Ofloxacin (Floxin)

Ofloxacin is used to treat bacterial infections that cause bronchitis, pneumonia, chlamydia, gonorrhea, skin infections, urinary tract infections, and infections of the prostate.

Therapeutic actions:
Ofloxacin is a DNA gyrase inhibitor. DNA gyrase is an essential bacterial enzyme that maintains the superhelical structure of DNA. DNA gyrase is required for DNA replication and transcription, DNA repair, recombination, and transposition; bactericidal

What is it used for?:
• Acute bacterial exacerbations of chronic bronchitis;
• Community-acquired Pneumonia;
• Uncomplicated skin and skin structure infections;
• Acute, uncomplicated urethral and cervical gonorrhea;
• Nongonococcal urethritis and cervicitis;
• Mixed Infections of the urethra and cervix;
• Acute pelvic inflammatory disease;
• Uncomplicated cystitis;
• Complicated urinary tract infections;
• Prostatitis.

Contraindications and cautions:
• allergy to any ingredient in Floxin;
• allergy to any other fluoroquinolone antibiotic (eg. ciprofloxacin);
• abnormal blood electrolyte levels (eg. low potassium or magnesium) or a history of a certain type of irregular heartbeat (eg. QTc interval prolongation);
• taking medicines for heart rhythm disturbances (eg. quinidine, procainamide, amiodarone, sotalol);
• taking a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs) (eg. ibuprofen) or typhoid oral vaccine.

Side effects:
Diarrhea; dizziness; headache; loss of appetite; nausea; sensitivity to sunlight; trouble sleeping; vomiting.

Interactions:
• Medicines for heart rhythm disturbances (eg. amiodarone, procainamide, quinidine, sotalol) may increase the risk of irregular heartbeat;
• Corticosteroids (eg. prednisone) may increase the risk of tendon problems;
• Foscarnet, NSAIDs (eg. ibuprofen), or tramadol may increase the risk of seizures;
• Insulin or other medicines for diabetes (eg. glipizide) may increase the risk of low blood sugar;
• Floxin may increase the risk of side effects of anticoagulants (eg. warfarin), procainamide, or theophylline;
• Floxin may decrease effectiveness of live typhoid vaccine;
• Floxin 's effectiveness may be decreased by aluminum salts (eg. aluminum hydroxide), iron salts (oral) (eg. ferrous sulfate), or magnesium salts (eg. magnesium hydroxide). Take ofloxacin 2 hours before or 2 hours after these medicines to offset this effect.