1 You'll need to avoid strenuous activities, but you may be able to continue normal daily activities, such as going to work. 2  Talk to your doctor about an appropriate level of activity for you. 3  Follow a balanced diet.
Nitroglycerin works by causing your veins to expand or dilate, known as venodilation. It also works on dilating the coronary arteries, contributing to the relief of angina.
Read More. Dear Gwen, thank you for your question. Nitroglycerin is a vasodilator which means that it causes blood vessels to dilate and thus, blood flow to increase. Nitroglycerin preferentially vasodilates the coronary arteries, but other arteries in the body also dilate. When this happens to the cerebral arteries that supply blood to the brain, a headache can result.