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How soon can side effects show up after starting a statin?

My mother has been put on Atorvastatin and within one week she has had extreme confusion and forgetfulness. This has been the only medical change. Is this a side effect from it and can they show up this quickly?
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15695260 tn?1549593113
Hello and welcome to the forum.  Thanks for the question and we are sorry to hear about your mother.  Absolutely call her doctor about this situation and what she is experiencing.  Memory loss and cognition issues are known to occur with this medication.  Many years ago, a warning was issued about this side effect.  However, there is also some conflicting data.  For many, it is a safe choice in cholesterol lowering medication.  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/statin-side-effects/art-20046013  This is an interesting read on statins.  Some people have memory loss and others have improvement in their dementia.  This is very patient dependent.   Lipitor can take two week to offer the reduced cholesterol and cardiac risk that goes along with that.  At one week, yes, side effects could emerge.  So, please talk to her doctor.  Let us know what they say.
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Thank you so much for your reply. She has been off of the Atorvastatin for 6 days. She is still having memory/confusion issues, so tested her for UTI. She is susceptible to them and yes, she does have one. They are growing the culture and showing that it is not showing any sensitivities. They’ve put her on Cipro, just to have her on some sort of antibiotic. She’s usually very resistant to antibiotics for this.
I’ve never seen her have such confusion. Any suggestions would be loved.
Hi, I wanted to come back and get an update?  How are things going now?  Is this better?
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