How Many Nitro Pills Can Be Taken In A Day To Effectively Treat Chest Pain?

Posted on Mon, 19 Mar 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 19 Mar 2018 Answered on

Tue, 30 Apr 2019 Last reviewed on

Question : How many .4 sublingual,nitro pill can I take daily for controllable pain. Have never used three tab five minutes apart. On tab ttakes care or pain all the time without second pill. Generally no pain unless I do something physical to cause it. Currently I take it four to six times in 24 hour period. If I do not sleep enough such as only four hour in a day, I do get more angina.

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:

I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:

Hello,

I passed carefully through your question and would explain that if the pain is not relieved after taking 3-4 tablets of nitro, you should go to the ER as the situation may be really serious, indicating possible persistent ischemia and acute coronary syndrome which can be life-threatening.

In such a case, a resting ECG and cardiac enzyme monitoring should be done.

If the pain is relieved, I would recommend discussing with your attending physician on the possibility of starting nitrate compositions with a longer half-life, like Isosorbide 5-mononitrate or nitro patch every 12 hours (twice daily).

These treatment options can help manage the pain for a longer time compared to sublingual nitro, as their action lasts longer.

Hope I have answered your query.

Take care

Regards,
Dr Ilir Sharka, Cardiologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar