Amlodipine

Key facts

• Amlodipine is a calcium-channel blocker that relaxes the smooth muscle in artery walls, lowering blood pressure and easing angina chest pain.
• It's taken once daily and reaches full effect over one to two weeks. Missing an occasional dose doesn't cause a rebound rise in blood pressure.
• Combining amlodipine with simvastatin raises simvastatin levels and the risk of serious muscle damage (myopathy or rhabdomyolysis), so simvastatin is capped at 20 mg daily when the two are taken together.
• Seek urgent care for chest pain that doesn't ease, a fast or irregular heartbeat, or fainting.

What Amlodipine treats

Amlodipine treats high blood pressure and angina, chest discomfort caused by reduced blood flow to the heart muscle. It's used alone or combined with other blood-pressure medicines, and it also reduces how often angina attacks occur in people with stable coronary artery disease.

How Amlodipine works

Calcium entering muscle cells in artery walls makes them contract and narrows the vessel. Amlodipine blocks calcium channels in this smooth muscle, so arteries relax and widen. Wider vessels lower the resistance the heart pumps against, reducing blood pressure and the heart's oxygen demand, which eases angina.

Before you take it

• Tell your prescriber about severe aortic stenosis, unstable angina, or a recent heart attack, since amlodipine needs careful judgment in these situations.
• Amlodipine is broken down by the liver enzyme CYP3A4. Strong inhibitors of this enzyme, including some antifungals and HIV medicines, can raise amlodipine levels.
• Simvastatin, and to a lesser extent other statins, interact with amlodipine to raise the risk of muscle pain and damage, so tell your prescriber about every cholesterol medicine you take.
• Grapefruit juice can modestly raise amlodipine levels in some people.

Side effects

Common effects include ankle or foot swelling, flushing, headache and dizziness.

Stop and seek urgent medical care for:

• Chest pain that is new, worsening or doesn't ease with rest.
• A fast, irregular or pounding heartbeat.
• Severe dizziness or fainting.
• Unexplained muscle pain, tenderness or weakness, especially if you also take a statin.

Safety essentials

• If you take simvastatin, the dose is limited to 20 mg daily alongside amlodipine because of a real risk of muscle damage, so tell your prescriber about every cholesterol medicine you use.
• Report new or worsening swelling in the legs, since this is dose-related and may need a dose adjustment.
• Do not stop amlodipine abruptly if you have angina; discuss any change with your prescriber first.

This page is educational and does not replace advice from a doctor or pharmacist who knows your health history.