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Does Stopping Lipitor At One Go Cause Any Side Effects?
I have been taking lipitor for at least 20 years--mainly because I smoked. I haven t smoked in 6 years and do not have any cholesterol issues. My doctor wants me to delete it and I would like to know if stopping it immediately will cause any problems. The only other medications I take are Spiriva in haler, 18mcg (6 years), Gabapentin 300mg (1 month).
First of all lipitor can be stopped cold turkey and no problems can be expected to occur. I can't say whether stopping it is right though. Since you've been smoking for so long, you can be expected to have some degree of atherosclerosis - everybody does but in the smokers the development of atherosclerosis is accelerated. In such patients doctors usually try to estimate their cardiovascular risk. A low cholesterol is only one of the factors that affect this risk. Other factors include your age, whether you have diabetes and hypertension or not, your total and HDL cholesterol levels, etc. If a patient's risk is not considerably high then only lifestyle modifications are advised. Otherwise treatment with a statin might be necessary.
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Does Stopping Lipitor At One Go Cause Any Side Effects?
Hello, First of all lipitor can be stopped cold turkey and no problems can be expected to occur. I can t say whether stopping it is right though. Since you ve been smoking for so long, you can be expected to have some degree of atherosclerosis - everybody does but in the smokers the development of atherosclerosis is accelerated. In such patients doctors usually try to estimate their cardiovascular risk. A low cholesterol is only one of the factors that affect this risk. Other factors include your age, whether you have diabetes and hypertension or not, your total and HDL cholesterol levels, etc. If a patient s risk is not considerably high then only lifestyle modifications are advised. Otherwise treatment with a statin might be necessary. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.