Combination For Statin Drugs

Combination Statin drugs interact with any other medication the patient may be taking. Sometimes, statin drugs interact in a bad way with other drugs. Sometimes, they interact in a good way. Often, the interaction between statin drugs and other drugs may have a beneficial result, but have a high risk of other problems occurring. For this reason, some medication combinations should not be used long-term.

• Taking statins with some antibiotics or with cyclosporin can increase the effect of the statins. However, it can also increase the risk of muscle damage.
• Taking statins with gemfibrozil may increase the risk of damage to the muscles.
• When atorvastatin and simvastatin is taken with Coumadin, the effect of Coumadin may be increased. Blood thinning may occur and blood levels of digoxin may be increased.
• Although it is not a drug, when taking grapefruit, statin drugs may be affected. It can increase the effectiveness of statins. However, it can also cause muscle damage when taken with statins.
• Statin drugs have a blood-thinning effect. This is beneficial as it reduces the risk of the patient suffering a stroke, but when statin drugs are taken with other blood-thinning drugs, it could cause the blood to become too thin. Strokes can be caused from blood clotting or blocking, but they can also be caused from excessive bleeding. Statin drugs and bleeding strokes have been linked (when they are taken in conjunction with another type of blood-thinning drug).

For Whom Statin Drugs are Advisable

Fromt the Statin drugs list; satin drugs -are prescribed for people with high cholesterol levels. Before prescribing satin drugs for a patient, a doctor will generally ask the patient to make lifestyle changes first. It is only if those lifestyle changes do not lower the cholesterol levels that cholesterol-lowering drugs (like statins) will be prescribed. In order to decide which medication would be appropriate, the doctor will look at the following factors:

• Whether the patient has diabetes;
• Whether the patient has hypertension;
• Whether the patient smokes;
• What the patient’s HDL-cholesterol (good cholesterol) levels are;
• What the patient’s general health is like;
• What the patient’s blood pressure is;
• Whether the patient is overweight;

Whether the patient has a family history of coronary heart disease

The Cost of Statin Drugs

The cost of statin drugs depends on which type of statin drugs have been prescribed. Lovastatin is available in a generic form. Fluvastatin is one of the cheapest statin drugs. Atorvastatin and simvastatin are two of the most expensive types of statin drugs. In general, statin drugs for a year can cost between $900 and $1400. However, some or most of this cost may be covered by health insurance companies or public health benefits.

Before taking any statin drugs, it is worthwhile educating yourself about the dangers of statin drugs and any possible side effects. Talk to your doctor about the type of statin drugs that he or she wants to prescribe for you. Tell your doctor if you would prefer take another type of statin drug from the statin drugs list. They may be willing to change it providing there is no reason for them not to do so.

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