Q: I have high cholesterol and my doctor is worried that I may have a heart attack as all of my older brothers have had heart attacks. He wants me to take lipitor for the cholesterol.
 I want to listen to him, but I just saw a bad drug commercial on TV and it said that this medication can cause liver problems and diabetes. What should I do?
A: Lipitor is one of a number of medications from the class of drugs called “statins”. These are some of the most widely used medications in the US. There is an abundance of data that proves that these medications will lower your risk of heart attack and stroke. By the sounds of it, you are someone who is at risk. While there are possible side effects to all medications, these are very well tolerated. One side effect can be muscle ache, and this resolves after stopping the medication, or lowering the dose.
A more serious side effect is liver toxicity. Luckily, this is very rare. Your doctor will check the liver enzymes a few months after you start this medication.
Recently, there have been a few studies which suggest that diabetes may be slightly higher with these medications. This is not well proven yet.
If your doctor recommended the medication, we think you should listen to your doctor.
To learn more about Lipitor and other statins, watch this video on VideoMD.com.
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