NIFEDIPINE

(nye FED i peen) Brand: Procardia

What is the most significant information I must know about nifedipine?

• You must not use nifedipine if you are allergic to it.

• Till taking nifedipine, speak your doctor if you have kidney or liver malady, a blockage in your digestive tract (stomach or intestines), a history of stomach surgery, coronary artery malady, underactive thyroid, diabetes, or congestive heart failure.

• If you need surgery, speak the surgeon onward of time that you are using nifedipine. You may need to stop using the medication for a short time.

• Much drugs can interact with nifedipine. Speak your doctor about all another medications you use.

• Do not stop taking nifedipine without first talking to your doctor, even if you feel beautiful. Stopping suddenly may create your condition worse. Tall blood pressure often has no symptoms. You may need to use blood pressure medicine for the rest of your life.

What is nifedipine?

• Nifedipine is in a group of drugs called calcium channel blockers. It works by relaxing the muscles of your heart and blood vessels.

• Nifedipine is used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) and angina (chest pain).

• Nifedipine may also be used for purposes not listed in this medicine guide.

What must I discuss with my healthcare provider till taking nifedipine?

• You must not use nifedipine if you are allergic to it.

• To create certain you can safely take nifedipine, speak your doctor if you have any of these another conditions:

· kidney disease;

· liver malady (especially cirrhosis);

· diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel malady, chronic constipation;

· gastroesophageal reflux malady (GERD) or slow digestion;

· a blockage in your digestive tract (stomach or intestines);

· a colostomy or history of stomach surgery such as gastric bypass;

· colon cancer;

· underactive thyroid;

· diabetes;

· coronary artery malady; or

· congestive heart failure.

• FDA pregnancy category C. It is not known whether nifedipine will harm an unborn child. Speak your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant while using this medication..

• Nifedipine can pass into breast milk and may harm a nursing child. Do not use this medicine without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.

• The nifedipine extended-release tablet may contain lactose. Conversation to your doctor till using this form of nifedipine if you have galactose intolerance, or severe problems with lactose (milk sugar).

How must I take nifedipine?

• Take exactly as predesigned by your doctor. Do not take in larger or less amounts or for longer than recommended. Follow the directions on your prescription label.

• Your doctor may occasionally change your doze to create certain you get the excellent results.

• Take the Adalat CC tablet on an empty stomach.

• Do not crush, chew, or interrupt an extended-release tablet. Swallow it intact. Breaking the pill may reason too many of the drug to be released at one time.

• Some tablet forms of nifedipine are made with a shell that is not absorbed or melted in the body. Part of the tablet shell may appear in your stool. This is a usual side effect of nifedipine and will not create the medicine smaller effective.

• Call your doctor if you have ongoing vomiting or diarrhea, or if you are sweating more than normal. These conditions can lead to severely low blood pressure.

• If you need surgery, speak the surgeon onward of time that you are using nifedipine. You may need to stop using the medication for a short time.

• If you are also taking a beta-blocker (such as Betapace, Coreg, Corgard, Dutoprol, Inderal, InnoPran, Lopressor, Normodyne, Tenormin, Tenoretic, Toprol, Trandate, and others), do not suddenly stop using the beta blocker without first talking to your doctor. You may need to use smaller and smaller till you stop the medicine completely. Stopping a beta blocker too quickly can reason serious heart problems that will not be prevented by nifedipine.

• Your blood pressure will need to be checked often and you may need another blood trials at your doctor's office. Visit your doctor regularly.

• Store at room temperature away from moisture and heat.

What happens if I miss a dose?

• Take the missed doze as soon as you remember. Skip the missed doze if it is nearly time for your following scheduled doze. Do not take extra medication to create up the missed dose.

What happens if I overdose?

• Search abnormal medical attention or call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222.

• Overdose symptoms may include severe dizziness, pounding heartbeats, nausea, vomiting, and feeling like you might pass out.

What must I avoid while taking nifedipine?

• Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may interact with nifedipine and lead to potentially dangerous effects. Discuss the use of grapefruit commodity with your doctor. Do not magnify or decrease the amount of grapefruit commodity in your diet without first talking to your doctor.

• Avoid getting up too quick from a sitting or lying position, or you may feel dizzy. Get up slowly and steady yourself to prevent a fall.

• Drinking alcohol can lower your blood pressure further and may magnify determined side effects of nifedipine.

What are the possible side effects of nifedipine?

• Get abnormal medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your person, lips, tongue, or throat.

• Call your doctor at once if you have a serious side effect such as:

· worsening angina;

· severe constipation and cramps, severe stomach pain or heartburn, coughing up blood;

· feeling like you might pass out;

· feeling short of breath, swelling in your hands or feet;

· quick or pounding heartbeats;

· numbness or tingly feeling;

· jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes); or

· chest pain or hard feeling, pain spreading to the hand or shoulder, nausea, sweating, common ill feeling.

• Smaller serious side effects may include:

· headache, dizziness;

· drowsiness, weary feeling;

· nausea, diarrhea mild constipation or stomach pain;

· sleep problems (insomnia);

· mild rash or itching;

· joint pain, leg cramps;

· warmth, redness, or tingly feeling under your skin; or

· urinating more than usual.

• This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may message side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

What another drugs will affect nifedipine?

• Speak your doctor about all another medicines you use, especially:

· cimetidine (Tagamet);

· conivaptan (Vaprisol);

· digoxin (Lanoxin);

· fentanyl (Actiq, Duragesic, Fentora) or another narcotic pain medications;

· imatinib (Gleevec);

· isoniazid (for treating tuberculosis);

· laxatives;

· levothyroxine (Synthroid and others);

· nefazodone;

· St. John's wort;

· tizanidine (Zanaflex);

· a blood thinner such as warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven);

· cool or allergy medicine;

· an antibiotic such as clarithromycin (Biaxin), erythromycin (E.E.S., EryPed, Ery-Tab, Erythrocin, Pediazole), or telithromycin (Ketek);

· antifungal medicine such as itraconazole (Sporanox), ketoconazole (Nizoral), miconazole (Oravig), or voriconazole (Vfend);

· a beta-blocker such as atenolol (Tenormin, Tenoretic), carvedilol (Coreg), labetalol (Normodyne, Trandate), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol), nadolol (Corgard), propranolol (Inderal, InnoPran), sotalol (Betapace), timolol (Blocadren), and others;

· heart or blood pressure medicine such as nicardipine (Cardene) or quinidine (Quin-G);

· HIV/AIDS medication such as atazanavir (Reyataz), delavirdine (Rescriptor), fosamprenavir (Lexiva), indinavir (Crixivan), nelfinavir (Viracept), saquinavir (Invirase), or ritonavir (Norvir, Kaletra); or

· NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn, Naprelan, Treximet), celecoxib (Celebrex), diclofenac (Arthrotec, Cambia, Cataflam, Voltaren, Flector Patch, Pennsaid, Solareze), indomethacin (Indocin), meloxicam (Mobic), and others.

• This list is not complete and another drugs may interact with nifedipine. Speak your doctor about all medications you use. This includes prescription, over-the-counter, vitamin, and herbal commodity. Do not start a new medicine without telling your doctor.

Where can I get more information?

• Your pharmacist can provide more information about nifedipine.

Remember, hold this and all another medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medicine only for the indication prescribed.

Disclaim: Each effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses external of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way must be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safety, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the help of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

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