What is Lipitor?

Lipitor is a cholesterol lowering drug that blocks the production of cholesterol (a type of fat) in your body.
Lipitor reduces low-density LDL (lipoprotein) cholesterol and total cholesterol in your blood. Lowering your cholesterol level can help prevent certain heart disease and hardening of your arteries, conditions that can lead to serious heart attack, stroke, or a vascular disease.

Lipitor is usually used for treatment of high cholesterol. Lipitor is also used to lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, or other heart problems in people with type 2 diabetes or coronary heart disease.

Generic Name: atorvastatin (a TOR va sta tin)
Brand Names: Lipitor

If you are about to buy Lipitor, we recommend you to order it in Confident pharmacy. You’ll get qualitative medication and you will save money…

Important information about Lipitor

In rare cases, Lipitor causes a condition that can result in the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue. Sometimes these conditions can lead to kidney failure. You must report your doctor at once if you have unexplained muscle pain, muscle weakness, or tenderness, fever or flu symptoms, and if you have dark colored urine.

Lipitor can cause birth defects in an unborn baby. So you should not use if you are pregnant.Do not use Lipitor if you are pregnant or if you are breast-feeding, or if you have any liver diseases.

Before taking Lipitor, tell your pharmacist if you have diabetes,kidney disease, underactive thyroid, a muscle disorder, or a history of any liver diseases.

Avoid eating foods that are high in fat or cholesterol while taking lipitor. Lipitor will not be as effective in lowering your cholesterol in case you do not follow a cholesterol-lowering diet.

Don’t drink alcohol when taking Lipitor. Alcohol can raise triglyceride levels, and it may also damage your liver while you are using Lipitor.

Some other drugs can interact with Lipitor. Tell your pharmacist about all the prescriptions and over-the-counter medications that you use. This includes minerals, vitamins, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by any other doctors. Do not start taking lipitor without telling your doctor.

Do not start using lipitor if you are allergic to atorvastatin, if you are pregnant or breast-feeding, or if you have liver disease.

If you have any of these conditions, you may need special tests or a dose adjustment to safely take Lipitor. Lipitor can cause birth defects. Do not use Lipitor if you are pregnant. Tell your pharmacist right away if you become pregnant during treatment. Use an effective form of birth control while you are using Lipitor.
Lipitor is not for use in children younger than 10 years of age.

How should I take Lipitor?

You should take Lipitor exactly as it was prescribed. Do not take Lipitor in larger amounts, or take it for a longer period than recommended by your pharmacist. Follow the directions on your prescription label.

Take Lipitor with water. Lipitor can be taken with or without food.

Lipitor is usually taken once a day. Try to take your dose at the same time each day. Follow your pharmacist’s instructions.

In rare cases, Lipitor causes a condition that results in the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue. This condition can lead to kidney failure. Report your doctor at once if you have muscle weakness, unexplained muscle pain or tenderness, fever or flu symptoms or dark colored urine.

Lipitor is only part of a complete treatment that also includes exercises, diet and weight control.

You may need to take Lipitor on a long-term basis for the treatment of a high level of cholesterol.

Lipitor is stores at room temperature. Protecte Lipitor from moisture, heat, and light.

What happens if I miss a dose of Lipitor?

Take the missed dose of Lipitor as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for the next dose, just skip the missed dose and take only the one scheduled dose. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.

Overdosage of Lipitor

An overdose of Lipitor is not expected to produce any life-threatening symptoms but you should Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of Lipitor.

What should I avoid while taking Lipitor?

Avoid eating foods that are high in cholesterol or fat. Lipitor will not be as effective as it can be in lowering your cholesterol if you do not follow your cholesterol-lowering diet plan.

Don’t drink alcohol while taking Lipitor. Alcohol raises triglyceride levels, and may also damage your liver while you take Lipitor.

Note, that grapefruit juice may interact with Lipitor and lead to potentially dangerous effects.

Lipitor side effects

You should get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of allergic reactions: difficulty breathing; hives; swelling of your face, tongue, lips or throat; If you experience tenderness, muscle pain, or weakness with flu or symptoms; stomach pain, nausea, low fever, dark urine, loss of appetite, clay-colored stools, yellowing of the skin or eyes(jaundice).

Less serious Lipitor side effects may include: stomach upset, heartburn, stuffy nose, mild nausea or stomach pain, bloating, headache, constipation,itching and skin rash.

Lipitor interactions.

Many drugs can interact with Lipitor. Report your doctor before starting Lipitor if you are using:
gemfibrozil (Lopid) or fenofibrate (Tricor), digoxin (digitalis, Lanoxin, Lanoxicaps), erythromycin (E-Mycin, Ery-Tab, E.E.S.,) or clarithromycin (Biaxin), an antifungal medication such as itraconazole (Sporanox), or ketoconazole (Nizoral), fluconazole (Diflucan), niacin (Nicolar, Slo-Niacin, Nicobid, others), HIV or AIDS medication such as ritonavir (Norvir), indinavir (Crixivan), lopinavir-ritonavir (Kaletra), nelfinavir (Viracept) or saquinavir (Invirase, Fortovase), drugs that weaken your immune system such as cancer medicine or steroids, tacrolimus (Prograf), cyclosporine (Neoral, Gengraf, Sandimmune), sirolimus (Rapamune), and others.

Common Side Effects of Lipitor

Lipitor has been studied thoroughly in different clinical trials that included thousands of people worldwide. In these studies, side effects that occurre in a group of people who take Lipitor are always documented and compared to the side effects that occur in a similar group of people taking a placebo (a “sugar pill” with no active ingredients). So it is possible to see what side effects occur, how often they appear, and how they compare to the group taking the placebo.

As a result of these studies, a list of the most common Lipitor side effects includes:

1) Headache – 16.7 percent of people
2) Infections – 10.3 percent
3) Muscle pain – 5.6 percent
4) Diarrhea -5.3 percent
5) Joint pain -5.1 percent
6) Inflammation of the sinuses (sinusitis) – 6.4 percent
7) Accidental injury – 4.2 percent.

Other Lipitor side effects that were observed in not more than 4 percent of people included: The flu, Unexplained rash, Back pain, Abdominal pain (stomach pain), Sore throat (pharyngitis), General feeling of weakness (asthenia), Constipation, Allergic reaction, Inflammation of the sinuses (sinusitis).

Some of Lipitor side effects should be reported immediately to your doctor. These include: Muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, especially if you also have a fever or feel ill, since these may be signs of serious breakdown of muscle, known as rhabdomyolysis. Signs of liver damage, such as yellow eyes or skin, upper right abdominal pain, dark urine, and elevated liver enzymes. Significant, unexplained changes in the amount of urine you produce (which may be a sign of kidney problems). Allergic reactions (such as: Wheezing or difficulty breathing, Itching, a rash, hives, Swelling of the tongue, mouth, or throat )

Before you start taking Lipitor, read the Patient Information that comes with it.
Know all the medicines you take. Keep a list of them with you to show your doctor and pharmacist.

You may experience some or none of the Lipitor side effects explained in this article. Unfortunately, there is no way for your doctor to know ahead of time if you will have side effects from Lipitor if you have never tried it.

Therefore, make sure to let your pharmacist know if you develop any side effects during treatment.

If you are about to buy Lipitor, we recommend you to order it in Confident pharmacy. You’ll get qualitative medication and you will save money…