A low-dose statin like atorvastatin (Lipitor®) is safe for most patients, including those with mild liver enzyme abnormalities.
There are many non-statin medications your doctor might prescribe: Bile acid-binding resins, like cholestyramine (Locholest, Prevalite, Questran), colesevelam (WelChol), and colestipol (Colestid) stick to cholesterol-rich bile acids in your intestines and lower your LDL levels.
If you've made lifestyle changes through diet and exercise that have lowered your cholesterol levels, you may not need to continue taking a statin. These changes can help reduce your risk of heart attack, stroke, or blocked arteries while allowing you to take one less medication.
Serious side effects
you get unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, weakness or cramps – these can be signs of muscle breakdown and kidney damage.
If you stop taking your statin medication, like atorvastatin (Lipitor), you could have a higher risk of heart problems, including heart attack and stroke. Your healthcare provider may recommend stopping your statin if you have serious side effects.
A newer drug called Nexletol was approved in 2020 by the FDA to treat high cholesterol, but the new study published in NEJM shows that the drug also reduces the risk of heart disease. Researchers believe this data supports using Nexletol as a safe and effective alternative for many people who cannot take statins.
Specifically, lipophilic statins (those that dissolve more readily in lipids such as oils and fats) may be more effective for preventing liver cancer than hydrophilic statins (those that dissolve more readily in water).
It's possible, although unlikely, that one particular statin may cause side effects for you while another statin won't. It's thought that simvastatin (Zocor) may be more likely to cause muscle pain as a side effect than other statins when it's taken at high doses.
You should not use atorvastatin if you are allergic to it, or if you have liver disease. Do not use if you are pregnant. This medicine can harm an unborn baby. Use effective birth control to prevent pregnancy.
By Lauran Neergaard • Published March 6, 2023
shows the cholesterol-lowering drug Nexletol made by Esperion Therapeutics Inc. Drugs known as statins are the first-choice treatment for high cholesterol but millions of people who can't or won't take those pills because of side effects may have another option.
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.
Your doctor may suggest that you lower your dose or change your medicine. 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.
Atorvastatin every other day significantly reduced total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and LDL-c versus baseline. The TC, TG, and LDL-c levels were lower by 23 per cent, 8 per cent, and 30 per cent. Increase in HDL-c level was not statistically significant. Three patients had drug side effects.
Cholesterol medications that can be cut in half
Many cholesterol medications can also be cut in half. Some examples include: Atorvastatin (Lipitor) Gemfibrozil (Lopid)
Atorvastatin competitively inhibits 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase. By preventing the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate, statin medications decrease cholesterol production in the liver.
Sometimes doctors may recommend taking it in the evening. This is because your body makes most cholesterol at night. If you're not sure when to take your medicine, ask a pharmacist or your doctor for advice. You can take atorvastatin with or without food, but taking it after food may help if it makes you feel sick.
There are many risks associated with taking atorvastatin, so the drug is not as commonly prescribed as it once was. Memory loss, liver damage, type 2 diabetes, and kidney disease are all serious side effects associated with atorvastatin.
Statin use is associated with increased calorie intake and consequent weight gain. It is speculated that statin‐dependent improvements in lipid profile may undermine the perceived need to follow lipid‐lowering and other dietary recommendations leading consequently to increased calorie intake.
We have data now from over 20 statin trials of over 135,000 patients that show statins compared with placebo or no medication result in a 23 percent reduction in heart attacks, 17 percent reduction in fatal or non-fatal stroke and 19 percent reduction in death from cardiovascular causes. So, they definitely work.