Nitrofurantoin & Ciprofloxacin?

Question

Is there any resemblance between Ciprofloxacin & Nitrofurantoin? A covering doctor said that it's ok to give Ciprofloxacin to a patient w/ Urinary Tract Infection whose urine culture & sensitivity showed that it is sensitive to Nitrofurantoin, but Ciprofloxacin was not in the list of drugs sensitive to the bacteria. He said that it's just the same. Is this true?

Answer 1

What list are you referring to?

Cipro is an excellent choice. Nitrofurantoins lack the broader tissue distribution of other therapeutic agents approved for urinary tract infections. Consequently, many patients who are treated with nitrofurantoins are predisposed to persistence or reappearance of bacteriuria.

Fluoroquinolones such as ciprofloxacin (Cipro) are excellent agents for UTIs caused by Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, Serratia marcescens, Proteus mirabilis, Providencia rettgeri, Morganella morganii, Citrobacter diversus, Citrobacter freundii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, or Enterococcus faecalis.

I hope this helps.

Rick the Pharmacist

Answer 2

Although this doesn't exactly address your question, I just want to say that in my opinion all of the quinolones (such as Ciprofloxin) should be reserved for only the most resistant of infections, where nothing else is apt to be effective. Many, many people have had severe reactions to this class of drug (me included) ranging from tendon rupture to liver failure to severe heart arrhythmias (as in my case). Yes, Cipro is a highly effective antimicrobial, but it is also highly TOXIC to many people; precisely what makes it so effective against bacteria.
The pharmaceutical companies are pushing the doctors to prescribe these medications for simpler infections that can be cured by older, safer, drugs. Unless you are on your last leg, say NO to quinolones!! I am not anti-doctor, and am grateful to
some wonderful physicians who have treated me. But the simple fact is many do not have the time to study all of potential risks of various medications, relying mainly on the drug reps info.
Many also never mention the potential side-effects when prescribing, thus I feel each of us should do our own study each and every time we are prescribed something we have never used before.

FYI -- Cipro and others in its class have a high propensity for causing false positives to heroin (as reported by a study in the Journal of Medicine). Many doctors are unaware of this, so if you have an occupation that requires drug screening, you need to know this.

Answer 3

They are not the same. Ciprofloxacin is a quinolone and it has a broader spectrum of activity than nitrofurantoin.