Lipitor (Atorvastatin) for Heart Disease

What Members Say Top Tips Side Effects Copay Help FAQs

Lipitor (atorvastatin) is a prescription medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lower the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and certain other heart-related problems in adults with heart disease or specific risk factors for heart disease.

What Members Say

MHT logo These insights are based on 195 comments about Lipitor from MyHeartDiseaseTeam members. These are the experiences of a small number of people and are not meant to be medical advice.

Benefits:

Cholesterol numbers often improve, including LDL levels.
Once-daily dosing fits easily into a daily routine.
Dose changes can help tailor treatment to cholesterol goals.

Considerations:

Muscle pain, cramps, soreness, and weakness are common concerns.
Higher doses may increase the risk of muscle problems and certain side effects.
Liver enzyme levels and creatine phosphokinase (CPK), an enzyme that can rise with muscle injury, may increase.

How Lipitor Works and How It’s Taken

Lipitor is a type of cholesterol-lowering medicine called a statin. It works by blocking an enzyme the liver uses to make cholesterol. This helps lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, often called “bad” cholesterol, in the blood.

Doctors prescribe Lipitor when adults have the following heart conditions or risk factors:

Coronary heart disease — Lipitor helps lower the risk of heart attacks that do not cause death, strokes that may or may not cause death, procedures to restore blood flow, hospital stays for congestive heart failure, and chest pain (angina).
Several risk factors for coronary heart disease but no diagnosed coronary heart disease — Lipitor helps lower the risk of heart attacks, strokes, procedures to restore blood flow, and chest pain.
Type 2 diabetes and several risk factors for coronary heart disease but no diagnosed coronary heart disease — Lipitor helps lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Lipitor comes as a tablet taken by mouth once daily. It can be taken at any time of day, with or without food.

Typical Dosing for Heart Conditions

The recommended starting dose of Lipitor for adults is 10 milligrams or 20 milligrams once daily.

The recommended dosage range is 10 milligrams to 80 milligrams once daily. Adults who need to lower their LDL cholesterol by more than 45 percent may start with 40 milligrams once daily.

Your healthcare provider may check your LDL cholesterol levels as early as four weeks after starting Lipitor and adjust your dose if needed.

This information is based on prescribing information, but your healthcare provider may tailor your treatment plan. Always follow their guidance.

Top Advice From Members on Lipitor

MHT logo These insights are based on 195 comments about Lipitor from MyHeartDiseaseTeam members. These are the experiences of a small number of people and are not meant to be medical advice.

Members who use Lipitor often say it helps to pay close attention to new symptoms, especially muscle pain, cramps, swelling, or fatigue. Many also describe working with their doctor on dose changes, lab checks, or switching treatments when side effects became hard to manage.

1

Talk to your doctor about new muscle pain or cramps.
“I think Lipitor may be causing my muscle pain and exhaustion. If you have severe muscle pain while taking Lipitor, tell your doctor right away.”
2

Ask your doctor about dose adjustments if side effects are hard to manage.
“My doctor lowered my Lipitor dose, and that helped a lot.”
3

Get blood work when your doctor orders it.
“My CPK level was too high while taking Lipitor. My blood tests also showed elevated liver enzymes, so my doctor adjusted my dose.”

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Lipitor Side Effects

In clinical studies of Lipitor, the most common side effects occurred in about 5 percent to 14 percent of people, depending on the dose. These include:

Nasopharyngitis (cold-like symptoms)
Arthralgia (joint pain)
Diarrhea
Pain in the arms or legs
Urinary tract infection

Serious Side Effects and Warnings

Lipitor can cause serious side effects that may require immediate medical attention. These include:

Myopathy and rhabdomyolysis — These serious muscle injuries can lead to kidney problems.
Immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM) — This rare autoimmune muscle disease can cause ongoing muscle weakness.
Liver injury — This can include hepatitis and, rarely, liver failure, with possible symptoms such as jaundice.
Increased blood sugar, including diabetes — Blood sugar and hemoglobin A1c may increase.
Increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke — Bleeding in the brain may be more likely in people with a recent history of stroke.

Get medical help right away if you think you are having a serious reaction.

How To Save on Lipitor

Viatris, the manufacturer of Lipitor, offers the Lipitor Savings Card. Eligible people with commercial insurance may pay as little as $4 per monthly prescription fill.

The card also offers savings of up to $150 per fill, with a maximum benefit of $1,800 per calendar year.

To learn more, visit the Lipitor Savings Card website or call 800-314-7957.

What To Know Before Taking Lipitor

Before starting Lipitor, your doctor may do blood tests to check your liver enzymes.

Before taking Lipitor, tell your doctor if you:

Have unexplained muscle aches or weakness
Drink more than two glasses of alcohol daily
Have diabetes
Have thyroid problems
Have kidney problems
Have had a stroke

Tell your doctor about all medicines you take, including prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Some medicines can interact with Lipitor and increase the risk of side effects.

Avoid drinking more than 1.2 liters of grapefruit juice each day because it can increase the risk of serious muscle problems.

Do not take Lipitor if you:

Have acute liver failure or decompensated cirrhosis (severe liver conditions)
Are allergic to atorvastatin or any ingredient in Lipitor

Lipitor is also FDA-approved to treat:

Primary hyperlipidemia — Used along with diet to lower bad (LDL) cholesterol in adults
Heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) — Used along with diet to lower bad cholesterol in adults and children ages 10 and older with this inherited condition
Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) — Used with other cholesterol-lowering treatments, or alone if these treatments are unavailable, to lower bad cholesterol in adults and children ages 10 and older with this inherited condition
Primary dysbetalipoproteinemia — Used along with diet to treat adults with this inherited condition that causes high levels of cholesterol and fats in the blood
Hypertriglyceridemia — Used along with diet to treat adults with high levels of triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood

If you miss a dose of Lipitor, skip the missed dose and take your next dose at the regular time. Do not take two doses at once.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Lipitor may harm a developing baby. If you become pregnant while taking Lipitor, stop taking it and contact your doctor right away.

Breastfeeding is not recommended during Lipitor treatment because of the potential risk to your baby. Talk to your doctor about whether to continue Lipitor or breastfeed. You should not do both.

Community FAQs

These answers are fact-checked by our editorial staff.

How effective is Lipitor for heart conditions?

Lipitor helps lower the risk of certain heart and blood vessel problems in adults with coronary heart disease. These include heart attacks that do not cause death, strokes that may or may not cause death, procedures to restore blood flow, hospital stays for congestive heart failure, and chest pain (angina).

In a study of 10,001 people with coronary heart disease, Lipitor 80 milligrams reduced the relative risk of major heart and blood vessel events by 22 percent compared with Lipitor 10 milligrams. People were followed for a median of 4.9 years.

In another study of 4,731 people who had recently experienced a stroke or a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain (transient ischemic attack), Lipitor 80 milligrams reduced the rate of strokes caused by blocked blood flow (ischemic strokes) to 9.2 percent, compared with 11.6 percent in those taking a placebo (an inactive treatment). People were followed for a median of 4.9 years.

However, strokes caused by bleeding in the brain (hemorrhagic strokes) occurred more often with Lipitor 80 milligrams, affecting 2.3 percent of people compared with 1.4 percent taking placebo.

How long does Lipitor take to work for heart conditions?

Lipitor generally starts lowering cholesterol within two weeks, with its greatest cholesterol-lowering effect usually reached within four weeks.

Your doctor may check your bad (LDL) cholesterol as early as four weeks after starting treatment and adjust your dose if needed.

Although Lipitor helps lower the risk of certain heart and blood vessel problems, these studies do not establish exactly when these benefits begin.

Does Lipitor interact with other medicines?

Yes. Lipitor can interact with certain medicines. Some interactions can increase the risk of serious muscle problems, including muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis), which can lead to kidney damage. These include:

Certain antibiotics — These include clarithromycin and erythromycin.
Certain antifungal medicines — These include itraconazole, ketoconazole, posaconazole, and voriconazole.
Certain antiviral medicines — These include some medicines used to treat HIV and hepatitis C.
Other cholesterol-lowering medicines — These include gemfibrozil, other fibrates, and high doses of niacin.
Colchicine — This medicine is used to treat gout.
Cyclosporine — This medicine reduces the activity of the immune system.
Rifampin — This antibiotic may lower the amount of Lipitor in the blood.
Digoxin — Lipitor may increase digoxin levels in the blood.
Certain birth control pills — Lipitor may increase the levels of some hormones in these medicines.

Some combinations are not recommended, while others may require a lower Lipitor dose or closer monitoring.

Drinking large amounts of grapefruit juice, more than 1.2 liters daily, can also increase the risk of serious muscle problems.

Before taking Lipitor, tell your doctor about all prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements you use. Do not change or stop any medicine without talking to your doctor.