Before You Take Amlodipine, The Most Popular Blood Pressure Medication…

Dr. Alex Wibberley talks about its pros and cons:

Under pressure

Amlodipine is a calcium channel blocker, meaning that it blocks calcium from entering smooth muscle cells, which prevents tightening, widens your arteries, and reduces the force your heart needs to pump.

For this reason, it’s commonly prescribed to treat hypertension and angina.

A note about when you start: blood pressure starts dropping within 24–48 hours, but the full effect takes about 7–8 days because the drug builds up gradually. For this reason, it’s important to take it once daily at a consistent time—morning or evening doesn’t matter, consistency does.

Now for some negatives:

• Common side effects: ankle swelling, flushing, and early headaches are all side effects, though they are usually mild and caused by widened blood vessels.
• Important limitations: it controls blood pressure directly, but doesn’t address underlying the causes like diet, weight, inactivity, or stress.

Consequently, it may be worth considering the DASH diet, which can lower systolic blood pressure by around 5–10 mmHg, which is similar to a standard dose of amlodipine.

For more on all of this, enjoy:

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