your take on statins?

[sosoo]

would you recommend statins taken at night time? lipitor any time of day? why or why not?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Rouelle]

would you recommend statins taken at night time? lipitor any time of day? why or why not?

Yes. The majority of endogenous cholesterol production happens at night and thus statins are administered then to maximize benefit. The exceptions are atorvastatin and Crestor, which supposedly have sufficiently long t1/2 to make dosing any time of day possible.

 

[Tsap]

i think only lovastatin needs to be taken at bedtime b/c it is not designed to last 24 hrs

 

[HouTX]

would you recommend statins taken at night time? lipitor any time of day? why or why not?

are you serious?

 

[sosoo]

Yes. The majority of endogenous cholesterol production happens at night and thus statins are administered then to maximize benefit. The exceptions are atorvastatin and Crestor, which supposedly have sufficiently long t1/2 to make dosing any time of day possible.

yea i was thinking about half life too. not sure why ppl keep saying to take them at night time, while lipitor any time of day. if the statins are taken daily, and after 4 half life a steady state concentration is reached, shouldn't the same concentration remains in the blood regardless of day or night? that is the definition of steady state concentration? so it wont really matter when to take any of the statins right?

 

[xiphoid2010]

i have to say it as well, are you serious? Time to review pharmacokinetics?

 

[zelman]

that is the definition of steady state concentration?

No. It is not.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

yea i was thinking about half life too. not sure why ppl keep saying to take them at night time, while lipitor any time of day. if the statins are taken daily, and after 4 half life a steady state concentration is reached, shouldn't the same concentration remains in the blood regardless of day or night? that is the definition of steady state concentration? so it wont really matter when to take any of the statins right?

No. Steady state means that the peaks and troughs have reached a point where they aren't increasing with each additional dose. Blood concentrations still decrease over the course of the day. If this wasn't the case and the drug concentration stayed the same all day, then you would only have to take the drug once ever because you wouldn't be metabolizing it. The only situation where the steady state concentration remains constant is a continual IV infusion.

 

[jnmnh]

Or Lantus

 

[sosoo]

No. Steady state means that the peaks and troughs have reached a point where they aren't increasing with each additional dose. Blood concentrations still decrease over the course of the day. If this wasn't the case and the drug concentration stayed the same all day, then you would only have to take the drug once ever because you wouldn't be metabolizing it. The only situation where the steady state concentration remains constant is a continual IV infusion.

thanks for the constructive response. but if peaks and troughs aren't increasing with additional dose, doesn't that mean take it whenever and it's the same concentration? picture a flat line from morning til night. take a pill and the peak don't increase. its still a flat line. so it wouldn't really matter whether its morning or night when the pill is taken?

 

[Rouelle]

thanks for the constructive response. but if peaks and troughs aren't increasing with additional dose, doesn't that mean take it whenever and it's the same concentration? picture a flat line from morning til night. take a pill and the peak don't increase. its still a flat line. so it wouldn't really matter whether its morning or night when the pill is taken?

No, there are no flat lines involved in this scenario. There are still peaks and troughs. However peak 10 is the same height as peaks 9 and 11. Trough 10 is the same depth as troughs 9 and 11. That is steady state. You take simvastatin at night because you will get a peak after you take it and that peak will hopefully correspond to the time of highest endogenous cholesterol production.

 

[zelman]

thanks for the constructive response. but if peaks and troughs aren't increasing with additional dose, doesn't that mean take it whenever and it's the same concentration? picture a flat line from morning til night. take a pill and the peak don't increase. its still a flat line. so it wouldn't really matter whether its morning or night when the pill is taken?

There are still peaks and troughs. They just stopped changing.

 

[sosoo]

omgosh. thanks so much. all this time i keep thinking of a flat line. hahahh