How to Treat Colitis With Antibiotics

While some antibiotics kill the good bacteria in the colon and provoke an episode of colitis, there are antibiotics used to alleviate the symptoms of some forms of colitis. The use of antibiotics to treat colitis depends on the type of colitis--allergic colitis, pseudomembranous colitis, bacterial colitis or ulcerative colitis.

Instructions

Identify the Antibiotics to Treat Colitis

1

Manage bacterial colitis with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ, Bactrim, Septra). Sulfamethoxazole is a sulfonamide that is prescribed to prevent growth of bacteria in the body.

2

Consider antibiotics categorized as fluoroquinolones an option to treat colitis. Common brand names of fluoroquinolones include Avelox, Cipro, Floxin, Levaquin, Maxaquin, Noroxin and Tequin.

3

Add the broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotics as an option to treat bacterial or ulcerative colitis. Ceftriaxone (Rocephin) is an antibiotic widely used since it can be administered either by injection or intravenously.

4

Include commonly used brand names of cephalosporins such as Ancef, Ceclor, Cefotan, Duricef, Keflex, Kefzol, Mandol, Omnicef and Zinacef as antibiotics to treat bacteria associated with colitis.

5

Use antibiotics in conjunction with anti-inflammatory medications to treat ulcerative colitis. The antibiotic therapy is used to remove the abnormal bacterial growth while the anti-inflammatory medication reduces the swelling and irritation in the colon.

6

Expect to take vancomycin or metronidazole if colitis was caused by the use of other antibiotics. Some antibiotic therapy kills the good bacteria in the colon which allows the bad bacteria to take control and cause an infection. That kind of infection is treated with a different class of antibiotics.