Hello all,
Well over 3 months with Nifedipine twice a day here and wondering if it's okay to keep using it every day. Anybody talk to a CRS regarding this? Thanks so much.

I have not talked to my crs about it but I did do research on it and patients have done 2,3,5,6 month intervals on it so I would assume its ok to keep taking. My doc did tell me to give her a call whenever I finished mine and she'd call in a new batch to my pharmacy. I've been in it about 2 months

I take Diltiazem, which is similar to Nifedipine. I've been on it about 5 months now. I tried to stop, but got some pain again, so I continued it. I'm not sure when I'll stop it, but I do know it's safe to take long-term. It won't thin the skin like hydrocortisone.
Some people develop allergies to it by taking it long-term. Usually the reactions are lots of itching and a rash on the anus. If that happens, you have to stop the medication.
As long as you can tolerate it, I think it should be fine to continue to take as long as you need it. You might want to try weaning yourself off it (like taking it just once a day or a few times a week) at some point and see how you do. You can always take it again if you get more pain. In my case, surgery is not an option for me right now (I have no health insurance and cannot afford it), so the Diltiazem is all I can do. It really does help, although I hope I can stop it soon.

Shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't develop a skin reaction to it. Remember that when taken orally it is a blood pressure medication that some people take for the rest of their lives. Given that, there is not much to worry about using it topically where the vast majority of its action is only taking place at the sphincter muscle itself. There are people with chronic fissures who keep using topical nifedipine for years.

People with heart problems take it for life. My doctor said people are on it for months as long as you are improving with it.

Thanks all! Very helpful info here. Take care

I have been administering Diliatazem cream for over 6 weeks now yet I noticed something on the package that said to 'discard after 28 days'?! Is this now a useless exercise?

Mrs B wrote:I have been administering Diliatazem cream for over 6 weeks now yet I noticed something on the package that said to 'discard after 28 days'?! Is this now a useless exercise?

My tube of Diltiazem says "Discard after 6/2/2013" (which is today, as a matter of fact... gotta pick up a refill this week sometime). I got mine in January, so yours should still be okay to use.

Is nifedipine yellow? Does it have flecks in it like spots? Maybe crushed pills? Is it 0.3% nifedipine?