Lipitor 5 mg

Lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering medication that blocks the production of cholesterol (a type of fat) in the body.
Lipitor reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and total cholesterol in the blood. Lowering your cholesterol can help prevent heart disease and hardening of the arteries, conditions that can lead to heart attack, stroke, and vascular disease.
Atorvastatin is used to treat high cholesterol. Lipitor (Atorvastatin) is also used to lower the risk of stroke, heart attack, or other heart complications in people with coronary heart disease or type 2 diabetes.

How to use:
In rare cases, atorvastatin can cause a condition that results in the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue. This condition can lead to kidney failure. Call your doctor at once if you have unexplained muscle pain or tenderness, muscle weakness, fever or flu symptoms, and dark colored urine.
This medication can cause birth defects in an unborn baby. Do not use if you are pregnant. Use an effective form of birth control, and tell your doctor if you become pregnant during treatment.
Do not take atorvastatin if you are pregnant or breast-feeding, or if you have liver disease.
Before taking atorvastatin, tell your doctor if you have diabetes, underactive thyroid, kidney disease, a muscle disorder, or a history of liver disease.
Avoid eating foods that are high in fat or cholesterol. Lipitor will not be as effective in lowering your cholesterol if you do not follow a cholesterol-lowering diet plan.
Avoid drinking alcohol while taking atorvastatin. Alcohol can raise triglyceride levels, and may also damage your liver while you are taking atorvastatin.

Side effects:
Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Stop using atorvastatin and call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:
muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness with fever or flu symptoms; or
nausea, stomach pain, low fever, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes).

Less serious side effects may include:

• mild nausea or stomach pain, stomach upset, heartburn;
• constipation, bloating, gas;
• stuffy nose; or
• itching, skin rash; or
• headache.

Dosage:
Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and take only the next regularly scheduled dose. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.

Overdose:
Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medicine. An overdose of atorvastatin is not expected to produce life-threatening symptoms.