Medical Editor: John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP
What Is Minipress?
Minipress (prazosin hydrochloride) is an alpha-adrenergic blocker used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure).
What Are Side Effects of Minipress?
Common side effects of Minipress include:
- headache,
- drowsiness,
- tiredness,
- weakness,
- blurred vision,
- nausea,
- vomiting,
- diarrhea, or
- constipation as your body adjusts to the medication
Other side effects of Minipress include:
- lightheadedness or dizziness upon standing, especially after the first dose and shortly after taking a dose of the drug during the first week of treatment.
Tell your doctor if you experience serious side effects of Minipress including fast or pounding heartbeats or fluttering in your chest, feeling like you might pass out, trouble breathing, swelling in your hands or feet, or an erection that is painful or lasts 4 hours or longer.
Dosage for Minipress
Initial dose of Minipress is 1 mg two or three times a day. The usual therapeutic dose ranges from 6 mg to 15 mg daily given in divided doses.
What Drugs, Substances, or Supplements Interact with Minipress?
Minipress may interact with digoxin, sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil, gout medication, heart rhythm medication, other blood pressure medications, diuretics (water pills), pain, fever, or arthritis medication such as aspirin, indomethacin, insulin or diabetes medication you take by mouth, or sedatives. Tell your doctor all medications you are taking.
Minipress During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
During pregnancy, Minipress should be used only when prescribed. Minipress passes into breast milk. Consult your doctor before breastfeeding.
Additional Information
Our Minipress (prazosin hydrochloride) Drug Center provides a comprehensive view of available drug information as well as related drugs, user reviews, supplements, and diseases and conditions articles.
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
QUESTION
Salt and sodium are the same. See AnswerGet emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Call your doctor at once if you have:
- a light-headed feeling, like you might pass out;
- pounding heartbeats or fluttering in your chest;
- new or worsening chest pain; or
- upper stomach pain, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes).
Call your doctor or seek emergency medical attention if your erection is painful or lasts longer than 4 hours. A prolonged erection (priapism) can damage the penis.
Common side effects may include:
- dizziness, drowsiness;
- headache;
- feeling weak or tired; or
- nausea.
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
SLIDESHOW
How to Lower Blood Pressure: Exercise Tips See SlideshowSIDE EFFECTS
Clinical trials were conducted on more than 900 patients. During these trials and subsequent marketing experience, the most frequent reactions associated with MINIPRESS therapy are: dizziness 10.3%, headache 7.8%, drowsiness 7.6%, lack of energy 6.9%, weakness 6.5%, palpitations 5.3%, and nausea 4.9%. In most instances, side effects have disappeared with continued therapy or have been tolerated with no decrease in dose of drug.
Less frequent adverse reactions which are reported to occur in 1-4% of patients are:
Gastrointestinal: vomiting, diarrhea, constipation.
Cardiovascular: edema, orthostatic hypotension, dyspnea, syncope.
Central Nervous System: vertigo, depression, nervousness.
Dermatologic: rash.
Genitourinary: urinary frequency.
EENT: blurred vision, reddened sclera, epistaxis, dry mouth, nasal congestion.
In addition, fewer than 1% of patients have reported the following (in some instances, exact causal relationships have not been established):
Gastrointestinal: abdominal discomfort and/or pain, liver function abnormalities, pancreatitis.
Cardiovascular: tachycardia.
Central Nervous System: paresthesia, hallucinations.
Dermatologic: pruritus, alopecia, lichen planus.
Genitourinary: incontinence, impotence, priapism.
EENT: tinnitus.
Other: diaphoresis, fever, positive ANA titer, arthralgia.
Single reports of pigmentary mottling and serous retinopathy, and a few reports of cataract development or disappearance have been reported. In these instances, the exact causal relationship has not been established because the baseline observations were frequently inadequate.
In more specific slit-lamp and funduscopic studies, which included adequate baseline examinations, no drug-related abnormal ophthalmological findings have been reported.
Literature reports exist associating MINIPRESS therapy with a worsening of pre-existing narcolepsy. A causal relationship is uncertain in these cases.
In post-marketing experience, the following adverse events have been reported:
Autonomic Nervous System: flushing.
Body As A Whole: allergic reaction, asthenia, malaise, pain.
Cardiovascular, General: angina pectoris, hypotension.
Endocrine: gynecomastia.
Heart Rate/Rhythm: bradycardia.
Psychiatric: insomnia.
Skin/Appendages: urticaria.
Vascular (Extracardiac): vasculitis.
Vision: eye pain.
Special Senses: During cataract surgery, a variant of small pupil syndrome known as Intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome (IFIS) has been reported in association with alpha-1 blocker therapy (see PRECAUTIONS).
Read the entire FDA prescribing information for Minipress (Prazosin HCl)
© Minipress Patient Information is supplied by Cerner Multum, Inc. and Minipress Consumer information is supplied by First Databank, Inc., used under license and subject to their respective copyrights.
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