The short answer:
The daily dose of atorvastatin ranges from 10 mg to 80 mg per day. The dose varies according to the age and the reason for atorvastatin administration. However, for children and adults, and whatever the reason for atorvastatin administration, the daily dose shouldn’t exceed 80 mg per day.
Content:
What is the typical dose of atorvastatin?
What dose of atorvastatin is too high?
What is the typical dose of atorvastatin for adults?
What is the typical dose of atorvastatin for children?
Key facts:
- Atorvastatin is a cholesterol-lowering agent available in oral tablets.
- The dose of atorvastatin varies according to the reason for use. You have to follow your doctor’s instructions or the directions on the leaflet.
- Whatever the reason for administration, the daily dose of atorvastatin should not exceed 80 mg per day.
- The typical daily dose of atorvastatin for adults ranges from 10 mg to 80 mg depending on the reason why you take atorvastatin.
- Atorvastatin is approved for children of age 10 to 17 years old.
- The typical dose of atorvastatin for children starts from 10 mg per day and may increase according to the reason for administration.
What is the typical dose of atorvastatin?
Atorvastatin is an orally administered statin, it is among the most potent currently available statin in terms of lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and total cholesterol levels.
Atorvastatin is reported to have a good safety profile. It was the first statin shown to lower triglycerides in patients with isolated hypertriglyceridemia.
It is available in the market in different doses such as 10 mg, 20 mg, 40, mg, and 80 mg (Ref).
Atorvastatin is approved for children and adults from age 10 years and above with a daily dose range from 10 to 80 mg per day (Ref).
The typical doses of atorvastatin vary according to the purpose of use and the concurrent medications you take.
Higher blood cholesterol levels may need higher atorvastatin doses. The standard daily dose of atorvastatin starts from 10 mg then you may progress to a higher dose of 20, 40, and up to 80 mg per day (Ref).
What dose of atorvastatin is considered high?
Atorvastatin is used for children and adult patients and the dose may range from 10 mg to 80 mg per day. The daily dose of atorvastatin varies according to the reason why you use it.
For children and adults and whatever the reason for atorvastatin administration, the daily dose shouldn’t exceed 80 mg per day. The higher daily doses increase your risk of experiencing side effects of atorvastatin.
Interestingly, high doses of atorvastatin are not commonly prescribed in clinical practice. This is attributed to the following (Ref)
- The higher doses mean higher costs.
- There is a nonlinear relation between atorvastatin dose and its LDL-lowering effect. This means increasing the dose doesn’t necessarily mean increasing the LDL-lowering effect.
- Also, doubling the dose was reported to produce a decrease in LDL cholesterol of only approximately 6%.
A study in 2018 investigated the effect of different doses of atorvastatin 40 mg and 80 mg in patients with atherosclerotic dyslipidemia. This study was conducted on 240 patients in a Prospective, randomized, open-label, comparative study. After 6 months of follow-up, results showed that:
- No significant differences in the LDL-lowering effect were reported between the two doses.
- The authors concluded that both doses of atorvastatin (40 & 80 mg) are equally efficacious in improving dyslipidemia.
- However, more incidence of side effects such as myalgia was reported in patients who received a higher dose of atorvastatin (80 mg/day)
Also, the safety of a high dose of atorvastatin (80 mg per day) was investigated in a study published in 2005. In this study, a total of 11,878 patients were treated with atorvastatin 80 mg for periods ranging from 2 weeks to 5 years. Results showed that the incidence of elevated liver enzymes is rare and does not lead to clinically significant liver disease (Ref). This indicates that atorvastatin (80 mg per day) is still safe for long-term therapy and effective for lowering the LDL blood level.
What is the typical dose of atorvastatin for adult patients?
The typical dose of atorvastatin usually ranges from 10 mg to 80 mg per day. The dose depends on the purpose of the administration.
For examples:
The typical doses of atorvastatin used for the treatment of high cholesterol levels range from 10 to 20 mg per day for adult patients. However, in case you have very high cholesterol levels and you need more reduction in your blood cholesterol levels, your doctor may prescribe atorvastatin starting from 40 mg and may increase to 80 mg per day.
For adult patients with homogenous familial hypercholesterolemia, the typical dose of atorvastatin ranges from 10 to 80 mg per day.
(Homogenous familial hypercholesterolemia is a rare condition in which an altered gene is bathed down from both parents leading to high blood cholesterol levels)
What is the typical dose of atorvastatin for children?
The typical dose of atorvastatin for children starts from 10 mg per day and may increase according to the reason for use.
Atorvastatin is used for the treatment of children of age range from 10 to 17 years old with heterogenous familial hypercholesterolemia.
The typical dose of atorvastatin for children with heterogeneous familial hypercholesterolemia starts from 10 mg per day. Your doctor may increase the daily dose as needed but the dose usually does not exceed 20 mg per day.
For children of age, 10 years and older with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, the atorvastatin dose starts from 10 mg per day, and the dose may increase as needed but not exceed 80 mg per day.
(Heterogenous familial hypercholesterolemia is a rare condition in which an altered gene is bathed down from one parent leading to high blood cholesterol levels)
What should you do if you miss a dose of atorvastatin?
In case you missed a dose of atorvastatin, it is not advised to double the dose to make up for the missed one.
If it is less than 12 hours until your next dose, you can skip the missed one and continue with the regular dose schedule.
