To minimize the risks of having fluid retention, you must try to follow a varied diet with quality food, combining a good feeding with natural recipes and wet food. These medications may help alleviate symptoms; however, it is also important to treat the underlying cause of fluid retention, such as heart failure or chronic disease. If experienced, these tend to have a Less Severe expression. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. All rights reserved. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects. These problems may be less likely to occur if blood pressure is controlled.Nifedipine is a calcium channel blocker. However, elderly patients are more likely to have age-related kidney, liver, or heart problems which may require caution and an adjustment in the dose for patients receiving nifedipine.Studies in women suggest that this medication poses minimal risk to the infant when used during breastfeeding.Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:Other side effects not listed may also occur in some patients. Safety and efficacy have not been established.Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of nifedipine in the elderly. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so.The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. When you are taking nifedipine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. You should check with your doctor before changing your diet.Many patients who have high blood pressure will not notice any signs of the problem. These symptoms are more likely to occur when you begin taking nifedipine, or when the dose is increased.Nifedipine may cause fluid retention (edema) in some patients. Keep from freezing.Do not keep outdated medicine or medicine no longer needed.Ask your healthcare professional how you should dispose of any medicine you do not use.You should not use nifedipine if you are also taking certain other medications such as carbamazepine (Tegretol®), phenobarbital (Luminal®), phenytoin (Dilantin®), rifabutin (Mycobutin®), rifampin (Rifadin®, Rimactane®), or St. John's Wort. Warnings and precautions for the drug include being aware that it can cause water retention, low blood pressure, and chest pain (although this is rare). Because one of the most frequent causes of fluid retention is due to suffering a traumatic event in the street, which causes internal bleeding and the occurrence of ascites. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:Other side effects not listed may also occur in some patients. Gender: Men and women (and children) are at equal risk ... and increased water retention by the kidney. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive.Using nifedipine with any of the following may cause an increased risk of certain side effects but may be unavoidable in some cases. The most common treatment for fluid retention is diuretics, which are prescribed to increase urination. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. If peripheral edema develops from the use of a calcium channel blocker (CCB), it is not on the basis of salt and water retention because this drug class is intrinsically natriuretic. ... Administer nifedipine, Viagra, or Cialis (see below). Do not double doses.Store the medicine in a closed container at room temperature, away from heat, moisture, and direct light. © 1998-2020 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below. Nifedipine may cause fluid retention (edema) in some patients. It is very important that you Remember that nifedipine will not cure your high blood pressure, but it does help control it. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:In addition to the use of nifedipine, treatment for your high blood pressure may include weight control and changes in the types of foods you eat, especially foods high in sodium (salt).