Crestor

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• Consumer Information
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Crestor Side Effects Center

What Is Crestor?

Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) is a statin drug, that works by slowing the production of cholesterol by the body, used to lower cholesterol and fats (triglycerides) in the blood and is used to reduce the chances of developing problems like heart disease and strokes that can be caused, in part, by high cholesterol levels. It is often recommended to use Crestor in conjunction with a diet low in fats and cholesterol, and exercise (about 30 min. per day). Crestor is available in generic form.

What Are Side Effects of Crestor?

Side effects of Crestor include

• headache,
• depression,
• muscle aches or pains,
• joint pain,
• sleep problems (insomnia or nightmares),
• constipation,
• nausea,
• stomach pain,
• indigestion, or
• diarrhea.

Infrequent but serious side effects of Crestor include rhabdomyolysis (muscle damage or destruction) that can lead to acute renal failure and liver damage.

Dosage for Crestor

Crestor is available in tablets of 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg strengths. Usual dose ranges from 5 to 20 mg per day. Crestor should be taken with water once a day at the same time of day, with or without food. Dosage may be adjusted depending on what medicines the patient is already taking.

What Drugs, Substances, or Supplements Interact with Crestor?

Crestor may interact with birth control pills, cimetidine, blood thinners, spironolactone, niacin, or other "statin" medications. Tell your doctor all medications and supplements you use.

Crestor During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

Crestor should not be taken during pregnancy or during breastfeeding because of potential birth defects.

Additional Information

Our Crestor Side Effects Drug Center provides a comprehensive view of available drug information on the potential side effects when taking this medication.

 

Crestor Consumer Information

Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Call your doctor at once if you have:

• unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness;
• muscle weakness in your hips, shoulders, neck, and back;
• trouble lifting your arms, trouble climbing or standing;
• confusion, memory problems; or
• liver problems--upper stomach pain, tiredness, loss of appetite, dark urine, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes).

Common side effects may include:

• headache;
• weakness;
• muscle aches; or
• nausea, stomach pain.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Read the entire detailed patient monograph for Crestor (Rosuvastatin Calcium)

 

Crestor Professional Information

SIDE EFFECTS

The following serious adverse reactions are discussed in greater detail in other sections of the label:

• Rhabdomyolysis with myoglobinuria and acute renal failure and myopathy (including myositis) [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]
• Liver enzyme abnormalities [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]

Clinical Studies Experience

Because clinical studies are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical studies of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical studies of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in clinical practice.

In the CRESTOR controlled clinical trials database (placebo or active-controlled) of 5394 patients with a mean treatment duration of 15 weeks, 1.4% of patients discontinued due to adverse reactions. The most common adverse reactions that led to treatment discontinuation were:

• myalgia
• abdominal pain
• nausea

The most commonly reported adverse reactions (incidence ≥2%) in the CRESTOR controlled clinical trial database of 5394 patients were:

• headache
• myalgia
• abdominal pain
• asthenia
• nausea

Adverse reactions reported in ≥2% of patients in placebo-controlled clinical studies and at a rate greater than placebo are shown in Table 1. These studies had a treatment duration of up to 12 weeks.

Table 1: Adverse Reactions¹ Reported in ≥2% of Patients Treated with CRESTOR and > Placebo in Placebo-Controlled Trials (% of Patients)

Adverse Reactions	CRESTOR 5 mg N=291	CRESTOR 10 mg N=283	CRESTOR 20 mg N=64	CRESTOR 40 mg N=106	Total CRESTOR 5 mg-40 mg N=744	Placebo N=382
Headache	5.5	4.9	3.1	8.5	5.5	5.0
Nausea	3.8	3.5	6.3	0	3.4	3.1
Myalgia	3.1	2.1	6.3	1.9	2.8	1.3
Asthenia	2.4	3.2	4.7	0.9	2.7	2.6
Constipation	2.1	2.1	4.7	2.8	2.4	2.4
1 Adverse reactions by COSTART preferred term.

Other adverse reactions reported in clinical studies were abdominal pain, dizziness, hypersensitivity (including rash, pruritus, urticaria, and angioedema) and pancreatitis. The following laboratory abnormalities have also been reported: dipstick-positive proteinuria and microscopic hematuria [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]; elevated creatine phosphokinase, transaminases, glucose, glutamyl transpeptidase, alkaline phosphatase, and bilirubin; and thyroid function abnormalities.

In the METEOR study, involving 981 participants treated with rosuvastatin 40 mg (n=700) or placebo (n=281) with a mean treatment duration of 1.7 years, 5.6% of subjects treated with CRESTOR versus 2.8% of placebo-treated subjects discontinued due to adverse reactions. The most common adverse reactions that led to treatment discontinuation were: myalgia, hepatic enzyme increased, headache, and nausea [see Clinical Studies].

Adverse reactions reported in ≥2% of patients and at a rate greater than placebo are shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Adverse Reactions1 Reported in ≥2% of Patients Treated with CRESTOR and > Placebo in the METEOR Trial (% of Patients)

Adverse Reactions	CRESTOR 40 mg N=700	Placebo N=281
Myalgia	12.7	12.1
Arthralgia	10.1	7.1
Headache	6.4	5.3
Dizziness	4.0	2.8
Increased CPK	2.6	0.7
Abdominal pain	2.4	1.8
ALT >3x ULN2	2.2	0.7
1 Adverse reactions by MedDRA preferred term. 2 Frequency recorded as abnormal laboratory value.

In the JUPITER study, 17,802 participants were treated with rosuvastatin 20 mg (n=8901) or placebo (n=8901) for a mean duration of 2 years. A higher percentage of rosuvastatin-treated patients versus placebo-treated patients, 6.6% and 6.2%, respectively, discontinued study medication due to an adverse event, irrespective of treatment causality. Myalgia was the most common adverse reaction that led to treatment discontinuation.

In JUPITER, there was a significantly higher frequency of diabetes mellitus reported in patients taking rosuvastatin (2.8%) versus patients taking placebo (2.3%). Mean HbA1c was significantly increased by 0.1% in rosuvastatin-treated patients compared to placebo-treated patients. The number of patients with a HbA1c >6.5% at the end of the trial was significantly higher in rosuvastatin-treated versus placebo-treated patients [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS and Clinical Studies].

Adverse reactions reported in ≥2% of patients and at a rate greater than placebo are shown in Table 3.

Table 3: Adverse Reactions¹ Reported in ≥2% of Patients Treated with CRESTOR and > Placebo in the JUPITER Trial (% of Patients)

Adverse Reactions	CRESTOR 20 mg N=8901	Placebo N=8901
Myalgia	7.6	6.6
Arthralgia	3.8	3.2
Constipation	3.3	3.0
Diabetes mellitus	2.8	2.3
Nausea	2.4	2.3
1 Treatment-emergent adverse reactions by MedDRA preferred term.

Pediatric Patients With Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia

In a 12-week controlled study in boys and postmenarcheal girls 10 to 17 years of age with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia with CRESTOR 5 to 20 mg daily [see Use In Specific Populations and Clinical Studies], elevations in serum creatine phosphokinase (CK) >10 x ULN were observed more frequently in rosuvastatin compared with placebo-treated children. Four of 130 (3%) children treated with rosuvastatin (2 treated with 10 mg and 2 treated with 20 mg) had increased CK >10 x ULN, compared to 0 of 46 children on placebo.

Postmarketing Experience

The following adverse reactions have been identified during postapproval use of CRESTOR: arthralgia, fatal and non-fatal hepatic failure, hepatitis, jaundice, thrombocytopenia, depression, sleep disorders (including insomnia and nightmares), peripheral neuropathy, interstitial lung disease and gynecomastia. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.

There have been rare reports of immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy associated with statin use [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS].

There have been rare postmarketing reports of cognitive impairment (e.g., memory loss, forgetfulness, amnesia, memory impairment, and confusion) associated with statin use. These cognitive issues have been reported for all statins. The reports are generally nonserious, and reversible upon statin discontinuation, with variable times to symptom onset (1 day to years) and symptom resolution (median of 3 weeks).

Read the entire FDA prescribing information for Crestor (Rosuvastatin Calcium)

&Copy; Crestor Patient Information is supplied by Cerner Multum, Inc. and Crestor Consumer information is supplied by First Databank, Inc., used under license and subject to their respective copyrights.