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Class landing · Statins

Supplements and statins.

Atorvastatin, simvastatin, rosuvastatin and the supplements that do and do not interact.

Statins are the most-prescribed class in the UK (atorvastatin alone is dispensed roughly 73 million times a year). Most supplement-statin interactions are mild, but a few are clinically meaningful.

Niacin in pharmacologic doses alongside simvastatin has documented muscle-toxicity risk and is the most-cited statin-supplement red flag (HPS2-THRIVE). Red yeast rice contains monacolin K, which is biochemically identical to lovastatin, so combining it with a prescribed statin is duplicate dosing. CoQ10 is widely used to offset statin-induced myalgia: the mechanism is plausible and the safety profile is clean, but the trial evidence is split rather than settled. Four analyses have pooled it: two found no benefit, two found a reduction in muscle pain, the muscle-damage blood marker did not shift in either analysis that measured it, and it did not help people stay on their statin. Reasonable to try if you already have the aches; not something to take routinely without them.

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For adults over 18. This tool gives evidence-graded information, not medical advice. Always discuss changes with your GP or pharmacist, especially if you take any medication, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a serious health condition.
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How we grade severity, choose what's in scope, and what we exclude.

Every call on this page is reasoned. We publish the full rubric for severity tiers, the medication inclusion logic, the evidence grades we accept, and what we deliberately leave out. About three thousand words. Worth reading once if you use this tool more than occasionally.

Read the full methodology
The full report

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.

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Distil's interactions database is reviewed and updated every quarter. We grade evidence transparently and publish our methodology, including every database change, at /about/methodology. This tool is information, not a substitute for clinical judgement. If you take medication and supplements together, your GP or pharmacist can review your full regimen against your medical history. If you want a full personalised stack reasoned against this same database, the Distil report is the next step up.