Modern medicine: Verapamil.

Verapamil: uses

Verapamil is used with or without other medications to treat high blood pressure ( hypertension ) . Lowering high blood pressure helps prevent strokes, heart attacks, and kidney problems. Verapamil is called a calcium channel blocker. It works by relaxing blood vessels so blood can flow more easily. Verapamil may also affect heart rate.

Verapamil: how to use

Take Verapamil by mouth with or without food, usually once daily at bedtime or as directed by your doctor. Swallow the capsules whole. Don't crush or chew capsules. Doing so can destroy the long action of drug and may increase side effects.

If we prefer, you may sprinkle entire contents of a capsule on a small amount of cool, soft applesauce just before taking. Swallow mixture immediately. Do not chew mixture, and don't save mixture for future use.

Avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice while being treated with Verapamil unless your doctor instructs we otherwise. Grapefruit juice can increase amount of certain medications in your bloodstream. Consult your doctor or pharmacist for more details.

The dosage is based on your age, medical condition, body size and response to therapy. If you have severe liver problems, your dosage may need to be adjusted.

Use Verapamil regularly in order to get the most benefit from it. To help we remember, take it at the same time each day. It's important to continue taking Verapamil even if we feel well. Most people with high blood pressure don't feel sick. For treatment of high blood pressure, it may take up to a week before full benefit of Verapamil takes effect.

Do not suddenly stop taking Verapamil without consulting your doctor. Your condition may become worse when drug is suddenly stopped. Your dose may need to be gradually decreased.

Inform your doctor if your condition worsens ( e. g. , your routine blood pressure readings increase ) .

Verapamil: other used

This section contains uses of Verapamil that aren't listed in the approved professional labeling for the drug but that may be prescribed by your health care professional. Use Verapamil for a condition that's listed in this section only if it has been so prescribed by your health care professional.

Verapamil may also be used to treat chest pain ( angina ) , irregular heartbeat, certain other types of heart disease ( e. g. , hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ) , or for prevention of migraines.

If used for angina, Verapamil must be taken regularly to be effective. It shouldn't be used to treat angina attacks when they occur. Use other medications ( e. g. , sublingual nitroglycerin ) to relieve an angina attack as directed by your doctor. Consult your doctor or pharmacist for details.

Verapamil: side effects

Dizziness, nausea, headache, fatigue and constipation may occur as your body adjusts to medication. If any of these effects persist or worsen, notify your doctor or pharmacist promptly. To minimize dizziness and lightheadedness, get up slowly when rising from a seated or lying position.

To prevent constipation, maintain a diet adequate in fiber, drink plenty of water, and exercise. If we become constipated while using Verapamil, consult your pharmacist for help in selecting a stool softener.

Remember that your doctor has prescribed Verapamil because he or she has judged that the benefit to you is greater than risk of side effects. Many people using Verapamil don't have serious side effects.

Tell your doctor immediately if any of these unlikely but serious side effects occur:

Tell your doctor immediately if any of these rare but very serious side effects occur:

A very serious allergic reaction to Verapamil is unlikely, but seek immediate medical attention if it occurs. Symptoms of a serious allergic reaction may include:

This isn't a complete list of possible side effects. If we notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist.

Verapamil: precautions

Before taking Verapamil, tell your doctor or pharmacist if we are allergic to it; or to other calcium channel blockers ( e. g. , diltiazem, nifedipine ) ; or if we have any other allergies.

Verapamil should not be used if we have certain medical conditions. Before using this medicine, consult your doctor or pharmacist if we have:

Before using Verapamil, tell your doctor or pharmacist your medical history, especially of:

Verapamil may make we dizzy; use caution engaging in activities requiring alertness such as driving or using machinery.

Verapamil prolongs and intensifies effects of alcohol in your system. Limit alcoholic beverages while using this medication.

Before having surgery, tell your doctor or dentist that you're taking Verapamil.

Verapamil should be used only when clearly needed during pregnancy. Discuss risks and benefits with your doctor.

Verapamil passes into breast milk and may have undesirable effects on a nursing infant. Breast-feeding while using Verapamil is not recommended. Consult your doctor before breast-feeding.

Verapamil: interactions

See also How to Use section.

Your healthcare professionals ( e. g. , doctor or pharmacist ) may already be aware of any possible drug interactions and may be monitoring you for it. Do not start, stop or change dosage of any medicine before checking with them first.

Verapamil shouldn't be used with the following medications because very serious interactions may occur while use Verapamil:

If we are currently using any of these medications, tell your doctor or pharmacist before starting Verapamil.

Before using Verapamil, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all prescription and nonprescription/herbal products you may use, especially of:

Verapamil also may affect how your body gets rid of some drugs ( e. g. , cyclosporine, sirolimus, tacrolimus, eplerenone, erythromycin, quinidine, midazolam, triazolam, tizanidine, statins including simvastatin, certain anti-seizure drugs including carbamazepine ) .

Check the labels on all your medicines ( e. g. , cough-and-cold products, diet aids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs-NSAIDs for pain/fever reduction ) because they may contain ingredients that could increase your blood pressure or heart rate ( e. g. , pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine, chlorpheniramine, diphenhydramine, clemastine, ibuprofen, naproxen ) . Ask your pharmacist about safe use of those products.

This document doesn't contain all possible interactions. Therefore, before using Verapamil, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all products we use. Keep a list of all your medications with you, and share list with your doctor and pharmacist.

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Sleep Apnea Side Effects - True Stories

Here are some true stories about sleep apnea side effects.

In 1959, a disc jockey named Peter Tripp went without sleep for 200 hours to raise money for March of Dimes. After about five days without sleep, he began to experience hallucinations-believing that somebody's tweed suit was made of worms and that flames were coming out of a drawer. He managed to do his daytime broadcast, but felt that he was in danger at night. After 200 hours of sleeplessness, he slept for 13 hours and felt much better. After a few nights of extended sleep, he was essentially back to normal, except that he reported slight feelings of depression for several months.

In 1964, Randy Gardner, a 17-year-old high-school senior, tried to establish a new record of 260 sleepless hours as a project in his local science fair. He became irritable after about fourth day, but he retained many skills-after 230 hours of sleep loss, he still was able to hold his own on a pinball machine with sleep researcher Doctor William Dement, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Stanford University.

Several laboratory experiments have involved sleep deprivation for long periods and the sleep apnea side effects. It was found that a person's mood deteriorates first-joy disappears-and person becomes very sleepy and grim. After about two or three days, most people start having minisleeps, little lapses of attention when the brain goes to sleep for only five or ten seconds and wakes right up again. By about five days, these minisleeps become longer and more numerous. By ten or eleven days, the minisleeps are so numerous and so mixed with wakefulness that you can not tell whether we are awake or asleep. We can talk, and in middle of talking have two or three slow waves of sleep. We can walk, and from one 5tep to the next we might catch a second of sleep.

If you're given a task to do yourself, such as adding a column of numbers, minisleeps may occur without your being aware of them.

However, if we are given a paced task-for example, if someone calls out numbers to we that we have to add-you may make many mistakes, because for the few seconds of minisleep, you do not hear numbers.

Many adults obtain less than optimal sleep, and some have a sizable sleep debt. Like gamblers playing with borrowed money, many sleep-deprived persons live in the red of lost sleep, often compromising their responsibilities at their jobs, sometimes using drugs for temporary energy. Most employees, even in crucial jobs, are forced to keep going all day no matter how fatigued they are. What if such sleep-deprived persons are dealing with safety of an airplane? What if they're driving a semi-trailer down a crowded highway? What if they're making a military decision pivotal to war or peace?

If we are suffering from sleep apnea side effects there's help. What you need is an overall program that will cover all aspects of your day-to-day life so that we can gain a handle on it and regain your full, natural, sleep filled nights again.

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