Compare felodipine vs. nimodipine
Head-to-head comparisons of medication uses, side effects, ratings, and more.
Lowers blood pressure.
Plendil (felodipine) works well to lower blood pressure, but it may cause swelling in your arms and legs at higher doses.
Helps with recovery after an episode of bleeding in the brain.
Nymalize (nimodipine) acts specifically on the blood vessels of the brain to reduce long-term damage from brain bleed, but is expensive.
Upsides
- Plendil (felodipine) is a good option for people with high blood pressure.
- Calcium channel blockers sometimes work better for people of African descent than other blood pressure lowering drugs.
- Available in a liquid formulation if you have difficulty swallowing a pill.
- Treatment is short-term, for 21 days only.
- Safe to use even if you have kidney or liver problems.
Downsides
- Plendil (felodipine) may not work as well as other calcium channel blockers.
- It can lead to more swelling in your arms and legs when taken at higher doses.
- You can't miss doses. Stopping Plendil (felodipine) could cause a sudden spike in blood pressure.
- Plendil (felodipine) can't be crushed or cut into two.
- Needs to be taken several times in a day, usually every four hours.
- Not a good option for elderly because it lowers blood pressure and causes constipation.
- Inteacts with a lot of other medications, especially for the treatment of HIV.
- Available in a generic verison, but is still expensive.
Used for
- Subarachnoid hemorrhage
Dosage forms
- Extended release
- Pill
- Liquid
Price
Lowest price
$9.70
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$124.19
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Reviews
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Side effects
8possible side effects
- Headache10%
- Swelling9%
- Flushing5%
- Racing heart beat4%
- Weakness3%
- Dizziness3%
- Nausea2%
- Colds or flu2%
The Nymalize (nimodipine) FDA package insert doesn’t have numbers about how common side effects are.
Risks and risk factors
- Low blood pressure
- Over age 65
- Heart failure
- Taking in combination with a beta-blocker
- Special dosing requirements
- Liver disease
- Over age 65
- Swelling in arms and legs
- History of heart failure
- History of kidney disease
- Life-threatening low blood pressure
- Monitoring of blood pressure
- Using other medicines that lower blood pressure such as diuretics and beta-blockers
- Interactions with other medicines
- Taking other medicines that interact with Nymalize (nimodipine)
- Liver disease
- Liver disease