prostate surgery and some procedures to remove kidney stones or bladder tumours. If you are going to have this surgery, you may need testing and treatment for bacteria in urine.