When diet and exercise fail to lower your cholesterol level, doctors tend to turn to certain medications as the next line of defense, according to the National Institutes of Health. The type of prescription is largely based on your age and your health as well as your weight, blood pressure, activity level and other health-related conditions. The most common cholesterol lowering medications are statins, bile-acid-binding resins and cholesterol absorption inhibitors.
Statins
Atorvastatin is by far the most common type of statin used to treat high cholesterol, but your doctor may instead prescribe fluvastatin, rosuvastatin or lovastatin (to name a few). Regardless of the actual drug, these medications have an effect on a certain enzyme in the body called HMG-CoA reductase (3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase) that is responsible for helping your liver create cholesterol. By blocking this enzyme, according to the Mayo Clinic, your body is unable to make as much cholesterol, which eventually causes a decrease in the level of cholesterol in your bloodstream.
It's also possible that the use of this grouping of medications may actually reduce the amount of plaque along your arterial walls by causing the body to reabsorb them. However, the main purpose of statins is to block the enzyme so cholesterol production is greatly reduced.
Though the benefits of statins are strong, this type of medication isn't without its own side effects. But this doesn't mean that everyone who takes this drug to lower cholesterol levels will experience any adverse complications. Some of the more common are nausea, upset stomach, diarrhea, constipation, headaches, muscle aches or pains, back pain, sore throat, sleep disruptions and periodic fevers. If you were to experience any of these (or other) side effects, contact your doctor immediately. Your may need a dose adjustment or an entirely new medication.
Bile-Acid-Binding Resins
Another common cholesterol-reducing medication is a grouping of drugs known as bile acid sequestrants, or bile-acid-reducing resins such as cholestyramine and colestipol. Whereas statins block an enzyme to lower cholesterol more directly, this type of drug binds itself to bile acids that would normally be reabsorbed into the body. When a bile acid is bound, it's actually expelled through stool, according to the Mayo Clinic. This lowers the amount of bile in our systems and causes the liver to make more. But the liver can't make bile all on its own; it must use excess cholesterol, thereby having an indirect effect on your cholesterol levels.
As with statins, it's possible to experience side effects from a bile-acid-reducing resin. These include nausea, vomiting, heartburn, indigestion, constipation and stomach cramps or pain.
Cholesterol Absorption Inhibitors
With cholesterol absorption inhibitors or antihyperlipidemic medications, you're probably getting the most direct effect on cholesterol because these medications don't allow cholesterol to be absorbed within the lower digestive tract, according to the Mayo Clinic. Instead of going into your system, cholesterol is expelled through your stool. Side effects may include headaches, fevers, sore throat, congestion and muscle aches or pains. It's also possible to experience diarrhea, joint pain, chest pain, coughing and shortness of breath. Talk with your doctor if any (or other) side effect manifest.
