Zetia side effects can be quite serious, especially in high doses. They can include severe muscle pain and kidney damage, among other significant adverse reactions. A natural alternative for lowering LDL cholesterol may be a much safer option for you and is worth exploring with your cardiologist. If side effects develop while you are taking Vytorin, alternatives to the drug may be considered. One alternative is to take simvastatin by itself or simply switch to another type of statin, such as rosuvastatin or fluvastatin. Zetia (ezetimibe) reduces the amount of cholesterol absorbed by the body. Zetia is used to treat high cholesterol. Zetia is sometimes given with other cholesterol-lowering medications. You are on one of the more powerful statins so you can ask your doctor about Vytorin which is simple Simvastatin and Zetia which works both in the liver and in the digestive tract. How to use Zetia. Read the Patient Information Leaflet if available from your pharmacist before you start taking ezetimibe and each time you get a refill. The side effects featured here are based on those most frequently appearing in user posts on the Internet. The manufacturer's product labeling should always be consulted for a list of side effects most frequently appearing in patients during clinical studies. Zetia is a medication used in conjunction with statins to try to further lower levels of the so-called bad LDL cholesterol in the blood. It claims to work by blocking the absorption of cholesterol in the digestive track. Annual sales of the drug in 2010 were $2 billion. The new data are in sharp contrast to what happened in 2006, when ezetimibe seemed useless. The study was small, with just 750 participants, all of whom had very high cholesterol levels. If cholelithiasis is suspected in a patient receiving Zetia and fenofibrate, gallbladder studies are indicated and alternative lipid-lowering therapy should be considered [see Adverse Reactions (6.1) and the product labeling for fenofibrate]. Vytorin or Zetia may have been prescribed for some patients because Zocor or another statin alone was not effective in lowering their bad cholesterol. Alternative medications may not have been advisable for some patients, because of unrelated medical conditions.