Crestor

What’s the dose?

Your treatment with Crestor must start with the 5 mg or the 10 mg dose, even if you have taken a higher dose of a different statin before. The choice of your start dose will depend upon:

• Your cholesterol level.
• The level of risk you have of experiencing a heart attack or stroke.
• Whether you have a factor that may make you more sensitive to possible side effects.

Please check with your doctor or pharmacist which start dose of Crestor will best suit you.

Your doctor may decide to increase your dose. This is so that you are taking the amount of Crestor that is right for you. If you started with a 5 mg dose, your doctor may decide to double this to 10 mg, then 20 mg and then 40 mg if necessary. If you started on 10 mg, your doctor may decide to double this to 20 mg and then 40 mg if necessary. There will be a gap of four weeks between every dose adjustment. The maximum daily dose of CRESTOR is 40 mg. It is only for patients with high cholesterol levels and a high risk of heart attacks or stroke whose cholesterol levels are not lowered enough with 20 mg.

Could it interact with other tablets?

• Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking, or have recently taken, any other medicines including any you bought without a prescription. Tell your doctor if you are taking any of the following:cyclosporin (used for example, after organ transplants), warfarin (or any other drug used for thinning the blood), fibrates (such as gemfibrozil, fenofibrate) or any other medicine used to lower cholesterol (such as ezetimibe), indigestion remedies (used to neutralise acid in your stomach), erythromycin (anantibiotic) an oral contraceptive (the pill), hormone replacement therapy or lopinavir/ritonavir (used to fight the HIV infection – please see Take special care with Crestor). The effects of these medicines could be changed by Crestor or they could change the effects of Crestor.

What are the possible risks or side-effects?

Stop taking Crestor and seek medical help immediately if you have any of the following allergic reactions:

•  Difficulty in breathing, with or without swelling of the face, lips, tongue and/or throat
•  Swelling of the face, lips, tongue and/or throat, which may cause difficulty in swallowing
•  Severe itching of the skin (with raised lumps).

Also, stop taking Crestor and talk to your doctor immediately if you have any unusual aches or pains in your muscles which go on for longer than you might expect. As with other statins, a very small number of people have experienced unpleasant muscle effects and rarely these have gone on to become a potentially life threatening muscle damage known as rhabdomyolysis.

Common possible side effects (these may affect between 1 in 10 and 1 in 100 patients):

•  Headache
•  Stomach pain
•  Constipation
•  Feeling sick
•  Muscle pain
•  Feeling weak
•  Dizziness
•  An increase in the amount of protein in the urine - this usually returns to normal on its own without having to stop taking your Crestor tablets (only Crestor 40 mg).

Can I drink alcohol while taking it?

• Alcohol intake should be kept to a minimum.

What if I’m pregnant/breastfeeding?

• Crestor cannot be given while pregnant or during breast feeding.

If you have any more questions please ask your Pharmacist.

Remember to keep all medicines out of reach of children
Please Note: We have made every effort to ensure that the content of this information sheet is correct at time of publish, but remember that information about drugs may change. This sheet does not list all the uses and side-effects associated with this drug. For full details please see the drug information leaflet which comes with your medicine. Your doctor will assess your medical circumstances and draw your attention to any information or side-effects which may be relevant in your particular case

References:

Medicines.ie Website - Crestor SPC http://www.medicines.ie/medicine/6796/SPC/Crestor+Tablets/

Medicines.ie Website- Crestor PIL

http://www.crestor.com/c/home.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosuvastatin

http://www.drugs.com/crestor.html

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248154.php