Atorvastatin Calcium, Oral

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KEY POINTS

• This medicine is taken by mouth to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels when diet and exercise alone have not lowered them enough. It also helps to increase the amount of HDL (good) cholesterol in your blood. It may also be used to reduce the risk for heart attack, stroke, certain types of heart surgery, and chest pain in people who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. Take it exactly as directed.
• Keep all appointments for tests to see how this medicine affects you.
• This medicine may cause unusual muscle pain or weakness, or other unwanted side effects. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that are serious, continue, or get worse.
• Tell all healthcare providers who treat you about all the prescription medicines, nonprescription medicines, supplements, natural remedies, and vitamins that you take.

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What are other names for this medicine?

Type of medicine: HMG CoA reductase inhibitor (statin); cholesterol-lowering medicine

Generic and brand names: atorvastatin calcium, oral; Lipitor

What is this medicine used for?

This medicine is taken by mouth to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood when diet and exercise alone have not lowered them enough. It also helps to increase the amount of HDL (good) cholesterol. It may also be used to reduce the risk for heart attack, stroke, certain types of heart surgery, and chest pain in people who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease.

Your healthcare provider will explain why you are taking this medicine.

This medicine may be used to treat other conditions as determined by your healthcare provider.

What should my healthcare provider know before I take this medicine?

Before taking this medicine, tell your healthcare provider if you have ever had:

• An allergic reaction to any medicine
• A stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA)
• Diabetes
• Kidney or liver disease
• Low blood pressure
• Problems with alcohol abuse or if you have more than 2 drinks per day
• Seizures
• Thyroid problems
• Unexplained muscle aches or weakness

This medicine may interact with many other prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist to make sure you can take this medicine with your other medicines. Tell your healthcare provider about any new medicines you might take even for only a short time.

Females of childbearing age: Do not take this medicine if you are pregnant because it may harm the baby. If you are pregnant, tell your healthcare provider. Do not become pregnant during treatment with this medicine. Use an effective birth control method while you are taking this medicine. Stop taking this medicine at the first sign that you may be pregnant and contact your healthcare provider right away. Do not breast-feed while you are taking this medicine.

How do I take it?

Check the label on the medicine for directions about your specific dose. Take this medicine exactly as directed by your healthcare provider for the length of time prescribed. Take it regularly at the same time every day. Do not change your dosage or stop taking this medicine without your healthcare provider's approval.

You may take this medicine with or without food. Taking it with meals may lessen the chance the drug will upset your stomach.

Check with your healthcare provider before using this medicine in children under age 10.

Your healthcare provider may prescribe another medicine to be taken with this medicine. Follow your healthcare provider's directions exactly for taking both medicines.

What if I miss a dose?

If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember unless it is within 12 hours of the next scheduled dose. In that case, skip the missed dose and take the next one as directed. Do not take double doses. If you are not sure of what to do if you miss a dose, or if you miss more than one dose, contact your healthcare provider.

What if I overdose?

An acute overdose of this medicine is not likely to cause life-threatening symptoms. If you think that you or anyone else may have taken too much of this medicine, call the poison control center at 800-222-1222.

What should I watch out for?

A low-fat diet and regular exercise are important to reduce cholesterol. Follow your healthcare provider's advice.

While you are taking this medicine, report any unusual or ongoing muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness to your healthcare provider right away, especially if you also have a fever or unusual tiredness. Also, contact your healthcare provider right away if these symptoms do not go away even after you stop taking this medicine.

Adults over the age of 65 may be at greater risk for side effects.

Your healthcare provider will want to see you regularly while you are taking this medicine. You need blood tests to see if the medicine is working. You will also have liver function tests to see how the medicine may be affecting your liver. Keep all your appointments.

If you need emergency care, surgery, lab tests, or dental work, tell the healthcare provider or dentist you are taking this medicine.

What are the possible side effects?

Along with its needed effects, your medicine may cause some unwanted side effects. Some side effects may be very serious. Some side effects may go away as your body adjusts to the medicine. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that continue or get worse.

Life-threatening (Report these to your healthcare provider right away. If you cannot reach your healthcare provider right away, get emergency medical care or call 911 for help.): Allergic reaction (hives; itching; rash; trouble breathing; tightness in your chest; swelling of your lips, tongue, and throat); sudden weakness, numbness, or tingling, especially on one side of your body; sudden or severe headache; sudden trouble with vision, speech, balance, or walking.

Serious (Report these to your healthcare provider right away.): Chest pain; unusual or ongoing muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, especially if you also have a fever or unusual tiredness; yellowing of your skin or eyes; severe nausea or vomiting; severe stomach pain; dark urine or trouble urinating; light-colored bowel movements; severe skin rash or itching.

Other: Mild nausea or stomach pain, diarrhea, pain or burning when you urinate, gas, heartburn, constipation, mild headache, dizziness, runny or stuffy nose, mild tiredness, trouble sleeping, depression, memory loss, confusion, mild joint pain.

What products might interact with this medicine?

When you take this medicine with other medicines, it can change the way this or any of the other medicines work. Nonprescription medicines, vitamins, natural remedies, and certain foods may also interact. Using these products together might cause harmful side effects. Talk to your healthcare provider if you are taking:

• Antacids that contain aluminum, calcium, or magnesium, such as Gaviscon, Maalox, Mylanta, Phillips' Chewable Tablets, Rolaids, or TUMS (Take antacids at least 2 hours before or 2 hours after you take this medicine.)
• Antibiotics such as azithromycin (Zithromax, Zmax), chloramphenicol, clarithromycin (Biaxin), erythromycin (E.E.S., Ery-Tab, Erythrocin), rifabutin (Mycobutin), rifampin (Rifadin), rifapentine (Priftin), telithromycin (Ketek), and tetracycline
• Antifungal medicines such as fluconazole (Diflucan), itraconazole (Sporanox), and ketoconazole (Nizoral)
• Antiseizure medicines such as carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Epitol, Equetro, Tegretol), oxcarbazepine (Trileptal), phenobarbital, phenytoin (Dilantin, Phenytek), and primidone (Mysoline)
• Antiviral medicines such as ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir (Technivie), ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir/dasabuvir (Viekira), simeprevir (Olysio), and sofosbuvir (Sovaldi)
• Aprepitant (Emend)
• Bosentan (Tracleer)
• Cancer medicines such as abiraterone (Zytiga), crizotinib (Xalkori), dasatinib (Sprycel), enzalutamide (Xtandi), erlotinib (Tarceva), idelalisib (Zydelig), imatinib (Gleevec), mitotane (Lysodren), and pazopanib (Votrient)
• Colchicine (Colcrys)
• Conivaptan (Vaprisol)
• Cyclosporine (Gengraf, Neoral, Sandimmune)
• Danazol
• Daptomycin (Cubicin)
• Dexamethasone
• Digoxin (Lanoxin)
• Eliglustat (Cerdelga)
• Eltrombopag (Promacta)
• Everolimus (Afinitor, Zortress)
• Heart medicines such as amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacerone), amlodipine (Norvasc), amlodipine/atorvastatin (Caduet), diltiazem (Cardizem, Cartia, Tiazac), dronedarone (Multaq), nicardipine (Cardene), quinidine, ranolazine (Ranexa), and verapamil (Calan, Covera, Verelan)
• HIV medicines such as atazanavir (Reyataz), darunavir (Prezista), delavirdine (Rescriptor), efavirenz (Sustiva), elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir (Stribild), etravirine (Intelence), fosamprenavir (Lexiva), indinavir (Crixivan), lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra), nelfinavir (Viracept), nevirapine (Viramune), raltegravir (Isentress), ritonavir (Norvir), saquinavir (Invirase), and tipranavir (Aptivus)
• Hormonal birth control implants, IUDs, patches, pills, shots, and vaginal rings (Talk to your healthcare provider if you need birth control.)
• Lanthanum (Fosrenol) (Take lanthanum at least 2 hours before or 2 hours after you take this medicine.)
• Medicines to block or prevent stomach acid such as cimetidine (Tagamet), esomeprazole (Nexium), omeprazole (Prilosec), and rabeprazole (AcipHex)
• Medicines to treat or prevent blood clots such as apixaban (Eliquis), dabigatran (Pradaxa), and rivaroxaban (Xarelto)
• Natural remedies such as red yeast rice and St. John’s wort
• Nefazodone
• Niacin
• Other cholesterol-lowering medicines such as atorvastatin (Lipitor), cholestyramine (Prevalite), colestipol (Colestid), fenofibrate (Antara, Fenoglide, Lipofen, TriCor, Triglide), fluvastatin (Lescol), gemfibrozil (Lopid), lomitapide (Juxtapid), lovastatin (Altoprev), pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor), and simvastatin (Zocor) (Take this medicine at least 1 hour before or 4 to 6 hours after you take cholestyramine, colesevelam, or colestipol.)
• Pimozide (Orap)
• Quinine
• Quinupristin/dalfopristin (Synercid)
• Sildenafil (Revatio, Viagra)
• Spironolactone (Aldactone)

Do NOT eat or drink products that contain grapefruit, Seville oranges, and tangelos at any time while you are taking this medicine. These fruits and juices affect the way this medicine works and increase your risk of serious side effects. Talk with your healthcare provider or pharmacist about this.

Do not drink alcohol while you are taking this medicine without your healthcare provider's approval.

If you are not sure if your medicines might interact, ask your pharmacist or healthcare provider. Keep a list of all your medicines with you. List all the prescription medicines, nonprescription medicines, supplements, natural remedies, and vitamins that you take. Be sure that you tell all healthcare providers who treat you about all the products you are taking.

How should I store this medicine?

Store this medicine at room temperature. Keep the container tightly closed. Protect it from heat, high humidity, and bright light.

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This advisory includes selected information only and may not include all side effects of this medicine or interactions with other medicines. Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for more information or if you have any questions.

Ask your pharmacist for the best way to dispose of outdated medicine or medicine you have not used. Do not throw medicine in the trash.

Keep all medicines out of the reach of children.

Do not share medicines with other people.