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As much as you try to watch what you eat and exercise to keep your cholesterol levels in a healthy range, your cholesterol levels tend to rise as you get older. If you haven’t noticed yet, your metabolism begins to slow in your 40s. That not only means an increase in weight but also your body’s ability to clear cholesterol from your body.
Statins can help lower your cholesterol by reducing the enzyme in your liver that produces cholesterol. Although statins are considered safe and effective, they also come with side effects such as muscle pain, dizziness, or digestive problems. Older adults might already have problems sleeping, but sleep disturbances are also a side effect of taking statins.
In a 2023 study in the Journal of Health Inequalities, people taking atorvastatin or rosuvastatin were more likely to experience problems with insomnia and sleep quality. Taking these statins was also linked with waking up more frequently during the night, taking longer to fall asleep, and waking up earlier than desired. However, this study only involved 135 people taking cholesterol medication. It is possible that statins might help you sleep.
How statins might affect your sleep
Most medications run the risk of some side effects, even if just a few people might experience them. However, sometimes you could experience a specific side effect, such as digestive issues, and blame the medication. You might also develop side effects from a medication simply by reading news reports about them. This is called a “nocebo” effect, where you expect a particular side effect to occur. This is the opposite of the placebo effect, where people experience a side effect even though they aren’t taking the specific medication.
Some smaller studies rely on people reporting their trouble sleeping while taking statins, but a 2015 meta-analysis in the Archives of Medical Science combined the results of five studies that used advanced sleep monitoring to study the effect of statins. Statin therapy didn’t significantly affect total sleep time, sleep efficiency (how much time you spend in bed actually sleeping), or how long it took people to get to sleep. Statins did significantly reduce how often people woke up throughout the night, but this effect was small.
Some considerations in taking statins
If you have high cholesterol, you can talk to your doctor about how to lower your cholesterol without medication. Some people have a specific gene that causes high cholesterol despite a healthy diet and exercise. Your doctor can provide you with the best recommendation for you depending on your risk of cardiovascular disease.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends statin therapy for people aged 40 to 75 who have a 10% or higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Many health providers use the American College of Cardiology Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) Risk Calculator, which looks at factors like your cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking status, and diabetes history. You might also be prescribed a statin if you had a heart attack or stroke.
If you’re already taking a statin and experiencing sleep disturbances, your doctor can recommend either a different statin or a lower dose. Your doctor might also suggest methods to get a good night’s sleep, such as sleep hygiene, avoiding alcohol within two hours before bedtime, and avoiding technology an hour before bed.
