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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffMedications are the cornerstone of tuberculosis treatment. But treating TB takes much longer than treating other types of bacterial infections. With tuberculosis, you must take antibiotics for at least six to nine months. The exact drugs and length of treatment depend on your age, overall health, possible drug resistance, the form of TB (latent or active) and its location in the body.
Most common TB drugs
If you have latent tuberculosis, you may need to take just one type of TB drug. Active tuberculosis, particularly if it's a drug-resistant strain, will require several drugs at once. The most common medications used to treat tuberculosis include:
- Isoniazid
- Rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane)
- Ethambutol (Myambutol)
- Pyrazinamide
Medication side effects
Side effects of TB drugs aren't common but can be serious when they do occur. All tuberculosis medications can be highly toxic to your liver. When taking these medications, call your doctor immediately if you experience any of the following:
- Nausea or vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- A yellow color to your skin (jaundice)
- Dark urine
- A fever that lasts three or more days and has no obvious cause
Completing treatment is essential
After a few weeks, you won't be contagious and you may start to feel better. It might be tempting to stop taking your TB drugs. But it is crucial that you finish the full course of therapy and take the medications exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Stopping treatment too soon or skipping doses can allow the bacteria that are still alive to become resistant to those drugs, leading to TB that is much more dangerous and difficult to treat.
To help people stick with their treatment, a program called directly observed therapy (DOT) is sometimes recommended. In this approach, a health care worker administers your medication so that you don't have to remember to take it on your own.
- Questions and answers about tuberculosis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/faqs/pdfs/qa.pdf. Accessed Nov. 18, 2010.
- Iseman MC. Tuberculosis. In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/225812607-4/1080378836/1492/1198.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2805-5..50350-5_14828. Accessed Nov. 18, 2010.
- Fort GG, et al. Tuberculosis, pulmonary. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2011: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2011. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/page.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00029-9--sc0195&isbn=978-0-323-05610-6&sid=1085763505&type=bookPage§ionEid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00029-9--sc0195&uniqId=227265748-6#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00029-9--sc0195. Accessed Nov. 18, 2010.
- Horsburgh CR. Epidemiology of tuberculosis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 18, 2010.
- Pasipanodya J, et al. Tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases. In: Bope ET, et al. Conn's Current Therapy. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/page.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-6642-2..00004-1--sc0110&isbn=978-1-4160-6642-2&type=bookPage§ionEid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-6642-2..00004-1--s1380&uniqId=230355386-4. Accessed Nov. 23, 2010.
- Fort GG, et al. Tuberculosis, miliary. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2011. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2011. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/page.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00029-9--sc0190&isbn=978-0-323-05610-6&sid=1085763505&type=bookPage§ionEid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00029-9--sc0190&uniqId=227265748-6#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00029-9--sc0190. Accessed Nov. 18, 2010.
- Bernardo J. Diagnosis of tuberculosis in HIV-seronegative patients. http://uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 24, 2010.
- Staying on track with TB medicine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/pamphlets/TB_trtmnt.pdf. Accessed Nov. 24, 2010.
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