Grapefruit juice can affect some statins and increase your risk of side effects. A doctor may advise you to avoid it completely or only consume small quantities. The doctor will also ask you how much alcohol you drink before prescribing statins.
Food and alcohol
Grapefruit juice can affect some statins and increase your risk of side effects. Your doctor may advise you to avoid it or to only consume it in small quantities. There are no known interactions between statins and alcohol.
Background: Adenosine receptor activation is essential for mediating the IS-limiting effects of statins. Caffeine is a nonspecific adenosine receptor blocker, and thus drinking CC may block the myocardial protective effects of statins.
Side effects can vary between different statins, but common side effects include: headache. dizziness. feeling sick.
Most people don't have side effects from statins, but you shouldn't take them if you're pregnant, nursing or have certain types of liver disease. Let your provider know if you have diabetes. If you're already at risk for diabetes, statins can add to your risk of getting it.
The rule of 6 is that when we double the dose of a statin, we only get another 6% LDL lowering.
So, why do people take statins at night? Many statins work more effectively when they are taken at night. This is because the enzyme which makes the cholesterol is more active at night. Also, the half-life, or the amount of time it takes for half the dose to leave your body, of some statins is short.
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. Rarely, they may cause liver damage.
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.
Within a month of starting statin therapy, they may feel aches or weakness in the large muscles of their arms, shoulders, thighs or buttocks on both sides of the body. About 5 to 10% of people who try statins are affected. It's more common in the elderly, in women and in those taking the more potent statins.
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. A medication's half-life is the time that it takes for the body to process and remove half of the medication.
There is no manufacturer's warning against drinking while on any statin medication, including Lipitor, which is recommended to be taken after dinner or at bedtime.
Is it safe to mix the two? Although taking the two together has no direct risks, both statins and alcohol can impair liver function and cause tissue damage. Mixing alcohol and statins can, therefore, increase the burden on the liver, potentially raising the risk of liver damage or disease.
Statins: Don't eat grapefruit
Grapefruit and other citrus fruits can interfere with how your body metabolizes these medications.
It is fine to take painkillers such as paracetamol, ibuprofen, co-codamol with simvastatin.
Muscle pain from statins might also show up differently for different people. For example, you could feel muscle weakness, soreness, aches, stiffness, or cramps. These side effects can range from mild to severe. The older you are, the more likely you are to experience statin-induced muscle pain.
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.
Initial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of the aorta suggested that statin use might result in atherosclerotic plaque regression as early as 6 months after initiation of therapy [2].
Getting the right amount of sleep, about 7 1/2 hours, seems to prevent this. Plus getting the right amount of sleep will always give you more energy. Cat naps are good for you too. A recent study linked artery health to when you sleep.
Fear of side effects and perceived side effects are the most common reasons for declining or discontinuing statin therapy. Willingness to take a statin is high, among both patients who have declined statin therapy and those who have never been offered one.
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.
Joseph A. Hill, M.D., Ph. D. The controversy in the United Kingdom started in 2013 when the British Medical Journal (BMJ) claimed statins were being overprescribed to people with low risk of heart disease, and that the drugs' side effects were worse than previously thought.
Researchers have found that fat-soluble statins — which include Lipitor, Mevacor, Vytorin and Zocor — are more likely to cause insomnia or nightmares because they can more easily penetrate cell membranes and make their way across the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from chemicals in the blood.
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.
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.