Possible Crestor Side effects

Common side effects of Crestor may include: headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and muscle pain.

Serious & Rare side effects of Crestor may include: liver failure, muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis) and kidney failure. Liver failure caused by Crestor is very rare.

More often, Crestor can cause increase in liver tests due to injury to the liver. The test levels usually return to normal with continued therapy, but if the level is over three times the upper limit of normal or baseline, practitioners usually stop Crestor. Periodic measurement of liver tests is recommended for all statins. For Crestor, these tests should be obtained before therapy is started, twelve weeks after therapy is started, when the Crestor doses is increased, if there is a medical concern, and periodically during prolonged treatment. Rhabdomyolysis is a very rare but serious side effect of Crestor therapy.

When used alone the frequency of rhabdomyolysis due to Crestor is less than one percent. Rhabdomyolysis is a process in which there is severe injury to muscles leading to severe pain and the release of muscle protein (myoglobin) into the blood. Myoglobin may cause kidney failure.

To prevent the occurrence of rhabdomyolysis, patients taking Crestor who develop unexplained muscle pain, weakness or tenderness should report the symptoms to their doctor. Crestor may cause reversible increases in the amount of protein excreted by the kidneys, and in some patients kidney failure has occurred as a result. This Crestor effect depends on the Crestor doses and occurs more often at the 40 mg dose.