Amlodipine

Amlodipine (Norvasc) is prescribed to treat high blood pressure. It does this by opening up the blood vessels to improve your blood flow. However, it can also come with some unpleasant side effects. The most common of these are nausea, headaches, mild swelling and stomach pain. To avoid these side effects, you might be looking for an alternative.  

Amlodipine is commercially available as Norvasc, and belongs to a group of drugs that treat hypertension by blocking calcium channels. By blocking calcium channels, Amlodipine relaxes blood vessels and widens their circumference, which eventually leads to improved blood flow. It is generally tolerated and does not cause any side effects until a dosage of more than 10mg per day is registered. In higher doses, different side effects are experienced which are described in detail below. 

Whilst it’s highly effective, Amlodipine also has many side effects. These include dizziness, headaches, swelling and stomach pain. A rare side effect of Amlodipine is weight gain, therefore the risk is low. Many factors that may increase your risk of high blood pressure i.e. high-calorie diet, may contribute to increased weight gain when taking Amlodipine. If you feel Amlodipine is causing you to gain weight, you may want to look into alternative blood pressure medication.

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice can interact with Amlodipine. Amlodipine is broken down by enzymes (CYP3A4) in the lower intestine. People have different levels of these enzymes in their body, so eating grapefruit can affect people differently, even when they both take Amlodipine. Eating grapefruit can block the action of these important enzymes. This causes the drug to stay around for longer, allowing too much Amlodipine to enter your bloodstream. These higher levels of Amlodipine mean stronger effects of the drug and stronger side effects.