Lipitor (atorvastatin) is an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (a “statin” drug) used to lower blood cholesterol levels. Crestor (rosuvastatin) is an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (a “statin” drug) that reduces cholesterol levels by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme that produces cholesterol in the liver..
Simply so, are Crestor and Lipitor interchangeable?
A. Both Crestor (rosuvastatin) and Lipitor (atorvastatin) are brand-name statins; neither is yet available as a generic. There are generic statins available such as simvastatin, pravastatin, and lovastatin; these are generally cheaper than the brand-name statins.
Also Know, which statin has the least amount of side effects? In the analysis of 135 previous studies, which included nearly 250,000 people combined, researchers found that the drugs simvastatin (Zocor) and pravastatin (Pravachol) had the fewest side effects in this class of medications. They also found that lower doses produced fewer side effects in general.
Keeping this in view, is Crestor the best statin?
Rosuvastatin, aside from Lipitor (atorvastatin), is the most potent statin for lowering LDL. It's different than simvastatin and many other statins in several important ways. Second, simvastatin and most other statins can have bad interactions with a bunch of different drugs, whereas Crestor has relatively few.
Does Crestor or Lipitor have more side effects?
Side effects of Lipitor and Crestor that are similar include constipation, diarrhea, nausea, heartburn/indigestion, headache, and muscle aches or pains. Side effects of Crestor that are different from Lipitor include depression, joint pain, sleep problems (insomnia or nightmares), or stomach pain.
Related Question Answers
Why Lipitor is bad for you?
2) Atorvastatin is bad for your liver Very rarely (in 0.5% to 3% of cases), statins can cause your liver blood tests to rise, which in the past had doctors pretty worried. But studies have also shown that people taking statins actually have the same rate of liver injury as people not taking statins.Which is stronger Crestor or Lipitor?
On some measures, patients taking Crestor did better than those on Lipitor: LDL levels in the Crestor group dropped to an average 62.6 mg/dL, compared with 70.2 mg/dL for patients on Lipitor.Does Crestor cause weight gain?
Common side effects with Crestor include headache, myalgia, abdominal pain, weakness, nausea. Common side effects include headache, dizziness, lightheadedness, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, dry cough, and blurred vision. Other side effects reported with lisinopril include weight gain.Does Crestor cause memory loss?
The most common side effects may include: Headache, muscle aches and pains, abdominal pain, weakness, and nausea. Additional side effects that have been reported with CRESTOR include memory loss and confusion. These are not all the possible side effects of CRESTOR.Does lipitor cause hair loss?
Atorvastatin (Lipitor) and simvastatin (Zocor) belong to a group of cholesterol-lowering medications known as “statins”. Have hair loss is a reported side effect of both drugs. The newer statin, rosuvastatin (Crestor), luckily does not have this risk.Is 5 mg Crestor enough?
The data show that rosuvastatin 5 mg is highly effective in lowering LDL-C to recommended levels for most patients (mean reductions ranging from 42 to 52%).Does lipitor cause weight gain?
Q: Can Lipitor cause weight gain or anxiety? A: According to the prescribing information available for Lipitor, neither weight gain nor anxiety were commonly reported side effects. If you are experiencing weight gain or anxiety, you may want to contact your doctor to determine the cause.Which statin is least likely to cause muscle pain?
Even though all statins look similar chemically, they have some minor differences that could impact how likely they are to cause muscle pain. Simvastatin is the most likely to cause muscle pain, and fluvastatin and pitavastatin are the least likely.Which statin is safest for liver?
Large randomized trials have proven the safety of low to moderate doses of lovastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin, atorvastatin, and rosuvastatin, showing no significantly increased risk of liver biochemistry abnormalities.Should Crestor be taken at night?
Crestor can be taken as a single dose at any time of day, with or without food. Choose a time of day that will work best for you, and then take the medicine at the same time each day.Does Crestor lower blood pressure?
Conclusions: Rosuvastatin reduces ambulatory blood pressure and increases nocturnal blood pressure decline when administered at bedtime apart from its lipid lowering effects. This blood pressure lowering effect may be related to improved endothelium dysfunction that use to be common at dyslipidemic subjects.What does Crestor do to your body?
Crestor lowers the levels of LDL in the blood, and it increases the levels of HDL. Like other statins, it prevents the production of LDL by suppressing HMG-CoA reductase. Reductase is an enzyme in the liver that plays a crucial role in cholesterol production.Is 10mg of Crestor a lot?
Crestor is a lot more potent. For example, 40 mg is a high dose of simvastatin, but you would get that same dose of Crestor in about 10 mg.What foods should be avoided when taking Crestor?
Avoid eating foods high in fat or cholesterol, or rosuvastatin will not be as effective. Avoid drinking alcohol. It can raise triglyceride levels and may increase your risk of liver damage. Some antacids can make it harder for your body to absorb rosuvastatin.How quickly does Crestor reduce cholesterol?
How soon will CRESTOR work? You may see results for lowering LDL cholesterol as soon as 2–4 weeks after starting the cholesterol-lowering medicine CRESTOR.What is the safest cholesterol lowering medication?
In some cases, the problems will resolve simply by reducing the dose or switching to another statin, but care is required. Still, all in all, the statins are the safest and best tolerated of all cholesterol-lowering medications. Although most patients respond well to statin therapy, some don't.Does Crestor cause leg cramps?
Rhabdomyolysis, or the breakdown of muscle tissue, is a rare side effect of statins that can also cause muscle pain. According to the FDA, the following statins contain specific warnings on the package inserts about muscle pain and rhabdomyolysis: lovastatin extended-release (Altoprev) rosuvastatin (Crestor)Can you take statins every other day?
Physicians sometimes recommend that their statin-sensitive patients stagger or skip daily doses. Rather than taking a statin every day, a patient would take the medication every other day, or perhaps five days out of the week, rather than seven.Is ezetimibe better than statins?
Ezetimibe is a non-statin lipid-lowering medication that inhibits absorption of dietary cholesterol by blocking the Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 protein (NPC1L1). Ezetimibe lowers low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) by 15-20% when used alone2 as compared to 5-10% from doubling the dose of statin. 
