Lipemol, Pravastatin
Information
Why is this medication
prescribed?
Pravastatin is used
with diet changes (restriction of cholesterol and fat intake) to reduce the
amount of cholesterol and certain fatty substances in your blood. Accumulation
of cholesterol and fats along the walls of your arteries (a process known as
atherosclerosis) decreases blood flow and, therefore, the oxygen supply to your
heart, brain, and other parts of your body. Lowering your blood level of
cholesterol and fats may help to prevent heart disease, angina (chest pain),
strokes, and heart attacks.
This medication is sometimes prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or
pharmacist for more information.
How
should this medicine be used?
Pravastatin comes in tablets to
take by mouth. It usually is is taken once a day at bedtime. Follow the
directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or
pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take pravastatin exactly
as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than
prescribed by your doctor.
Continue to take pravastatin even if you feel well. Do not stop taking
pravastatin without talking to your doctor.
What
special precautions should I follow?
Before taking pravastatin,
Tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to pravastatin or any other
drugs.
Tell your doctor and pharmacist what prescription and nonprescription
medications you are taking, especially antacids, cholestyramine (Questran),
cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), digoxin (Lanoxin), erythromycin, gemfibrozil
(Lopid), itraconazole (Sporanox), niacin, and vitamins.
If you are
taking cholestyramine (Questran) or colestipol (Colestid), take pravastatin at
least 1 hour before or 4 hours after these medications.
Tell your doctor if you drink large amounts of alcohol and if you have or have
ever had liver, kidney, or heart disease; a severe infection; low blood
pressure; or seizures.
Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are
breast-feeding. If you become pregnant while taking pravastatin, stop taking
pravastatin and call your doctor immediately. Pravastatin can harm the fetus.
If you are
having surgery, including dental surgery, tell the doctor or dentist that you
are taking pravastatin.
Talk to your doctor about the safe use of alcohol while taking this drug.
Alcohol increases the side effects caused by pravastatin.
Plan to avoid unnecessary or prolonged exposure to sunlight and to wear
protective clothing, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Pravastatin may make your skin
sensitive to sunlight.
What
special dietary instructions should I follow?
Eat a low-cholesterol, low-fat
diet. This kind of diet includes cottage cheese, fat-free milk, fish (not canned
in oil), vegetables, poultry, egg whites, and polyunsaturated oils and
margarines (corn, safflower, canola, and soybean oils). Avoid foods with excess
fat in them such as meat (especially liver and fatty meat), egg yolks, whole
milk, cream, butter, shortening, lard, pastries, cakes, cookies, gravy, peanut
butter, chocolate, olives, potato chips, coconut, cheese (other than cottage
cheese), coconut oil, palm oil, and fried foods.
What
should I do if I forget a dose?
Take the missed dose as soon as
you remember it. However, if it is almost time for the next dose, skip the
missed dose and continue the regular dosing schedule. Do not take a double dose
to make up for a missed one.
What
side effects can this medication cause?
Although side effects from
pravastatin are not common, they can occur. Tell your doctor if any of these
symptoms are severe or do not go away:
-
Gas
-
Stomach pain or cramps
-
Diarrhoea
-
Constipation
-
Heartburn
-
Headache
-
Blurred vision
-
Dizziness
-
Rash or itching
-
Upset stomach
If you
experience any of the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately:
Muscle pain, tenderness, or
weakness with or without fever and excessive tiredness
What storage conditions are needed for this medicine?
Keep this medication in the container it came in, tightly closed, and out of
reach of children. Store it at room temperature and away from excess heat and
moisture (not in the bathroom). Throw away any medication that is outdated or no
longer needed. Talk to your pharmacist about the proper disposal of your
medication.
What
other information should I know?
Keep all appointments with your
doctor and the laboratory. Your doctor will order certain lab tests before and
during treatment to check your response to pravastatin.
Do not
let anyone else take your medication
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Lipemol, Pravastatin order page.
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