Common questions about rosuvastatin

Rosuvastatin works by stopping the liver from making cholesterol. This lowers your blood cholesterol level.

For the first 12 months on this medicine, you'll be offered some routine tests to make sure your liver is working normally.

Rosuvastatin starts to work within a week to reduce cholesterol, but it can take up to a month to achieve its full effect. Your cholesterol levels should drop within 4 weeks if you take your medicine regularly, as prescribed.

Rosuvastatin is safe to take for a long time. In fact, it works best when you take it for a long time.

There are several other statin medicines, including:

• atorvastatin
• fluvastatin
• pravastatin
• simvastatin

Statins all work in the same way, but they differ in how well they lower cholesterol.

When used at a higher dose, rosuvastatin and atorvastatin produce a bigger reduction in cholesterol than the other statins.

If you have a side effect with one statin, it may not happen with another.

Some medicines do not mix well with one statin, but are OK to take with other ones.

Your doctor will find the right statin and dose for you, depending on your medical history, cholesterol level and the other medicines you take.

Statins are effective at lowering cholesterol and most people will not get any side effects while taking them. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor if you are concerned about the safety of statins.

No, there's no evidence that rosuvastatin is addictive.

You will not get any withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking it.

You are likely to be at greater risk of developing diabetes if you have high levels of sugars and fats in your blood, are overweight and have high blood pressure. There is some evidence that rosuvastatin can raise blood sugar in some people.

If you are concerned, speak to your doctor or pharmacist. They can explain how the benefits of taking statins are likely to outweigh this small increased risk.

Some people take Co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10) while taking statins. But there's no clear evidence that taking it at the same time as rosuvastatin will benefit your health. More research is needed.

Rosuvastatin may slightly increase the hormones released into your system from some contraceptive pills and hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Rosuvastatin should have no effect on how well your contraceptive pills or HRT work but it can increase your chances of having side effects from contraceptive pills and HRT.

If you have any side effects, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

Sometimes rosuvastatin can make you feel dizzy.

If this happens to you, do not drive, cycle or use machines or tools until you feel better.

It's an offence to drive a car if your ability to drive safely is affected. It's your responsibility to decide if it's safe to drive. If you're in any doubt, do not drive.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you're unsure whether it's safe for you to drive while taking rosuvastatin. GOV.UK has more information on the law on drugs and driving.

Yes, you can drink alcohol while taking rosuvastatin. But drinking a lot of alcohol may mean you're more likely to get muscle and liver side effects.

Try to keep to the recommended guidelines of no more than 14 units of alcohol a week.

You can eat and drink normally on rosuvastatin. Unlike other statins, like simvastatin and atorvastatin, it's safe to drink grapefruit juice while taking rosuvastatin.

Reducing your cholesterol may mean you do not need to be prescribed a statin medicine.

There are lifestyle changes you can make that will help lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke:

• make sure you're a healthy weight
• eat well – cut saturated fat and increase fibre, fruits, vegetables, wholegrains and fish
• quit smoking
• cut down on alcohol
• try to exercise every day