23.5.07

Drugs that turn your pee funny colours

Personal experiences with these medications are welcomed in the comments section. The colour of the drug indicates the colour it turns urine.

Metronidazole
Used to treat a variety of infections caused by protozoans or anaerobic bacteria as well as the skin condition rosacea. It kills the little buggers by selectively disrupting their ability to synthesize nucleic acid.

Phenytoin
An anticonvulsant that I blogged about previously.

Rifampicin
An RNA polymerase-inhibiting, liver cell-killing antibiotic.

Pyrvinium (Vanquin)
Used to kill pinworms. May also turn your poo red.

Phenazopyridine

A specialized analgesic that acts specifically on the urinary tract, enabling its use to ease pain and discomfort associated with infection (i.e. UTI), surgery, or injury of/to said body part. Taking this drug may cause your pee to turn dark orange, red, or brown. As a special bonus, it may also cause a yellowing of your skin and/or eyes.

Propofol
A short-acting general anaesthetic that has to be emulsified with egg phospholipid and soya oil before it can be injected. Green pigmentation of the liver and hair have also been reported. Also associated with pink and white urine.

Methocarbamol (Robaxin)
A muscle relaxant that may cause your pee to turn black, blue, or green.

Methylene blue
A dye used to treat methemoglobinemia and cyanide poisoning. Has also been used successfully in the past to treat malaria, and is currently attracting a fair deal of interest for this application since it's cheap as hell. Taking this drug will cause your pee to turn green (small doses) or deep blue (larger doses).


Gillett MJ, Burnett JR. Medications and green urine. Intern Med J. 2006 Jan;36(1):64-6.
http://urology.stanford.edu/articles/abnormal_urine.html

2 chemically inspired comments:

The Mayor said...

http://skipraid.blogspot.com/2007/05/barf-diego-barf.html

O'Flannabhra said...

One of the dyes in purple soda totally turns your poo green. It is guaranteed. Not exactly a drug, but a chemical nonetheless.