Your doctor may feel it is beneficial for you to take more than one cholesterol drug, especially if you have:
- metabolic syndrome -- this is when you have a constellation of multiple risk factors for heart disease, including elevated triclycerides, low HDL, poor handling of blood glucose (sugar), and abdominal obesity (excessive weight concentrated in the abdominal area)
- inherited cholesterol imbalances -- also called familial hypercholesterolemias, these are characterized by extremely high levels of one or more components of the lipid profile, with high cholesterol often starting at a young age
Statin combinations
Statins, for example, can be used with bile acid-binding resins, cholesterol absorption inhibitors (ezetimibe), nicotinic acid (niacin), and fibrates. Advicor, a single medication that combines niacin and lovastatin, has been approved by the FDA for use by prescription and is available on the US market.
However, using medications in combination may increase the chances for side effects and serious complications. For example, when statins are combined with fibrates or niacin, it increases the risk for rhabdomyolysis. This is a serious condition that causes muscle pain and, in rare cases, can lead to kidney failure. Fatalities associated with rhabdomyolysis occurred with the statin cerivastatin (Baycol), particularly at high doses and in combination with fibrates. This statin was withdrawn from the market in 2001.
Review Date: September 20, 2004
Reviewed By: Jacqueline A. Hart, M.D., Department of Internal Medicine,
Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Harvard University and Senior Medical Editor,
A.D.A.M., Inc.
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