Cholesterol-Lowering Medications and You If you have an LDL level of 130 mg/dL or greater, you will generally need to take an LDL-lowering medicine. If your LDL level is 100 to 129 mg/dL, your doctor will consider all the facts of your case in deciding whether to prescribe medication for further LDL lowering or for high triglycerides and/or low HDL if they are present. If you have been hospitalized for a heart attack, your doctor will likely start you on a medication at discharge if your LDL-cholesterol is 130 mg/dL or greater. If your LDL-cholesterol is between 100 and 129 mg/dL during your hospitalization, your doctor may choose to start you on an LDL-lowering medication before you are discharged. Also, if your LDL-cholesterol is far above the goal level of less than 100 mg/dL when first measured, your doctor may choose to start a cholesterol-lowering medication together with diet and physical activity right from the beginning of treatment. If your doctor prescribes medicine, you also will need to:
Taking all these steps together may lessen the amount of medicine you need or make the medicine work better--and that reduces your risk for a heart attack. The following is a description of cholesterol-lowering medicines. Other Drugs
Also see the Tipsheets How to Stay on Your Cholesterol-Lowering Medication and Next Steps Go to the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) Section |