Take atorvastatin once a day. You can choose to take it at any time, as long as you stick to the same time every day. This prevents your blood levels from becoming too high or too low. Sometimes doctors may recommend taking it in the evening.
While it is typically recommended to take short-acting statins at night, long-acting statins like atorvastatin can be taken at any time of the day.
To maximize the effects of statins with a short half-life, fluvastatin, lovastatin, and simvastatin should be dosed at bedtime allowing the greatest drug concentration to be present during peak endogenous cholesterol synthesis.
The top-selling statins are atorvastatin (Lipitor), lovastatin (Mevacor), rosuvastatin (Crestor) and simvastatin (Zocor). How they can cause insomnia: The most common side effect of all types of statins is muscle pain, which can keep people who take them awake at night and unable to rest.
You can choose to take it at any time, as long as you stick to the same time every day. This prevents your blood levels from becoming too high or too low. Sometimes doctors may recommend taking it in the evening. This is because your body makes most cholesterol at night.
Serious side effects
you get unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, weakness or cramps – these can be signs of muscle breakdown and kidney damage.
Reports of increased daytime urination were similarly higher. The odds of a statin-user reporting nocturia appeared to be greatest among those taking lovastatin (Mevacor), followed by rosuvastatin (Crestor), simvastatin (Zocor), pravastatin (Pravachol), and lastly, atorvastatin (Lipitor).
dizziness. feeling sick. feeling unusually tired or physically weak. digestive system problems, such as constipation, diarrhoea, indigestion or farting.
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.
5. The cholesterol-lowering action of alternate-day statins is as effective as daily dosing in many individuals.
BP-lowering effects of atorvastatin were consistent in both daytime and nighttime periods. This study shows a mild, but consistent throughout the 24-h period BP-lowering effect of atorvastatin in patients with mild hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia.
Atorvastatin is in a class of medications called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins). It works by slowing the production of cholesterol in the body to decrease the amount of cholesterol that may build up on the walls of the arteries and block blood flow to the heart, brain, and other parts of the body.
Atorvastatin has an average rating of 4.2 out of 10 from a total of 284 reviews on Drugs.com. 28% of reviewers reported a positive experience, while 57% reported a negative experience.
Does atorvastatin cause weight gain? Atorvastatin does not cause weight gain as a side effect. However, some researchers have noted a link between statin medications and weight gain. While there are many potential reasons for this, one belief is that this association is due to moral hazard.
Statin Warning Signs
Excessive thirst or having to urinate frequently. Severe confusion or memory impairment.
These signs typically appear within the first few months of statin therapy. Other symptoms might include muscle cramps, stiffness and spasm. Researchers have linked a particularly severe form of myopathy called rhabdomyolysis to the use of statins.
Some reports have found an increased risk of cataracts from statin use, while others showed no association or even a protective effect. One possible mechanism may be statins' bidirectional effects on oxidation processes, including a possible mitochondrial effect that may increase the risk of cataracts.
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.
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.
Atorvastatin is safe to take for a long time, even many years.