NORVASC® (amlodipine besylate) is the most prescribed brand name high blood pressure medicine worldwide. According to the information available from the manufacturer, Phizer, Inc., the drug may cause the following side effects:
• headache
• swelling of legs or ankles
• tiredness, extreme sleepiness
• stomach pain, nausea
• dizziness
• flushing (hot or warm feeling in your face)
• arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat)
• heart palpitations (very fast heartbeat)
Phizer, Inc. characterizes these side effects as "mild to moderate" - terms that are so subjective as to be almost meaningless. Take a look at the comments from users of Norvasc at Askapatient.com and one will get a very different perspective on the occurrence and severity of these noted side effects. Even more troubling is the significant number of users who report side effects not mentioned in the patient literature supplied by the drug maker. Most notably, they are: mental confusion, depression, thoughts of suicide, nightmares, extreme leg/foot/joint pain, and loss of mobility, to name just a few.
One 46-year-old male user reports: "Hypertension never caused me pain. I will stop my medication. My foot hurts so much. A tourniquet around my ankle should prevent major blood loss as I lay my left foot on the railway track."
A 44-year-old female says: "Extreme fatigue to the point where I can barely make it thru the day. Excruciating headache, muscle and joint pain, swollen ankles and feet, relentless nausea - topped off with massive depression. What is this stuff?????"
And, this entry, from a 70-year-old male: "Abdominal pain (cramps), confusion, diarrhea and constipation, fatigue, psychosis, suicidal, some dizziness, swelling of the legs or ankles, occasional fast and slow heartbeat, vivid and abnormal dreaming."
• headache
• swelling of legs or ankles
• tiredness, extreme sleepiness
• stomach pain, nausea
• dizziness
• flushing (hot or warm feeling in your face)
• arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat)
• heart palpitations (very fast heartbeat)
Phizer, Inc. characterizes these side effects as "mild to moderate" - terms that are so subjective as to be almost meaningless. Take a look at the comments from users of Norvasc at Askapatient.com and one will get a very different perspective on the occurrence and severity of these noted side effects. Even more troubling is the significant number of users who report side effects not mentioned in the patient literature supplied by the drug maker. Most notably, they are: mental confusion, depression, thoughts of suicide, nightmares, extreme leg/foot/joint pain, and loss of mobility, to name just a few.
One 46-year-old male user reports: "Hypertension never caused me pain. I will stop my medication. My foot hurts so much. A tourniquet around my ankle should prevent major blood loss as I lay my left foot on the railway track."
A 44-year-old female says: "Extreme fatigue to the point where I can barely make it thru the day. Excruciating headache, muscle and joint pain, swollen ankles and feet, relentless nausea - topped off with massive depression. What is this stuff?????"
And, this entry, from a 70-year-old male: "Abdominal pain (cramps), confusion, diarrhea and constipation, fatigue, psychosis, suicidal, some dizziness, swelling of the legs or ankles, occasional fast and slow heartbeat, vivid and abnormal dreaming."
- Phizer, Inc. may not be fully disclosing the more serious side effects of Norvasc
- Some users report depression, short-term memory loss, confusion
- Leg/foot pain and less mobility may be side effects of Norvasc
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