Why atorvastatin is used

Your doctor will measure your cholesterol levels to see how well atorvastatin is working for you. Your doctor may adjust your dosage depending on your cholesterol levels.

A prescription for this medication is refillable. You should not need a new prescription for this medication to be refilled. Your doctor will write the number of refills authorized on your prescription. This will be done through blood tests. There are other drugs available to treat your condition. Some may be better suited for you than others. Talk to your doctor about other drug options that may work for you.

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Atorvastatin side effects. Atorvastatin may interact with other medications. Atorvastatin warnings. How to take atorvastatin. Take as directed. Important considerations for taking atorvastatin. How should this medicine be used? Other uses for this medicine What special precautions should I follow? What special dietary instructions should I follow?

What should I do if I forget a dose? What side effects can this medication cause? What should I know about storage and disposal of this medication? Brand names Brand names of combination products. Your health care professional will be able to advise whether you should stop taking the medicine during pregnancy and whether you may stop your statin temporarily while breastfeeding.

Patients who are at high risk of heart attack or stroke who require statins after giving birth should not breastfeed and should use alternatives such as infant formula. Health Care Professionals : Health care professionals should discontinue statin therapy in most pregnant patients, or they can consider the ongoing therapeutic needs of the individual patient, particularly those at very high risk for cardiovascular events during pregnancy.

Because of the chronic nature of cardiovascular disease, treatment of hyperlipidemia is not generally necessary during pregnancy.

Discuss with patients whether they may discontinue statins temporarily while breastfeeding. Advise those who require a statin because of their cardiovascular risk that breastfeeding is not recommended because the medicine may pass into breast milk The FDA hopes the revised language in the prescribing information will help reassure health care professionals that statins are safe to prescribe in patients who can become pregnant, and help them reassure patients with unintended statin exposure in early pregnancy or before pregnancy is recognized that the medicine is unlikely to harm the unborn baby.

Other uses for this medicine. What special precautions should I follow? Before taking atorvastatin, tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to atorvastatin, any other medications, or any of the ingredients in atorvastatin tablets.

Ask your pharmacist for a list of the ingredients. Be sure to mention any of the following: antifungal medications such as itraconazole Sporanox and ketoconazole Nizoral ; boceprevir Victrelis ; cimetidine Tagamet ; clarithromycin Biaxin ; cobicistat-containing medications Stribild ; colchicine Colcrys ; digoxin Lanoxin ; efavirenz Sustiva, in Atripla ; oral contraceptives birth control pills ; other cholesterol-lowering medications such as fenofibrate Tricor , gemfibrozil Lopid , and niacin nicotinic acid, Niacor, Niaspan ; certain HIV protease inhibitors such as darunavir Prezista , fosamprenavir Lexiva , lopinavir in Kaletra , nelfinavir Viracept , ritonavir Norvir, in Kaletra , saquinavir Invirase , and tipranavir Aptivus ; medications that suppress the immune system such as cyclosporine Neoral, Sandimmune ; rifampin Rifadin, Rimactane ; spironolactone Aldactone ; and telaprevir Incivek.

Your doctor may need to change the doses of your medications or monitor you carefully for side effects. Other medications may also interact with atorvastatin, so be sure to tell your doctor about all the medications you are taking, even those that do not appear on this list. Your doctor will order laboratory tests to see how well your liver is working even if you do not think you have liver disease. A strong predictor you'll experience muscle aches when taking statins could be whether or not you read about the potential side effect.

Very rarely, statins can cause life-threatening muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis rab-doe-my-OL-ih-sis. Rhabdomyolysis can cause severe muscle pain, liver damage, kidney failure and death. The risk of very serious side effects is extremely low, and calculated in a few cases per million people taking statins. Rhabdomyolysis can occur when you take statins in combination with certain drugs or if you take a high dose of statins.

Occasionally, statin use could cause an increase in the level of enzymes that signal liver inflammation. If the increase is only mild, you can continue to take the drug. Rarely, if the increase is severe, you may need to try a different statin. Although liver problems are rare, your doctor may order a liver enzyme test before or shortly after you begin to take a statin. You wouldn't need any additional liver enzyme tests unless you begin to have signs or symptoms of trouble with your liver.

Contact your doctor immediately if you have unusual fatigue or weakness, loss of appetite, pain in your upper abdomen, dark-colored urine, or yellowing of your skin or eyes. It's possible your blood sugar blood glucose level may increase when you take a statin, which may lead to developing type 2 diabetes. The risk is small but important enough that the Food and Drug Administration FDA has issued a warning on statin labels regarding blood glucose levels and diabetes.

The increase generally occurs when blood sugar levels are already higher than normal and fall in the prediabetes or diabetes range when you begin taking a statin. Statins prevent heart attacks in people with diabetes, so the relevance of the mild increase in sugar values with statins observed in some people is unclear.

The benefit of taking statins likely outweighs the small risk to have the blood sugar level go up. Talk to your doctor if you have concerns. The FDA warns on statin labels that some people have developed memory loss or confusion while taking statins.

These side effects reverse once you stop taking the medication. There is limited evidence to prove a cause-effect relationship, but talk to your doctor if you experience memory loss or confusion while taking statins. There has also been evidence that statins may help with brain function — in people with dementia, for example.

This is still being studied. Don't stop taking your statin medication before talking to your doctor. Not everyone who takes a statin will have side effects, but some people may be at a greater risk than are others. Risk factors include:. Grapefruit juice contains a chemical that can interfere with the enzymes that break down metabolize the statins in your digestive system.

While you won't need to eliminate grapefruit entirely from your diet, ask your doctor about how much grapefruit you can have. There are many drugs that may interact with statins, so be sure your doctor is aware of all the medicines you take when being prescribed with statins. To relieve side effects believed to be caused by statins, your doctor may recommend several options.

Discuss these steps with your doctor before trying them:. Although side effects believed to be caused by statins can be annoying, consider the benefits of taking a statin before you decide to stop taking your medication. Remember that statin medications can reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke, and the risk of life-threatening side effects from statins is very low.

If you have read about the potential side effects of statins, you may be more likely to blame your symptoms on the medication, whether or not they're truly caused by the drug. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.

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