Supplements and statins.
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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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.
Something missing?
If a supplement or medication you take isn't in our autocomplete, tell us. What people flag joins the queue of what we add next.