I am 48 yr old non-smoking white male. Sedentary life
style and somewhat over weight..... 5'10" and weigh 200
lbs. Take 10 mgs lisinopril, 80 mg aspirin, 40 mg
simvastatin daily

Have taken 20mg Lipitor for a few years but my doc let
me switch to generic simvastatin 40mg to save money.

Doc said that simvastatin must be taken at twice the
dosage as Lipitor and taken at night.

Don't mind taking the simvastatin at night.... BUT am
concerned abt upping the dose.  I always like to take
as LITTLE dosage med's as possible due to concerns abt
side effects.

Is it REALLY true that simvastatin MUST be taken at
twice the dosage as Lipitor?  Or can I safely split my
simvastatin pills in half?

I will be starting to take fish oil soon as well as
exercise program and losing some weight..... but still
curious abt just taking 20 mg simvastatin rather than
40mg

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello,
According to the following book:
20mg Lipitor produces an "average LDL-C reduction" of 43 per cent.
40mg Simivastatin produces an "average LDL-reduction" of 41 per cent.

I am not a doctor but it appears to me that your doctor was correct related
to the dosage levels.

Since I am not a doctor, I will not attempt to answer your other questions.
The subject of "splitting pills" is discussed on pages 154 and 160 of the
following book.

I suggest that people that take statins or plan to take statins should read
this book. It has information that many doctors are not aware of:

WHAT YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT STATIN DRUGS AND THIER NATURAL ALTERNATIVES
by Jay S. Cohen, M.D.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~