# Antibiotics for UTI question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antibiotics-for-uti-question/414008>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 1, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antibiotics-for-uti-question/414008 "2007-08-01T17:29:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antibiotics-for-uti-question/414008/1 "2007-08-01T17:29:51Z")

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I’m not really asking for advice because this is in the past, but recently I developed a UTI (it’s gone now). I was sent for a urine test which came back positive and the lab proceeded to do a culture to find out whichi ickies I had and what worked best at killing them, etc.

Now my question involves this: The process took several days. I was given a choice of having the doctor call in an antibiotic without knowing the exact type of bacteria involved and then possibly having to switch to a different one when the culture came back.

I opted to wait. My reasoning was that the whole point of the culture was that different bacteria are susceptible and resistant to different things. Why risk breeding a couple of days worth of resistant bugs if I wasn’t in dire need? I should add that my symptoms were fairly mild, and I had no fever, back pain, or other symptoms of a kidney infection.

From a medical point of view was I right to wait?

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**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antibiotics-for-uti-question/414008/2 "2007-08-01T23:11:49Z")

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This is not a right or wrong question. but if the symptoms are mild and stay mild, there is little harm in waiting. In a young healthy woman, there is maybe a 85-90% chance that the UTI is caused by E. coli, and that either cotrimoxazole (bactrim, septra, SMX/TMP), macrodantin (nitrofurantoin, macrobid) or ciprofloxacin would likely do the job. Cultures are a little more important in severe infections, pregnant patients, those with possible STDs, patients with severe chronic disease and patients at high risk of a UTI not caused by the usual suspects.