Amlodipine is used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension). If you have high blood pressure, taking amlodipine can help to prevent future heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. It is also used to prevent chest pain caused by heart disease (angina) and it belongs to a class of medicines called calcium channel blockers. Amlodipine helps high blood pressure by relaxing and widening blood vessels. This lowers your blood pressure and makes it easier for your heart to pump blood around your body. With angina, you usually get chest pain because the arteries going to the heart have become hardened and narrowed. Amlodipine helps by improving the blood and oxygen supply to your heart. This medicine is only available on prescription.