Nifedipine and Dizziness: What Users Say

• CCa...
• October 14, 2020

For High Blood Pressure "I take nifedipine 60mg 2x a day. First started with 30mg 1x a day, my blood pressure was still high so Dr. increased to 60mg a day and 30mg at night. Later switched it to 60mg 2x a day. Side effects in the beginning: dizziness and fast heart rate. At times, it felt like my heart was beating out of my chest when I would wake up in the middle of the night. Then the twitching in my left hand, told my Dr. to keep taking the medicine. I would get really cold and shiver so I drove myself to the ER because my body was so cold. Dr. still kept me on this medicine. I have headaches, insomnia, and anxiety. Dr. kept me on this medicine and prescribed me anxiety pills. Now I have tingling in my feet, legs, hands, arms, and the top of my head. I'm also having muscle spasms in my calves, thighs, arms, and hands. These headaches are getting 10x worse. I have pressure in my head and chills going through my head with a burning sensation in the back of my head."

• MsL...
• June 5, 2021

For High Blood Pressure "Worst med I ever taken in my life, no exaggeration. It gave me very bad dizziness, lightheadedness, and chest discomfort. I have never written a review on any medication, but after my experience, I felt quite compelled to do so. It’s awful, I would advise to proceed with extreme caution. I took this for 3 days and I felt horrible and ended up in the hospital. Needless to say, my cardiologist took me off of this."

• Bob...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 20, 2020

For High Blood Pressure "I react poorly to BP meds. I have taken different drugs for many years always combined with strong allergy medicine due to severe hay fever. When I started taking BP meds, the allergy drugs apparently masked side effects the drugs were giving me. After many years, it tore up my entire digestive system. I stopped taking everything. It took months for them to wear off. I never felt better. One day, 2 years after stopping, my BP is 180+/110+. Primary care said it was too high, and we began trying BP meds again. Without allergy medicine, my side effect symptoms were immediate: nausea, headaches, and dizziness. I was sick all day. I stopped all BP meds again and felt great. Then we tried nifedipine XR. Within 1 hour, I had insomnia followed by an extreme, debilitating headache, nausea, dizziness, and my BP soared. I have never been this sick. The effects have lasted now for 5 days. I only took one 30mg dose! For me and many others, this drug causes severe reactions. I don't think it should be on the market."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 23, 2020

For High Blood Pressure "Nifedipine is the worst drug I have ever taken in my life. I have known no peace at all for the past two months since I started taking it. My side effects from the nifedipine are headaches, dizziness, shaking, trembling, and I feel like I'm floating in water, feeling like something is crawling on my body."

• ala...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 3, 2019

For High Blood Pressure "I was switched from Enalapril 10 mg, which was causing hair loss and not controlling my blood pressure very well, to 30 mg Procardia (generic). As soon as my second day on it, I had a headache (unusual for me) and felt extremely tired. My blood pressure was down to 132/88, and I was pleased. On the third day, I started with insomnia, a worse headache, I felt anxious, dizzy, and foggy. In the afternoon, my feet started feeling weird, and my blood pressure was elevated again (154/90). I was also starting to feel very depressed. I called my doctor, and he told me to stop taking the medication. I'd rather lose weight and exercise to control my blood pressure than experience these side effects!"

• Cha...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 29, 2015

For Raynaud's Syndrome "First off, I am from England, so this drug did not cost a penny. Also, I am under sixteen and have severe Raynaud's. My whole hands go white, usually 1-3 times a day. It's awfully painful and very annoying, so I went to the doctor, who prescribed 5 mg of Nifedipine 3 times a day. It was great, my fingers and toes stayed normal, and I felt fine. I did experience some bad dizziness and nausea for about 3 days, so I returned to the surgery, and they lowered my dose. Since then, I have felt comely fine, and it's stopped my Raynaud's. The days I have forgotten to administer the drug, my fingers have gone back to their old routine, so it just proves it works."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 28, 2021

For High Blood Pressure "I've been on Nifedipine 30 mg ER (CC) for 4 months and could not figure out why I felt terrible all day long with severe dizziness, increased pulse, palpitations, shakiness, and swelling in feet and ankles. I called my doctor, and he told me to stop taking the dosage in the morning because I take a dose in the morning and evening. He also stated Nifedipine stays in your system for 12 hours, no wonder I was severely dizzy. This medication needs to be off the market. The plan is to stop it altogether and try another medication for my high blood pressure."

• Rev...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 29, 2018

For Raynaud's Syndrome "I suffer from acute Raynaud's, in that I suffer it 24/7, even if in the warm, my feet especially can turn into ''blocks of ice,'' and I have painful stiffness of the hands and feet and a painful tingling rotating from one to the other all the time. If I get cold, it is much worse. I was initially put on nifedipine 5 mg three times a day, which helped with the worst symptoms for two months, but the body adapted and it no longer helped as much. After tests, my GP raised the dosage to 10 mg three times a day, which has helped the Raynaud's somewhat, but I cannot cope with the side effects of dizziness, sternum pain, and extreme exhaustion, so I will have to revert to the lesser dosage of 5 mg, which doesn't help me really. I am most disappointed and frustrated and wonder if there is any other help out there?"

• Lyn...
• April 13, 2016

For High Blood Pressure "I was put on this medication after the birth of my daughter. It controlled my blood pressure to a point, keeping it around 135/92, which was an improvement. I experienced leg pain and swelling in my legs and ankles, dizziness, and a feeling of being out of it. I went off it and on lisinopril and feel better. My blood pressure is now, on average, 120/80."

• col...
• December 19, 2015

For Raynaud's Syndrome "I do not have circulation issues, but I do have Raynaud's, likely as a result of lupus. I also have BP on the low side. I take this once a day in the winter and have not noticed any of the side effects mentioned (headaches, dizziness), but my already bad leg/foot cramps get much worse -- sometimes debilitating. To counteract that, I take magnesium in the form of Calm at night... my cramps are much better!! I guess I recommend both... I am wondering what time of day is best to take this... I can have sleep issues and don't want to make that worse."

• Duf...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 7, 2019

For High Blood Pressure "Nifedipine did drop my high blood pressure. But I also felt tired, lousy, dizzy, difficulty sleeping, lightheaded, shortness of breath (used Ventolin to get a full breath), and my doctor said to stop it after two weeks now. I hope there are other options. Lisinopril seems to be a favorite among my peers. Wish me luck."

• jaz...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 19, 2014

Nifedipine for Raynaud's Syndrome "I started the nifedipine/Procardia this morning. About 4 hours later, the rare side effects kicked in. Heart palpitations, dizziness, headache, and I was FREEZING. Even at 43, I still call my mommy. She wasn't thrilled I was going to take it anyway since I have perfect blood pressure. But she recommended laying on my left side. That did help, even if it did take a while for me to get warm again. The headache is still lingering."

• Jac...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 12, 2020

For High Blood Pressure "The first 9 or 10 months on nifedipine for high BP, I had a lot of the same side effects others have mentioned. Specifically, dizziness, headache, extreme fatigue, edema in my ankles and feet, muscle weakness, flushing, etc. I have even had some hallucinations, not sure I can attribute that to the medication, though. A couple of months ago, the dosage was increased from 30 mg to 60 mg because there was a stretch where it wasn't seemingly working as well. Well, the 60 mg was working okay at first, then we started working from home, and it kept dropping my blood pressure to dangerous levels, to the point of passing out. I went back to 30 mg, and my blood pressure is close to where it needs to be some of the time, but it seems to be the best I can get on this medication. Close, but no cigar, as they say. I'm mostly upset with the swelling in my legs and feet, I can't wear my shoes anymore or some of my pants, and to get the swelling down, I have to lie down with my feet up for at least half a day to be able to slip on shoes."

• jme...
• March 9, 2012

For Raynaud's Syndrome "I am 33 and have SLE with Raynaud's. I do not have high blood pressure, I am actually on the low side. I took this medicine at 3:30 pm, and by 5 pm I developed a severe headache. This headache continued all evening, and at 9:30 pm I was shaking severely, dizzy, and the headache was the worst one I have ever experienced. At that point, I started to get very scared. I called my brother over just in case I needed to go to the ER. When he arrived, he immediately wanted to call an ambulance. I ended up waiting it out, and finally the shaking subsided. The headache still continued the next day, but it was not as severe. The night when everything was going on, I do not remember much of anything. I think from now on I will just keep my blue fingers and toes."

• Nar...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 13, 2022

For High Blood Pressure "This medication is absolutely horrible. It was tolerable at first, then came the lightheadedness, dizziness, palpitations, vertigo, swelling of legs, sore muscles, tingling in limbs, and tingling at the top of my head."

• Nar...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 13, 2022

For High Blood Pressure "This medication is absolutely horrible. It was tolerable at first, then came the lightheadedness, dizziness, palpitations, vertigo, swelling of legs, sore muscles, tingling in limbs, and tingling at the top of my head."

• Tom...
• August 7, 2021

For High Blood Pressure "I took nifedipine 30 mg ER for 3 weeks. It did lower my blood pressure down to almost normal the first day I took it. After a couple of weeks, I began to have a high level of anxiety, as well as fluttering in my chest. I had trouble concentrating and felt dizzy, like I had a couple of alcoholic drinks, along with headaches and a general feeling of ill health. I talked to my doctor and stopped taking the medicine."

• Ril...
• February 4, 2021

For Hypertensive Emergency "I had a left basal ganglia stroke due to hypertension. My B/P was 220/125. I was 49 at the time. Upon discharge from the hospital and God’s hand, I was able to go home with minimal effects. I began taking Procardia ER following the stroke and had multiple trips to the ER with severe symptoms of heart palpitations, extreme dizziness, excessive weight gain and swelling, shooting electrical-like pains in my arms, joint pain, severe anxiety, random confusion, and a fuzzy feeling in the back of my head. I was told by the ER, just a headache... need to wait and see what the full effects of your stroke will be... I waited and lived like this, never knowing which day would be a horrible day of symptoms. Finally realized the first hour of getting up in the morning before I took the med, I felt normal, with symptoms starting about 45 minutes after taking it. I know I have no choice but to take some type of medication, but this medication has horrible side effects. I still have issues with B/P and even this med."

• Pad...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 8, 2019

For High Blood Pressure "High blood pressure has been the bane of my existence for years. I take Clonidine, lisinopril, and recently back on valsartan, aka Diovan. Also added Procardia at the same time. BP drastically better for 4 weeks, but today I am light-headed, dizzy. So discouraging these lousy side effects! Will call Dr. tomorrow."

• Ano...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 5, 2025

For High Blood Pressure "My cardiologist was really conscientious about putting me on a high blood pressure medication because of my age and reactions to most medications. She gave me 30-day prescriptions for a few months, and I had to go to monthly follow-ups for about 6 months. I had dizziness for about 3 weeks, but that resolved itself. I also had episodes of extreme tiredness, which a B-complex took care of. I've been taking nifedipine 30 mg once a day for about 3 years, and it's kept my blood pressure under control. The one thing I did learn from my pharmacist was that I tolerated the Procardia XL generic better than the Adalat CC generic. Both are generics for nifedipine, but the delivery is different. The Procardia generic has a tiny hole on one side of the pill. The Adalat generic doesn't have the tiny hole and has embossed numbering/lettering. I'm lucky that I have a pharmacist who notes that preference for me in my profile."

• Anonymous
• February 9, 2011

Nifedipine for Raynaud's Syndrome "I have found this medicine very helpful. There was an adjustment period with headaches and dizziness. But it did get better, and the improvements are well worth it."

• Duf...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 9, 2019

For High Blood Pressure "Dizzy three days after discontinuing."

• Bad...
• August 13, 2016

For High Blood Pressure "After taking a 30 mg tab, one hour later, felt like I was spinning, and BP went up."