If you do plan to drink, check with your doctor first, and drink in moderation — (one glass of wine or beer a day for women, two for men). Some people, especially pregnant women, and those who take certain medicines regularly, should avoid alcohol entirely. Cannabis (commonly called marijuana) and cannabis products, such as cannabidiol (CBD), have been specifically reported to interact with Lipitor.
The conclusion of a 2017 study was that statins used for people with cirrhosis might actually reduce liver failure and complications of liver failure such as portal hypertension. Statins are being evaluated for their ability to reduce the worsening of liver disease in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. While combining Lipitor and alcohol is potentially harmful to the liver, there is no solid research to confirm a higher risk of problems in those who take this medication and drink alcohol.
Drinking too much alcohol can actually increase your risk for heart disease and stroke, raise blood pressure, contribute to obesity, and increase the levels of fats called triglycerides in the blood. You may have heard that drinking a glass or two of red wine each day can help reduce your risk of heart disease. But before you raise a glass and toast to your heart, know that the news about alcohol isn’t entirely positive.
Cholesterol Medications
The risks of mixing antipsychotics and alcohol include impaired judgment, dizziness, drowsiness, low blood pressure, the worsening of a psychiatric condition, an increased risk of suicide, and more. Additionally, drinking alcohol can also make the side effects of a medication worse or even cause new symptoms. This is especially true if you are taking a medication that makes you sleepy or causes sedation. More intense side effects mean you might be more impaired after having one drink than you would typically be. The mixture of opiates and alcohol, for example, can cause your breathing to stop and is a common cause of death. Patients combining cholesterol medications and alcohol who have liver disease due to excessive alcohol use (for example, cirrhosis) or who consume large quantities of alcohol should alert their doctor to this issue.
Can you take statins and drink alcohol?
- Before you start treatment with Lipitor, tell your doctor and pharmacist if you use cannabis.
- For example, alcohol consumption typically has been measured through self-report.
- The more you drink, the more your levels of cholesterol and triglycerides rise.
- This is because heavy drinking and statin use, although rare, can both potentially interfere with liver function.
People taking statins may still be able to consume some alcohol, but not more than 14 units per week. Statins work by reducing how much cholesterol the liver produces and increasing its clearance from the blood. According to the latest available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 28% of adults in the United States over the age of 40 years take a cholesterol-lowering medication.
Muscle pain
These oral medicines are available as single agents or in combination with other medicines. Sign up to get tips for living what is smack in the dirt a healthy lifestyle, with ways to fight inflammation and improve cognitive health, plus the latest advances in preventative medicine, diet and exercise, pain relief, blood pressure and cholesterol management, and more. People who drink alcohol regularly should discuss their consumption habits with a doctor before taking statins to reduce the risk of complications.
Alcohol has a hormetic physiological behavior that results in either increased or decreased cardiovascular risk depending on the amount consumed, drinking frequency, pattern of consumption, and the outcomes under study or even the type of alcoholic beverage consumed. However, the vast majority of studies elucidating the role of alcohol in cardiovascular and in the global burden of disease relies on epidemiological studies of associative nature which carry several limitations. This is why the cardiovascular benefits of low–moderate alcohol consumption are being questioned and perhaps might have been overestimated.
Related Conditions
The drug can interact with certain foods, other medications, and some supplements. If you had an alcoholic beverage and are not sure if you should take an OTC pain reliever, you can ask a local pharmacist or primary care provider if it is safe to do so. Having an alcoholic drink while you are taking medications to treat prostate conditions can cause dizziness, lightheadedness, and fainting. Mixing these medications with alcohol intensifies the side effects and increases the risk of a fatal overdose. You might not need to completely avoid alcohol if you are taking a blood thinner.
However, some research suggests that statins can sometimes impact your liver, making heavy alcohol consumption while taking statins potentially dangerous for your health. But, drinking alcohol may worsen the potential side effects for people with certain medical conditions, particularly liver damage. The relationship between alcohol consumption and CVD appears in general terms biphasic, being protective at low and moderate amounts and detrimental at high intakes, even when occasionally consumed. Although several authors defend that the harmful effects of alcohol, even at low amounts, outweigh their benefits 142,143, current evidence supports that low amounts of alcohol are safe and beneficial for the CV system. Data from transgenic animal models and pharmacologic approaches strongly support a role for ethanol-induced oxidative stress in CV disease.
Results from another meta-analysis of 12 cohort studies found a similar dose–response relationship between alcohol consumption and HTN for males. A J-shaped relationship for females showed protective effects at or below consumption levels of 15 g/day (Taylor et al. 2009). These data highlight how gender may be an important modifier of the alcohol threshold level and can shape the alcohol benefit–risk relationship. This is why heavy drinking is linked to an increased risk of heart disease and heart disease-related death (13, 14).