Supplements and Pravastatin sodium.
Pravastatin sodium, sold under the brand names Lipostat, Pravachol, is a statin: it lowers LDL cholesterol by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase. Statins are the most-prescribed class in the UK.
Pravastatin sodium is a statin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor. The class lowers LDL cholesterol mainly at the lowest dose. Returns diminish above the 40mg-equivalent point. The defining adverse effect is myalgia that scales with dose, occasionally with CK elevation on a blood draw. CYP3A4 metabolism varies sharply across the class. Simvastatin sits at the highest sensitivity, rosuvastatin at the lowest. The supplement profile is therefore statin-specific, not uniform across the class. Where supplements meet statins, the main signals are additive lipid lowering (berberine, plant sterols, red yeast rice) and additive myopathy risk with niacin at high doses. Anyone starting a CYP3A4-active supplement (curcumin, quercetin, schisandra, bergamot extract) on top of a CYP3A4-sensitive statin benefits from a lipid panel and CK check sooner than the usual annual review.
Below are the 4 documented pairs we have explicitly assessed against Pravastatin sodium in the Distil database: 2 caution and 2 good to know. The pairs cluster around 3 mechanisms: Additive lipid lowering, Additive HMG-CoA reductase inhibition, and Statin-induced CoQ10 depletion. Every call is cited to either a clinical reference (PMID) or the British National Formulary. Anything not on this list is either still to be assessed or beyond our database scope. The checker beneath surfaces assessments by supplement, and the missing-item form at the bottom of the page routes any uncatalogued supplement into our next curation pass.
Documented interactions
Last reviewed 12 October 2026. Each interaction below lists the evidence its assessment drew on: some rest on studies of the exact pair, others on mechanism evidence, where a citation may support one part of the reasoning rather than the exact combination. The evidence line on each entry says which.
Additive lipid lowering
Caution Does Berberine interact with Pravastatin sodium?
Berberine may lower LDL cholesterol on its own, so adding it to pravastatin may push your cholesterol lower than the statin alone; if you take both, ask your GP for a lipid panel sooner than usual. Berberine is not expected to change pravastatin levels in the blood, so the point to watch is the combined effect on your cholesterol rather than a rise in statin side effects.
Evidence: Limited human data, from small studies or case reports.
Reviewer-flagged: awaiting clinical-reviewer sign-off.
Good to know Does Beta-Glucan interact with Pravastatin sodium?
Oat beta-glucan lowers LDL cholesterol by trapping bile acids in the gut, a different route from how a statin works. Taking the two together is complementary, not a harmful clash, and the small extra cholesterol reduction is a benefit. We treat this pair as safe to combine.
Evidence: Supported by human study data.
Additive HMG-CoA reductase inhibition
Caution Does Bergamot Extract (BPF / Bergavit40) interact with Pravastatin sodium?
Bergamot's active flavonoids act on the same liver enzyme pravastatin targets, so the two cholesterol-lowering effects tend to add together. Pravastatin is less affected by grapefruit-family citrus than other statins because it is not CYP3A4-metabolised, so the question here is the added cholesterol-lowering rather than a change in drug levels. Tell your GP if you take both, so your dose and your cholesterol are reviewed together.
Evidence: Limited human data, from small studies or case reports.
Statin-induced CoQ10 depletion
Good to know Does Coenzyme Q10 interact with Pravastatin sodium?
Statins do reduce plasma CoQ10 levels, but replacing it does not reliably ease muscle aches: four analyses of the trials split two against two, the two that measured muscle-damage enzymes found no change, and CoQ10 does not help people stay on their statin. We treat the pair as safe to combine, and it may be worth a trial if you already have statin muscle aches. If you have no symptoms, the evidence does not support taking it routinely.
Evidence: Well established across multiple human studies or interaction references.
What this list does not say. Pairs not flagged here are not implicitly safe. They are either not yet in our database, or fall outside our inclusion scope (food-supplement interactions only; for drug-drug interactions, the BNF is authoritative). Use the checker below to surface any supplement, and submit a missing item if you take something we have not catalogued.
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How the checker decides
Every result has a source
Each pair we have assessed is cited to a published study (PMID) or the British National Formulary, so you can read the source yourself.
Four kinds of answer
Severe, caution, no known interaction, and not yet assessed. A pair we have not assessed is never shown as clear.
- Severe
- Caution
- No known interaction
- Not yet assessed
Nothing in our data is not a clearance
When nothing in our data records a problem with a pair, the result says no known interaction at typical doses, which is not a clearance: your pharmacist or GP can check the pair against your full medical history.
A full supplement review, built around you, not a generic stack.
The free checker answers one interaction question at a time. A Distil report reviews the bigger picture: your goals, diet, medications, current supplements and any blood results you provide, then shows what appears worth keeping, changing, adding or leaving out.
- what your diet already covers, so you are not adding a capsule for something food is already handling
- which evidence-graded compounds are worth considering for your goals, and which were considered but left out
- what to keep, change or stop from what you already take, plus the order to introduce anything new
- how your medications and complete supplement stack fit together, with daily timing and a clear point for reassessment
The interaction check is one section of the full report. You also get the reasoning behind each recommendation and the evidence references used.
£49 until 30 June 2027 · £79 from 1 July 2027.
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