Worst Pills, Best Pills

An expert, independent second opinion on more than 1,800 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and supplements

enalapril (EPANED, VASOTEC)


DRUG AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENT PROFILES

A comprehensive review of the safety and effectiveness of this drug. If the drug is not a Do Not Use product, information on adverse effects, drug interactions and how to use the medication are included.
Search results below include Drug and Dietary Supplement Profiles where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.

drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol (GIANVI, MELAMISA, NIKKI, YASMIN, YAZ, ZARAH)
  • We list this drug as a Do Not Use drug because it can cause increased blood levels of potassium and is no more effective than other oral contraceptives in preventing pregnancy.

WORST PILLS, BEST PILLS NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

Search results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.

Review of the Chronic Heart Failure Combination Drug Sacubitril and Valsartan (ENTRESTO)
January 2023
Given the risks associated with Entresto, Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has classified it as Limited Use, to be used only in adults with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.
Do Not Use Azilsartan (EDARBI) for High Blood Pressure
July 2012
Find out why we recommend that you do not use the recently approved high blood pressure drug azilsartan.
Dangers of Taking Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers Together
September 2011
Find out how using a combination of two drugs, one from each of these two families, can increase the risks of kidney toxicity and dangerously higher blood levels of potassium compared to use of one of these two families of drugs alone. The article lists 10 different drugs in the first class and seven in the second class. Worse yet, most of the patients in the study were prescribed the combination to treat conditions for which the combination has not proven to be beneficial.
Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Can Make Blood Pressure Hard to Control
February 2009
Twenty different NSAIDS (nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs) are listed in this article that can adversely affect your blood pressure control. The article discusses the way in which this happens and what you can do about it.
Potassium Increases Due to Drug Interactions Can Be Dangerous
November 2008
One of the most common drug interactions occurs when patients take two or more drugs that can each increase blood potassium levels. The resulting condition, hyperkalemia (increased blood potassium levels), can cause nausea, fatigue, muscle weakness or tingling sensations, as well as heart abnormalities, showing up as an abnormal electrocardiogram. In some cases it can be fatal. The article lists 50 drugs which, especially when used in combination, can cause hyperkalemia.
BIDIL, a Heart Drug Targeted at African Americans, Stirs Complex Controversy
September 2005
You should only be using BiDil for congestive heart failure in combination with other drugs for this condition. For one-fourth of the cost, with the cooperation of your physician, you can get prescriptions for the two generically-available drugs that comprise BiDil, isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine.
DO NOT USE UNTIL 2011 Eplerenone (INSPRA) For High Blood Pressure
December 2003
This statement appears in the professional product labeling, or package insert, for eplerenone: “The principal risk of INSPRA is hyperkalemia. Hyperkalemia can cause serious, sometimes fatal, arrhythmias (heart rhythm disturbances).”
Massive Study Confirms That Inexpensive Water Pills (DIURETICS) Should Be Used First In Treating High Blood Pressure
February 2003
The results of a very large clinical trial designed to give a definitive answer to the decades-old question of which of four commonly used families of high blood pressure medications should be prescribed first was published in the December 18, 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The answer is that the oldest drugs — known as the thiazide diuretics, or water pills — are superior in preventing one or more major forms of cardiovascular disease to the other families of drugs. DO NOT STOP TAKING ANY HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING YOUR PHYSICIAN.
Do Not Use! New Safety Warning Added to the Arthritis Drug Valdecoxib (BEXTRA)
January 2003
There is an additional similarity (aside from our listing both as DO NOT USE drugs) between valdecoxib and celecoxib, both are sulfa drugs and individuals who are allergic to sulfa drugs should not use them. Although celecoxib came on the market with a warning about sulfa drug allergy, valdecoxib did not. We previously wrote “It may be a dangerous oversight on the part of the FDA not to have required the same warning for valdecoxib.” Unfortunately, because uninformed patients have been needlessly harmed, our prediction has come to pass.