Ciprofloxacin and Nausea: What Users Say

• Sav...
• January 23, 2017

Ciprofloxacin for Urinary Tract Infection "Despite all the side effects that are plaguing other users, I believe Cipro is worth a try - it is the most effective antibiotic I have been prescribed for UTI, and I experience little to no side effects. The only time I tried to take Macrobid, I experienced fever, nausea, muscle pain, dizziness, and had to call in sick to work last minute because I'd slept through the whole day prior. So considering alternatives, I trust Cipro for MY use."

• Ash...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 12, 2019

Ciprofloxacin for Urinary Tract Infection "I was given ciprofloxacin when I was 18 as a cure for my UTI, that wasn't a bad one. The UTI went away, but I was left with constant nausea, abdominal pains, loss of appetite for multiple days, and chills and fever at night, making it impossible to sleep, so the Cipro had the hideous long-term side effects. Cipro is the worst medication I’ve ever been prescribed and should be taken off the market. This drug is so awful. It has altered my stomach and its sensitivity for life. :( This drug sent me to the ER, and I was fed through an IV for 2-3 days. HORRIBLE!"

• Tou...
• January 23, 2013

Ciprofloxacin for Bladder Infection "I took one dose and within about 3 hours the blood started to clear from the urine, and pain lessened; however, soon I got a bad headache, nausea, and chills. Within about 12 hours from the first (and only) dose, I was in the hospital - vomiting and feeling miserable. I was there for 3 days taking a different antibiotic and fluids by IV. One week later, bad diarrhea, and pain in the knee joint. Must be allergic to Cipro - will remember that for sure!"

• Amb...
• May 24, 2015

For Kidney Infections "I have had multiple kidney infections and urinary tract infections and NOTHING works better or quicker than Cipro. I also take cranberry pills along with antibiotics, and this seems to help me flush my system, as well as lots of water and cranberry juice. I find that I don't get relief for a couple of days (2-3). I do have one side effect, and that is my joints hurt, but it disappears after the 3rd day of use (for me). Also, I wouldn't take it on an empty stomach because it can and will make you nauseous. Otherwise, I would recommend it for both urinary, bladder, and kidney infections."

• Hel...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 27, 2015

For Kidney Infections "I took Cipro for cystitis that turned into a mild kidney infection after Macrobid didn't do the trick. No serious side effects from the medication except for drowsiness a couple of hours after a dose. It's not so bad when you're achy from a kidney infection. Don't freak out over reviews. It's worth remembering that most people taking antibiotics aren't feeling so hot anyway, so side effects like nausea and aches could be due to illness as much as anything else. ALWAYS FINISH YOUR ANTIBIOTICS!"

• Emp...
• April 30, 2010

Ciprofloxacin for Urinary Tract Infection "I used Cipro for a urinary tract infection. I do not usually get urinary tract infections. The first night I took it, I felt better by the next morning. It took a few hours before I felt better where I didn't have to go to the bathroom every 3 minutes, but it let me sleep and by the next day, that burning sensation had gone away. The only side effect was I felt nauseated and sluggish the first day. After that, it was great to get back to normal."

• Eye...
• January 7, 2018

For Sinusitis "This is the only antibiotic that works for my chronic sinusitis. I get infections often, and they are horrible. I get anxiety and depression when I'm that sick. Cipro is the only antibiotic that doesn't make my stomach sick. This medicine is almost as hard to get now as narcotics. It's ridiculous! After the first dose, there is improvement. If you were given this for a sinus infection, don't be afraid of it. It's a great antibiotic with fewer side effects than all the others. It's kicking the heck out of a month-long infection for me right now. I'm so happy. I was at rock bottom a few days ago. Finally, I'm getting better."

• Sam...
• August 13, 2016

Ciprofloxacin for Urinary Tract Infection "Not a fan. Went to urgent care for a particularly painful UTI and was prescribed Cipro and immediately took the first dose. The plus side is it started working almost immediately. 24 hours later and I'm about 90% better already. However, after taking the second pill, I developed some slight nausea and then, several hours later, noticed some muscle pain in my calves and behind my knees, and it has now spread to my shoulders and wrists. After reading that Cipro can cause serious and permanent damage, I quit using it immediately and asked to be switched to a different antibiotic. Not worth it!"

• Yaz...
• June 18, 2018

Ciprofloxacin for Diverticulitis "This works, but the side effects are horrible. Nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, right-side neck and shoulder pain and stiffness, mental fog, and general malaise. This medication has 'black box' warnings I was never told about, what a mess. Quitting after 5 days and hoping for the best. Nasty stuff! If there is an alternative, they should not even prescribe this stuff!"

• Anonymous
• October 21, 2011

For Bladder Infection "250 mg for 3 days. Worked great! Left me very tired, lightly nauseous, and a little heartburn (and perhaps developing a little yeast infection), but nothing I can't handle. I got a great night of sleep, but my days were bad. I did get freaked out by some of the reviews I read, but I had to remember that hundreds, if not thousands, of people take this medicine, and only the ones with bad reactions will post anything (only a fraction of the people prescribed it). It works differently with everyone, so do not let these reviews make your mind up. Take it one pill at a time and see how it affects you. Tip: take the pill with a lot of water and food in your belly. This helped me. Good luck!"

• Amy...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 3, 2016

For Diverticulitis "I was on metronidazole (Flagyl) & ciprofloxacin for diverticulitis. Let me start off by saying these two medications together suck, however, they do work. I have never had any problems with medications...ever. (In 40 years) This time though, at times, I thought I was dying! Best described as the worst flu ever. Massive nausea, occasional vomiting, diarrhea, exhaustion, horrible taste in my mouth, nothing tasted good, and my appetite was bad. Day 4 was the peak of feeling awful. I went to every review site trying to gather what worked to curb the symptoms. Everyone is different, so what worked for others didn't necessarily work for me. Here is what did work for me a bit, in case it can help anyone else. 1.) Try to not take them together. Split up the doses by like an hour or so. 2.) Take each dose with a little food (even if you aren't hungry), something bland. Do not use dairy products, this made my nausea worse! 3.) Have mints or candy at all times. Your mouth will feel gross, and things will taste funny. However, I found spearmints also helped soothe the tummy a bit. 4.) Pepto-Bismol. 5.) Try not to take them immediately before bed at night. Give it about an hour or two. I noticed nausea will wake me up throughout the night if I take them too close to going to sleep. Good luck, and remember: your doctor prescribed these for a reason. A reason that could turn into life-threatening unless you get it controlled. The worst thing ever is to start taking an antibiotic and then stopping it mid-cycle, as your body then becomes immune to it and is essentially ineffective."

• Abr...
• May 1, 2015

Ciprofloxacin for Urinary Tract Infection "I had kidney pain. Back back. Pain that went down to my leg, and I couldn't sleep. Thought it was from maybe overdrinking, so I drank a lot of water, but 7 days later, after eating only vegetables and fruits and taking cranberry juice and antioxidants, I went to the doctor. After my first pill, the pressure was gone, and after the second pill (500 mg), the pain was gone. It works!! No side effects other than slight nausea, but that's nothing compared to one week of pain and sleepless nights."

• Mis...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 30, 2015

Ciprofloxacin for Urinary Tract Infection "I have a bad UTI and was doubled over in severe pain. After the first pill of Cipro (500 mg), the pain has lessened dramatically. I'm shocked it worked so quickly! However, all antibiotics make me nauseous and fatigued, but I'll take that over severe pain."

• Anonymous
• March 5, 2011

Ciprofloxacin for Bladder Infection "I had to stop taking the medicine due to getting yellowing of the skin, fevers, nightmares, severe headaches, dizziness, hot flashes, restlessness, nausea, etc. The medicine was fine until about three days into it, then I began to feel worse, and it was even hard for me to breathe. I may be one of the select few who reacted this way, and I followed everything that I was told to do exactly."

• Jew...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 6, 2013

Ciprofloxacin for Urinary Tract Infection "I was put on a dose of 1000 mg a day. Took care of the urinary tract infection like a charm, but the side effects were not pleasant. I had heartburn and nausea after every dose, and antacids can't be taken for 2 hrs. after. I also had headaches and kept smelling burning plastic."

• lan...
• November 25, 2014

Ciprofloxacin for Urinary Tract Infection "Symptoms I had before being put on Cipro were the usual - blood in urine, pressure on bladder, need to pee every 10 seconds even after going, stinging. After being on 500 mg twice, almost all the symptoms were gone, but the side effects were horrible. I had nausea, headache, diarrhea, drowsiness, and some chest pain. The size of the pills is relatively huge too. Not supposed to split them, but I did anyway because it got stuck in my throat and made me throw up my dinner once. I put the split pill into a 00 veggie capsule, which makes it easy to swallow, and I can't taste the bitterness."

• Mea...
• June 16, 2019

Ciprofloxacin for Bladder Infection "I was given Cipro as I was leaving a hospital where I was treated for a bladder infection. I became confused and nauseous after being on it for 1.5 days and stopped taking it. A little over a week later, I could hardly walk and felt like I had electricity running down my legs. That was followed by stabbing pains in hands and feet, prickling sensations all over my body, and patches of burning sensations on my arms, legs, and back. It's now almost a year later, and I have had to deal with this horror 24/7. Only when I developed overactive bladder along with the neuropathy did I learn Cipro can cause all of my symptoms. My urologist told me this based on my medical history and notifications sent by the FDA to him and other physicians."

• JDB...
• November 26, 2017

For Sinusitis "Honestly, when will people learn that all drugs have side effects, but not everyone will suffer with adverse reactions? Yes, this is a very strong antibiotic, and because it is so strong, it can cause some nasty side effects. I’ve used it for sinus infections as well as prostatitis. Slight upset stomach and nausea, but compared to having a sinus infection and prostatitis, I'd rather take the pill. Don’t let these scare stories put you off taking this med if your doctor has prescribed it. It works wonders."

• Chr...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 28, 2017

Ciprofloxacin for Prostatitis "When my urologist recommended Cipro to combat my prostatitis (500 mg 2x per day for 6 weeks!), I wanted to make sure long-term use was OK. So I went online... and it looked really scary! People totally slamming the drug. But I went for it anyway. Seems to have done the job I needed it to do, and there are ZERO side effects. I mean ZERO. People talk about vomiting - I take the pill with or without food and not even a tiny bit of nausea. No fatigue, no aching or numbness, no appearance of tendon issues... nothing. Maybe it's just me and I know not everybody is the same, but it worked for me. The only reason I gave a 9 and not a 10 is because I still have a couple of days to go before I am done with the 6-week course."

• Tra...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 8, 2019

For Urinary Tract Infection "After taking Nitrofurantoin for one week, I was sick to my stomach, and I still had a UTI. I asked my doctor to prescribe Ciprofloxacin, and after a couple of doses, I was finally feeling better. For me, Ciprofloxacin is the only medication that works quickly and works all the time."

• Spo...
• April 5, 2017

Ciprofloxacin for Urinary Tract Infection "I'm a 25-year-old woman, and I was prescribed Cipro for a UTI. I got 250 mg twice daily for three days. I got this yesterday, and today I've taken three pills in total. I have a horrid fear of vomiting, I become suicidal when I think I'm going to be sick. So I'm very particular and paranoid about my antibiotics. I usually respond well to antibiotics, but not this! I didn't vomit, thank goodness, but three pills in and I'm lightheaded, light sensitive, bloated like no other, abdominal pain, and kind of nauseous, itchy, and muscle pain. Not to mention my anxiety is sky-high! I'm writing this before my current panic attack makes me unable to write. Hope these side effects leave and don't stay! Very paranoid!"

• Anonymous
• August 12, 2011

Ciprofloxacin for Diverticulitis "Last year, when I had my first diverticulitis attack (a bad one), I was put on Cipro and Flagyl. Condition did clear up although I was left with a nasty case of thrush. This time only on Cipro - don't find the one medicine alone very effective. I'm nearing the end of my prescription (10 days of 2 per day) and still having some pain and nausea. Will see my doctor next week."

• ATC...
• March 15, 2016

For Kidney Infections "I was nervous to take Cipro because I had made the mistake of reading online reviews. To people like me who get anxiety about medication: just think, people who willingly write a review online about medication probably had an extreme or unpleasant experience, but that does not make them the majority. I'm a petite woman that was prescribed 500 mg two times a day for a week. The first time I took the pill, I felt a bit lightheaded and woke up a tad nauseous. However, I was not on a full stomach (too nauseous to eat with my kidney infection), and I made the mistake of not drinking a full glass of water with the pill. As long as you do those things and avoid dairy (among other things like NSAIDs, etc.), you'll be fine. Feeling much better now."

• Los...
• October 25, 2015

For Bacterial Infection "Good experience. Definitely some side effects when I started, nauseous and a bit spaced out, but cleared up a serious sinus/ear infection fast. I do have to laugh at the bad reviews I read about Cipro. They list horrible things, but you know nothing else of the reviewers' lifestyle, food choices, other meds, etc. So I took it as directed and ignored all the other crap I read, and it worked well. Also, the folks who said they ate yogurt and felt better is just not true. Cipro kills everything, that includes the good bacteria in yogurt, so wait until you're finished, then add probiotics. Number 2, any dairy cancels the Cipro out, hence... don't eat yogurt... drink lots of water and only take these poisons when you need to :)"

• Sil...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 9, 2020

For Urinary Tract Infection "On the first day, I felt very nervous and lots of anxiety. I have very weird dreams and felt like throwing up all the time. By the third day, I was so anxious that I had a severe panic attack. I thought I was going to pass out, and my heart was racing so fast I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I called for a new medication and was given another one that I reacted the same with, so I called again and asked for amoxicillin."