What Is It Like to Take Lipitor for High Cholesterol?
Key takeaways:
Atorvastatin (Lipitor) is a statin medication that helps lower cholesterol. It can also lower the risk of heart attack and stroke in high-risk adults.
Atorvastatin works to slow down cholesterol production in the liver. It also helps the liver remove cholesterol from the blood.
Those who take atorvastatin say they do it to lower their risk for heart attack and stroke.
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High cholesterol can put you at risk for a heart attack or stroke. Found in your blood, cholesterol is necessary for healthy cells. Too much of the substance can clog arteries, restricting blood flow. If the fatty deposits break off, they can form a clot that causes a heart attack or stroke.
Some people have high cholesterol from an inherited (passed down) disorder. In this case, lifestyle changes and medication are typically required. But for others, lifestyle changes are a good place to start. Depending on your cholesterol levels, health history, and risk factors, your healthcare provider may think you could benefit from a statin.
Statin medications lower the amount of cholesterol made by your liver. They also cause your liver to remove cholesterol from your blood.
Atorvastatin — the generic form of what many people know as the brand name Lipitor — is often prescribed to lower cholesterol.
Here’s how three people describe what it’s like to take it.
When diet and exercise are not enough
In 2021, when Wendy Cleveland’s cholesterol readings were borderline high, she tried to manage it with diet and exercise. But she could not improve her LDL (“bad cholesterol”) numbers. Because she also has high blood pressure, her doctor started her on atorvastatin.
“I didn’t feel anything different,” says Wendy, a 50-year-old therapist in Columbus, Ohio. “Because I also take other medicines, I was a little concerned about adding another medicine to my daily amount. But I’ve had no problems.”
Wendy takes her statin at the same time she takes her other medicines, which makes it easy to follow her prescription. She gets her cholesterol checked annually and has seen a drop in LDL cholesterol levels.
Beefing up the ‘good cholesterol’
Andy Kravetz started taking atorvastatin 10 years ago. While his total cholesterol numbers were good, his HDL (“good cholesterol”) was quite low, and his LDL (“bad cholesterol”) was high.
“My doctor prescribed it as a way of beefing up the good cholesterol,” says Andy, a 53-year-old journalist from Peoria, Illinois.
He’s never felt any physical differences in the decade since he started taking Lipitor.
“I’ve noticed nothing,” says Kravetz, who also takes medication for diabetes. “It’s a little white oval, and everything else I take is a white circle. That’s the difference. It’s that unremarkable.”
Atorvastatin quickly caused positive changes in his cholesterol numbers.
“It works. My good cholesterol has gone up, and they want me to stay on it,” says Andy, who adds that as he’s aged, his total cholesterol has increased to between 160 and 170.
High cholesterol since childhood
Vanessa Tiongson has had high cholesterol most of her life. A 36-year-old neurologist in New York City, Vanessa lives with familial hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol caused by her genetics). Her doctors first noted her high cholesterol when she was 7.
As a teenager, she started taking atorvastatin, and her cholesterol numbers went down. She says she didn’t feel any different while taking the medicine. She stopped taking atorvastatin when she began thinking about having a family. That’s because statins are typically avoided during pregnancy.
Vanessa had twins and went on with her life. She says she “basically ignored my high cholesterol” for several years.
When she experienced chest pains, her doctor sent her to a lipidologist (a doctor who studies fatty substances in the blood called lipids). This specialist confirmed her familial hypercholesterolemia and found that she also has high lipoprotein (a).
“He said I should have been on meds my entire life,” Vanessa says.
That doctor prescribed a different statin, but it caused severe neck spasms, so she stopped taking it. Vanessa’s doctor also prescribed a PCSK9 inhibitor, another type of cholesterol-lowering medicine that’s given as an injection.
Today, thanks to atorvastatin and the PCSK9 inhibitor, Vanessa’s cholesterol numbers remain good.
“As a neurologist, I have a good opinion of statins because, combined with aspirin, they are well known to reduce cardiovascular risk and cerebrovascular risk,” Vanessa says. “We want to reduce that risk for everyone, and it does that.”
What does the pharmacist say?
Alyssa Billingsley, PharmD
Director, Pharmacy Content
Atorvastatin is one of the most commonly prescribed medications in the U.S. It’s a statin medication that’s approved to treat high cholesterol, and to lower the risk of heart attack and stroke in high-risk adults.
Statins aren’t right for everyone, but there are a few groups of people who can benefit from them. These include people with an inherited type of high cholesterol, those with very high LDL cholesterol, and adults at high risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
Some people may be hesitant to take a statin because they’ve heard muscle pain is a common side effect. But oftentimes, muscle-related symptoms aren’t actually being caused by the statin. And over 80% of people taking statins report experiencing no side effects at all.
High cholesterol doesn’t have any symptoms — until it results in something more serious, like chest pain, a heart attack, or a stroke. Even if you don’t feel any different taking your statin, it’s important to stick with it, along with lifestyle changes.
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