Like all medicines, atorvastatin can cause side effects, although not everyone gets them. Often side effects improve as your body gets used to the new medicine.
Muscle pain or weakness
Some people will have muscle pain or weakness when taking statins. This is rarely serious and often goes away with time. If your pain comes on shortly after you start your statin, or gets worse, see your healthcare provider. They'll check an enzyme called creatine kinase to see if the aches and pains are possibly being caused or made worse by the statins. If so:
- a lower dose or a different statin may be prescribed, or
- you may choose to continue living with the aches because of the benefits of the statin, or
- you may discuss stopping taking your statin with your healthcare provider.
Your healthcare provider will also want to check for a rare but serious condition called rhabdomyolysis and will check any other medicines you're taking. Rhabdomyolysis can be caused by an interaction between statins and some other medicines including antibiotics.
Other side effects
Side effects |
What should I do? |
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- This is quite common when you first start taking atorvastatin, and usually goes away with time.
- Tell your healthcare provider if this bothers you.
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- Constipation (hard to poo) or diarrhoea (runny poo)
- Stomach upset
- Bloating or gas in the tummy
- Nausea (feeling sick)
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- These are quite common when you first start taking atorvastatin, and usually go away with time.
- Tell your healthcare provider if these bother you.
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- Muscle aches and pain or muscle weakness
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- This is common and may not be anything to be worried about but you should still tell your healthcare provider so they can check it’s not a rare but serious side effect that affects the muscles.
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- Signs of problems with your liver such as dark coloured urine, yellowing of the skin or eyes, sharp pain in your stomach area
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- Tell your healthcare provider immediately or ring Healthline 0800 611 116.
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- Signs of an allergic reaction such as itchy skin, and rash
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- This is rare.
- Stop taking atorvastatin and phone 111 for an ambulance.
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For more information on side effects see the Medsafe Consumer Information Sheet on Lorstat(external link).
Read more about medicines and side effects and reporting a reaction you think might be a side effect.