Experiences with

Pravastatin

Pravastatin is used to lower cholesterol if you've been diagnosed with high blood cholesterol.

It's also taken to prevent heart disease, including heart attacks and strokes.

Pravastatin belongs to a group of medicines called statins.

Your doctor may prescribe pravastatin if you have a family history of heart disease, or a long-term health condition such as type 1 or type 2 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis.

Pravastatin is available on prescription as tablets.

Who can take pravastatin

Most adults and children over the age of 8 years can take pravastatin.

Who may not be able to take pravastatin

Pravastatin is not suitable for some people. Tell your doctor if you:

• have ever had an allergic reaction to pravastatin or any other medicines
• have liver or kidney problems
• are trying to get pregnant, are pregnant, or you're breastfeeding
• have lung disease
• regularly drink large amounts of alcohol
• have an underactive thyroid
• have had a muscle disorder (including fibromyalgia)
• you have a history of myasthenia gravis or ocular myasthenia

Dosage

In adults, the usual dose is 10mg to 40mg once a day. Your dose depends on why you need the medicine, your cholesterol levels and other medicines you may already be taking.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice if you're unsure how much to take. Do not reduce your dose without talking to your doctor first.

Doses for children

The doctor will work out the dose that is right for your child. This will depend on their age and why they need pravastatin.

The usual starting dose of pravastatin in children is 10mg taken in the evening. This dose may be increased to a maximum of 40mg taken in the evening depending on your child’s age.

How to take it

Take pravastatin once a day in the evening. It's better to take pravastatin at night because this is when your body makes most of its cholesterol. There is some evidence that pravastatin works better at lowering cholesterol if you take it in the evening rather than in the morning.

Pravastatin does not upset the stomach, so you can take it with or without food. Swallow pravastatin tablets whole with a glass of water.

How long to take it

Usually, treatment with a statin such as pravastatin is for life. The benefits will only continue for as long as you take it. If you stop taking pravastatin without starting a different treatment, your cholesterol level may rise again.

If you forget to take it

If you forget to take a dose, take it as soon as you remember it. If you do not remember until the following day, skip the missed dose and take your tablet at the usual time.

Never take 2 doses at the same time. Do not take extra doses.

If you often forget doses, it may help to set an alarm to remind you. You could also ask your pharmacist for advice on other ways to help you remember to take your medicine.

Stopping pravastatin

You may want to stop pravastatin if you think you're having side effects. Talk to your doctor first to see if it really is a side effect of pravastatin or something else. Your doctor may decide to lower your dose or change your medicine.

You will not get any withdrawal symptoms, however, stopping pravastatin may cause your cholesterol to rise. This increases your risk of heart attacks and strokes.

If you want to stop taking your medicine, it's important to find another way to lower your cholesterol.

If you take too much

Taking an extra dose of pravastatin is unlikely to harm you.

Talk to your pharmacist or doctor if you're worried or if you take more than 1 extra dose.

Like all medicines, pravastatin can cause side effects in some people, but not everybody gets them.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you get any side effects at all, and if they bother you or do not go away. Your doctor may recommend trying a lower dose of pravastatin or a different statin.

Serious side effects

It happens rarely, but less than 1 in 1,000 people taking pravastatin may have a serious side effect.

Stop taking pravastatin and call a doctor or call 111 straight away if:

• you get unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, weakness or cramps. This is more likely if you're taking a higher dose of pravastatin – and it can happen a few weeks or months after you first start taking this medicine. These can be a sign of muscle breakdown and kidney damage
• the whites of your eyes or skin turn yellow (this may be less noticeable on black or brown skin), or if you have pale poo and dark pee – these can be signs of liver problems
• you get a skin rash with pink-red blotches, especially on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet – this could be a sign of a skin reaction called erythema multiforme
• you have severe stomach pain – this can be a sign of inflammation of the pancreas (acute pancreatitis)
• you have a cough, shortness of breath and have lost weight – these can be signs of lung disease
• you have a weakness in your arms or legs that gets worse after activity, or if you get double vision, drooping eyelids, problems swallowing or shortness of breath – these can be a sign of myasthenia gravis

• you develop severe breathing or swallowing problems

In rare cases, it's possible to have a serious allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to pravastatin.

These are not all the side effects of pravastatin. For a full list see the leaflet inside your medicines packet.

Pravastatin and pregnancy

Pravastatin is not recommended in pregnancy. If you become pregnant while taking pravastatin, stop taking the medicine and tell your doctor.

Talk to your doctor if you are planning to get pregnant. Whether you continue taking pravastatin or not depends on your reason for taking it. It may be possible to change to a different medicine that is better in pregnancy. In some circumstances, it may be better to keep taking pravastatin until you have a positive pregnancy test and then stop.

Pravastatin and breastfeeding

It may be OK to take pravastatin while breastfeeding, but you might also be told to stop taking your medicine until you are no longer breastfeeding. Your doctor or pharmacist will help you decide.

There is some information which shows that pravastatin passes into breast milk in tiny amounts. It's unlikely to cause any side effects in your baby, or cause any effects on your baby’s cholesterol.

If you notice that your baby is not feeding as well as usual, or is not putting on weight as you would expect, or if you have any other concerns about your baby, talk to your health visitor, midwife or doctor as soon as possible.

Pravastatin and fertility

There's no clear evidence that taking pravastatin reduces fertility in either men or women. However, speak to a pharmacist or your doctor before taking it if you're trying to get pregnant.

Cautions with other medicines

Some medicines affect the way pravastatin works and can increase the chances of you having serious side effects, such as muscle damage.

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any of the following medicines:

• some antibiotics, such as clarithromycin, rifampicin, fusidic acid
• some HIV medicines
• medicines used to treat hepatitis C
• ciclosporin, used to treat psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis
• colchicine, a medicine for gout
• warfarin – a medicine used to help prevent blood clots

If you're taking pravastatin and need to take one of these medicines, your doctor may:

• prescribe a lower dose of pravastatin
• prescribe a different statin
• recommend that you stop taking your pravastatin for a while

Mixing pravastatin with herbal remedies and supplements

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking a Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) supplement. Supplements can affect the way other medicines you may also be taking work.

There is no clear evidence that taking CoQ10 at the same time as pravastatin will benefit your health. More research is needed.

There's not enough information to say that other complementary medicines and herbal remedies are safe to take with pravastatin. They're not tested in the same way as pharmacy and prescription medicines. They're generally not tested for the effect they have on other medicines.

Related links

HealthUnlocked contains information from NHS Digital, licensed under the current version of the Open Government Licence