How long does atorvastatin take to work

Lipitor should always be taken in conjunction with a diet to lower your cholesterol and triglycerides. Store the tablets at a controlled room temperature that's ideally 68 to 77 degrees F. If you miss a dose of Lipitor, take it as soon as you remember. But if it has been more than 12 hours since the missed dose, skip it and just take your next scheduled dose.

Do not take two doses at once. If you take too much Lipitor or overdose, seek immediate medical care. As with all drugs and all statins, Lipitor comes with the risk of side effects. Some can be serious or require treatment, so it's important to be aware of them. If you are experiencing any side effects from taking Lipitor that become prolonged or bothersome, you should let your healthcare provider know.

Some people experience allergic reactions to atorvastatin. If you experience any signs of allergic reaction, seek urgent medical attention. There are also rare but serious side effects that affect skeletal muscles. Lipitor can cause muscle myopathy muscle disease that causes muscle aches or weakness and rhabdomyolysis muscle breakdown. There have also been cases of rhabdomyolysis that lead to kidney problems, including kidney failure, while taking Lipitor.

If you experience any unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, soreness, or weakness, especially if it is accompanied with malaise and fever, notify your healthcare provider right away. Your dosage of Lipitor may need to be lowered or stopped. Your risk of experiencing rhabdomyolysis can increase if you are taking other medications or are older than While you are taking Lipitor, your healthcare provider will have you come in periodically for blood tests to monitor your cholesterol levels and to check if your dosage needs to be adjusted.

You may also need to be monitored more closely if you have certain medical conditions that could be aggravated by taking the medication or increase the risk of side effects.

If you have any of the following conditions, your healthcare provider may decide to start you on a lower dose of Lipitor and will need to monitor you to determine whether or not taking Lipitor will be potentially harmful to you:.

Lipitor may also need to be temporarily withheld or discontinued with certain conditions that can lead to myopathy or kidney failure with rhabdomyolysis. This may include the following:. Lipitor can cause liver problems, so tell your healthcare provider if you drink alcohol daily. You may need blood tests to check your liver.

Do not drink grapefruit juice while taking this medication since it can impair your body's ability to metabolize the drug and increase blood concentrations of Lipitor. Drugs and supplements can also interact with Lipitor, and some can increase the likelihood of experiencing side effects, especially myopathy. If you are taking any of these drugs with Lipitor, your healthcare provider may need to adjust your dose, monitor you more closely for side effects, or discontinue one of the drugs:.

Looking to start a diet to better manage your cholesterol? Changing lifelong eating habits can be scary at first, but our guide will make it easier. Atorvastatin treatment and LDL cholesterol target attainment in patients at very high cardiovascular risk. Clin Res Cardiol. Statin treatment in multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

CNS Drugs. Current and emerging uses of statins in clinical therapeutics: a review. Lipid Insights. Food and Drug Administration. Highlights of prescribing information: Lipitor. Updated June Statin-induced rhabdomyolysis: a comprehensive review of case reports. Physiother Can. Statins are cholesterol-lowering drugs. Some statins work best in the evening while others work just as well in the morning. The best time to take statins depends on the specific drug.

There are several different types of statin on the market, which the body may process differently. People may need to take some statins at specific times of the day to get the most benefit from them. In this article, we look at the effects of statins at different times of the day and discuss the best times to take certain types. We also cover side effects and how a person can choose the right statin to suit their needs. They reduce the levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood. LDL cholesterol, which people sometimes refer to as bad cholesterol, can build up in the arteries and form plaque.

This plaque can block blood flow in the arteries, leading to heart attack and stroke. Statins block an enzyme in the liver that makes cholesterol, which reduces the risk of plaque buildup. Statins may also help the body remove cholesterol that has started to accumulate in the arteries. Conversely, high-density lipoprotein HDL , or good, cholesterol can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Doctors consider HDL cholesterol to be beneficial because it can transport other forms of cholesterol from the blood to the liver, which helps the body get rid of bad cholesterol. It is important that a person taking statins follows the advice of their prescribing doctor regarding the time of day to take them.

The recommended time, which is something that a person should discuss with their doctor, will vary depending on the type of statin.

A systematic review found that short-acting statins worked best when people took them in the evening. The people who took these statins toward the end of the day had lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels compared with the people who took them in the morning. Another review came to the same conclusion. Short-acting statins work better at night because the liver enzyme that produces cholesterol is more active at this time.

Most short-acting statins have a half-life of 6 hours. It takes longer for the body to process long-acting statins, which may have a half-life of up to 19 hours. The two reviews above noted that long-acting statins worked equally well whether a person took them in the morning or the evening. Therefore, people taking long-acting statins can choose which time of the day best suits them.

The authors recommend that people using long-acting statins take them at a time of day that is easy for them to remember. It is important to be consistent with the timing of doses, so if a person prefers to take statins in the morning, they should take them in the morning every day.

People who are taking statins may need to take them indefinitely. In many cases, when a person stops taking statins, their cholesterol levels increase again. Some people might be able to stop taking statins or reduce their dosage if they significantly lower their risk of heart disease.

A person may do this by losing a significant amount of weight, quitting smoking , or making other major lifestyle changes that improve their health. Even in these cases though, a person should talk to a doctor before they stop taking statins or any other medications. Usually, treatment with a statin such as atorvastatin is for life. 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. You may have read negative stories about statins, but they're thought to be very safe, effective medicines. Statins are thought to have very few side effects. Sometimes the side effects that people report aren't related to their medicine.

However, if you're concerned about the safety of statins, talk to your doctor. Atorvastatin is safe to take for a long time, even many years. In fact, it works best when you take it for a long time. No, there's no evidence that atorvastatin is addictive. You won't get any withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking it. You may want to stop atorvastatin if you think you're having side effects.

Talk to your doctor first to see if it really is a side effect of atorvastatin or an unrelated problem. Your doctor may decide to lower your dose or change your medicine. You won't 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.

There's some interest in taking CoQ10 together with statins. However there's no firm evidence that taking CoQ10 at the same time as atorvastatin will benefit your health. More research is needed. If you decide to take a CoQ10 supplement, tell your doctor or pharmacist. Supplements can interfere with other medicines you may also be taking. If you're at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, taking statins may slightly increase this risk. This is because statins can raise your blood sugar a little.

Speak to your doctor, who will be able to explain how the benefits of taking statins are likely to outweigh this small increased risk. If you already have type 2 diabetes, your doctor may advise monitoring your blood sugar levels more closely for the first few months. Tell your doctor or diabetes nurse if you find it harder to control your blood sugar. Statins all work in the same way, but they differ in how well they lower cholesterol. There are several other statin medicines for lowering your cholesterol, including:.

If you have a side effect with one statin, it may not happen with another. Some medicines do not mix well with one statin, but you can take them with a different one. Your doctor will find the right statin and dose for you, depending on your medical history, cholesterol level and the other medicines you take. There's no firm evidence to suggest that taking atorvastatin will reduce fertility in either men or women. However, speak to a pharmacist or your doctor before taking it if you're trying to get pregnant.

For women, atorvastatin may slightly increase the hormones released into your system from some contraceptive pills. You will still be protected from pregnancy, but this could increase your chances of side effects from contraceptive pills.

However, drinking a lot of alcohol may mean you're more likely to get muscle and liver side effects. Try not to drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week. A standard glass of wine ml is 2 units. A pint of lager or beer is usually 2 to 3 units of alcohol. It's best not to have too much grapefruit juice when taking atorvastatin. Drinking lots of grapefruit juice more than about a litre a day can interfere with the way this medicine works.

It increases the concentration of atorvastatin in your system. Reducing your cholesterol may mean you don't need to be prescribed a statin medicine. There are lifestyle changes you can make that will help lower your cholesterol:. Page last reviewed: 19 December Next review due: 19 December Atorvastatin On this page About atorvastatin Key facts Who can and cannot take atorvastatin How and when to take it Side effects How to cope with side effects Pregnancy and breastfeeding Cautions with other medicines Common questions.

About atorvastatin Atorvastatin belongs to a group of medicines called statins. Help us improve our website Can you answer a quick question about your visit today? It's usual to take atorvastatin once a day. The most common side effects are headaches, feeling sick nausea , diarrhoea and cold-like symptoms. Do not take atorvastatin if you're pregnant, trying to get pregnant or breastfeeding.

Keep taking atorvastatin even if you feel well, as you will still be getting the benefits. Most people with high cholesterol don't have any symptoms.

Atorvastatin is also called by the brand name Lipitor. Tell your doctor if you : have had an allergic reaction to atorvastatin or any other medicines in the past have liver or kidney problems are trying to get pregnant, think you might be pregnant, you're already pregnant, or you're breastfeeding have severe lung disease have previously had a stroke caused by bleeding into the brain drink large amounts of alcohol have an underactive thyroid have had muscular side effects when taking a statin in the past have had, or have, a muscle disorder including fibromyalgia Lipitor chewable tablets contain a substance called aspartame - check with your doctor before taking these if you have phenylketonuria a rare inherited disorder of protein metabolism.

Dosage The usual dose for adults is between 10mg and 80mg a day.