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How to Choose a Statin for High Cholesterol

Statin medications are used to lower cholesterol. They block cholesterol and help your body reabsorb cholesterol that has accumulated as plaque in your arteries. Some examples of statins include: atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor), lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin (Pravachol), and rosuvastatin (Crestor). Each of these medications lowers cholesterol by at least 20 percent, and lowers blood levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, which is the bad cholesterol. They increase HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, the good cholesterol. They relax blood vessels, improve blood flow to the heart, prevent clotting, and reduce inflammation and plaque that forms in the arteries. Although different brands of statins do nearly the same thing, one may work better for you than another.

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Instructions

  1. How to Choose a Statin

    • 1

      Choose a statin that lowers LDL cholesterol. But also consider if you can afford a particular brand. Statins vary in price. If your LDL cholesterol is not a problem, then you can choose any of the statin drugs. But if your LDL is high, you may want a more potent formula found in atorvastatin or rosuvastatin.

    • 2

      Ask your doctor if you should combine a statin within other types of cholesterol-lowering drugs such as ezetimibe (Zetia). Ezetimibe blocks your body’s ability to absorb cholesterol. If you are not able to lower your LDL with a statin alone, your doctor may suggest that you add ezetimibe, or switch to a combination ezetimibe and simvastatin medication (Vytorin). This combination of medicines should drop your LDL level by another 15 to 20 percent.

    • 3

      Ask your doctor if you should combine your statin with niacin, a B vitamin. There is an extended-release prescription dosage of niacin (Niaspan) that is used for this purpose and raises HDL levels.

      If you have both high LDL and high triglycerides, you may benefit from adding the prescription niacin, or combining the statin with a fibric acid drug such as fenofibrate (TriCor) or gemfibrozil (Lopid).

      Consider taking a medication that combines both simvastatin and niacin (Simcor), or lovastatin and niacin (Advicor). This way you won’t have to take so many pills. You could suffer muscle problems from this combination, so your doctor may lower your dose of statins to less than 20mg.

    • 4

      Consider taking fish oil supplements to supplement your statin therapy. Fibrates, such as fenofibrate and gemfibrozil, and Lovaza, a prescription-strength dosage of fish-oil, are prescribed for people with high triglyceride levels. Fish oil (omega-3 fatty acid) supplements such as Lovaza in 2g to 4g doses can also help lower triglycerides.

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