Before Using

Drug information provided by: Merative, Micromedex®

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For this medicine, the following should be considered:

Allergies

Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.

Pediatric

Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated pediatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of lovastatin tablets in children 10 to 17 years of age. However, safety and efficacy in children younger than 10 years of age have not been established.

Teenage girls taking lovastatin tablets should be counseled on appropriate birth control methods to prevent pregnancy.

Appropriate studies have not been performed on the relationship of age to the effects of lovastatin extended-release tablets in the pediatric population. Safety and efficacy have not been established.

Geriatric

Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of lovastatin in the elderly. However, elderly patients are more likely to have age-related liver, kidney, or heart problems, which may require an adjustment in the dose for patients receiving lovastatin.

Breastfeeding

Studies in women breastfeeding have demonstrated harmful infant effects. An alternative to this medication should be prescribed or you should stop breastfeeding while using this medicine.

Drug Interactions

Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive.

Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is not recommended. Your doctor may decide not to treat you with this medication or change some of the other medicines you take.

  • Amprenavir
  • Atazanavir
  • Boceprevir
  • Clarithromycin
  • Cobicistat
  • Darunavir
  • Erythromycin
  • Fosamprenavir
  • Idelalisib
  • Indinavir
  • Itraconazole
  • Ketoconazole
  • Levoketoconazole
  • Lopinavir
  • Mibefradil
  • Mifepristone
  • Nefazodone
  • Nelfinavir
  • Nirmatrelvir
  • Posaconazole
  • Ritonavir
  • Saquinavir
  • Telaprevir
  • Telithromycin
  • Tipranavir
  • Voriconazole

Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines.

  • Adagrasib
  • Amiodarone
  • Bezafibrate
  • Carbamazepine
  • Ceritinib
  • Ciprofibrate
  • Clofibrate
  • Colchicine
  • Conivaptan
  • Cyclosporine
  • Dabigatran Etexilate
  • Dabrafenib
  • Dalfopristin
  • Danazol
  • Daptomycin
  • Delavirdine
  • Diltiazem
  • Dronedarone
  • Duvelisib
  • Eltrombopag
  • Fedratinib
  • Fenofibrate
  • Fenofibric Acid
  • Fexinidazole
  • Fluconazole
  • Fosnetupitant
  • Gemfibrozil
  • Glecaprevir
  • Ivosidenib
  • Larotrectinib
  • Lefamulin
  • Lenacapavir
  • Letermovir
  • Lomitapide
  • Lorlatinib
  • Lumacaftor
  • Mavacamten
  • Netupitant
  • Niacin
  • Olutasidenib
  • Omaveloxolone
  • Pacritinib
  • Phenobarbital
  • Pibrentasvir
  • Pirtobrutinib
  • Primidone
  • Quinupristin
  • Ranolazine
  • Ritlecitinib
  • Trofinetide
  • Verapamil

Using this medicine with any of the following medicines may cause an increased risk of certain side effects, but using both drugs may be the best treatment for you. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines.

  • Azithromycin
  • Bosentan
  • Clopidogrel
  • Oat Bran
  • Pectin
  • St John's Wort

Other Interactions

Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive.

Using this medicine with any of the following is usually not recommended, but may be unavoidable in some cases. If used together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use this medicine, or give you special instructions about the use of food, alcohol, or tobacco.

  • Grapefruit Juice

Other Medical Problems

The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

  • Alcohol abuse, or history of or
  • Diabetes, poorly controlled or
  • Hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid) or
  • Liver disease, history of—Use with caution. May cause side effects to become worse.
  • Electrolyte disorder, severe or
  • Endocrine disorder, severe or
  • Epilepsy (seizures), uncontrolled or
  • Hypotension (low blood pressure) or
  • Kidney disease, severe or
  • Metabolic disorder, severe or
  • Sepsis (severe infection)—Patients with these conditions may be at risk for muscle or kidney problems.
  • Hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol in the blood), familial homozygous—Less effective in patients with this condition.
  • Liver disease, active or
  • Liver enzymes, elevated—Should not be used in patients with these conditions.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

Portions of this document last updated: April 01, 2024

Copyright: © Merative US L.P. 1973, 2024. All rights reserved. Information is for End User's use only and may not be sold, redistributed or otherwise used for commercial purposes.