Common Uses:Off Label Uses:Side Effects:
Some of the side effects of Lovastatin include the following:

If you develop unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness while taking lovastatin, especially if the symptoms are with a fever or you feel ill, it is important to contact your healthcare provider immediately.

There are a number of side effects with lovastatin that you should report immediately to your healthcare provider. These include, but are not limited to:

Signs of liver damage, such as yellow eyes or skin, upper right abdominal pain, dark urine, and elevated liver enzymes.

Muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, especially if you also have a fever or feel ill, since these may be signs of serious breakdown of muscle, known as rhabdomyolysis.

Significant, unexplained changes in the amount of urine you produce.

Signs of an allergic reaction, such as:
A rash
Itching
Hives
Wheezing or difficulty breathing
Swelling of the mouth, tongue, or throat

The most common side effects of lovastatin include:
Gas
Constipation
Headache
Muscle pain, known medically as myalgia
Diarrhea
Abdominal pain (stomach pain)

The lovastatin side effects mentioned below also occurred in more than one percent of people and more often in the group taking lovastatin. These side effects included, but were not limited to:

General feeling of weakness, known medically as asthenia
Muscle cramps
Dizziness
Unexplained rash
Blurred vision

Some of these possible side effects include, but are not limited to:

Leg pain
Insomnia
Hair loss
Dry mouth
Vomiting

Cautions / Warnings:Drug Interactions:
Lovastatin (Mevacor) may interact with a number of other medications. Some of the medications that may lead to lovastatin drug interactions include:
Amiodarone (Cordarone®, Pacerone®)

Certain antibiotics, such as:
Erythromycin
Clarithromycin (Biaxin®)
Telithromycin (Ketek®)

Certain antifungals, such as:
Fluconazole (Diflucan®)
Itraconazole (Sporanox®)
Ketoconazole (Nizoral®)
Miconazole
Posaconazole (Noxafil®)
Voriconazole (VFEND®)

Cyclosporine (Gengraf®, Neoral®, Sandimmune®)
Danazol (Danocrine®)
Fibrates, such as:

Fenofibrate (Antara™, Lofibra™, Tricor®, Triglide™)
Gemfibrozil (Lopid®)

Grapefruit juice
Nefazodone (Serzone®)
Niacin (nicotinic acid, Niacor®, Nicolar®)
Protease inhibitors, such as:

Amprenavir (Agenerase®)
Atazanavir (Reyataz®)
Darunavir (Prezista™)
Fosamprenavir (Lexiva®)
Indinavir (Crixivan®)
Lopinavir and ritonavir (Kaletra®)
Nelfinavir (Viracept®)
Ritonavir (Norvir®)
Saquinavir (Invirase®)
Tipranavir (Aptivus®)

Verapamil (Calan®, Calan SR, Verelan®, Verelan PM, Isoptin®, Covera-HS®)
Warfarin (Coumadin®, Jantoven®).

Some of these drug interactions with lovastatin may increase your risk for developing serious muscle problems (see Mevacor and Muscle Pain). If you experience unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness while taking lovastatin (especially if you also have a fever or feel ill), it is important to contact your healthcare provider right away.