What should you know about getting antibiotics for a UTI?

Burning urine, urgency, frequency, or lower abdominal discomfort can occur with a UTI, but similar symptoms may have other causes. A clinician may ask about fever, pregnancy, kidney problems, allergies, previous infections, and recent antibiotics. A urine test may be useful, particularly when symptoms are severe, recurrent, unusual, or suggest infection beyond the bladder. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections; they do not treat every cause of urinary discomfort.

Take the prescribed medicine exactly as directed and do not use leftover tablets or someone else’s prescription. Complete the course unless the prescriber changes the plan, and report a rash, facial swelling, breathing difficulty, or severe diarrhoea promptly. Drink normally unless you have been told to restrict fluids. If symptoms do not begin to settle as expected, contact the prescriber rather than adding another medicine yourself. Resistance can make an antibiotic less suitable in a future infection.

Seek urgent medical advice for fever with shaking chills, pain in the side or back, vomiting, confusion, marked weakness, or difficulty passing urine. These features can occur with a kidney infection or a more serious illness and may need prompt assessment. Pregnancy, childhood, older age, or significant immune or kidney problems also lower the threshold for medical review.

Do I need a urine test? Which symptoms should improve first? What should I do if I miss a dose or develop a side effect?