| Generally, Atorvastatin works within 2 weeks. The full effect is usually seen within 4 weeks and lasts as long as you continue taking it. Always take Atorvastatin as directed by your healthcare professional. A high blood cholesterol is said to promote atherosclerosis and thus also coronary heart disease. But many studies have shown that people whose blood cholesterol is low become just as atherosclerotic as people whose cholesterol is high. Atorvastatin is a prescription drug in one of the newest classes of cholesterol-lowering medications, called statins. These drugs have been used widely for the last five years. For people with high cholesterol, Atorvastatin, in combination with a low-fat diet, can reduce your LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. How does Atorvastatin work? Generally, Atorvastatin works within 2 weeks. The full effect is usually seen within 4 weeks and lasts as long as you continue taking it. Always take Atorvastatin as directed by your healthcare professional. Your body produces three to four times more cholesterol than you eat. The production of cholesterol increases when you eat little cholesterol and decreases when you eat much. This explains why the ”prudent” diet cannot lower cholesterol more than on average a few per cent. How long does it take Atorvastatin to work? Atorvastatin is generally well tolerated and side effects are usually mild. In studies, the most common side effects associated with Atorvastatin were constipation, flatulence, indigestion, and abdominal pain. If you are prescribed Atorvastatin, your healthcare professional may want to conduct routine blood tests to check your liver function before and after starting treatment. Be sure to tell your healthcare professional if you have any allergies to food or medication. Also, report promptly any unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, particularly if accompanied by discomfort or fever, as these symptoms may be signs of serious side effects. If you take Atorvastatin with certain other medicines, they may affect one another. Atorvastatin may interact with certain other cholesterol-lowering drugs, some antibiotics, and antifungal medications. It may also interact with less-frequently prescribed medications as immunosuppressives (given after transplants). Be sure to tell your doctor or pharmacist about all prescription and nonprescription drugs you are taking. Cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substance vital to the cells of all mammals. There are no such things as good or bad cholesterol, but mental stress, physical activity and change of body weight may influence the level of blood cholesterol. A high cholesterol is not dangerous by itself, but may reflect an unhealthy condition, or it may be totally innocent. Most people will require the starting dose, which is a 10 mg tablet once daily. Your doctor will prescribe the dose that is right for you, which may be 10 mg to 80 mg. Atorvastatin can be taken any time of the day, with or without food. To make it easier to remember to take Atorvastatin you can plan to take it at the same time each day, such as after you brush your teeth in the evening. The amount or how often Atorvastatin is taken should never be changed without consulting your healthcare professional. New cholesterol guidelines for converting healthy people into patients Read Dr. Ravnskov´s thought-provoking paper "High cholesterol may protect against infections and atherosclerosis", recently published in the prestigious Quarterly Journal of Medicine |