LOVASTATIN

(LOE va sta tin) Brand: Altoprev, Mevacor

What is the most significant information I must know about lovastatin?

• You must not take lovastatin if you are allergic to it, if you are pregnant or breast-feeding, or if you have liver disease.

• Stop taking this medicine and speak your doctor right away if you become pregnant.

• Till taking lovastatin, speak your doctor if you have ever had liver or kidney malady, diabetes, or a thyroid mess, or if you drink more than 2 alcoholic beverages daily.

• In rare cases, lovastatin can reason a condition that results in the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue, leading to kidney failure. Call your doctor right away if you have unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness especially if you also have fever, unusual tiredness, and dark colored urine.

• Avoid eating foods that are tall in thick or cholesterol. Lovastatin will not be as effective in lowering your cholesterol if you do not follow a cholesterol-lowering diet plan.

• Avoid drinking alcohol. It can raise triglyceride levels and may magnify your risk of liver damage.

• There are much another drugs that can magnify your risk of serious medical problems if you take them together with lovastatin. Speak your doctor about all medications you use. This includes prescription, over-the-counter, vitamin, and herbal commodity. Do not start a new medicine without telling your doctor. Hold a list of all your medicines and show it to any healthcare provider who treats you.

• Lovastatin is only part of a complete program of treatment that also includes diet, exercice, and weight control. Follow your diet, medicine, and exercice routines very closely.

What is lovastatin?

• Lovastatin is in a group of drugs called HMG CoA reductase inhibitors, or "statins." Lovastatin reduces levels of "bad" cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein, or LDL) and triglycerides in the blood, while increasing levels of "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL).

• Lovastatin is used to lower the risk of stroke, heart onslaught, and another heart complications in people with diabetes, coronary heart malady, or another risk factors

• Lovastatin is used in adults and children who are at least 10 years old.

• Lovastatin may also be used for another purposes not listed in this medicine guide.

What must I discuss with my healthcare provider till taking lovastatin?

• You must not take lovastatin if you are allergic to it, if you are pregnant or breast-feeding, or if you have liver disease.

• The next drugs must not be used while you are taking lovastatin:

· conivaptan (Vaprisol);

· cyclosporine (Gengraf, Neoral, Sandimmune);

· imatinib (Gleevec);

· isoniazid (for treating tuberculosis);

· nefazodone;

· an antibiotic such as clarithromycin (Biaxin), erythromycin (E.E.S., EryPed, Ery-Tab, Erythrocin, Pediazole), or telithromycin (Ketek);

· antifungal medicine such as itraconazole (Sporanox), ketoconazole (Nizoral), miconazole (Oravig), posaconazole (Noxafil), or voriconazole (Vfend);

· heart or blood pressure medicine such as nicardipine (Cardene) or quinidine (Quin-G);

· hepatitis C medications such as boceprevir (Victrelis) or telaprevir (Incivek); or

· HIV/AIDS medicine such as atazanavir (Reyataz), darunavir (Prezista), fosamprenavir (Lexiva), indinavir (Crixivan), nelfinavir (Viracept), ritonavir (Kaletra, Norvir), saquinavir (Fortovase), or tipranavir (Aptivus).

• To create certain you can safely take lovastatin, speak your doctor if you have any of these another conditions:

· history of liver or kidney disease;

· diabetes;

· a thyroid mess; or

· if you drink more than 2 alcoholic beverages daily.

• In rare cases, lovastatin can reason a condition that results in the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue, leading to kidney failure. This condition may be more likely to occur in older adults and in people who have kidney malady or poorly controlled hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).

• FDA pregnancy category X. This medicine can harm an unborn child or reason birth defects. Do not take lovastatin if you are pregnant. Stop taking this medicine and speak your doctor right away if you become pregnant. Use effective birth control to avoid pregnancy while you are taking lovastatin.

• Lovastatin may pass into breast milk and could harm a nursing child. Do not breast-feed while you are taking lovastatin.

How must I take lovastatin?

• Take exactly as predesigned by your doctor. Do not take in larger or less amounts or for longer than recommended. Follow the directions on your prescription label.

• Lovastatin is generally taken at bedtime or with an evening meal. If you take lovastatin different times daily, take it with meals. Follow your doctor's instructions.

• Your doctor may occasionally change your doze to create certain you get the excellent results.

• Do not crush, chew, or interrupt an extended-release tablet. Swallow it intact. Breaking or opening the pill may reason too many of the drug to be released at one time.

• You may need to stop using lovastatin for a short time if you have surgery or a medical emergency.

• To be certain this medication is helping your condition and is not causing deleterious effects, your blood will need to be tested often. Your liver function may also need to be tested. Visit your doctor regularly.

• Lovastatin is only part of a complete program of treatment that also includes diet, exercice, and weight control. Follow your diet, medicine, and exercice routines very closely.

• You may need to take lovastatin on a long-term basis for the treatment of tall cholesterol.

• Store at room temperature away from moisture, heat, and light.

What happens if I miss a dose?

• Take the missed doze as soon as you remember. Skip the missed doze if it is nearly time for your following scheduled doze. Do not take extra medication to create up the missed dose.

What happens if I overdose?

• Search abnormal medical attention or call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222.

What must I avoid while taking lovastatin?

• Avoid eating foods that are tall in thick or cholesterol. Lovastatin will not be as effective in lowering your cholesterol if you do not follow a cholesterol-lowering diet plan.

• Avoid drinking alcohol. It can raise triglyceride levels and may magnify your risk of liver damage.

• Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may interact with lovastatin and lead to potentially dangerous effects. Discuss the use of grapefruit commodity with your doctor.

What are the possible side effects of lovastatin?

• Get abnormal medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your person, lips, tongue, or throat.

• Stop taking lovastatin and call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:

· unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness;

· fever, unusual tiredness, and dark colored urine;

· chest pain;

· confusion, memory problems;

· swelling, weight gain, urinating smaller than normal or not at all;

· tall blood sugar (increased thirst, heighten urination, famine, dry mouth, fruity breath odor, drowsiness, dry skin, blurred vision, weight loss); or

· nausea, upper stomach pain, itching, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes).

• Smaller serious side effects may include:

· headache;

· mild muscle pain;

· joint pain;

· back pain;

· mild nausea;

· stomach pain or indigestion;

· constipation; or

· sleep problems (insomnia).

• This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may message side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

What another drugs will affect lovastatin?

• Tell your doctor about all another medications you use. Determined another drugs can magnify your risk of serious muscle problems, and it is very significant that your doctor knows if you are using any of them:

· amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacerone);

· colchicine (Colcrys);

· danazol (Danocrine);

· diltiazem (Cardizem, Cartia, Dilacor, Diltia, Diltzac, Taztia, Tiazac) or verapamil (Calan, Covera, Isoptin, Verelan);

· gemfibrozil (Lopid), fenofibric acid (Fibricor, Trilipix), or fenofibrate (Antara, Fenoglide, Lipofen, Lofibra, Tricor, Triglide);

· ranolazine (Ranexa);

· medicines that contain niacin (Advicor, Niaspan, Niacor, Simcor, Slo-Niacin, and others); or

· drugs that weaken your immune system, such as steroids, cancer medication, or medicines used to prevent organ transplant rejection, such as sirolimus (Rapamune) or tacrolimus (Prograf).

• Also speak your doctor if you use:

· cimetidine (Tagamet);

· a blood thinner such as warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven);

· spironolactone (Aldactone, Aldactazide); or

· any another "statin" medicine such as atorvastatin (Lipitor, Caduet), fluvastatin (Lescol), lovastatin and niacin (Advicor), pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor), or simvastatin (Zocor, Simcor, Vytorin).

• This list is not complete and another drugs may interact with lovastatin. Speak your doctor about all medications you use. This includes prescription, over-the-counter, vitamin, and herbal commodity. Do not start a new medicine without telling your doctor.

Where can I get more information?

• Your pharmacist can provide more information about lovastatin.

Remember, hold this and all another medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medicine only for the indication prescribed.

Disclaim: Each effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses external of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way must be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safety, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the help of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.