Nadolol
Nadolol is a beta-blocker (a heart and blood pressure medicine) used for long-term management of angina (chest pain from the heart) and for treating high blood pressure.
🧬 Where this information comes from Click to expand
The clinical label records used on this page are FDA-filed Structured Product Labeling (SPL) retrieved through openFDA. We identified 27 clinical label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, strengths, and NDC product-record counts are built separately from matching FDA National Drug Code Directory records. The linked DailyMed document is a representative official source for verification, not the page’s only clinical source. View the linked label on DailyMed →
Nadolol (Corgard) is a once-daily beta-blocker that slows the heart and eases its workload, used for angina (chest pain from the heart) and high blood pressure; on the market since about 1979 and available as a generic, it is an older standby, prescribed less often than newer ones. Most people tolerate it well, mainly noticing tiredness, dizziness and cold hands and feet. Its boxed warning is the one to respect, since stopping suddenly can worsen angina or even cause a heart attack, so any stop needs a gradual taper. Check with your prescriber first if you have asthma, heart failure, diabetes or kidney disease.
Clinical pearls
- With diabetes, nadolol can hide the heartbeat that warns of low blood sugar, so check your sugar as your team advises.
- Nadolol leaves the body through the kidneys, so kidney problems may mean your prescriber spaces doses further apart.
- Tell your surgeon and anesthesia team you take nadolol before any operation, since anesthetics can drop blood pressure further.
- If you carry an epinephrine auto-injector for severe allergies, tell your allergist, since nadolol can make epinephrine work less well.
⚠️ FDA Boxed Warning — the FDA’s strongest safety alert ▾
Do not stop nadolol suddenly. Stopping a beta-blocker abruptly can make angina worse and, in some people, lead to a heart attack.
This is a particular concern for people with heart disease, and many people have coronary artery disease without knowing it. That is why it is wise not to stop abruptly even if you take nadolol only for high blood pressure. If you need to stop, your doctor will lower the dose gradually over one to two weeks and monitor you. Watch for worsening chest pain, and get help right away if it happens.
Patient information guide A plain-language walkthrough of Nadolol, written from its FDA label.
What Nadolol is used for
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Nadolol tablets are used for two heart-related conditions:
- Long-term management of angina pectoris (chest pain from the heart)
- Treatment of high blood pressure, alone or with other blood pressure medicines such as thiazide-type diuretics
How Nadolol works
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Nadolol is a nonselective beta-blocker. It blocks beta receptors in the heart and in the lungs and blood vessels. This slows the heart rate, reduces how hard the heart works, and lowers blood pressure.
Because the heart needs less oxygen at any level of effort, nadolol helps many people with angina. The label notes the exact way beta-blockers lower blood pressure is not fully established.
Nadolol dosage
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Nadolol tablets are taken by mouth, usually once a day. You can take them with or without food. Your prescriber individualizes the dose and may raise it gradually until it works well for you.
- Follow your prescription label closely.
- If you have kidney problems, your doctor may space doses further apart.
- Never stop suddenly. When stopping, the dose is lowered gradually over one to two weeks.
Dosing details from the FDA-approved label
From the Nadolol prescribing information (“Dosage and Administration”). Doses are set by your prescriber for your product, condition, kidney function and age — never change a dose on your own.
- Angina Pectoris
- Usual initial dose is 40 mg once daily
- May be gradually increased in 40 to 80 mg increments at 3 to 7 day intervals until optimum clinical response is obtained or there is pronounced slowing of the heart rate
- Usual maintenance dose is 40 or 80 mg once daily
- Doses up to 160 or 240 mg once daily may be needed
- Maximum: Usefulness and safety of dosage exceeding 240 mg per day have not been established
- If discontinuing, reduce the dosage gradually over a period of one to two weeks; may be taken without regard to meals
- Hypertension
- Usual initial dose is 40 mg once daily, whether used alone or in addition to diuretic therapy
- May be gradually increased in 40 to 80 mg increments until optimum blood pressure reduction is achieved
- Usual maintenance dose is 40 or 80 mg once daily
- Doses up to 240 or 320 mg once daily may be needed
- May be taken without regard to meals
- Dosage Adjustment in Renal Failure
- Dosage interval by creatinine clearance (mL/min/1.73m2): >50: 24 hours
- 31 to 50: 24 to 36 hours
- 10 to 30: 24 to 48 hours
- Dosage adjustments are necessary in patients with renal impairment
Read the label’s full dosing text
DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION DOSAGE MUST BE INDIVIDUALIZED. NADOLOL TABLETS MAY BE ADMINISTERED WITHOUT REGARD TO MEALS. Angina Pectoris The usual initial dose is 40 mg nadolol once daily. Dosage may be gradually increased in 40 mg to 80 mg increments at 3 to 7 day intervals until optimum clinical response is obtained or there is pronounced slowing of the heart rate. The usual maintenance dose is 40 mg or 80 mg administered once daily. Doses up to 160 mg or 240 mg administered once daily may be needed. The usefulness and safety in angina pectoris of dosages exceeding 240 mg per day have not been established. If treatment is to be discontinued, reduce the dosage gradually over a period of one to two weeks (see WARNINGS ). Hypertension The usual initial dose is 40 mg nadolol once daily, whether it is used alone or in addition to diuretic therapy. Dosage may be gradually increased in 40 mg to 80 mg increments until optimum blood pressure reduction is achieved. The usual maintenance dose is 40 mg or 80 mg administered once daily. Doses up to 240 mg or 320 mg administered once daily may be needed. Dosage Adjustment in Renal Failure Absorbed nadolol is excreted principally by the kidneys and, although nonrenal elimination does occur, dosage adjustments are necessary in patients with renal impairment. The following dose intervals are recommended: Creatinine Clearance (mL/min/1.73m 2 ) Dosage Interval (hours) > 50 24 31 to 50 24 to 36 10 to 30 24 to 48 < 10 40 to 60
Read the full Dosage and Administration section on DailyMed →
Nadolol side effects
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Most side effects are mild and temporary. Common ones include:
Common side effects
- Slow heart rate
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Cold hands and feet or Raynaud-type symptoms (poor circulation in fingers and toes)
- Low blood pressure
- Nausea, diarrhea or stomach discomfort
- Headache
- Nasal stuffiness
- Stomach upset, nausea or diarrhea
- Headache, nasal stuffiness, rash
When to get medical help
- Chest pain that gets worse, or signs of a heart attack, especially if you stopped nadolol suddenly
- Signs of heart failure, such as new or worsening swelling or shortness of breath
- Very slow heartbeat, fainting or severe dizziness
- Wheezing or trouble breathing (bronchospasm)
- Signs of low blood sugar may be hidden, so check your blood sugar as your care team advises
- Severe allergic reactions may be harder to treat with usual epinephrine doses while you take a beta-blocker
Nadolol warnings and precautions
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- Abrupt stopping can worsen angina and cause a heart attack.
- Heart failure: nadolol can worsen it or, in some people, lead to it.
- Breathing problems: people with bronchospastic disease, such as chronic bronchitis or emphysema, should in general not take beta-blockers.
- Diabetes: it can hide signs of low blood sugar and may require antidiabetic dose changes.
- Thyroid: it can mask signs of an overactive thyroid.
- Surgery: it should not routinely be stopped before major surgery, but anesthesia risks may be higher.
Nadolol interactions
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Nadolol can interact with several types of medicines:
- General anesthetics: blood pressure may drop more.
- Insulin and oral diabetes drugs: blood sugar may go low or high.
- Reserpine-type drugs: can cause low blood pressure or a very slow heartbeat.
- Digitalis glycosides: both slow the heart, raising the risk of a slow heartbeat.
- Epinephrine: may be less effective for severe allergic reactions.
Interactions listed in the FDA-approved label
From the Nadolol prescribing information (“Drug Interactions”): what the manufacturer studied or reported to the FDA.
- Anesthetics, general: Exaggeration of the hypotension induced by general anesthetics. See WARNINGS, Major Surgery
- Antidiabetic drugs (oral agents and insulin): Hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. Adjust dosage of antidiabetic drug accordingly
- Catecholamine-depleting drugs (e.g., reserpine): Additive effect. Monitor closely for evidence of hypotension and/or excessive bradycardia (e.g., vertigo, syncope, postural hypotension)
- Digitalis glycosides: Both digitalis glycosides and beta-blockers slow atrioventricular conduction and decrease heart rate, and concomitant use can increase the risk of bradycardia.
- Epinephrine (response to treatment for anaphylactic reaction): Patients with a history of severe anaphylactic reaction to a variety of allergens may be more reactive to repeated challenge and may be unresponsive to the usual doses of epinephrine used to treat allergic reaction.
Read the label’s full interactions text
DRUG INTERACTIONS When administered concurrently, the following drugs may interact with beta-adrenergic receptor blocking agents: Anesthetics, general - exaggeration of the hypotension induced by general anesthetics (see WARNINGS , Major Surgery ). Antidiabetic drugs (oral agents and insulin) - hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia; adjust dosage of antidiabetic drug accordingly (see WARNINGS , Diabetes and Hypoglycemia ). Catecholamine-depleting drugs (e.g., reserpine) - additive effect; monitor closely for evidence of hypotension and/or excessive bradycardia (e.g., vertigo, syncope, postural hypotension). Digitalis glycosides- Both digitalis glycosides and beta-blockers slow atrioventricular conduction and decrease heart rate. Concomitant use can increase the risk of bradycardia. Response to Treatment for Anaphylactic Reaction - While taking beta-blockers, patients with a history of severe anaphylactic reaction to a variety of allergens may be more reactive to repeated challenge, either accidental, diagnostic, or therapeutic. Such patients may be unresponsive to the usual doses of epinephrine used to treat allergic reaction.
Not a complete list. The label covers the interactions the manufacturer studied or reported, and our own interaction database does not cover every medicine either. Bring your full medication list, including vitamins and herbal products, to your pharmacist.
Before taking Nadolol
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- Do not take nadolol if you have bronchial asthma, sinus bradycardia, heart block greater than first degree, cardiogenic shock, or overt heart failure.
- Tell your doctor about lung disease, heart failure, diabetes, thyroid problems, or kidney problems.
- Kidney impairment may require longer time between doses.
- Tell your surgeon or anesthesiologist you take nadolol.
Nadolol overdose
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Too much nadolol can cause a very slow heartbeat, heart failure, low blood pressure, or bronchospasm. Get emergency help right away. Hospital teams can treat these problems, and nadolol can be removed from the blood by hemodialysis. Its effects last a long time, so monitoring may be needed for a while.
What Nadolol does in the body
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Nadolol lowers heart rate and cardiac output at rest and during exercise. It also lowers systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Its blood pressure effect lasts about 24 hours after a dose. It slows the sinus rate and depresses AV conduction (electrical signals in the heart).
How your body processes Nadolol
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About 30 percent of an oral dose is absorbed, though this varies from person to person. Blood levels peak in about three to four hours, and food does not change absorption. Nadolol is not broken down by the liver. It leaves the body unchanged, mainly through the kidneys.
Its half-life is about 20 to 24 hours, which allows once-daily dosing. It lasts longer in kidney failure. Steady levels take about six to nine days.
How to store Nadolol
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Store at room temperature; avoid excessive heat. Protect from light.
Written from the FDA-approved label with AI and reviewed by our pharmacy team. How we use AI →
Supplements & herbs that interact with Nadolol
145 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Nadolol in the licensed clinical database we use. Most are manageable — but your pharmacist should know about everything you take, including vitamins and herbals.
- Major · 6
- Moderate · 119
- Minor · 20
Educational information from a licensed clinical database (Natural Medicines) — see our data sources & update cadence. Not medical advice: an interaction being documented does not mean it will happen to you; do not start or stop medications or supplements without professional guidance.
Nutrient depletion considerations
Nadolol has been associated with lower levels of 1 nutrient in the clinical literature. This does not mean a deficiency will occur — it means these may be worth discussing with your pharmacist or healthcare provider, especially with long-term use.
Educational information from a licensed clinical database (Natural Medicines) — not medical advice. Do not start or stop medications or supplements without professional guidance.
Nadolol: pharmacist answers to common questions
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Nadolol — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
What is nadolol for?
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How do I take it?
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Can I stop it if I feel fine?
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What side effects should I expect?
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I have diabetes. Is nadolol okay?
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Who shouldn't take nadolol?
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Is Nadolol available over the counter?
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When was Nadolol first available?
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Who makes Nadolol?
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Answers drafted from the FDA-approved label with AI and reviewed by our pharmacy team. How we use AI →
More about Nadolol on HelloPharmacist
Nadolol forms and strengths (how it comes)
Nadolol is available in 1 form. Different forms and brands can have different approved uses, doses, schedules, and directions. Follow the instructions for your exact product, and do not switch forms without guidance from your prescriber or pharmacist.
Tablet
How this form is used
- Nadolol tablets are used for the long-term management of angina pectoris.
- Nadolol tablets are used to treat high blood pressure, alone or with other blood pressure medicines.
- Nadolol tablets can be taken with or without meals.
- Nadolol tablets are usually taken once daily, with the dose individualized by your prescriber.
- Nadolol tablets should be stopped gradually over one to two weeks under a doctor's guidance, not suddenly.
- Nadolol tablets may need a longer time between doses if you have kidney impairment.
Nadolol on the U.S. market: products, makers and brands
How Nadolol appears in the FDA’s National Drug Code Directory — including its dosage forms, strengths, brand names, manufacturers, and FDA-listed product records. These are directory records, not sales or prescription volume.
16 companies list 53 Nadolol product records with the FDA, mostly as tablet; the earliest marketing or approval year on record is 1979. Brand names on the directory include Corgard; the rest are generics.
Also listed with the FDA, not a patient dose form: Powder (5) — bulk drug substance sold to compounders/manufacturers and multi-item kits. These aren’t counted in the dose-form total above.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
How widely Nadolol is used (Medicaid data)
A general measure of how commonly Nadolol is prescribed, based on Medicaid — one of the largest public drug programs. The figure below is prescriptions filled in Q1–Q4 2025, summed across every form and brand of the drug.
Think of this as a proxy for how widely Nadolol is used, drawn from freely available public data. Medicaid is just one program — these numbers don’t include Medicare, other government coverage, or commercial and cash-pay prescriptions, so real-world use is higher than what’s shown here.
How commonly is Nadolol prescribed? Of the 1,601 medications we measure, Nadolol ranks #605 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 62% of them.
Utilization by Nadolol product
Pick a product to see its own Medicaid numbers. Each chip is one clinical product — a specific strength & dosage form as defined by RxNorm — with brand-name and generic versions combined.
nadolol 20 MG Oral Tablet Most dispensed
Summed across the 9 of 65 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 198006
nadolol 40 MG Oral Tablet
Summed across the 8 of 64 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 198007
nadolol 80 MG Oral Tablet
Summed across the 6 of 66 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 198008
Shares are of the Medicaid prescriptions shown here. Product grouping follows RxNorm (the National Library of Medicine’s drug terminology), so “one product” means one strength & dosage form regardless of manufacturer. Dollar figures are gross Medicaid reimbursement before mandatory rebates — rebates (often large, especially for brand-name drugs) are confidential, so actual net cost to Medicaid is lower than shown.
Source: Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (CMS), aggregated by generic ingredient — summed across every NDC (all brands, strengths, salt forms and dosage forms) of Nadolol, and across all states and both fee-for-service and managed-care claims. A general popularity signal; it excludes Medicare, commercial insurance and cash prescriptions, so it is not total U.S. use. Based on the 23 of 195 listed Nadolol NDCs with Medicaid activity.
Compare Nadolol products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Nadolol — across manufacturers, strengths, and dosage forms, grouped by form with each product’s manufacturer and how the FDA approved it. The same medicine may be made and packaged by different companies, so a single drug can have many directory entries. (It’s also why a refill can look different — a new shape, color, or box — even though it contains the same medication.)
| Strength | Route | Manufacturer / Labeler | Category ⓘ | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Tablet | ||||
| 20 mg | Oral | A-S Medication Solutions | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | Alembic Pharmaceuticals Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Alembic Pharmaceuticals Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | Alembic Pharmaceuticals Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | American Health Packaging × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | American Health Packaging | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | Amneal Pharmaceuticals NY LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Amneal Pharmaceuticals NY LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | Amneal Pharmaceuticals NY LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | Aurobindo Pharma Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Aurobindo Pharma Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | Aurobindo Pharma Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | BluePoint Laboratories × 3 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | BluePoint Laboratories × 3 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | BluePoint Laboratories × 3 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | Bryant Ranch Prepack | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Bryant Ranch Prepack | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | Bryant Ranch Prepack × 4 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | Cipla USA Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Cipla USA Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | Cipla USA Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | Exelan Pharmaceuticals Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Exelan Pharmaceuticals Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | Exelan Pharmaceuticals Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | Golden State Medical Supply, Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Golden State Medical Supply, Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | Golden State Medical Supply, Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Remedyrepack Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | Unichem Pharmaceuticals (usa), Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Unichem Pharmaceuticals (usa), Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | Unichem Pharmaceuticals (usa), Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | VGYAAN Pharmaceuticals LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | VGYAAN Pharmaceuticals LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | VGYAAN Pharmaceuticals LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | Zydus Lifesciences Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Zydus Lifesciences Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | Zydus Lifesciences Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 20 mg | Oral | Zydus Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 40 mg | Oral | Zydus Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 80 mg | Oral | Zydus Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
Showing 53 of 53 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 53 Nadolol NDCs →
Nadolol side effects reported to the FDA (FAERS)
After a medicine reaches the market, patients, doctors and drugmakers can send the FDA reports of problems they think may be linked to it. Here’s what’s been reported for Nadolol — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). These are voluntary reports — they don’t prove the drug caused the effect, and counts reflect how often something was reported, not how often it actually happens. Reports also often name the very problem the medicine is taken for — a common reason to file one is that the drug didn’t help — so for a pain reliever you may see “pain” high on the list; that points to why the report was filed, not to the drug causing the symptom. This counts every report that lists Nadolol in any role, so the total runs higher than the FDA’s official dashboard, which counts only cases where the drug is the suspect. For the authoritative figures, see the FDA FAERS Public Dashboard. Always talk to your pharmacist or doctor.
Nadolol FDA approval history
How Nadolol went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
Nadolol recall history
A recall is when a specific batch of a medicine is pulled from the market — usually a manufacturing issue, not a problem with the drug itself. Class I is most serious, Class III least.
The FDA’s enforcement reports list no Nadolol recalls since July 2021.
✅No Nadolol recalls on record since July 2021Source: FDA enforcement (recall) reports, via openFDA; our copy was last updated Sep 24, 2026.
RxNorm Concept Web — From Ingredient to Every Form and Strength
This page starts with one ingredient concept (IN). The branches below show its dose-form concepts (SCDF), then the available clinical drug and strength concepts (SCD). Combination products remain separate concepts with their own pages.
RxCUI 7226 1 dose form · 5 strengths
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Dose form (SCDF) Oral Tablet RxCUI 372978In current FDA listings
Look up RxCUI 7226 in the RxCUI Atlas →
RxNorm is the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s normalized drug vocabulary. Its concept hierarchy can include forms that are not currently marketed; the status on each branch compares that concept with current FDA listings. RxCUIs identify vocabulary concepts, not individual packages or manufacturers.
Nadolol supply and shortage status
Whether Nadolol is in short supply in the U.S. right now, plus any shortage history the FDA has on record. A shortage usually reflects a manufacturing or demand issue — not a safety problem with the drug.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Drug Shortages database.
Nadolol brand names
Nadolol is sold under one brand name in the FDA directory — Corgard. A brand and its generic contain the same active ingredient; the brand name belongs to one company's product.
Who makes Nadolol: manufacturers and labelers
16 companies list Nadolol products with the FDA. By number of product records, the largest are BluePoint Laboratories, Bryant Ranch Prepack, Alembic Pharmaceuticals Inc.. Labelers include manufacturers and repackagers; the product in your bottle depends on which one your pharmacy stocks.
Nadolol drug class (RxNorm)
Nadolol belongs to the beta-Adrenergic Blocker class.
Classified by RxNorm RxClass — the U.S. National Library of Medicine's standardized drug-classification service (Established Pharmacologic Class from the FDA, the ATC drug family from the WHO, and mechanism of action). Reference only, not medical advice.
Sources for this Nadolol page
Core label, product, RxNorm, safety, and utilization data on this page come from the sources identified below. AI-written, editorial, and licensed sections are labeled separately.
How this page is built
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records and does not author the underlying clinical facts. The plain-language sections are written with AI from the FDA-approved label text and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. VGYAAN Pharmaceuticals LLC is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates. This is general education, not medical advice: always talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own medicines. How we build and review drug pages →