Amlodipine Side Effects

Amlodipine is a drug that is commonly used to treat several conditions of the heart and blood vessels such as high blood pressure, heart disease, angina, and congestive heart failure. It is part of a group of medicines called calcium channel blockers that slow down the speed at which calcium moves into your heart, thereby relaxing the blood vessels and causing an improved blood flow. As with all drugs Amlodipine side effects do exist and taking a moment to understand what they are can help you to be more prepared when they occur. Amlodipine side effects will not occur for everyone that takes this drug and in most cases these side effects will be very mild and will require no additional treatment. However if a side effect is more troubling then you or your doctor can treat these side effects with little trouble. The most common Amlodipine side effect are swelling, a rapid heartbeat and fatigue. Swelling will be due to edema or water retention and occur in approximately 11% of the people taking the drug. Rapid or forceful heart beat also known as palpitations occur in 5% of the people taking Amlodipine and fatigue will occur about 5% of the time. Other less common side effects care dizziness, nausea, flushing, stomach pain and drowsiness. These symptoms are rarely serious or even severe enough to cause most people any trouble and often go away after you have been taking the medication for a while. Some side effects are more serious but these side effects are much less common. If you have any of these side effects from Amlodipine you should contact your doctor right away. These side effects include chest pain, irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure, severe water retention, rapid weight gain, depression, anxiety, high blood sugar or an allergic reaction. Other rare Amlodipine side effects include tremors, poor appetite, problems swallowing, vomiting, back pain, hot flashes, weight gain, ringing in the ears, dry mouth, insomnia or vertigo. Often times these very rare side effects may be caused by something other than the medication because they occur in less than 1% of the people that take Amlodipine. Amlodipine is a very effective drug that can help a lot of people, so unless side effects are severe and untreatable you should try this drug if your doctor recommends it and you should not go off of it without talking to him first. Most Amlodipine side effects are nothing to worry about, but as with most drugs you should let your doctor know if there are side effects that concern you.