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Is Cardiac Arrhythmia A Side Effect Of Lovostatin Drug Intake?
My husband started taking Lovostatin 6 months ago. He takes it at night and notices that his heart feels like it s flopping and skips beats. He s 64 yrs old and hasn t experienced this until taking the medication. He doesn t notice any irregularities during the day.
Sat, 3 Feb 2018
Hello and welcome,
It is highly likely a coincidence that initiation of statin (Lovostatin) treatment and cardiac arrhythmia (feeling of skipped heart beats) are occurring together.
Statins may cause breakdown of skeletal muscles (rhabdomyolysis) as a side effect. When rhabdomyolysis is severe (severe muscle pain, dark urine) it may cause high potassium in the blood (hyperkaliemia) which may causes cardiac arrhythmia. Again, this happens in severe rhabdomyolysis.
Your husband's cardiac arrhythmia is highly likely NOT Lovostatin induced. He needs further investigations (ECG, Holter monitoring) to find out the cause of the cardiac arrhythmia. Please, see your cardiologist.
I hope the above information will be helpful for you. Please, feel free to ask me if there is anything else you need to know.
Thank you,
Malik Amonov MD
It is highly likely a coincidence that initiation of statin (Lovostatin) treatment and cardiac arrhythmia (feeling of skipped heart beats) are occurring together.
Statins may cause breakdown of skeletal muscles (rhabdomyolysis) as a side effect. When rhabdomyolysis is severe (severe muscle pain, dark urine) it may cause high potassium in the blood (hyperkaliemia) which may causes cardiac arrhythmia. Again, this happens in severe rhabdomyolysis.
Your husband's cardiac arrhythmia is highly likely NOT Lovostatin induced. He needs further investigations (ECG, Holter monitoring) to find out the cause of the cardiac arrhythmia. Please, see your cardiologist.
I hope the above information will be helpful for you. Please, feel free to ask me if there is anything else you need to know.
Thank you,
Malik Amonov MD
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