Fluvastatin: What Should I Tell My Healthcare Provider?
- Liver disease or liver failure
- Kidney disease or kidney failure
- Any allergies, including allergies to foods, dyes, or preservatives.
Let your healthcare provider know if you:
- Are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant
- Are breastfeeding
- Drink alcohol frequently.
Also, tell your healthcare provider about all other medicines you may be taking, including prescription and non-prescription medicines,
antacids, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
Finally, make sure to contact your healthcare provider immediately if you experience any muscle pain, weakness, or tenderness, especially if you also have body aches or a fever.
Specific Precautions and Warnings of Fluvastatin
Warnings and precautions to be aware of prior to taking fluvastatin include the following:
- If you are an alcoholic or drink alcohol frequently, discuss this with your healthcare provider prior to taking this drug. Alcohol can affect the way the liver works, indirectly affecting the fluvastatin.
- Statins have been known to cause an increase in liver enzymes. Therefore, you should have a blood test that looks at your liver function before starting fluvastatin and several months after treatment has started. These tests may also be recommended if your doctor changes your dosage (see Lescol and Liver Problems).
- Rhabdomyolysis (the severe breakdown of muscles) and other serious muscle problems have rarely been reported with fluvastatin and other statins. You are at greater risk for developing muscle problems with this drug if you:
- Have kidney damage
- Are elderly
- Are not being properly treated for hypothyroidism.
- Make sure to contact your healthcare provider immediately if you experience any muscle pain, weakness, or tenderness, especially if you also have a fever or feel ill (see Lescol and Muscle Pain).
- Fluvastatin is a pregnancy Category X medicine, meaning that it could potentially cause harm to your unborn child. The safety of this drug in pregnant women has not been established. If you are pregnant, talk to your healthcare provider immediately (see Lescol and Pregnancy).
- If you are nursing, it is not known whether fluvastatin passes through your milk. Therefore, ask your healthcare provider whether you should stop nursing or discontinue fluvastatin.
