Cystitis
Three antibiotics whose labels name acute cystitis and nothing wider
This is the category where the label wording matters most, because two of the three medicines here are approved for acute cystitis and for nothing broader. Nitrofurantoin states that limit in its first sentence, and fosfomycin states it as a single dose in women. A medicine that works in the bladder is not therefore a medicine for a kidney infection, and the labels are explicit about the difference.
The other thing that separates this category is how short the treatment is. A course is measured in days, and for fosfomycin in one dose, which means the practical questions are about what to do when symptoms do not settle rather than about long term use.
Medicines
Cystitis
- NitrofurantoinMacrobid, Macrodantin, FuradantinThe usual first choice for an uncomplicated bladder infection, and a medicine whose label limits it to exactly that.Prescription only
- TrimethoprimMonotrim, PrimsolA single ingredient tablet for uncomplicated urinary infection, and a medicine that is easy to confuse with the two ingredient combination sold under a different name.Prescription only
- FosfomycinMonurol, MonurilA single sachet dissolved in water, approved for uncomplicated cystitis in women and for nothing else in the label.Prescription only
Written by us
How to get it legally
All three are prescription only across Europe. Cystitis is one of the conditions where a remote consultation genuinely fits, because the diagnosis in an otherwise healthy adult rests on symptoms rather than on an examination, and because the treatment is short.
It stops fitting at a defined point, and the point is worth knowing before filling in a questionnaire: fever, pain in the flank or back, blood in the urine, pregnancy, symptoms in a man, symptoms in a child, or a course that has already failed. Each of those turns a simple bladder infection into something that needs to be looked at properly, and the labels of these three medicines do not cover it.