{"id":50795,"date":"2025-04-25T21:36:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T01:36:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/mayo-health-library\/cholesterol-medications-consider-the-options\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T11:53:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:53:23","slug":"cholesterol-medications-consider-the-options","status":"publish","type":"mayo","link":"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/de\/mayo-health-library\/cholesterol-medications-consider-the-options\/","title":{"rendered":"Cholesterol medications: Consider the options"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"container mx-auto   wordpress-block wordpress- core-\">\n<p>A healthy lifestyle is the first defense against high cholesterol. But sometimes diet and exercise aren&#8217;t enough. You might also need to take cholesterol medications to help:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Decrease your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the &#8220;bad&#8221; cholesterol that increases the risk of heart disease<\/li>\n<li>Decrease your triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood that also increases the risk of heart disease<\/li>\n<li>Increase your high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the &#8220;good&#8221; cholesterol that offers protection from heart disease<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Your doctor might suggest a single drug or a combination of cholesterol medications. Here&#8217;s an overview of the pros and cons for common classes of cholesterol medications.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th width=\"40%\">Drug class<\/th>\n<th width=\"30%\">Benefits<\/th>\n<th width=\"30%\">Possible side effects<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Statins<\/strong><br \/>\n            Atorvastatin (Lipitor)<br \/>\n            Fluvastatin (Lescol XL)<br \/>\n            Lovastatin (Altoprev)<br \/>\n            Pitavastatin (Livalo)<br \/>\n            Pravastatin (Pravachol)<br \/>\n            Rosuvastatin (Crestor)<br \/>\n            Simvastatin (Zocor)<\/td>\n<td>Decrease <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr> and triglycerides; slightly increase <abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr><\/td>\n<td>Muscle pain, increased blood sugar levels, constipation, nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, cramps, elevation of liver enzymes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Cholesterol absorption inhibitor<\/strong><br \/>\n            Ezetimibe (Zetia)<\/td>\n<td>Decreases <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr>; slightly decreases triglycerides; slightly increases <abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr><\/td>\n<td>Stomach pain, diarrhea, fatigue, muscle soreness; avoid during pregnancy and lactation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>PCSK9 inhibitors<\/strong><br \/>\n            Alirocumab (Praluent)<br \/>\n            Evolocumab (Repatha)<\/td>\n<td>Decrease <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr>; usually reserved for people who have a genetic condition that causes very high <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr> levels or people with heart disease who cannot tolerate statins or other cholesterol lowering drugs <\/td>\n<td>Itching, swelling, pain or bruising at injection site<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Citrate lyase inhibitors<\/strong><br \/>\n            Bempedoic acid (Nexletol)<br \/>\n            Bempedoic acid-ezetimibe (Nexlizet)<\/td>\n<td>Decrease <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr><\/td>\n<td>Muscle spasms and joint pain, including acute gout<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Bile acid sequestrants<\/strong><br \/>\n            Cholestyramine (Prevalite)<br \/>\n            Colesevelam (Welchol)<br \/>\n            Colestipol (Colestid)<\/td>\n<td>Decrease <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr>; may slightly increase <abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr><\/td>\n<td>Constipation, bloating, nausea, gas, heartburn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Combination cholesterol absorption inhibitor and statin<\/strong><br \/>\n            Ezetimibe-simvastatin (Vytorin)<\/td>\n<td>Decreases <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr> and triglycerides; increases <abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr><\/td>\n<td>Stomach pain, fatigue, gas, constipation, abdominal pain, cramps, muscle soreness, pain and weakness<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Combination calcium channel blocker and statin<\/strong><br \/>\n            Amlodipine-atorvastatin (Caduet)<\/td>\n<td>The statin component decreases <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr> and triglycerides; the calcium channel blocker lowers blood pressure<\/td>\n<td>Facial and neck flushing, dizziness, heart palpitations, muscle soreness and pain, increased blood sugar levels, constipation, nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, cramps, elevation of liver enzymes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Fibrates<\/strong><br \/>\n            Fenofibrate (Antara, Lipofen, others)<br \/>\n            Gemfibrozil (Lopid)<\/td>\n<td>Decrease triglycerides; modestly decrease <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr>; increase <abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr><\/td>\n<td>Nausea, stomach pain, muscle pain<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Niacin<\/strong><br \/>\n            Prescription niacin (Niacor, Niaspan)<\/td>\n<td>Decreases <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr> and triglycerides; increases <abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr><\/td>\n<td>Facial and neck flushing, itching, stomach upset, increase in blood sugar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Omega-3 fatty acids<\/strong><br \/>\n            Prescription versions include Lovaza, Omacor and Vascepa<\/td>\n<td>Decrease triglycerides; may increase <abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr><\/td>\n<td>Belching, fishy taste, indigestion; may increase risk of bleeding<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>In many people, the muscle pain often associated with statins may not actually be caused by the drug. In studies where participants don&#8217;t know if they&#8217;re getting a statin or a placebo, muscle pain is a common complaint in both groups. It appears that the expectation of the side effect makes it more likely to occur.<\/p>\n<p>Most cholesterol medications lower cholesterol with few side effects, but effectiveness varies from person to person. It&#8217;s also still important to follow a healthy diet and get enough exercise. Cholesterol medications and lifestyle choices can work together to help reduce your risk of heart attacks and stroke.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cholesterol medications might help lower your cholesterol levels. Here are some options.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[1686,1685,1682,1684],"class_list":["post-50795","mayo","type-mayo","status-publish","hentry","tag-anatomical-structure","tag-condition","tag-person-group-concept","tag-theme-of-focus","content_type-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cholesterol medications: Consider the options - Hancock Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/de\/mayo-health-library\/cholesterol-medications-consider-the-options\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cholesterol medications: Consider the options - Hancock Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cholesterol medications might help lower your cholesterol levels. 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