What happens when you stop taking statins cold turkey?

You will not get any withdrawal symptoms. However, stopping atorvastatin may cause your cholesterol to rise. This increases your risk of heart attacks and strokes. If you want to stop taking your medicine, it's important to find another way to lower your cholesterol.

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Is it OK to stop statins suddenly?

Is it dangerous to suddenly stop taking your statin? Yes. Suddenly stopping your statin is dangerous. Data shows that the risk of stroke, heart attack, and death within 4 years of stopping a statin is high.

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What are the side effects of stopping statins?

If you quit cold turkey, your body can go into shock. It is not recommended that you stop statins suddenly if you have a history of heart attack or stroke, as it can put you at a higher risk of recurrent heart attack. You should speak with your doctor before stopping the medicine under any circumstance.

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How long after stopping statins do side effects go away?

Explain to interested patients that muscle pain and weakness are known side effects of statin therapy. In most patients, they resolve quickly when the drugs are stopped. Explain that this study reported on a small number of patients in whom symptoms persisted for six months after statins were discontinued.

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What is the safest way to stop taking statins?

Reducing statin use
  1. Adding other cholesterol drugs. Drugs your doctor could add to your medication regimen while reducing your statin use include ezetimibe, bile acid sequestrants, or niacin. ...
  2. Adding L-carnitine supplements.
  3. Adding CoQ10 supplements.

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The dangers of stopping cholesterol medication

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What happens if I miss my statins for a few days?

If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses. Do not take 2 doses of this medicine if it has been more than 12 hours since you missed your last dose.

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Can I stop taking statins for 3 days?

You will not get any withdrawal symptoms. However, the benefits will only continue for as long as you take it. If you stop taking atorvastatin without starting a different treatment, your cholesterol level may rise again. This increases your risk of heart attacks and strokes.

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What does muscle pain from statins feel like?

One of the most common complaints of people taking statins is muscle pain. You may feel this pain as a soreness, tiredness or weakness in your muscles. The pain can be a mild discomfort, or it can be severe enough to make your daily activities difficult.

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Can I take statin once a week?

Fifty patients met study criteria, and overall most (37/50; 74%) tolerated the once-a-week regimen (Table 1). Among those who experienced myalgias from previous statins, 71% (25/35) tolerated once-a-week rosuvastatin.

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Can you take a statin every other day?

As evident from periodic liver enzyme estimations, we can say that alternate-day statin therapy is at least as safe as daily treatment regime. While there was one instance of myalgia, on daily atorvastatin treatment, alternate-day dosage of the same was well tolerated.

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Can I stop and restart statins?

Conclusions Although a large proportion of statin users discontinue, many of them restart. For many patient groups previously considered as “stoppers,” the problem of statin treatment “stopping” could be part of the wider issue of poor adherence.

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Why do people stop taking statins?

“The most common reason people stop taking statins is because of side effects, like muscle aches, but many have muscle pains from other causes and stop taking the medication in error,” Dr. Carimi says. If you experience muscle aches, Dr. Carimi says to talk to your doctor.

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Why do people not want to take statins?

Fear of side effects and perceived side effects are the most common reasons for declining or discontinuing statin therapy. Willingness to take a statin is high, among both patients who have declined statin therapy and those who have never been offered one.

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What can replace statin drugs?

7 cholesterol-lowering alternatives to statins
  • Fibrates. Mostly used for lowering triglyceride levels in patients whose levels are very high and could cause pancreatitis. ...
  • Plant stanols and sterols. ...
  • Cholestyramine and other bile acid-binding resins. ...
  • Niacin. ...
  • Policosanol. ...
  • Red yeast rice extract (RYRE) ...
  • Natural products.

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What is a natural alternative to statin drugs?

For patients who can't tolerate cholesterol-lowering statins, natural remedies like bergamot, garlic and green tea may be a useful alternative, based on a recent statement published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

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Do statins increase belly fat?

Several statins increase body and liver fat accumulation in a model of metabolic syndrome. J Physiol Pharmacol.

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Can I cut my statin in half?

Now, if you are asking whether it is safe to split a tablet to get to the recommended dosage, the answer is yes. Lipitor does not have special coating or formulation that makes it a timed-release medication. Breaking the tablet in half will not alter its function or metabolism.

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Do statins make you tired?

In a study of more than 1,000 adults, researchers at the University of California, San Diego, found that individuals taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are more likely than non-users to experience decreased energy, fatigue upon exertion, or both.

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Is 5 mg statin effective?

Our study reported that both 5 mg and 10 mg rosuvastatin significantly decreases blood cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL levels.

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Why do statins make your legs ache?

According to the research, published in JACC: Basic to Translational Science, statins cause spontaneous and irregular leaks of calcium from storage compartments within muscle cells. Under normal conditions, coordinated releases of calcium from these stores make the muscles contract.

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When does statin muscle pain start?

Within a month of starting statin therapy, they may feel aches or weakness in the large muscles of their arms, shoulders, thighs or buttocks on both sides of the body. About 5 to 10% of people who try statins are affected. It's more common in the elderly, in women and in those taking the more potent statins.

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Does joint pain from statins go away?

Often the only way to halt the effects of statins on your muscle cells is to stop taking the medications. Symptoms tend to disappear within 3 months after you stop taking statins, with no permanent damage in most cases. But a 2018 study suggests that in rare cases, some muscle damage isn't reversible.

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What happens if I miss a week of statins?

You usually have to continue taking statins for life because if you stop taking them, your cholesterol will return to a high level. If you forget to take your dose, do not take an extra one to make up for it. Just take your next dose as usual the following day.

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Why are statins taken at night?

Many statins work more effectively when they are taken at night. This is because the enzyme which makes the cholesterol is more active at night. Also, the half-life, or the amount of time it takes for half the dose to leave your body, of some statins is short.

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When should elderly stop taking statins?

“To patients, we would say that if you regularly take statins for high cholesterol, we would recommend you don't stop the treatment when you are 75,” emphasized lead researcher Philippe Giral, MD, PhD, an endocrinologist and specialist in prevention of CVD.

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