What are the side-effects of the antibiotic Cipro?

Most Common:

• nausea
• vomiting
• diarrhea

Less Common:

• dizziness
• abdominal pain
• headache
• liver inflammation

These side-effects are usually short term, and will go away within a day or so. But if they do become severe, or if they continue, contact your doctor or pharmacist. If you have diarrhea, you can eat cultured yogurt or drink buttermilk, which have active cultures that will counteract the diarrhea. Or, you can take an acidophilus pill daily, which is just as beneficial -- if not more so.

The reason this helps is that the antibiotics destroy ALL the bacteria in your digestive system, even the "good" bacteria that your body needs. By putting the good bacteria back in your system, you can help prevent these side-effects.

Also, keep in mind that, when a drug is being tested, any side-effects MUST be reported, even if it happens to only one person out of a thousand. So these side-effects, even the ones listed as "most common," don't occur to all who take them.

When taking any antibiotics, take the full prescription as ordered by your doctor. Failure to do so can result in the infection returning, but worse than it was in the beginning. The reason for this is that the antibiotics kill the weaker bacteria first, so if you stop taking the med too soon, the stronger bacteria will be the ones to survive, and then multiply. This will make treating the infection much more difficult.