If you ever decide to try a statin, be very careful of taking the HCTZ with a statin. They are know to increase the serum concentration of statins by at least 3.9 times. (that is if you are taking 240 mg of the HCTZ...i.e. dilitiazem, cardizem). THat combination is what caused the brain damage my mother has now in the cerebellum region of the brain. The cerebellum affects movement and balance and in some part speech (slurring). She is now in a wheelchair. THis is because both drugs work on the cytochrome 4503A4 pathway. Fortunately it does not affect her thinking.