Patient was educated on precautions to be exercised while taking Organic Nitrates as follows:
- Organic Nitrates are contraindicated in individuals with abnormally high heart rates. So, if your heart rate is being abnormally high (consistently more than 100), with the use of these medications, report this to your physician immediately.
- Observe compliance with any regular lab work ordered. As these drugs are metabolized significantly in the liver and eliminated by the kidneys, hepatic and renal function could be periodically monitored, to prevent any risk for toxicity.
- Take a blood pressure reading always before you take the pill. Maintain a log of every day blood pressure reading. If the blood pressure is too low, you can defer taking the medication for that dose. Notify your doctor, if more of such occurrences are happening, so that, your medication dose could be revised.
- If a dose is missed, it should be taken at the earliest notice of noncompliance. If it is time for the next dose, the missed dose can be skipped. Compensating for the missed dose by taking an extra dose can pose serious risk for an episode of extremely low blood pressure and very high heart rate, thus precipitating an emergency.
