FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Although your doctor is the best source for answering your specific questions about high blood pressure and angina and treatment with NORVASC, you can find answers to common questions here.

To see questions, click on the topics below.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT NORVASCtop

NORVASC is a type of medicine known as a long-acting calcium channel blocker (CCB). It is used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension) and a type of chest pain called angina. It can be used by itself or with other medicines to treat these conditions.

High Blood Pressure (hypertension)
High blood pressure comes from blood pushing too hard against your blood vessels. NORVASC relaxes your blood vessels, which lets your blood flow more easily and helps lower your blood pressure. Drugs that lower blood pressure lower your risk of having a stroke or heart attack.

Angina
Angina is a pain or discomfort that keeps coming back when part of your heart does not get enough blood. Angina feels like a pressing or squeezing pain, usually in your chest under the breastbone. Sometimes you can feel it in your shoulders, arms, neck, jaws, or back. NORVASC can relieve this pain.

NORVASC relaxes your blood vessels, which lets your blood flow more easily and helps lower your blood pressure. Lowering your blood pressure is important because it lowers your risk of having a stroke or heart attack. NORVASC also helps get more blood to your heart, which relieves the pain of angina.

NORVASC works for a full 24 hours. It also has no effect on heart rate. This means that NORVASC relaxes the blood vessels, but does not change the rate at which your heart beats. This way, the heart can beat normally while its work is made easier. Your heart has less work to do and your blood pressure can be lower or angina pain can be reduced or controlled.

NORVASC has been shown to work for a wide range of patients, including younger or older patients regardless of race. It has also worked for patients with varying severities of high blood pressure. NORVASC can be safely used to treat high blood pressure in patients with other conditions, including diabetes and high cholesterol.

HOW TO GET BRAND-NAME
NORVASC
top

Here are 3 suggested tips to help make sure you receive brand-name NORVASC and not a generic:

  1. At your doctor’s office: Ask your doctor to prescribe brand-name NORVASC and to indicate “DAW” (Dispense As Written)—or the language used in your state—on all of your NORVASC prescriptions.
  2. At your pharmacy’s drop-off: Tell the pharmacist that you want brand-name NORVASC—and be sure to use the NORVASC Savings Card. The NORVASC Savings Card can only be used with brand-name NORVASC.
  3. At your pharmacy’s pick-up: Check your pills to be sure they’re brand-name NORVASC—not the generic—and also check that you’ve saved on your prescription.

Images of 2.5 milligram, 5 milligram, and 10 milligram pills

Talk to your doctor and/or your pharmacist to ask if you should be getting brand-name NORVASC. For tips on having that conversation download the Pharmacy Tip Sheet.

Check your pills for the distinctive shape and markings of brand-name NORVASC.

Images of 2.5 milligram, 5 milligram, and 10 milligram pills

SAVING ON NORVASCtop

The NORVASC Savings Card allows eligible patients to pay as little as $0 every time they get a 30-day fill of brand-name NORVASC—and could save up to $900 a year. If you have a prescription for brand-name NORVASC, you can use the card for every fill through December 31, 2023.*

*Terms and conditions apply.

There are 2 ways to use the card immediately. Once you’ve activated your Savings Card, you can either:

  • Bring a printed copy of it to the pharmacy
  • Show it to your pharmacist on your phone

You can keep this card with you and continue to save on each fill for NORVASC through December 31, 2023.

To be eligible to use a NORVASC Savings Card, you must:

  • Not be covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or any other federal or state healthcare programs

To learn the full details of who is eligible, please see the full Terms and Conditions.

To get a Savings Card, register here and then download your card or have it sent to you via mail or email.

The NORVASC Savings Card can only be used for new prescriptions that are filled after you have activated the card.

If your pharmacist couldn't process your NORVASC Savings Card, you can receive reimbursement via a mail-in rebate:

  • Make a copy of your pharmacy receipt (cash register receipt NOT valid)
  • Circle the product name, date, and price
  • Make a copy of the front of your NORVASC Savings Card and write your name and address at the top
  • Mail to the address below:

Viatris, Attn: NORVASC
2250 Perimeter Park Drive, Suite 300
Morrisville, NC 27560

Mail-in redemptions have different terms and conditions from pharmacy redemptions. Patients who receive their prescription via a mail-order pharmacy program, for a 90-day supply, will pay the first $0 for the 90-day supply. VIATRIS will pay the remaining amount, up to $225, or the amount of your co-pay, for a maximum savings of $900 per calendar year. The Card is good until December 31, 2023. For a 60-day supply, patients will pay $0 for the 60-day supply, and Viatris will pay the remaining amount, up to $150 or the amount of your co-pay, for a total savings of $900 per calendar year. The Card is good until December 31, 2023. For each mail-order supply, patients may request reimbursement via a mail-in rebate:

  • Make a copy of your pharmacy receipt (cash register receipt NOT valid)
  • Circle the product name, date, and price
  • Make a copy of the front of your NORVASC Savings Card and write your name and address at the top
  • Mail to the address below:

Viatris, Attn: NORVASC
2250 Perimeter Park Drive, Suite 300
Morrisville, NC 27560

TAKING NORVASCtop

Tell your doctor about any prescription and non-prescription medicines you are taking, including natural or herbal remedies.

Tell your doctor if you:

  • ever had heart disease
  • ever had liver problems
  • are pregnant, or plan to become pregnant. Your doctor will decide if NORVASC is the best treatment for you
  • are breast-feeding. NORVASC passes into your milk

  • Take NORVASC once a day, with or without food
  • It may be easier to take your dose if you do it at the same time every day, such as with breakfast or dinner, or at bedtime. Do not take more than one dose of NORVASC at a time
  • If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember. Do not take NORVASC if it has been more than 12 hours since you missed your last dose. Wait and take the next dose at your regular time
  • Other medicines: You can use nitroglycerin and NORVASC together. If you take nitroglycerin for angina, don't stop taking it while you are taking NORVASC
  • While you are taking NORVASC, do not stop taking your other prescription medicines, including any other blood pressure medicines, without talking to your doctor
  • If you took too much NORVASC, call your doctor or Poison Control Center, or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away

Keep NORVASC away from children. Store NORVASC tablets at room temperature (between 59° and 86°F). Keep NORVASC out of the light. Do not store in the bathroom. Keep NORVASC in a dry place.

SAFETY & POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTStop

Do not use NORVASC if you are allergic to amlodipine (the active ingredient in NORVASC) or to the inactive ingredients. Your doctor or pharmacist can give you a list of these ingredients.

NORVASC may cause the following side effects. Most side effects are mild or moderate:

  • swelling of your legs or ankles
  • tiredness, extreme sleepiness
  • stomach pain, nausea
  • dizziness
  • flushing (hot or warm feeling in your face)
  • arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat)
  • heart palpitations (very fast heartbeat)
  • muscle rigidity, tremor and/or abnormal muscle movement

It is rare, but when you first start taking NORVASC or increase your dose, you may have a heart attack or your angina may get worse. If that happens, call your doctor right away or go directly to a hospital emergency room.

Tell your doctor if you are concerned about any side effects you experience. These are not all the possible side effects of NORVASC. For a complete list, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Do not start any new prescription or non-prescription medicines or supplements, unless you check with your doctor first.

ABOUT HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE & ANGINAtop

High blood pressure is also known as hypertension. It occurs when the force of your blood pushes too hard against your blood vessels or arteries. This often happens because your arteries narrow, which holds back the easy flow of blood. As a result, the heart has to pump harder to push blood through.

Over time, uncontrolled high blood pressure can damage your arteries and other organs. This can result in heart attack and heart failure, stroke, kidney disease, and other serious health consequences. High blood pressure is often called the “silent killer,” because it has no symptoms. The only way to know for sure if you have high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure tested by a doctor.

Age, gender, race, and ethnicity are factors that can increase your risk for high blood pressure. There is no cure for high blood pressure, however, there are many different types of treatments including brand-name NORVASC. Eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, and being physically active can be just as important as taking medicines. Your doctor can tell you if a lifestyle change or brand-name NORVASC may be right for you.

Angina is a pain or discomfort felt when part of your heart does not get enough blood. It may feel like pressure or squeezing in your chest just under the breastbone. Sometimes you can feel it in your shoulders, arms, neck, jaw, or back. Angina may even feel like indigestion.

Angina is not a disease, but a symptom of an underlying heart problem, usually coronary artery disease (CAD). For patients with CAD, physical exertion, like walking up a hill or climbing stairs, is the most common trigger of angina. Other triggers include:

  • Going outside on a very hot or cold day
  • Eating a heavy meal
  • Emotional stress
  • Smoking

It is important to have all chest pain checked by your doctor. If you are experiencing any kind of chest pain, your doctor will want to determine whether it is angina. He or she will most likely perform a physical exam, ask about your symptoms, risk factors, family history of heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions, and may run a series of tests.

Angina occurs equally among men and women. There are several prescription medicines that can be used to treat angina.

One of these is brand-name NORVASC. Ask your doctor if brand-name NORVASC may be right for you.