Cardizest may cause serious side effects such as fainting, shortness of breath, weight gain, swelling of the arms, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs. Some may also experience chest pain, slow or irregular heartbeat, rash, hives, itching, and difficulty in breathing and swallowing. If you experience any of these symptoms call your doctor immediately.

If you take more than the recommended dose of Cardizest you may experience slow heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, difficulty breathing, vomiting, and loss of consciousness or seizures. Contact your doctor and seek immediate medical help in a nearby hospital.

Cardizest should be avoided if the patient has severe heart failure and is hospitalized in the intensive care unit or require certain intravenous medications that help support circulation (inotropic medications). In addition to that, Cardizest should be avoided in patients who are prone to asthma or other breathing problems, have a slow heartbeat or irregular heartbeat (heart that skips a beat), have liver problems, and are allergic to Cardizest.

Use of Cardizest in patients with heart failure can rarely lead to deterioration of kidney function. However, Cardizest may cause risk of kidney failure in patients with low blood pressure (systolic blood pressure less than 100 mm Hg), patients with hardening of the arteries and/or having heart disease or already having impaired kidney function. Such patients should be closely monitored during treatment with Cardizest. Although, kidney functions return to baseline when Cardizest is stopped.

It is recommended that you take Cardizest with food, as food decreases the rate at which the medicine gets absorbed by the body. This will help to reduce the chances of orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure which may cause dizziness or fainting when you stand up).

Yes, weight gain is a common side effect of Cardizest, but it does not occur in everyone. If you are taking Cardizest for heart failure, tell your doctor if you gain weight or have trouble breathing, as this may be a sign of fluid retention.

Yes, Cardizest may make you tired as well as dizzy. These may occur initially when you start the treatment or when the dose is increased. If you experience these symptoms you should not drive or operate machinery.

Yes, a diabetic patient can take Cardizest, provided that there is a regular check on blood glucose levels. It has been noted that in well controlled diabetes mellitus with mild to moderate hypertension, Cardizest did not have any effect on blood glucose levels. However, it is important to know that, using Cardizest class of medicines (beta blockers) may hide the symptoms of hypoglycemia (decrease in glucose levels), especially increase in heart beat or palpitations. In addition to that, Cardizest may cause worsening of hyperglycaemia (increase in blood glucose levels) in patients with heart failure and diabetes. Hence, it is recommended that blood glucose should be monitored while initiating, adjusting, or discontinuing the dose of Cardizest. Inform the doctor if there is any change in blood glucose levels during Cardizest therapy.

Cardizest needs to be taken regularly as directed by your doctor. Suddenly stopping it may cause chest pain or heart attack. Your doctor may slowly lower your dose over a period of time before stopping it completely, if required.