Artovastatin

[grandmasunflower]

I'm on Artovastatin 40mg & my doctor is wanting me to double it to 80mg a day. My last cholesterol count was 5.1 & the doctor is now saying it needs to be under 4 whereas previously it was 5. I started on a lower dose but after bumping my car due to the side effects making me so spaced out, I found taking it at night time worked better for me. I'm now reluctant to double it to maximum dosage, as I'm concerned about the side effects as I do become intolerant to a lot of drugs. Should I stick to my gut feeling if not increasing?


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[grandmasunflower]

Should I stick to my gut feeling if not increasing? It should read 'should I stick to my gut feeling of not increasing'?


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[masonbason63]

I'm on 40mg now getting readings of 4. 3 ish I thought statins were meant to be taken at night, I know atorvistatin is meant to be, you didn't mention what other drugs your taking. I've not (or have not noticed any side effects) on this amount . Not sure what maximum dose you can take but doubling it seems a bit radical I would say 10mg increments at a time and when I originally increased mine from 10mg to 40 I done it over 3 months at a time as GP said it's more accurate readings


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[JeanBBell]

I have been taking simvastatin for a few months now. You are right Masonbason63 that they should always be taken at night.
However, I am going to stop taking it and step up (literally) efforts to reduce cholesterol with diet and exercise. Recently I have been feeling dizzy and developed achy pains in my hips and shoulders that are not triggered by any particular activity. Reading around about statins these are possible side effects.
Grandmasunflower, I think you should talk about your spaced out feelings with the GP before you increase the dose.

 

[brianalmond]

I'm on Artovastatin 40mg & my doctor is wanting me to double it to 80mg a day. My last cholesterol count was 5.1 & the doctor is now saying it needs to be under 4 whereas previously it was 5. I started on a lower dose but after bumping my car due to the side effects making me so spaced out, I found taking it at night time worked better for me. I'm now reluctant to double it to maximum dosage, as I'm concerned about the side effects as I do become intolerant to a lot of drugs. Should I stick to my gut feeling if not increasing?
Hi, I am on Atorvastatin 20mg once a day.The instructions on the box says take at night.I recently had blood test and the day after was asked to return to the surgery the day after for a another blood test (the one where you starve for 12hrs). A few days later I saw my g.p. again and asked what it was all about.She tutted and said the first test had shown a reading of 5.3 and the limit was 5.0.A case of computer says no I think ! My reading has dropped to 4.3 so the doc was happy to leave me on 20mg daily.I think you must be guided by your own circumstances and advice from the doc,but I think 80mg a day is a bit much.Personally what i did was cut out butter from my diet ,although I do miss it..I,m on olive oil spread now and its not that bad.Good luck in the future.

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[noblehead]

Difficult call and only you can decide unfortunately.

 

[grandmasunflower]

Thank you, I thought it was a bit radical doubling up, 80mg is the max dose. I wasn't told to take it at night when I first started the astoravastatin & learnt the hard way. I've been on a low fat, low carb diet forever (it feels like), there isn't anything else I can cut down on or cut out. Possibly portion size of my evening meal?

I think I will stay on 40mg, as I'm not sure this is the right time to mess my statin levels as my basal has just changed and I'm not certain if it agrees with me, as I am back to feeling like a ton weight is on my fore head and wading through treacle all the time.

Thank you for all your good advice, support & suggestions


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[Totto]

I haven't so far found any solid evidence that statins are worth bothering with at all if you are female. Nor that the total cholesterol is worth paying attention to. What does you cholesterol break down look like? Triglycerides, HDL and LDL?

Oh, and I shouldn't worry about fat. Good fats might raise your cholesterol but mainly because the healthy part (HDL) goes up and that is exactly what we want. My last HDL was 1.8 and triglycerides 0.8 on a high fat diet. And low carb, obviously.