Do not reduce your dose without talking to your doctor first. The usual starting dose in children is 10mg each evening. Your child's doctor might increase this after 4 weeks. The dose is based on your child's age, going up to a maximum of 40mg. There's some evidence simvastatin works better at lowering cholesterol if you take it in the evening rather than in the morning.
If you occasionally forget to take a dose, take your next dose the next day at the usual time. Never take 2 doses at the same time. Never take extra doses. If you often forget doses, it may help to set an alarm to remind you.
You could also ask your pharmacist for advice on other ways to help you remember to take your medicine. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor if you're worried or if you take more than 1 extra dose. Simvastatin seems to be a very safe medicine and it's unusual to have side effects.
However, different statins can affect people in different ways. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if side effects bother you or don't go away. They may recommend taking a different statin. One rare but serious side effect is unexplained muscle aches and pains.
This is more likely if you're taking a higher dose of simvastatin - and it can happen a few weeks or months after you first start taking this medicine. Report any unexplained muscle pain, tenderness or weakness to a doctor straight away.
Another very rare side effect can be memory loss. This usually goes away when you stop taking the medicine. It happens rarely, but less than 1 in 1, people taking simvastatin may have a serious side effect. In rare cases, it's possible to have a serious allergic reaction anaphylaxis to simvastatin. These are not all the side effects of simvastatin. For a full list see the leaflet inside your medicines packet. Talk to your doctor if you're planning to become pregnant.
It's best to stop taking simvastatin at least 3 months before you start trying for a baby. If you become pregnant while taking simvastatin, stop taking the medicine and tell your doctor. It's not known if simvastatin passes into breast milk, but it may cause problems for your baby. You may be able to stop taking simvastatin temporarily while you breastfeed.
If you're taking simvastatin and need to take one of these medicines, your doctor may:. St John's wort, a herbal medicine taken for depression , reduces the amount of simvastatin in your blood, so it does not work as well. Talk to your doctor if you're thinking about starting St John's wort, as it will change how well simvastatin works. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you're taking any other medicines, including herbal medicines, vitamins or supplements.
Simvastatin acts on the liver to stop it making cholesterol. This lowers your blood cholesterol level. For the first 12 months on this medicine, you'll be offered a couple of routine tests to make sure your liver is working OK. Your cholesterol levels should drop noticeably within 4 weeks — if you take your medicine regularly, as prescribed. The Internet may also be to blame. Misinformation, coupled with real side effects, can contribute to the "nocebo" effect, a phenomenon where someone is conditioned to anticipate a negative effect from an experience.
The new study concludes that most patients who initially experience statin-related symptoms can actually tolerate long-term use of the drug by either taking a lower dose, or by switching to a different type of statin.
Doctors need to help patients understand why they are on the medications, their treatment options, how the drug works, and possible side effects. Nissen isn't associated with the new research, but wrote an editorial for the journal against " statin denial ".
Statins are generally prescribed for life — with the exception of people who lose a substantial amount of weight through bariatric surgery and experience a dramatic decrease in unhealthy cholesterol levels.
Most doctors agree that high levels of unhealthy cholesterol are primarily influenced by our genes and lifestyle changes alone , while helpful, won't eliminate the risk of heart disease. Diet alone can decrease your bad cholesterol by 15 percent, but that is not the percent reduction that we look for. I am not a pro-chemicals. There must be a side-effect.
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April 15, Print This Page Click to Print. Celiacs Disease. Magazin Intim. European Heart Journal. About cholesterol. American Heart Association. Statin intolerance. Rochester, Minn. Anyanwagu U, et al. Drug-induced diabetes mellitus: Evidence for statins and other drugs affecting glucose metabolism.
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