Hello susan,

Not really.

Both medications are members of the statin family of cholesterol lowering drugs.  These drugs work by decreasing the amount of cholesterol the body produces from the fat we eat.

Crestor, or rosuvastatin in the generic, is considered a more potent statin than pravastatin.  If you were on the maximum dose of pravastatin but need additional cholesterol medication, your doctor may have switched you to Crestor to further reduce cholesterol levels (note that the increased reduction would likely be fairly modest).  Pravastatin is not metabolized by the liver as much and may be somewhat safer for people with liver diseases.

Other than that, both have similar side effects and both need to be monitored by yearly liver function tests.

To your health,

Neil MD