Norfloxacin

Norfloxacin is a second generation quinolone antibiotic, a class of medications that kills infection-causing bacteria. It is sold under the brand name Noroxin.

Why It's Prescribed
Norfloxacin is used to treat bacterial infections including urinary tract and prostate infections.

Labeled uses for Norfloxacin include: Acute Gonococcal Cervicitis, Acute Gonococcal Urethritis, Acute Lower Genitourinary Gonorrhea, E. Coli Prostatitis, Urinary Tract Infections

Additinally, unlabeled uses include: Bacterial Gastroenteritis, Prevention of Traveler's Diarrhea, Traveler's Diarrhea

Form, Route, and Dosage
Norfloxacin is available as a tablet to take orally. Norfloxacin is only available in the stregnth 400mg. The maximum adult dose is 800mg in a 24 hour period.

Side Effects
Sometimes patients taking norfloxacin experience side effects. These may include:
 * nausea
 * diarrhea
 * heartburn
 * dizziness
 * stomach cramps
 * headache
 * weakness
 * severe diarrhea (watery or bloody stools) that may occur with or without fever and stomach cramps (may occur up to 2 months or more after your treatment)
 * rash
 * itching
 * hives
 * difficulty breathing or swallowing
 * swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat
 * hoarseness
 * loss of consciousness
 * fever
 * blistering or peeling skin
 * yellowing of the skin or eyes
 * dark urine
 * muscle or joint pain
 * pale skin
 * shortness of breath
 * unusual bruising or bleeding
 * fast, pounding, or irregular heartbeat
 * fainting
 * seizures
 * confusion
 * hallucinations (seeing things or hearing voices that do not exist)
 * anxiety
 * not trusting others or feeling that others want to harm you
 * restlessness
 * uncontrollable shaking of a part of the body
 * pain, numbness, burning, tingling, or weakness in the arms, hands, legs, or feet

Warnings
Patients taking Norfloxacin may have an increased risk of getting tendinitis.

As a Pollutant
Because humans and animals often do not fully metabolize pharmaceuticals in their body, they can excrete drugs or their breakdown products, which may the enter the environment.

In Sewage Sludge
Norfloxacin has been found in sewage sludge. In the Targeted National Sewage Sludge Survey, a 2009 test of 84 samples of sewage sludge from around the U.S., the EPA found norfloxacin in 29 samples (35%) in concentrations ranging from 99.3 to 1,290 parts per billion. There are no federal regulations governing how much of this drug may be present in sewage sludge applied to land as fertilizer.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Biosolids
 * Sewage sludge
 * Food Rights Network
 * Pharmaceuticals