Jardiance is not a statin. It belongs to a completely different drug class called SGLT2 inhibitors, and it works through a different mechanism, treats different conditions, and carries a different side effect profile than any statin on the market.
The confusion is understandable. Both Jardiance and statins are prescribed to people with cardiovascular risk, and doctors sometimes prescribe them together. But they do very different things in your body.
How Jardiance Works
Jardiance (empagliflozin) blocks a protein in the kidneys called SGLT2. Normally, this protein recycles glucose from your blood back into your body as urine is being filtered. By blocking it, Jardiance lets your kidneys pass more glucose out through urine, which lowers blood sugar levels. It also increases the removal of salt and water, which reduces overall blood volume and eases the workload on the heart.
The FDA has approved Jardiance for four distinct uses: improving blood sugar control in adults and children 10 and older with type 2 diabetes, reducing the risk of cardiovascular death in adults with type 2 diabetes and established heart disease, reducing cardiovascular death and hospitalization in adults with heart failure, and slowing kidney disease progression in adults with chronic kidney disease. The typical starting dose is 10 mg once daily, which can be increased to 25 mg.
How Statins Work
Statins target cholesterol production in the liver. Your liver needs a specific enzyme to manufacture cholesterol, and statins block that enzyme. The result is lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels in your blood, which reduces the buildup of fatty plaques in your arteries over time.
Common statins include atorvastatin (Lipitor), rosuvastatin (Crestor), simvastatin (Zocor), and pravastatin (Pravachol). There are seven statins currently available. All of them focus on cholesterol. None of them lower blood sugar or treat heart failure directly the way Jardiance does.
Why They’re Sometimes Prescribed Together
People with type 2 diabetes often have high cholesterol and elevated cardiovascular risk, so it’s common for a doctor to prescribe both Jardiance and a statin at the same time. Each drug addresses a different piece of the problem: Jardiance handles blood sugar and heart or kidney protection, while the statin manages cholesterol.
There are no known drug interactions between the two. A check of atorvastatin (the most widely prescribed statin) with Jardiance shows no interactions and no therapeutic duplication warnings, which makes sense given that the drugs work on entirely separate systems in the body.
Different Cardiovascular Benefits
Both drug classes reduce cardiovascular risk, but through different pathways. Statins lower the chance of heart attacks and strokes by keeping cholesterol from clogging arteries. Jardiance protects the heart in a more direct way: in clinical trials, it reduced the combined risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalization for heart failure by 25% in adults with heart failure. It also cut first and recurrent heart failure hospitalizations by 30% and reduced a composite kidney endpoint, including end-stage kidney disease, by 50%.
These benefits appear to come from Jardiance’s effects on fluid balance and cardiac workload rather than from cholesterol reduction. Jardiance does not meaningfully lower cholesterol, and statins do not meaningfully lower blood sugar.
Side Effects Are Quite Different
The side effect profiles of these two drug classes reflect how differently they work. Statins are most commonly associated with muscle pain, which feels like soreness, tiredness, or weakness. About 5% of statin users experience this compared to placebo. Rare but serious risks include liver inflammation, a slight increase in blood sugar that can tip some people toward type 2 diabetes, and in extremely rare cases (a few per million), a dangerous form of muscle breakdown called rhabdomyolysis. Some people also report memory fog, though this is uncommon.
Jardiance’s side effects stem from the extra glucose and fluid leaving through your kidneys. The most common include urinary tract infections, genital yeast infections (particularly in women), and increased urination. Because it removes fluid, dehydration and low blood pressure can occur, especially in older adults or people taking diuretics. Jardiance can also cause a rare but serious condition called diabetic ketoacidosis.
If you’re currently taking Jardiance and wondering whether you also need a statin, or vice versa, the answer depends on your individual risk factors. These are complementary medications that address different health concerns, and many people benefit from taking both.