Does anyone take statins along with the big 3 antibiotics?

Posted by pollyflinders @pollyflinders, May 8 11:13am

Does anyone take statins alongside the big 3 antibiotics? My cholesterol is high but I’m worried it’s not safe to take both lots of medication.

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Just this past year and I got severe dizziness. Went on and off two times, got so dizzy. Currently stopped. Cardiologist will prescibe a different one later. Luckily, I do not normally have high cholesterol

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This is some kind of a myth that you cannot take statins with the big 3
You might need lower doses and to use one with fewer drug interactions eg pravastatin
If you need the statin, you should take it but use the lowest dose that works and be prepared to readjust when you finally come off the antibiotics I.e check your lipids a few weeks later to see if you need a stronger dose.

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@rstel7272

Just this past year and I got severe dizziness. Went on and off two times, got so dizzy. Currently stopped. Cardiologist will prescibe a different one later. Luckily, I do not normally have high cholesterol

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My cholesterol is quite high. Most people don’t think a small person like myself would have high cholesterol, but it is genetic in my family. When I was on the Big 3, I was given a choice to take or not to take pravastatin due to my liver. I chose not to take it along with the Big 3 and waited till I was done with that piece. Pravastatin ( an older statin) is supposed to be quite safe in terms of other statins. Personally I’m not a fan of statins and prefer to be careful with what I eat which is hard for me because there has never been a carbohydrate I don’t love. Having MAC I decided it was more important to get rid of that invader first. (irene5)

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I had high cholesterol too but I got muscle cramps etc with the meds so...and this was amazingly successful....I took 1/2 of a 10 mg zetia (prevents cholesterol from food being absorbed in the intestine) every other day and 1 10 mg rosuvavostatin (sp?), a statin, ONCE A WEEK and it brought my bad cholesterol down 50 points from 110 to 75 in a little over two months. This is very little overall statin yet it did work. If you google you can see that with the long half life of these statins you don't have to take it every day. Just a thought.

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Sorry typo brought it down 35 points not 50.

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I am on 40mg of Rosuvastatin daily and am taking the Big 3 three times a week with no ill effects. My respirologist, my cardiologist, my GP, and my pharmacist are aware of my medications and no one has indicated it would be a problem to take the statin at the same time as the antibiotics.

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@irene5

My cholesterol is quite high. Most people don’t think a small person like myself would have high cholesterol, but it is genetic in my family. When I was on the Big 3, I was given a choice to take or not to take pravastatin due to my liver. I chose not to take it along with the Big 3 and waited till I was done with that piece. Pravastatin ( an older statin) is supposed to be quite safe in terms of other statins. Personally I’m not a fan of statins and prefer to be careful with what I eat which is hard for me because there has never been a carbohydrate I don’t love. Having MAC I decided it was more important to get rid of that invader first. (irene5)

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I have been on Azithromycin and Rifampin for 22 months (had to get off Ethambutol a year ago for eye problems) and have been taking Rosuvastatin Calcium 5 mg for almost a year with the antibiotics without problems. I don't take a high dose but it seems to work ok. I take the antibiotics spaced thru out the day and take Rosuvastatin at bedtime so they are space out, maybe that is why there is no problem so far. I hope this is some help to you.

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It is my understanding that regularly taking both Lipitor and rifampin can cause fluctuations in the amount of Lipitor circulating in the body. Ironically, the way to minimize this risk is to take these two medications at the same time.

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Thanks everyone for all your answers. You’ve been very helpful.

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Also. For some people, folic acid will lower LDL
Took my ldl from 180 down to 110 while on Big 3 and then I needed a statin to get it down to 70
Worth a try as a first step
Retest lipids after 3 months

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