Side effects of felodipine

Felodipine

Felodipine is a medication which is primarily used in the treatment of high blood pressure in adults, but besides that, it can also be very useful in the treatment of pain in the chest. It can be used only if prescribed, and being a part of the calcium channel block group of medications, it works by helping the blood vessels to relax, thus improving the flow of the blood and making the process of pumping the blood much easier for the heart.

In which cases the use of felodipine might not be safe?

There is probably no medication which does not have at least a few side effects, so regardless of which one is about to be prescribed. It is important that the doctors obtain all the necessary information about the patient’s general health and other medications, supplements or even vitamins that they might be using. Also, in cases of female patients, it is important to find out whether or not they are pregnant or plan to get pregnant in the near future, as well as whether they are breastfeeding, because the use of certain medications is not recommended under such circumstances. The same goes for felodipine, because people with congestive heart failure, liver failure or some other disease of this organ, and people with allergies of any kind should be extra careful when it comes to this drug.

On the other side, the effects that this medication may have on the baby or fetus have not been studied enough, which is why the medication is not recommended in cases of pregnant or lactating women. A number of medications should not be combined with felodipine due to the risk of interactions, and the doctor should check whether the patient is already using some of them, before prescribing it.

Side effects of felodipine

The list of the reported side effects related to felodipine is very long, but the fact is that the majority of them occurs extremely rarely and in most of the cases the patients do not have any problems while using this medication. The most commonly reported are headaches, coughing, nausea, constipation and a runny nose, but swelling of legs, dizziness, and infections of the upper respiratory tract may occur as well. The symptoms that should be reported to the doctor as soon as they are noticed include arrhythmia, swellings and water retention, signs that indicate lowering of the blood pressure, and increased level of the blood sugar.