What it's for (Indications)
- Treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure), myocardial ischemia (decreased blood supply to heart muscle) associated with stable angina (chest pain triggered by activity), or vasospastic angina (chest pain triggered with vasospasm of coronary artery).
Dosage Information
| Type | Guideline |
|---|---|
| Standard | The usual starting dose is 5/20 mg once daily. The dosage can be increased after 1 to 2 weeks of therapy to a maximum dose of one 10/40 mg tablet once daily as needed to control blood pressure. |
Safety & Warnings
Common Side Effects
- Commonly reported side effects (incidence ≥ 3%) include edema, headache, fatigue, nausea, dizziness (lightheadedness), flushing (reddening of the skin), rashes, and gingival hyperplasia (overgrowth of gum).
- Rarely, patients may experience alopecia (spot baldness), pruritus (itching), abdominal and back pain, hyperglycemia, increased urination, palpitations, and gastrointestinal (GI) upset.
Serious Warnings
- Black Box Warning: WARNING: FETAL TOXICITY. When pregnancy is detected, discontinue amlodipine and olmesartan medoxomil tablets as soon as possible. Drugs that act directly on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) can cause injury and death to the developing fetus.
- Pregnancy: This medicine is not safe and should be discontinued as soon as pregnancy is detected due to the risk of fetal injury and death from drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS).
- Lactation: Not recommended for lactating females; consult your doctor.
- Driving: This medicine doesn’t usually affect driving ability, but avoid driving until you know how it affects you.
- Liver: Use cautiously in liver patients; dose adjustment is required.
- Kidney: Use cautiously in kidney patients; no dose adjustment is required.
- Alcohol: Avoid alcohol consumption when using this medicine.
- Precautions: Inform your doctor about your complete medical history, especially heart disease, liver disease, or low blood pressure.
- Inform your doctor about all current medicines.
- Do not discontinue this medicine without informing your doctor.
- Do not share this medicine with anyone.
How it Works (Mechanism of Action)
Amlodipine is a dihydropyridine calcium antagonist (calcium ion antagonist or slow-channel blocker) that inhibits the transmembrane influx of calcium ions into vascular smooth muscle and cardiac muscle. Experimental data suggests amlodipine binds to both dihydropyridine and nonhydropyridine binding sites. Olmesartan medoxomil is an angiotensin II receptor blocker that blocks the vasoconstrictor effects of angiotensin II.