Pravastatin side effects are a very real concern forcing many doctors and patients alike to make difficult decisions as to whether the risks outweigh the rewards.
In this article we will talk a little about how statin medications work and some of the pravastatin side effects you should be aware of.
So if you have a few minutes to spare why don't we get started.
Statin medications are sold under many different names, most of which you will recognize.
Names such as Pravachol (pravastatin), Crestor, Lipitor, and Zocor are some of the most prescribed medications on the market today.
They work by blocking the enzyme (HMG-CoA reductase) that your liver requires to produce cholesterol, thus shutting off one of the two sources of cholesterol, the other being diet.
This is a particularly effective method of reducing blood cholesterol with most stain medications showing cholesterol reduction numbers ranging from 35 to 50 percent.
By rapidly lowering bad cholesterol you will have taken a major step towards reducing the chances of heart attack, stroke, and atherosclerosis.
At this point it would be easy to get excited about achieving all of these health benefits but as with all prescription medications there are risks.
After all there is a reason why they are available by prescription only, right! What are the possible pravastatin side effects? Pravastatin side effects can run the gamut from mild to quite severe.
The nuisance type of pravastatin side effects include stomach discomfort, gas, bloating, heartburn, constipation, fatigue, faintness, headache, skin rash, general aches and pains, or flu like symptoms.
The more severe pravastatin side effects would include chest pain, muscle pain, tenderness, discolored dark urine, pungent urine, low grade fever, reddish colored stool, and yellowing of the eyes and skin (jaundice).
This is only a partial list, so if you are considering pravastatin some additional research should be in order.
Pravastatin side effects - What is the most serious of all the side effects? The condition is known as rhabdomyolysis and it was less than ten years ago when the risk of this condition being caused by statin medications first came to light.
Rhabdomyolysis is a painful condition that occurs when muscle death, from lack of essential cholesterol, cascades into kidney failure.
The first indication that might be happening to you will be unexplained muscle tenderness, muscle weakness, fever combined with flu like symptoms, and/or dark colored urine.
Are there natural alternative to Pravastatin? The answer is yes, but much will depend on how fast you need to drop those problematic cholesterol numbers, along with whether there are other contributing factors such as familial hypercholesterolemia.
Natural cholesterol reduction supplements are very safe and void of pravastatin side effects.
Most work by trapping cholesterol in the intestines and sending it out of the body in the form of solid waste, rather than allowing it to re-circulate in the blood stream and ultimately ending up in the arteries.
Generally speaking, natural cholesterol reduction supplements are very effective at lowering LDL (bad cholesterol), increasing good cholesterol (HDL), and reducing dangerous triglycerides.