Lipitor: Calculate if It’s Right for You

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Success Rates and Risks Versus Benefits

“The highest-risk patients derive the greatest benefits from statin drugs,” Nicholls says. Along with elevated LDL and low HDL levels, high-risk patients include those who have had previous heart attacks, smoke, and/or have high blood pressure, diabetes, or a family history of high cholesterol or heart disease.
           
Lipitor, like most statins, typically is taken once a day and begins to show results in two weeks. Within six to eight weeks, patients can expect to see the full effects of the drug, Nicholls says. Doses usually start on the lower end of the scale, at 10 or 20 milligrams.
           
Determining your proper Lipitor dose depends on your risk factors and your cholesterol numbers. The 10-milligram dose lowers LDL an average of 34–38 percent. The 20-milligram dose can reduce LDL cholesterol 42–46 percent. Those who need to decrease their LDL dramatically may start with 40-milligram tablets. Patients who have had heart attacks or have several risk factors may be prescribed a dose as high as 80 milligrams.
           
Two to four weeks after beginning Lipitor, you will need to have your cholesterol and liver enzyme levels checked. At that point your doctor may recommend a change in the dosage or drug. “Each of us processes cholesterol a bit differently,” Nicholls says. “What’s appropriate for one person may not be for the next.”

Side effects versus benefits
Lipitor’s potential side effects include dizziness and muscle aches and pains, with a small risk of muscle damage. There is also the possibility of short-term amnesia, according to Gupta, who specializes in statin research.
           
Daily consumption of alcohol while taking the medication increases the chances of liver damage. Also, drinking grapefruit juice while taking the medication can increase the possibility and severity of side effects.

“When we need to lower LDL cholesterol, statins are the best class of medications to do that,” Nicholls says. “There have been large clinical trials, and we have a large body of evidence about their benefits. These agents have a good safety record.”
           
Along with the potential health benefits of lowering cholesterol, Lipitor has been viewed as standard treatment for those who have a heart attack or stroke, according to Nicholls. “There is evidence that shows statins can lower the risk of heart attacks by reducing inflammation,” he says. “It may also have antioxidant properties and help prevent plaque on artery walls.”  

However, if you need to raise your level of HDL cholesterol, Lipitor may not be the right choice. “Of all the statins, Lipitor is the worst at raising good cholesterol,” Gupta says. “It’ll raise HDL 2 to 3 percent, but there are other drugs that will raise HDL more.”