7 Common Low-Cost Cholesterol Medications
high drug prices
While your body requires cholesterol to survive, having too much in your blood can lead to severe and dangerous health issues. In the United States, high cholesterol is a problem for an increasing percentage of the population.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 38% of American adults have high cholesterol, as defined by total blood cholesterol levels over 200 mg/dL. This means that over one-third of the adult population has a higher risk for heart disease and stroke.
Fortunately, patients with high cholesterol can rely (at least in part) on medications such as Crestor or Livalo to lower their LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol, and raise their levels of HDL (or “good”) cholesterol.
Sometimes, this type of medication is easily found and affordably priced. More often, it’s not.
Expensive medication prohibits some people from accessing vital treatment. The result has a profound impact on the United States, as do the financial repercussions resulting from skyrocketing numbers of heart disease. The CDC notes that heart disease cost the U.S. about $363 billion between 2016 and 2017.
The costs for individuals with heart disease can be staggering as well. Medication alone can cost several hundred dollars each month.
Regardless, preventative measures such as statins or absorption inhibitors are always cheaper than reactive treatment for heart disease. This makes access to affordable medication a necessity for millions of American adults.
At NorthWestPharmacy.com, we’re happy to assist with high-quality, low-cost cholesterol medications you can purchase with savings as high as 88%. Here, we’ll provide helpful information about low-cost cholesterol medications available today.
7 Low-Cost Cholesterol Medications
There is a wide range of statins available to help treat high cholesterol, but not all cholesterol treatments are statins. While none of the medications on this list are a cure for high cholesterol, they can help slow the rate at which cholesterol is produced.
Remember that statins and absorption inhibitors are only one part of the equation. Focusing on a healthy lifestyle and a balanced diet are important. Always be sure to check with your doctor about exercise before beginning a regimen.
Livalo Cost
Livalo (pitavastatin) is a statin, which represents a class of medications more specifically known as HMG CoA reductase inhibitors. In a nutshell, statins work by blocking (or ‘inhibiting’) a substance that determines how quickly your body produces cholesterol. Some statins, including Livalo, are also able to help your body remove LDL cholesterol from your blood.
Livalo may also be able to treat high triglycerides, or fats, in your blood. In this way, Livalo may be able to reduce the overall number of adverse cardiovascular events that people with high cholesterol are at risk of experiencing.
Patients taking Livalo typically ingest 1-4mg orally, once per day. Your doctor will be able to assess your specific medical history and needs in order to determine your best starting dose.
Pitavastatin, the active ingredient in Livalo, has a unique benefit: It has fewer drug-drug interactions than other statins, such as simvastatin and atorvastatin. As a result, if you’re taking medications for other conditions, Livalo may represent your best chance of avoiding adverse reactions or reduced efficacy from drug-drug interactions.
In the United States, you can buy Livalo starting at 30 tablets for $384.00, or just under $13.00 per daily dose.
Alternatively, you can buy your monthly supply of brand-name Livalo from NorthWestPharmacy.com for $76.00, or $2.50 per tablet — a savings of 80%. If you’d like to save even more, NorthWestPharmacy.com also sells a 30-day supply of generic pitavastatin for $47.00 — or $1.50 per dose.
Crestor Cost
Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) is another popular statin used to help patients improve their cholesterol profile. Crestor can also slow how quickly plaque accumulates in your arteries, which is one of the main drivers of adverse cardiovascular events.
According to some clinical studies comparing the efficacy of the various statin medications, Crestor may have the strongest effect on lowering LDL cholesterol.
However, Crestor may also have potentially problematic interactions with some types of anticoagulants and immunosuppressants. Therefore, while Crestor may be a good choice for people who are only taking one or two medications, it may not be the best selection for someone undergoing multiple courses of care.
While dosages vary per doctor recommendation, a usual starting dose for Crestor is 10 to 20mg once daily.
You can purchase 30 tablets, or approximately a one-month supply, for $339.00 in the United States. This works out to just over $11.00 per dose.
For savings of about 81%, you could purchase a four-week supply of Crestor at NorthWestPharmacy.com for $64.00, or about $2.00 per dose. You could save even more by choosing the generic rosuvastatin calcium, which starts at $36.00 for a one-month supply, or $1.20 per dose.
Zetia Cost (called Ezetrol in Canada)
Unlike the first two medications on this list, Zetia (ezetimibe) is not a statin. While statins tend to form the first line of treatment for many patients with high cholesterol, many patients cannot tolerate them, or simply don’t have a positive reaction to them.
If it’s time to think outside of statins, Zetia may be a good option for you. Ezetimibe, the active ingredient in Zetia, is a cholesterol absorption inhibitor. While statins work to lower the amount of cholesterol your body produces, Zetia works to decrease your body’s ability to absorb cholesterol from the food you eat.
As many of the foods we eat are high in cholesterol, this is often an excellent alternative to more traditionally prescribed statins. Zetia is typically administered once daily.
In the United States, you can buy a 30-day supply of Zetia for about $405.00, or $13.50 per dose.
If you’d rather save almost 80% on your medication, you can buy a 30-day supply of brand-name Zetia at NorthWestPharmacy.com for $87.00, or just under $3.00 per dose. Want to save even more? You could choose generic ezetimibe for about $1.00 per dose.
Lipitor Cost
Lipitor (atorvastatin) is one of the most popular medications prescribed to treat high cholesterol.
Lipitor, like many statins, can cause unpleasant side effects. With Lipitor, the most common is muscle soreness. This can range from slight discomfort to severe aches and pains. Let your doctor know if you experience this, as it may be a sign you need to reduce your dose or consider an alternative medication.
Lipitor is a once-daily oral pill. Lipitor can take about two weeks to cause a noticeable decrease in cholesterol levels. Your doctor may also ask you to take regular blood tests to confirm whether Lipitor is effective for you or to help inform any dosage adjustments as necessary.
Lipitor requires a higher daily dosage than some similar medications such as Livalo. For example, a starting dose of Livalo could be as little as 1mg/day, where a recurring dose of Lipitor can range from 10-80mg.
In the United States, a one-month supply of Lipitor is available for about $408.00, or $13.60 per dose.
For dramatic savings of up to 88%, consider buying Lipitor at NorthWestPharmacy.com instead. You can buy a 30-day supply of Lipitor $51.00, or $1.70 per dose. Generic atorvastatin is also available for about $1.30 per dose.
Vytorin Cost
Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin) is a once-daily pill that combines two effective high cholesterol therapies: a statin and a cholesterol absorption inhibitor.
This combination can help reduce the amount of LDL cholesterol in your body in two different ways. Vytorin works to reduce the amount of cholesterol produced by your liver and the amount you absorb from dietary cholesterol.
The active ingredients in Vytorin may look familiar — ezetimibe is the active ingredient in Zetia, and simvastatin is a statin (very similar to the active ingredients in Lipitor and Livalo). If it helps you justify the cost, you can consider the financial benefit of taking one combined medication instead of paying for two separate therapies.
However, Vytorin isn’t suitable for every person. If your physician recommends another medication for your specific situation, it’s best to follow their advice.
In the United States, you can purchase a one-month supply of Vytorin for about $408.00, or $13.60 per dose.
Alternatively, you could benefit from 65% savings and purchase the same amount of Vytorin at NorthWestPharmacy.com for $141.00, or just under $5.00 per dose. You can also purchase generic ezetimibe/simvastatin for just under $2.00 per dose (and further savings).
Lescol XL Cost
Lescol XL (fluvastatin extended-release) features a statin as an active ingredient, much like Lipitor and Crestor. Lescol XL differs in the way it delivers the medication into your system.
A non-extended release medication dissolves relatively quickly after you ingest the tablet. From there, it enters your bloodstream and begins to work quickly.
Extended-release drugs are made with a special type of technology allowing them to release a consistent but small amount of the active ingredient into your system over a longer period of time.
For example, an 80mg tablet of Lipitor will provide all 80mg of atorvastatin into a patient’s bloodstream shortly after the patient takes the tablet. This can result in a very steep concentration of the active ingredient(s) in your bloodstream very quickly — which may contribute to any negative side effects you experience.
With a once-daily 80mg Lescol XL tablet, you’ll get the same amount of medication, just delivered slowly and steadily over many hours instead of all at once. This may help you avoid side effects and provide more constant, consistent treatment.
In the United States, you can buy a four-week supply of Lescol XL for just under $200.00, or about $7.15 per tablet.
For almost 70% savings, you could instead purchase the same amount of brand-name Lescol XL for $64.00, or just over $2.00 per dose.
Welchol Cost
Welchol (colesevelam) is a cholesterol-lowering drug, but it’s not a statin, making it — much like Zetia — another good option for patients who don’t see good results with statins.
Welchol’s active ingredient, colesevelam, is a bile acid sequestrant. Your body uses cholesterol to produce bile acid in your liver. Welchol removes bile acid from your body, which prompts your liver to make more bile acid — using up more cholesterol in the process. As a result, you should have less cholesterol in your bloodstream.
This is a unique way of lowering cholesterol, but Welchol has other benefits that make it valuable.
Some patients who have type 2 diabetes in addition to high cholesterol have found taking Welchol reduces both their cholesterol and their glucose levels. While it’s currently unclear as to why this is the case, Welchol may be a good option for patients who struggle with high cholesterol and high blood sugar.
However, you do need to take a high dose of this medication to see these effects. Patients who take Welchol to treat their high cholesterol ingest six tablets a day (either all at once with a meal and a liquid, or three in the morning and three at night).
What’s more, Welchol isn’t cheap.
In the United States, 180 tablets of Welchol, or a one-month supply, costs nearly $800.00. At six pills per day, this treatment works out to $26.40 per day.
Fortunately, you can save about 66% by purchasing your Welchol at NorthWestPharmacy.com. You can buy a one-month supply of Welchol for $270.00, or about $9.00 per day. You can also buy generic colesevelam for approximately $7.20 per day of treatment.
How to Save Money on Cholesterol Meds Through an Online Canadian Pharmacy
When you or a loved one is living with heightened risk of heart disease, having access to medications able to help lower their risk can make a world of difference for your quality of life. As these medications often need to be taken on a consistent basis, it’s key that they’re affordable.
In the United States, where the cost of prescription medications is always rising, patients may face tough decisions between health and financial stability.
At NorthWestPharmacy.com, we seek to mitigate your stress by providing safe, affordable access to the cholesterol meds you need.
We also understand it may be a little daunting to order from an online Canadian pharmacy. Our friendly customer service representatives are always ready to help address your concerns, answer your questions, and make the ordering process as seamless as possible.
We proudly maintain safety standards from the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA) and the International Pharmacy Association of British Columbia (IPABC).
At NorthWestPharmacy.com, it’s our goal to make managing your cholesterol affordable. Connect with us online or give us a call at 1-866-539-5330 for more information. We’re excited to help you save money on your meds!
