When you are first diagnosed with high cholesterol by your doctor, shown by a fasting blood test, your doctor will recommend a lifestyle change. Food modifications and an exercise routine is the first step towards lowering your cholesterol. Unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise ultimately is the cause of high cholesterol. Stay away from overly processed and fried foods.
If an extended period of time doesn’t improve your cholesterol levels with diet and exercise your doctor may prescribe a statin medication. This is in addition to maintaining a healthy diet and exercise program, statin medications can dramatically lower cholesterol in the blood. The drug alone will not fix the problem.
Statin medications often prescribed by doctors include:
- Lovastatin
- Rosuvastatin (Crestor)
- Atorvastatin (Lipitor)
- Simvastatin (Zocor)
- Pitavastatin ()
- Pravastatin (Pravachol)
Statin medications lower the chance of a cardiovascular episode such as a stroke or heart attack. Statins can interact with other drugs, it is always smart to consult your physician and pharmacist before taking anything.
It has been shown that statins can result in confusion and memory loss. The FDA is currently looking into these allegations but found that in general, the symptoms weren’t serious and went away weeks after stop taking the drug. Grapefruit and grapefruit juice must be avoided while taking drugs, as it stops the medications from being absorbed.
Niacin (non-Statin)
This B-vitamin is found in food but can be given is high doses by your doctor. It lowers LDL cholesterol and raises HDL.
This is prescribed with a statin drug to help lower your risk of heart disease.
Side effects include flushing, headache, itching, and tingling.
Fibrates
Fibrates are drugs that cut down on triglycerides that your body makes and it also helps to boost your good cholesterol.
These include fenofibrate and gemfibrozil (Lopid).
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