Atorvastatin

Atorvastatin (generic Lipitor^®) is a widely used prescription statin medication. It’s primarily used to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events**, such as heart attack and stroke, in people with high cholesterol or heart disease.

Atorvastatin works by reducing cholesterol production in the liver. It doesn’t have a direct role in weight management, but it’s sometimes prescribed alongside weight-loss treatments to people with obesity-related conditions like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arteries) to reduce cardiovascular risk factors.

Common side effects can include joint pain, digestive issues, insomnia, and pain in the extremities.

**The use of statins for cardiovascular risk reduction is a topic of ongoing debate, particularly in people at low or moderate risk.

Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) is indicated:

• To reduce the risk of:

  • Myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, revascularization procedures, and angina in adults with multiple risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) but without clinically evident CHD

  • MI and stroke in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus with multiple risk factors for CHD but without clinically evident CHD

  • Non-fatal MI, fatal and non-fatal stroke, revascularization procedures, hospitalization for congestive heart failure, and angina in adults with clinically evident CHD

• As an adjunct to diet to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) in:

  • Adults with primary hyperlipidemia

  • Adults and pediatric patients aged 10 years and older with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH)

• As an adjunct to other LDL-C-lowering therapies to reduce LDL-C in adults and pediatric patients aged 10 years and older with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia

• As an adjunct to diet for the treatment of adults with:

  • Primary dysbetaliproteinemia

  • Hypertriglyceridemia

HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (statin)

Most common adverse reactions (incidence ≥5%) are:

• Inflammation of the nose and throat

• Joint pain

• Diarrhea

• Pain in extremity

• Urinary tract infection

The cost of atorvastatin varies depending on factors such as the dosage, quantity, where you buy it, and your insurance plan. Without insurance, atorvastatin costs about $124 for a month’s supply of 40-milligram tablets, but coupons are available to bring down the price as low as about $8.

Health insurance plans may cover some or all of the cost of this medication.

• Acute liver failure or decompensated cirrhosis

• Hypersensitivity to atorvastatin or any excipient in Lipitor

• Drug interactions: rifampin, oral contraceptives, digoxin, see full prescribing information for details regarding concomitant use of Lipitor with other drugs or grapefruit juice that increase the risk of myopathy and rhabdomyolysis

• Myopathy and rhabdomyolysis

• Immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM)

• Liver dysfunction

*This information is from the label for brand name Lipitor^®. See the Full Prescribing Information for more complete information. Atorvastatin the active ingredient in Lipitor, may also be the active ingredient in other medications, and this information may not be accurate for all medications that include the active ingredient atorvastatin.