What is the downside of atorvastatin?

While statins are highly effective and safe for most people, they have been linked to muscle pain, digestive problems and mental fuzziness in some people who take them and may rarely cause liver damage.

What is the most serious side effect of atorvastatin?

Researchers have linked a particularly severe form of myopathy called rhabdomyolysis to the use of statins. With this potentially life-threatening complication, muscle tissue dies and products of the damaged cells can enter the bloodstream. Some of these products are toxic to the kidneys and may lead to kidney failure.

Why you should not take atorvastatin?

Statins such as atorvastatin (Lipitor) can cause digestive problems, blood sugar problems, muscle aches and stiffness, muscle injury, kidney damage, or liver damage. Some people need to stop taking this medicine if these problems occur.

What is the best cholesterol medication with the least side effects?

In the analysis of 135 previous studies, which included nearly 250,000 people combined, researchers found that the drugs simvastatin (Zocor) and pravastatin (Pravachol) had the fewest side effects in this class of medications. They also found that lower doses produced fewer side effects in general.

What should I avoid when taking atorvastatin?

A: While taking atorvastatin (Lipitor), avoid high-fat and high-cholesterol foods as part of your overall treatment. You should avoid large quantities of grapefruit or grapefruit juice, which can increase the risk of serious side effects. Also, avoid excess alcohol use, as this may cause serious liver problems.

Statin Side Effects | Atorvastatin, Rosuvastatin, Simvastatin Side Effects

Can I drink coffee while taking atorvastatin?

Your morning coffee may make Lipitor less effective

That's because caffeine is a nonspecific adenosine receptor blocker. Adenosine receptor activation is essential for Lipitor to work. Meaning, your daily joe may make it less effective. Talk with your healthcare provider about your caffeine consumption.

What can I take instead of statins to lower cholesterol?

Why do doctors push statins?

Statins are the go-to treatment option for lowering cholesterol levels and risk of cardiovascular complications, like heart attack and stroke. Statins work by slowing down cholesterol production and enabling the liver to remove low-density lipoproteins (LDL), or “bad cholesterol,” from the bloodstream.

Which statin has the least amount of side effects 2021?

According to a research review people who take simvastatin (Zocor) or pravastatin (Pravachol) may experience fewer side effects.

What is the best natural alternative to statins?

Do statins shorten your life?

A controversial new study found that high cholesterol does not shorten life span and that statins are essentially a “waste of time,” according to one of the researchers. Previous studies have linked statins with an increased risk of diabetes.

Do statins cause more harm than good?

Researchers warn that unless a patient is at high risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke, statins may cause more harm than good'.

Can you get off statins Once you start?

It's possible for some people to stop taking statins safely, but it can be especially risky for others. For instance, if you have a history of heart attack or stroke, it's not recommended that you stop taking these drugs. This is because you're more likely to have another such problem when you discontinue statins.

What damage can atorvastatin cause?

summarized several forms of side effects attributed to the use of atorvastatin, including hepatocellular injury, cholestatic injury, mixed pattern of atorvastatin-associated hepatocellular and cholestatic injury, autoimmune-type reaction and fulminant liver failure [2].

Which cholesterol drug is safest?

Fortunately, most side effects are mild and disappear promptly when the statin is stopped. In some cases, the problems will resolve simply by reducing the dose or switching to another statin, but care is required. Still, all in all, the statins are the safest and best tolerated of all cholesterol-lowering medications.

Does atorvastatin cause dementia?

The researchers found no evidence that using statins caused memory loss or dementia. In fact, there was some evidence that long-term statin use may protect against dementia.

What is the first drug of choice for cholesterol?

Statins. What they are: These are usually the first type of drug that doctors prescribe to lower LDL. They also lower triglycerides, which are another type of blood fat, and mildly raise your "good" (HDL) cholesterol.

What vitamins should not be taken with statins?

Niacin. Niacin, vitamin B3, is a supplement and prescription medication that can interact with atorvastatin. The interaction can increase the chance of myopathy and rhabdomyolysis. The risk of an interaction is typically with higher doses of niacin (> 1 gram per day).

Is there an alternative to statins?

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.

What is considered dangerously high cholesterol?

A person is considered at high risk for developing heart disease if their total cholesterol level is higher than 240 mg/dL, LDL levels are higher than 160 mg/dL (190 mg/dL is even higher risk), and if the HDL level is below 40 mg/dL.

Do I really need a statin?

If your risk is very low, you probably won't need a statin, unless your LDL is above 190 mg/dL (4.92 mmol/L). If your risk is very high — for example, you've had a heart attack in the past — a statin may be helpful even if you don't have high cholesterol.

Do statins unclog arteries?

March 13, 2006 (Atlanta) -- For the first time, a popular cholesterol-lowering statin drug has been shown to actually clear plaque out of fat-clogged heart arteries.

Is it OK to take atorvastatin every other day?

Conclusions: In hypercholesterolemia patients, atorvastatin 10 mg every other day is safe and effective in lowering TC, TG, with LDL-c and a slight increase in HDL-c.

What are the warning signs of high cholesterol?

Is there a better statin than atorvastatin?

This study compiled results from 50 randomized, clinical trials, and compared other statin drugs like fluvastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin, and lovastatin. Rosuvastatin had the highest potency for lowering LDL levels in the study.