intermittent low-dose statins is an option for lipid lowering therapy in statin intolerant patients
atorvastatin and rosuvastatin, are longer acting
they are therefore useful for nondaily dosing regimens
alternate day, three times a week, twice a week, and once a week regimens have been tried and results are positive
evidence from a small double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 35 patients receiving atorvastatin, 10 mg daily, versus alternate day regimen showed LDL cholesterol reductions of 38% and 35%, respectively, without any myopathy
use in statin intolerant patients
in a small study of 51 statin intolerant patients, who received rosuvastatin, 5 or 10 mg on alternate days, 80% of patients had no recurrence of myalgia
once weekly rosuvastatin, 5-20 mg, resulted in a mean LDL cholesterol reduction of 29% among 8 intolerant patients without any incidence of myopathy
non-daily rosuvastatin and atorvastatin seem tolerable - the use of non daily statin dosing may help lower LDL cholesterol levels in patients with statin intolerance
2) Matalka MS et al Is alternate daily dose of atorvastatin effective in treating patients with hyperlipidemia? The Alternate Day Versus Daily Dosing of Atorvastatin Study (ADDAS). Am Heart J 2002;144:674-7.
3) Backes JM et al. Effectiveness and tolerability of every-other-day rosuvastatin dosing in patients with prior statin intolerance. Ann Pharmacother 2008;42:341-6
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