procardia

Foods & drinks to be careful with

Well-established interactions for this medicine’s drug class, summarized from public health authorities. General information, not medical advice — always confirm with your pharmacist or the label.

• Grapefruit & grapefruit juice

  Watch out for: grapefruit and grapefruit juice (and, for some drugs, Seville oranges).

  Grapefruit blocks a gut enzyme (CYP3A4) that normally breaks this medicine down, so more of it can enter your blood — raising the risk of side effects.

  What to do: Avoid grapefruit and grapefruit juice with this medicine unless your pharmacist or the label says it's fine — check, because not every drug in a class is affected the same way.

  Source: Grapefruit Juice and Some Drugs Don't Mix — U.S. FDA

How long does Nifedipine stay in your body?

The elimination half-life of nifedipine is about 2 hours from an immediate-release capsule; about 7 hours as measured from the once-daily extended-release tablet — the time it takes the body to clear about half of it. As a rule of thumb, a medicine is mostly gone after roughly 4 to 5 half-lives, though this varies from person to person with age and kidney or liver function. Nifedipine's half-life depends on the formulation you take, so a single number is misleading. The label states the elimination half-life is "approximately 7 hours" when nifedipine is given as the extended-release (osmotic/GITS) tablet, "in contrast to the known 2 hour elimination half-life of nifedipine administered as an immediate release capsule." The ~7-hour figure is the apparent half-life driven by the tablet's slow, ~24-hour drug release, not a slower elimination of the molecule itself. The label does not report separate distribution and terminal phases. Nifedipine is not a prodrug, and it has no active metabolite to worry about: it is "extensively metabolized to highly water soluble, inactive metabolites" via CYP3A4 (60-80% excreted in urine as metabolites, <0.1% unchanged), so the parent drug's half-life is the whole story. Populations the label names: in older adults (over 60), a sustained-release formulation showed a longer half-life in elderly subjects (6.7 hours) than in young subjects (3.8 hours), with reduced clearance and Cmax 36% higher; in liver impairment (cirrhosis), nifedipine "has a longer elimination half-life and higher bioavailability than in healthy volunteers"; in kidney impairment, the label reports no significant alteration in nifedipine pharmacokinetics in patients on hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis (studied with the immediate-release capsule), though it advises caution because renal disease could change absorption from the extended-release tablet. Protein binding is high (92-98%) and "may be greatly reduced" in renal or hepatic impairment. Because nifedipine is a CYP3A4 substrate, drugs and foods that inhibit or induce CYP3A4 (grapefruit juice among them) can change its clearance. This describes how long the drug persists in plasma; it is not a drug-test detection window and not dosing guidance.

This is general information, not medical advice. It doesn’t tell you when a drug test would read negative (tests detect substances for different, often longer, windows) or when it’s safe to take another dose — ask your pharmacist or prescriber. Source: Nifedipine Extended-Release Tablets, USP — FDA label (DailyMed), CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY: Pharmacokinetics and Metabolism.

Frequently asked questions

What does Procardia treat?

Procardia (Nifedipine) may be used to treat variant angina pectoris, hypertension, stable angina, based on NIH RxClass drug-classification data (conditions a drug may treat — not a verbatim copy of the FDA-approved label). This is general reference, not medical advice.

How does Procardia work?

Procardia is a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker. Dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers stop calcium from entering the muscle cells in your blood vessel walls. With less calcium, those muscles relax and the vessels widen, which lowers blood pressure and eases the heart's workload.

How is Procardia rated?

pharmaranks gives Procardia a composite score of 3.2 out of 5, currently based on 1 weighted source (FDA regulatory recall-safety data weighted highest). See our methodology at /how-we-rate.

How much does Procardia cost?

Nobody can tell you what you will pay — your price is set by your insurer's formulary, your deductible and the pharmacy's markup, and none of those are published. What IS published is what the pharmacy paid to acquire it: about $5.18 for 30, per the CMS NADAC survey. Treat that as the floor, not the quote — ask the pharmacist for the cash price as well as your copay, because for cheap generics the cash price often wins.

Is there a coupon or discount for Procardia?

pharmaranks is an independent ratings site, not a pharmacy — we don't issue coupons or sell Procardia. To pay less, ask your prescriber or pharmacist whether a generic equivalent exists, check the manufacturer's copay/savings card and patient-assistance program, and compare a pharmacy discount card against your insurance copay. Prices vary by pharmacy, insurance, and location, so always confirm at the counter. This is general reference, not medical or financial advice.

Who makes Procardia?

Procardia is marketed by Pfizer. You can see Pfizer's full profile, rating, and other products on pharmaranks.

Is Procardia a brand-name or generic drug?

Procardia is a brand-name product with the active ingredient Nifedipine.

Is Procardia available over the counter?

No. Procardia is a prescription (Rx) medication in the US — you need a prescription from a licensed clinician (in person or via telehealth); it isn't sold over the counter. For some conditions there are OTC alternatives — ask your pharmacist.

What forms does Procardia come in?

Procardia is currently marketed as capsule, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory.

What class of drug is Procardia?

Procardia is classified as dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker, per the FDA's Established Pharmacologic Class.

Is Procardia FDA-registered?

Procardia is on record with the U.S. FDA under application number NDA018482. You can verify this on its official FDA label.

Has Procardia been recalled by the FDA?

Procardia has no FDA recalls recorded under its own application in the openFDA enforcement database. Its recall-safety score reflects its manufacturer's overall recall record. This is general reference, not medical advice — check the FDA recall database for the latest alerts.

Is Procardia safe?

There's no single safe-or-not verdict. pharmaranks gives Procardia a recall-safety score of 64/100, based on its FDA recall history (no recalls under its own FDA application) — not an efficacy or side-effect rating. Review its FDA-label side effects and warnings before use, and always consult a licensed professional.