RxSideEffect.org: The effects of drugs vary depending upon the drug taken

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Like most prescription medicines, cardiovascular drugs can cause side effects. These unwanted effects are often mild, but sometimes they are more serious and can have a major impact on health or quality of life. Most of modern cardiovascular medications are very well tolerated and only rarely cause serious side effects. The effects of drugs can vary depending upon the kind of drug taken, how much is taken, how often it is used, how quickly it gets to the brain, and what other drugs, food, or substances are taken at the same time. Effects can also vary based on the differences in body size, shape, and chemistry. Cardiovascular drugs differ in how commonly they cause particular side effects. Medications are prescribed for a specific purpose, and anything else the drug does is a side effect. Some side effects are mild, like a slight headache. Others, like liver damage, can be severe and, in rare cases, fatal. Some go on for just a few days or weeks, but others might continue as long as you take a medication, or even after you stop. Some occur within days or weeks of starting a drug. Others may only show up after months or years of therapy.

Cardiovascular medications range from antianginals that pump more oxygen to the heart to vasodilators that widen blood vessels. Following are descriptions of some of the common categories for cardiovascular prescription medications. An individual's response to a medication is usually dose dependent. As dosage increases, so does the effect. When the appropriate amount is taken and is available to the body, the dose level is therapeutic and the desired response is achieved. Subtherapeutic doses are less than optimal, as they contain drug amounts below what is deemed necessary for effective treatment. Drug levels higher than necessary can produce intensified effects, toxic levels, side effects and/or adverse effects.

Researchers have found a connection between the abuse of most drugs and adverse cardiovascular effects, ranging from abnormal heart rate to heart attacks. There are an ever increasing number of drugs commonly used in cardiovascular medicine. New families of drugs are discovered on a regular basis and within these families of drugs, newer single agents are developed frequently.