Zocor (simvastatin) is a statin drug that lowers total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), and triglycerides, and boosts HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol).

The contractile processes of cardiac muscle and vascular smooth muscle are dependent upon the movement of extracellular calcium ions into these cells through specific ion channels. Both Exforge and Norvasc may interact with heart medications, other medications that lower blood pressure, and "statins." Tolerance was not demonstrated in patients studied for up to 1 year. Hypertension increases the fetal risk for intrauterine growth restriction and intrauterine death. doctor or pharmacist) for more information.The cause of the interaction is not known. These decreases in blood pressure are not accompanied by a significant change in heart rate or plasma catecholamine levels with chronic dosing. It is important to let your healthcare professional know about any medical condition you have before you start taking statins. cyclosporine; rifampin; lovastatin or simvastatin; quinidine; NSAIDs, such as diclofenac, ibuprofen, and indomethacin, may decrease the blood pressure-lowering capabilities of amlodipine; sildenafil; other medications that inhibit or induce CYP 3A4. In patients with angina, there were no clinically significant reductions in blood pressures (4/1 mmHg) or changes in heart rate (+0.3 bpm).In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 4 weeks duration in 50 patients, Norvasc therapy decreased attacks by approximately 4/week compared with a placebo decrease of approximately 1/week (p<0.01).

Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicine before checking with them first.Selected from data included with permission and copyrighted by First Databank, Inc. Drinking grapefruit juice while taking cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune) might increase the side effects of cyclosporine. When these two medicines are taken together, your calcium channel blocker may prevent your body from processing cyclosporine properly.Your blood levels of cyclosporine may increase and cause toxic effects.Contact your doctor if you experience headache; dizziness; blurred vision; weakness; fatigue; unusual hair growth; swelling of the ankles, feet or hands; irregular or fast heartbeat; muscle pain; nausea; stomach pain; yellowing eyes or skin; dark urine; fever; numbness or tingling of the hands or feet; changes in amount of urine; constipation or diarrhea; or shortness of breath. No adverse effects of amlodipine on the breastfed infant have been observed. The other components of the primary endpoint including cardiovascular death, resuscitated cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, hospitalization for heart failure, stroke/TIA, or peripheral vascular disease did not demonstrate a significant difference between Norvasc and placebo.Norvasc has been compared to placebo in four 8–12 week studies of patients with NYHA Class II/III heart failure, involving a total of 697 patients.

Your doctor may want to change the dose of your cholesterol medicine or you may need to take a different cholesterol medicine.Tell your doctor right away if you experience muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness; unexplained tiredness; or discolored urine.Your healthcare professionals may already be aware of this interaction and may be monitoring you for it. However for rats, litter size was significantly decreased (by about 50%) and the number of intrauterine deaths was significantly increased (about 5-fold) in rats receiving amlodipine maleate at a dose equivalent to 10 mg amlodipine/kg/day for 14 days before mating and throughout mating and gestation. Medications are not limited to those prescribed to you by another physician but include over-the-counter (OTC) and dietary or herbal supplements as well. Normotensive subjects experienced no clinically significant change in blood pressures (+1/–2 mmHg).In hypertensive patients with normal renal function, therapeutic doses of Norvasc resulted in a decrease in renal vascular resistance and an increase in glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow without change in filtration fraction or proteinuria.As with other calcium channel blockers, hemodynamic measurements of cardiac function at rest and during exercise (or pacing) in patients with normal ventricular function treated with Norvasc have generally demonstrated a small increase in cardiac index without significant influence on dP/dt or on left ventricular end diastolic pressure or volume. The mean duration of follow-up was 19 months. Patients (76% males, 89% Caucasian, 93% enrolled at US sites, 89% with a history of angina, 52% without PCI, 4% with PCI and no stent, and 44% with a stent) were randomized to double-blind treatment with either Norvasc (5–10 mg once daily) or placebo in addition to standard care that included aspirin (89%), statins (83%), beta-blockers (74%), nitroglycerin (50%), anti-coagulants (40%), and diuretics (32%), but excluded other calcium channel blockers. Amlodipine may increase cyclosporine concentrations.