 With long-term treatments, the dosage may rise to as much as 40 mg/day; in elderly individuals, a lower dosage of up to 5 mg/day may be equally effective (this reduction in drug amount is attributed to decreased liver function or “first pass” metabolism).Once digested, nitrendipine is absorbed into the blood and binds to plasma proteins.The majority (98%) is bound to plasma proteins and 70-80% of its inactive polar metabolites are also bound to plasma proteins.