Rosuvastatin

Rosuvastatin is a tablet that can lower cholesterol levels in your blood and improve your long-term cardiovascular health. It belongs to a class of drugs known as statins, which can reduce the amount of cholesterol your liver produces and ease the inflammation in your artery walls.

Cholesterol is a type of lipid, which is a broad term for molecules that your body produces naturally. Lipids are waxy, fatty substances that play a part in various essential processes and help give you energy. Triglycerides are another lipid that, like cholesterol, can cause serious health problems if your levels are too high. Essentially, cholesterol and triglycerides can be thought of as ‘blood fats’, and unhealthy levels of both can cause serious health problems, including heart attacks and strokes.^[1]

So lipids can move around your blood easily, they combine with a protein to form lipoproteins. The three main forms of cholesterol are high-density lipoproteins (HDL, or ‘good’ cholesterol), low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or ‘bad’ cholesterol) and very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL, another ‘bad’ form). Statins work by lowering the levels of unhealthy cholesterols that can cause you harm.

Rosuvastatin lowers your LDL levels by slowing down how much cholesterol your liver produces. It can also improve your liver’s ability to flush out the LDL that is already in your blood.^[2]

Taking Rosuvastatin daily, along with dietary changes and regular exercise, can also reduce the inflammation of your artery walls. This means blood can flow through your arteries smoothly, reducing the chances of blockages that could damage your vital organs.

There are four available doses of Rosuvastatin: 5mg, 10mg, 15mg, 20mg, 30mg and 40mg.

The starting dose for adults with high cholesterol is usually either the 5mg or 10mg tablets, once a day. This is normally the case even if you’ve taken statins before at higher doses.

A clinician can advise you on which dose will suit you best. If your cholesterol levels show no signs of improvement on the 5mg or 10mg tablets, you might need to move up to the 20mg, or eventually the 40mg dose.

The dose you’re on will usually be doubled so you move up the tablet strengths incrementally, rather than leaping from a lower dose to a higher one. 40mg is the maximum dose available, and blood tests through your GP can establish whether your cholesterol levels are coming down.

You can take your tablet with or without food at any time of the day, by swallowing it whole with a drink of water. This gives you the flexibility to choose when you want to take it, but taking Rosuvastatin at the same time each day means you’re less likely to miss a dose or take more than you should.

You could keep the tablets somewhere visible (such as a bathroom cabinet you’ll use in the morning), or try setting an alarm for the same time each day to keep in a routine.

Rosuvastatin should start to work within a week of taking your tablets daily. It can take up to a month for the full effects of the medication to work, though.

If you take your tablets as prescribed, your cholesterol levels should start to drop. A clinician might suggest having some blood tests done to see if your cholesterol levels are improving.

Swallowing your tablets at the same time each day should mean you’re less likely to make any mistakes while taking Rosuvastatin, such as taking too much or forgetting a dose.

You can take your tablet at any time of the day, but if it’s getting close to the time you’re due another (usually around four hours) you can wait until your next scheduled dose. If you do forget to take a tablet, there’s never any need to take two at once (double dosing).

If you’re thinking of stopping Rosuvastatin treatment, speak to a clinician first. They can advise you about how it might impact your cholesterol levels, and whether it’s safe for you to try and manage your condition without the help of medication.