Lescol Alternatives

There are a number of medications that be used as a substitute for Lescol. Alternatives for the drug include other cholesterol medicines or other statins. Other types of statins include rosuvastatin, lovastatin, and atorvastatin. Aside from statins, there are also other types of cholesterol medications that can be taken as an alternative to Lescol, including fibrates, niacin, and bile acid sequestrants.

Lescol Medication

Lescol Alternatives: An Overview

Lifestyle changes are the first line of treatment for lowering cholesterol. However, for some people, treating high cholesterol with a low-cholesterol diet, weight control, and exercise are not enough. If lifestyle changes alone are not enough, your doctor can prescribe cholesterol medications. One such medicine is Lescol^® (fluvastatin sodium). For most people, Lescol is quite effective in lowering cholesterol. It is also generally well tolerated. However, Lescol side effects can occur, and people may wish to consider an alternative for Lescol. These alternatives could include other statins or other cholesterol medicines.

Lescol Alternatives: Other Statins

Lescol is part of a class of drugs called statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors).

Statins work by blocking a particular enzyme, HMG-CoA reductase, that controls the rate of cholesterol production in the body. This causes the liver to make less cholesterol. Lescol also:

Increases the liver's ability to collect and get rid of LDL cholesterol ("bad cholesterol")
Increases HDL cholesterol ("good cholesterol")
Decreases triglycerides.

There are several types of statins available that could be considered a substitute for Lescol. These include:

There are also several generic versions of these prescription statins. To see if a generic statin would make sense in your situation, talk to your healthcare provider.

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