Details

Papaverine is a vasodilator that relaxes smooth muscles in your blood vessels to help them dilate (widen). This lowers blood pressure and allows blood to flow more easily through your veins and arteries. Papaverine is used to treat many conditions that cause spasm of smooth muscle. This includes chest pain, circulation problems, heart attack, or disorders of the stomach or gallbladder. Papaverine is not for use in treating erectile dysfunction (impotence) and should not be injected into the penis. This practice has resulted in painful or prolonged erection that may require surgery to correct. Before using papaverine, tell your doctor if you have heart disease high blood pressure glaucoma or liver disease. This medicine may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be alert.

Typical Uses

Papaverine is used to increase blood flow throughout the body, including the heart and the brain. Papaverine is a vasodilator. It works by relaxing the muscles in the blood vessels. Papaverine is also an antiarrhythmic medication that treats certain abnormal heartbeats (ventricular arrhythmias). It works by blocking the abnormal electrical activity in the heart so a normal heart beat can return. It may also help the heart beat better by increasing the blood flow to the heart.

Side Effects

Common papaverine side effects may include upper stomach pain, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-coloured stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes) skin rash, bruising, severe tingling, numbness, pain, muscle weakness severe headache, blurred vision, fast heart rate, pounding in your neck or ears, anxiety, shortness of breath extreme drowsiness vision changes or pain, swelling, or redness where the medicine was injected.

Drug Interactions

• Papaverine+tizanidine- Tizanidine and papaverine may have additive effects in lowering your blood pressure. You may experience headache, dizziness, light-headedness, fainting, and/or changes in pulse or heart rate. These side effects are most likely to be seen at the beginning of treatment, following a dose increase, or when treatment is restarted after an interruption. Let your doctor know if you develop these symptoms and they do not go away after a few days or they become troublesome.

Mechanism of action

Papaverine is a vasodilating agent, prescribed for the relief from smooth muscle spasm, cerebral and peripheral ischemia (inadequate blood supply) associated with arterial spasm. It works by relaxing the blood vessels.

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