Amlodipine
Known brand names include Norvasc, Katerzia, and Norliqva.
A calcium channel blocker taken once a day. It widens arteries to lower blood pressure and to prevent chest pain from angina.
Known brand names include Norvasc, Katerzia, and Norliqva.
A calcium channel blocker taken once a day. It widens arteries to lower blood pressure and to prevent chest pain from angina.
Amlodipine keeps calcium from flowing into the muscle cells of artery walls and, to a lesser degree, of the heart. That muscle needs calcium to tighten, so the arteries relax and widen instead. Wider arteries lower the resistance the heart pumps against, which lowers blood pressure and the heart's need for oxygen during effort. It also blocks spasms in the heart's own arteries and restores blood flow through them.
It attaches to its target slowly, so its effect builds gradually, and each dose keeps working for at least 24 hours. Blood levels peak 6 to 12 hours after a dose and level off after 7 to 8 days of daily use. Once someone has been taking it for a while, it does not usually change the heart rate much. Because it works gradually, a sudden drop in blood pressure is unlikely, though low blood pressure that causes symptoms can happen, especially in people with a severely narrowed aortic valve.
Amlodipine is a daily pill that lowers high blood pressure, and lowering blood pressure cuts the risk of strokes and heart attacks. It also controls angina, chest pain that comes from coronary artery disease, in which the vessels that supply blood to the heart are narrowed. It treats angina caused by spasms in those arteries as well. In people with narrowed heart arteries who do not have heart failure or a weak heart pump, it lowers the chance of a hospital stay for chest pain or a procedure to open the arteries.
It is taken by mouth, alone or along with other medicines for blood pressure or chest pain. For high blood pressure, it works in children 6 to 17 years old as well as adults, and its effect in younger children is not known. Taken regularly, it controls angina but does not stop chest pain once it has started, so another medicine may be needed for that.
Swelling in the ankles and legs is the side effect people notice most, and it is more likely at higher doses. Dizziness, flushing, a pounding heartbeat, tiredness, and an upset stomach can also happen. The label treats low blood pressure in people with a tight aortic valve, worsening chest pain or a heart attack in people with severe artery disease, and liver problems as serious.