FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Although your doctor is the best source for answering your specific questions about pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and treatment with REVATIO, you can find answers to common questions here.

To see questions, click on the topics below.

General Information About REVATIOtop

REVATIO is a prescription medicine used in adults to help treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). In PAH, the pulmonary arteries become narrow. This means there is less room for the blood to flow from the heart to the lungs. As a result, the blood pressure in your lungs is too high. Your heart has to work harder to pump blood into your lungs.

  • REVATIO may improve your ability to exercise
  • REVATIO may slow down worsening changes in your physical condition

How to Get Brand-Name REVATIOtop

Your prescription may have been filled with a generic version instead of brand-name REVATIO. Follow the steps below to help ensure you receive the brand name your doctor prescribed and, if eligible, save on your prescription.

  1. Ask Your Doctor: Ask your doctor to prescribe brand-name REVATIO and to indicate "DAW" (Dispense As Written)—or the language used in your state—on all of your REVATIO prescriptions.
  2. Get a Savings Card: Sign up for a Savings Card and, if eligible, pay as little as $0 for brand-name REVATIO.

    *Terms and conditions apply.

  3. Check Your Pills: Check your pills to be sure they're brand-name REVATIO—not the generic. If you think your brand-name prescription has been filled with a generic, talk to your pharmacist.

Talk to your doctor and/or your pharmacist to ask if you should be getting brand-name REVATIO. For tips on having that conversation, download the BRAND Savings Tip Sheet.

Check your pills for the distinctive shape and markings of brand-name REVATIO.

Saving on REVATIOtop

The REVATIO Savings Card allows eligible patients to pay as little as $0 each month for brand-name REVATIO—and could save up to $12,000 a year. If you have a prescription for brand-name REVATIO, you can use the card for every fill through December 31, 2023.*

*Terms and conditions apply.

There are 2 ways to use the card immediately. Once you’ve activated your Savings Card, you can either:

  • Bring a printed copy of it to the pharmacy
  • Show it to your pharmacist on your phone

You can keep this card with you and continue to save on each fill for REVATIO through December 31, 2023.

To be eligible to use a REVATIO Savings Card:

  • You do not have insurance from any Federal Healthcare Program (including Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, or any other state or federal medical pharmaceutical benefit program or pharmaceutical assistance program)
  • You and your spouse/partner are both not over age 65 and retired
  • You do not receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or any other Social Security Administration (SSA) benefits
  • Neither you, your spouse nor your parents are on active military duty and if so, you are not covered by their military health insurance
  • You do not have End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD)
  • You are over the age of 18
  • You agree to the Terms and Conditions

To learn the full details of who is eligible, please see the full Terms and Conditions.

To get a Savings Card, register here and then download your card or have it sent to you via email.

The REVATIO Savings Card can only be used for new prescriptions that are filled after you have activated the card.

Yes, for reimbursement when using a nonparticipating pharmacy: Pay for your REVATIO prescription, and mail a copy of the original pharmacy receipt (cash register receipt NOT valid) with product name, date, and amount circled to: REVATIO Savings Offer, 2250 Perimeter Park Drive, Suite 300, Morrisville, NC 27560. Be sure to include a copy of the front of your REVATIO Savings Card, your name, and mailing address.

Yes, for reimbursement when using the REVATIO Savings Card through a mail-order pharmacy: Pay for your REVATIO prescription, and mail a copy of the original pharmacy receipt (cash register receipt NOT valid) with product name, date, and amount circled to: REVATIO Savings Offer, 2250 Perimeter Park Drive, Suite 300, Morrisville, NC 27560. Be sure to include a copy of the front of your REVATIO Savings Card, your name, and mailing address. Please expect up to 4 to 6 weeks for reimbursement.

Taking REVATIOtop

  • Take REVATIO exactly as your doctor tells you
  • Take REVATIO tablet or oral suspension 3 times a day about 4 to 6 hours apart
  • Take REVATIO tablet or oral suspension at the same times every day
  • REVATIO oral suspension will be mixed for you by your pharmacist. Do not mix REVATIO oral suspension with other medicine or flavoring. Shake well for at least 10 seconds before each dose
  • If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember. If it is close to your next dose, skip the missed dose, and take your next dose at the regular time
  • Do not take more than one dose of REVATIO at a time
  • Do not change your dose or stop taking REVATIO on your own. Talk to your doctor first
  • If you take too much REVATIO, call your doctor or go to the nearest hospital emergency room

If you have any questions about how to take REVATIO, talk to your doctor.

SAFETY & POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTStop

  • Low blood pressure. Low blood pressure may cause you to feel faint or dizzy. Lie down if you feel faint or dizzy
  • More shortness of breath than usual. Tell your doctor if you get more short of breath after you start REVATIO. More shortness of breath than usual may be due to your underlying medical condition
  • Decreased eyesight or loss of sight in one or both eyes (NAION). If you notice a sudden decrease or loss of eyesight, talk to your doctor right away
  • Sudden decrease or loss of hearing. If you notice a sudden decrease or loss of hearing, talk to your doctor right away. It is not possible to determine whether these events are related directly to this class of oral medicines, including REVATIO, or to other diseases or medicines, to other factors, or to a combination of factors
  • Heart attack, stroke, irregular heartbeats, and death. Most of these happened in men who already had heart problems
  • Erections that last several hours. If you have an erection that lasts more than 4 hours, get medical help right away. If it is not treated right away, priapism can permanently damage your penis

The most common side effects of REVATIO include: nosebleed, headache, upset stomach, getting red or hot in the face (flushing), trouble sleeping, as well as fever, erection increased, respiratory infection, nausea, vomiting, bronchitis, pharyngitis, runny nose, and pneumonia in children.

Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or doesn't go away.

These are not all the possible side effects of REVATIO. For more information, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Never take REVATIO with any nitrate or guanylate cyclase stimulator medicines. Your blood pressure could drop quickly to an unsafe level. Nitrate medicines include:

  • Medicines that treat chest pain (angina)
  • Nitroglycerin in any form, including tablets, patches, sprays, and ointments
  • Isosorbide mononitrate or dinitrate
  • Street drugs called "poppers" (amyl nitrate or nitrite)

Guanylate cyclase stimulators include:

  • Riociguat (Adempas®)

Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure if you are taking a nitrate or a guanylate cyclase stimulator medicine.

  • REVATIO is not for use in children
  • Adding REVATIO to another medication used to treat PAH, bosentan (Tracleer®   ), does not result in improvement in your ability to exercise
  • REVATIO contains the same medicine as VIAGRA®    (sildenafil), which is used to treat erectile dysfunction (impotence). Do not take REVATIO with VIAGRA or other PDE5 inhibitors

About Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH)top

PAH is high blood pressure in the lungs. PAH can be present even if you have normal “regular” (systemic) blood pressure because the blood vessels in the lungs are very different from the blood vessels in the rest of the body. PAH is a specific type of pulmonary hypertension that is caused by the development of scar tissue in the tiny blood vessels of the lungs. This scar tissue blocks the blood flow through the lungs and causes the pressure in those blood vessels to increase.

The symptoms of PAH are similar to the symptoms often seen in more common diseases, such as asthma, emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and heart failure. Symptoms include:

  • Shortness of breath. At first with movement, but then at rest as the disease worsens
  • Fatigue
  • Swelling of the feet, legs, belly and neck
  • Chest pain, pounding of the heart and fainting are less common but can occur in very advanced disease
  • Rarely, patients will cough up blood or have a change in their voice

The treatment of PAH has changed rapidly over the last 15 years. PAH-specific medications come in pill, inhaled, and intravenous (IV)/subcutaneous forms. The medications are often used in a variety of combinations. The treatment of PAH is very dependent on the patient, the severity of the symptoms, the test findings, and even the support that the patient has at home. In addition to specific drugs, patients with PAH are also often treated with anticoagulants (blood thinners) and supplemental oxygen either at night, as needed or continuously. There are also patients with PAH who would benefit from a specific program of pulmonary rehabilitation. All of these potential options should be discussed between the patient and the treating physician. If the disease continues to progress in spite of treatment, your doctor may talk to you about lung transplantation.