During a routine physical, the 58-year-old patient reports aching chest pain that occurs only when doing yardwork or heavy cleaning. However, it does not occur every time he is performing these chores. He denies regular exercise and reports a sedentary lifestyle. The nurse anticipates providing which instruction to the patient related to the patient's new prescription for this condition?

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“You will need to undergo testing for diabetes mellitus prior to initiating therapy.”. The drug of choice for exercise-induced angina is metoprolol, which can hide the signs of hypoglycemia. Therefore, the patient must be tested for diabetes mellitus to ensure there are no complications. Calcium channel blockers, such as nifedipine, are a second- or third-line therapy for stable angina. These drugs must not be taken with St. John&rsquo;s Wort, which does not affect administration of metoprolol. If the symptoms cannot be controlled by daily metoprolol, sublingual nitroglycerin may be prescribed for symptom management. The nurse would instruct the patient to take the tablet when experiencing chest pain. Although increased exercise tolerance is helpful, the patient&rsquo;s angina must be controlled before an exercise program is initiated.

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