Antibiotics and cranberry juice at the same time?!
Question: I have a UTI. I was prescribed antibiotics for it (Cipro). I know that most people recommend drinking unsweetened cranberry juice to help rid of the body of a UTI. However, I remember a conversation I had in which my clinical nursing instructor said that you're not supposed to drink cranberry juice when you are on antibiotics because it clears the antibiotics too quickly. I can't find anything in the literature for the drug or really on the web about this. I'd like to go ahead and drink cranberry juice because I know I need to drink a lot of fluids and plain water gets boring, but I don't want to if it's going to have a negative effect against the antibiotic. Anyone know if I should or shouldn't be drinking cranberry juice? Thanks all.
Answers: I have a UTI. I was prescribed antibiotics for it (Cipro). I know that most people recommend drinking unsweetened cranberry juice to help rid of the body of a UTI. However, I remember a conversation I had in which my clinical nursing instructor said that you're not supposed to drink cranberry juice when you are on antibiotics because it clears the antibiotics too quickly. I can't find anything in the literature for the drug or really on the web about this. I'd like to go ahead and drink cranberry juice because I know I need to drink a lot of fluids and plain water gets boring, but I don't want to if it's going to have a negative effect against the antibiotic. Anyone know if I should or shouldn't be drinking cranberry juice? Thanks all.
Cranberry juice is fine with antibiotics except sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (Bactrim, Septra, Co-Trimoxazole). Acidification of the urine can cause the antibiotic to precipitate which can be painful and make the antibiotic less effective.
Last spring I had a really bad kidney infection and they put me on Cipro as well. I lived on cranberry juice through that and it cleared up before I finished the antibiotics. I don't see a problem with it. Cranberry juice is excellent for your urinary tract.
Are you sure it was Cranberry Juice and not Grapefruit they were talking about? I've heard that about Grapefruit juice once.
I am producing cranberry juice and can say your clinical nursing instructor was right. They really clears the antibiotics too quickly.
Usally first recommended antibiotics and when you will finish the antibiotic period you can start drink again juce and all natural herb tee.
Just as a quick addition to all those who knew what advice to give you:
If you are taking antibiotics they are going to kill, not only the bad bacteria causing the infection, but the good bacteria, too.
I advise that you take a course of probiotics. They can be found at your local health food store. Take them even while you are taking the antibiotics - though you should take them at least 2 hours away from your antibiotics. Take them daily for at least 1 month to replenish the good bacteria. If you have recurrent UTIs, you can take the probiotics on an ongoing, daily basis - usually you will see the number of UTIs decrease.
Best wishes!
Clinical is key. Her profession is not nutritional. I would like to know why its so bad to clear the antibiotics when the cranberry juice is more effective.
Cranberry juice is known to do the following:http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/band6/... This is a double blind placebo study.
The point is that the micro nutrients are supporting your own immune system from harmful bacterial adhesion, whereby the antibiotics don't, their roll is to kill all beneficial flora as well as the harmful bacteria but there is one major flaw.
The flora that the antibiotic cannot kill is eating it as nourishment and if there are no other flora to keep it in check, it grows and creates another secondary infection.
Do what the answerer said above me to keep an infection from re occuring.
The friendly flora is called Candida Albicans and when it gets out of control its called a yeast infection.
It causes gerd, chrons, IBS, dandruff, jock itch, athletes foot, vaginal yeast infections, chronic urinary infections, leaky gut in children, thrush in babies mouths, and a host of other more serious problems if your immune system is weak and allows the candida to become systemic.
The immune system starts in the gut, so feed your body with god's food as its designed to resist and combat disease with the proper nutritional tools.
PS. Finish your antibiotics, because its our modern day abuse of antibiotics for everything that has created so many deadly resistant baceterias like the flesh eating bacteria which is a mutated strep bacteria.
By finishing your antibiotics you don't leave any weaker strains to mutate and then by drinking cranberry juice and putting back propper flora you strengthen your immune system which is called "practicing prevention" rather than waiting until you fall off the cliff and expecting your doctor to address the cause when they can only address the symptoms.
see the detail's on http://my-pharm.ze.cx