Colestipol
Colestipol is a bile acid–binding medicine used along with diet to lower high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol in people with primary hypercholesterolemia who don’t respond enough to diet alone.
🧬 Where this information comes from Click to expand
The clinical label records used on this page are FDA-filed Structured Product Labeling (SPL) retrieved through openFDA. We identified 13 clinical label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, strengths, and NDC product-record counts are built separately from matching FDA National Drug Code Directory records. The linked DailyMed document is a representative official source for verification, not the page’s only clinical source. View the linked label on DailyMed →
Colestipol is an older cholesterol medicine, around since the late 1970s and available as a generic, used with diet to lower high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol; it binds bile acids in your gut, so your liver pulls LDL from your blood to make more, and it usually sits behind statins, the standard first choice, as an add-on or fallback. Because it stays in the gut, its side effects are mostly digestive, mainly constipation (sometimes severe) plus bloating and gas, which extra fluids and fiber usually ease. Watch the timing, because it binds other medicines too; take them at least 1 hour before or 4 hours after colestipol.
Clinical pearls
- Mix granules into a drink, never dry, and swallow tablets whole with plenty of liquid, never cut, crushed or chewed.
- Check with your prescriber before stopping colestipol if a drug like digoxin or propranolol was dosed while you took it.
- Expect regular cholesterol and triglyceride blood tests, because colestipol can push triglycerides up in some people.
- Flavored Colestid contains phenylalanine, so anyone with phenylketonuria (PKU) is better served by the unflavored granules or tablets.
Patient information guide A plain-language walkthrough of Colestipol, written from its FDA label.
What Colestipol is used for
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Colestipol is used with diet to lower elevated cholesterol.
- Reducing high total and LDL cholesterol in adults with primary hypercholesterolemia who don’t respond enough to diet (Colestid, Flavored Colestid and colestipol hydrochloride for oral suspension).
- It is one part of a broader plan to lower risk from atherosclerotic vascular disease (cholesterol-related artery disease).
How Colestipol works
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Colestipol is a resin that stays in your intestines. It binds bile acids and carries them out in the stool. Your liver then uses more cholesterol to make new bile acids and takes more LDL out of your blood.
Cholesterol usually starts falling within about one month.
Colestipol dosage
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Colestipol is taken by mouth once daily or in divided doses. Prescribers usually start low and increase slowly.
- Granules and powder: always mix with water or other fluids first.
- Tablets: swallow whole, one at a time, with plenty of liquid.
- Take other medicines at least 1 hour before or 4 hours after colestipol.
Follow your prescriber and the label.
Dosing details from the FDA-approved label
From the Colestipol prescribing information (“Dosage and Administration”). Doses are set by your prescriber for your product, condition, kidney function and age — never change a dose on your own.
- Adult patients (recommended daily dose)
- One to six packets or level scoopfuls given once or in divided doses
- Treatment should be started with one dose once or twice daily with an increment of one dose/day at one- or two-month intervals
- One dose (1 packet or 1 level teaspoon/scoopful) contains 5 grams of colestipol hydrochloride (Flavored Colestid dose is approximately 7.5 grams powder containing
- Must be mixed with water or other fluids, never taken dry. Take other drugs at least one hour before or four hours after colestipol.
Read the label’s full dosing text
DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION One dose (1 packet or 1 level teaspoon) of COLESTID Granules contains 5 grams of colestipol hydrochloride. One dose (1 packet or 1 level scoopful) of FLAVORED COLESTID Granules is approximately 7.5 grams powder which contains 5 grams of colestipol hydrochloride. The recommended daily adult dose is one to six packets or level scoopfuls given once or in divided doses. Treatment should be started with one dose once or twice daily with an increment of one dose/day at one- or two-month intervals. Appropriate use of lipid profiles as per NCEP guidelines including LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides is advised so that optimal, but not excessive doses are used to obtain the desired therapeutic effect on LDL-cholesterol level. If the desired therapeutic effect is not obtained at one to six doses/day with good compliance and acceptable side effects, combined therapy or alternate treatment should be considered. To avoid accidental inhalation or esophageal distress, COLESTID and FLAVORED COLESTID should not be taken in its dry form. COLESTID and FLAVORED COLESTID should always be mixed with water or other fluids before ingesting. Patients should take other drugs at least one hour before or four hours after COLESTID or FLAVORED COLESTID to minimize possible interference with their absorption. (See PRECAUTIONS, Drug Interactions .) Before COLESTID or FLAVORED COLESTID Administration 1. Define the type of hyperlipoproteinemia, as described in NCEP guidelines. 2. Institute a trial of diet and weight reduction. 3. Establish baseline serum total and LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels. During COLESTID or FLAVORED COLESTID Administration 1. The patient should be carefully monitored clinically, including serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Periodic determinations of serum cholesterol levels as outlined in the NCEP guidelines should be done to confirm a favorable initial and longer-term response. 2. Failure of total or LDL-cholesterol to fall within the desired range should lead one to first examine dietary and drug compliance. If these are deemed acceptable, combined therapy or alternate treatment should be considered. 3. Significant rise in triglyceride level should be considered as indication for dose reduction, drug discontinuation, or combined or alternate therapy.
Excerpted — the section continues on the label. Read the full Dosage and Administration section on DailyMed →
Colestipol side effects
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Most side effects involve the stomach and bowels.
Common side effects
- Constipation (the most common complaint, and sometimes severe)
- Abdominal pain or cramping
- Gas and bloating
- Indigestion and heartburn
- Diarrhea or loose stools
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache
- Worsening of hemorrhoids
When to get medical help
- Call your doctor if constipation is severe or doesn’t improve with more fluids and fiber.
- Get help if you have bleeding hemorrhoids or blood in your stool.
- Seek care if you have trouble swallowing, especially with the tablets.
- Report chest pain, a fast heartbeat or shortness of breath.
- Tell your doctor about a rash, hives or other signs of allergy.
- Contact your prescriber if you have severe stomach pain.
Colestipol warnings and precautions
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- Do not take granules or powder dry, because of the risk of inhalation or esophageal distress.
- Constipation can be severe, and hemorrhoids may get worse.
- Triglycerides may rise in some people.
- Liver blood tests showed modest, temporary increases in some patients.
- Flavored Colestid contains phenylalanine.
Colestipol interactions
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Colestipol can bind other medicines in the gut and lower how much you absorb.
- Take other drugs at least 1 hour before or 4 hours after colestipol.
- Propranolol: absorption timing may change.
- Water pills such as chlorothiazide, hydrochlorothiazide and furosemide: absorption was reduced.
- Tetracycline, penicillin G, gemfibrozil: absorption was reduced.
- Digoxin and similar drugs: effects are uncertain.
- Mycophenolate mofetil: may work less well.
Interactions listed in the FDA-approved label
From the Colestipol prescribing information (“Drug Interactions”): what the manufacturer studied or reported to the FDA.
- Other oral medications (general): Colestipol is an anion exchange resin that binds a number of drugs in vitro and may delay or reduce the absorption of concomitant oral medication. Take other drugs at least one hour before or four hours after colestipol; the interval between administration should be as long as possible.
- Propranolol: Repeated doses of colestipol before a single dose of propranolol were reported to decrease propranolol absorption; in a follow-up study the extent of absorption was not affected but the rate was slightly affected, with time to maximum concentration delayed 30 minutes. Patients on propranolol should be observed when colestipol is added or deleted from the regimen.
- Other beta-blockers: Effects on the absorption of other beta-blockers have not been determined.
- Chlorothiazide: Absorption as reflected in urinary excretion is markedly decreased even when administered one hour before colestipol.
- Tetracycline, furosemide, penicillin G, hydrochlorothiazide, gemfibrozil: Absorption was significantly decreased when given simultaneously with colestipol; administration one hour before colestipol was not tested.
- Aspirin, clindamycin, clofibrate, methyldopa, nicotinic acid (niacin), tolbutamide, phenytoin, warfarin: No depressant effect on blood levels in humans was noted when colestipol was administered with these drugs.
- Digitalis preparations (digoxin, digitoxin): There are conflicting results on the effect of colestipol on availability of digoxin and digitoxin; potential for binding is present if given concomitantly. Particular caution should be observed. Discontinuing colestipol could be hazardous if a potentially toxic drug significantly bound to the resin was titrated to a maintenance level while taking colestipol.
- Oral phosphate supplements and hydrocortisone: Bile acid binding resins may interfere with their absorption.
- Mycophenolate mofetil (mycophenolic acid): Colestipol binds bile acids and may reduce mycophenolic acid exposure and potentially reduce efficacy of mycophenolate mofetil.
Read the label’s full interactions text
Drug Interactions Since colestipol hydrochloride is an anion exchange resin, it may have a strong affinity for anions other than the bile acids. In vitro studies have indicated that colestipol hydrochloride binds a number of drugs. Therefore, colestipol hydrochloride for oral suspension resin may delay or reduce the absorption of concomitant oral medication. The interval between the administration of colestipol hydrochloride for oral suspension and any other medication should be as long as possible. Patients should take other drugs at least one hour before or four hours after colestipol hydrochloride for oral suspension to avoid impeding their absorption. Repeated doses of colestipol hydrochloride given prior to a single-dose of propranolol in human trials have been reported to decrease propranolol absorption. However, in a follow-up study in normal subjects, single-dose administration of colestipol hydrochloride and propranolol and twice-a-day administration for 5 days of both agents did not affect the extent of propranolol absorption, but had a small yet statistically significant effect on its rate of absorption; the time to reach maximum concentration was delayed 30 minutes. Effects on the absorption of other beta-blockers have not been determined. Therefore, patients on propranolol should be observed when colestipol hydrochloride for oral suspension is either added or deleted from a therapeutic regimen. Studies in humans show that the absorption of chlorothiazide as reflected in urinary excretion is markedly decreased even when administered one hour before colestipol hydrochloride. The absorption of tetracycline, furosemide, penicillin G, hydrochlorothiazide, and gemfibrozil was significantly decreased when given simultaneously with colestipol hydrochloride; these drugs were not tested to determine the effect of administration one hour before colestipol hydrochloride.
Excerpted — the section continues on the label. Read the full Drug Interactions section on DailyMed →
Not a complete list. The label covers the interactions the manufacturer studied or reported, and our own interaction database does not cover every medicine either. Bring your full medication list, including vitamins and herbal products, to your pharmacist.
Before taking Colestipol
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- Do not use if allergic to any component.
- Tell your prescriber about constipation or hemorrhoids.
- Tell them if you have phenylketonuria (relevant to Flavored Colestid).
- Share your full medication list.
Colestipol overdose
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Overdose has not been reported with Colestid or Flavored Colestid granules. The main potential harm would be a blockage of the digestive tract. Treatment would depend on where the blockage is and how well your gut is moving, so get medical help right away.
What Colestipol does in the body
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Colestipol increases bile acid loss in the stool. This raises the number of LDL receptors in the liver, which clears more LDL from the blood. Total and LDL cholesterol fall, usually within a month, and return to baseline about a month after stopping. Triglycerides may stay the same or rise.
How your body processes Colestipol
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Colestipol is not absorbed into the body and works only in the intestines. It is not broken down by digestive enzymes. It leaves in the stool, and less than 0.17% of a dose was found in urine in one study.
How to store Colestipol
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Dispense in tight containers, and store at controlled room temperature 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F) .
Written from the FDA-approved label with AI and reviewed by our pharmacy team. How we use AI →
Supplements & herbs that interact with Colestipol
18 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Colestipol in the licensed clinical database we use. Most are manageable — but your pharmacist should know about everything you take, including vitamins and herbals.
- Major · 1
- Moderate · 8
- Minor · 9
Educational information from a licensed clinical database (Natural Medicines) — see our data sources & update cadence. Not medical advice: an interaction being documented does not mean it will happen to you; do not start or stop medications or supplements without professional guidance.
Nutrient depletion considerations
Colestipol has been associated with lower levels of 8 nutrients in the clinical literature. This does not mean a deficiency will occur — it means these may be worth discussing with your pharmacist or healthcare provider, especially with long-term use.
- Higher significance · 4
- Moderate · 4
Educational information from a licensed clinical database (Natural Medicines) — not medical advice. Do not start or stop medications or supplements without professional guidance.
Colestipol: pharmacist answers to common questions
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Colestipol — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
What is colestipol for?
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How do I take the granules or powder?
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What about the tablets?
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Will it upset my stomach?
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Can I take my other medicines with it?
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How soon will it work?
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Is Colestipol available over the counter?
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When was Colestipol first available?
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Who makes Colestipol?
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Answers drafted from the FDA-approved label with AI and reviewed by our pharmacy team. How we use AI →
More about Colestipol on HelloPharmacist
Colestipol forms and strengths (how it comes)
Colestipol is available in 3 forms. Different forms and brands can have different approved uses, doses, schedules, and directions. Follow the instructions for your exact product, and do not switch forms without guidance from your prescriber or pharmacist.
Need a version that does not list lactose, a gluten source, a dye or gelatin? Inactive ingredients differ by manufacturer: see Colestipol inactive ingredients by manufacturer.
Tablet
How this form is used
- Colestid tablets are taken one at a time and swallowed whole with plenty of liquid.
- Colestipol hydrochloride tablets should not be cut, crushed or chewed.
- Take other drugs at least 1 hour before or 4 hours after the tablets.
Oral suspension
How this form is used
- Colestid and Flavored Colestid granules are used with diet to lower high LDL cholesterol in primary hypercholesterolemia.
- Colestipol hydrochloride for oral suspension is used with diet for the same purpose.
- Colestid and Flavored Colestid must be mixed with water or other fluids, never taken dry.
- Colestipol hydrochloride for oral suspension comes with a scoop that is not interchangeable with other scoops.
- Take other drugs at least 1 hour before or 4 hours after these products.
- Flavored Colestid contains phenylalanine, which matters for people with phenylketonuria.
Capsule
Colestipol on the U.S. market: products, makers and brands
How Colestipol appears in the FDA’s National Drug Code Directory — including its dosage forms, strengths, brand names, manufacturers, and FDA-listed product records. These are directory records, not sales or prescription volume.
10 companies list 14 Colestipol product records with the FDA, mostly as tablet, oral suspension, capsule; the earliest marketing or approval year on record is 1977. Brand names on the directory include Colestid, Colestid Flavored Granules, Colestid Granules; the rest are generics.
FDA-listed product records by dose form (tablet variants merged) — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
Also listed with the FDA, not a patient dose form: Powder (9) — bulk drug substance sold to compounders/manufacturers and multi-item kits. These aren’t counted in the dose-form total above.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
How widely Colestipol is used (Medicaid data)
A general measure of how commonly Colestipol is prescribed, based on Medicaid — one of the largest public drug programs. The figure below is prescriptions filled in Q1–Q4 2025, summed across every form and brand of the drug.
Think of this as a proxy for how widely Colestipol is used, drawn from freely available public data. Medicaid is just one program — these numbers don’t include Medicare, other government coverage, or commercial and cash-pay prescriptions, so real-world use is higher than what’s shown here.
How commonly is Colestipol prescribed? Of the 1,601 medications we measure, Colestipol ranks #537 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 66% of them.
Utilization by Colestipol product
Pick a product to see its own Medicaid numbers. Each chip is one clinical product — a specific strength & dosage form as defined by RxNorm — with brand-name and generic versions combined.
colestipol hydrochloride 1000 MG Oral Tablet Most dispensed
Summed across the 6 of 13 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1048445
colestipol hydrochloride 5000 MG Granules for Oral Suspension
Summed across the 1 of 13 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1048450
Shares are of the Medicaid prescriptions shown here. Product grouping follows RxNorm (the National Library of Medicine’s drug terminology), so “one product” means one strength & dosage form regardless of manufacturer. Dollar figures are gross Medicaid reimbursement before mandatory rebates — rebates (often large, especially for brand-name drugs) are confidential, so actual net cost to Medicaid is lower than shown.
Source: Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (CMS), aggregated by generic ingredient — summed across every NDC (all brands, strengths, salt forms and dosage forms) of Colestipol, and across all states and both fee-for-service and managed-care claims. A general popularity signal; it excludes Medicare, commercial insurance and cash prescriptions, so it is not total U.S. use. Based on the 7 of 26 listed Colestipol NDCs with Medicaid activity.
Compare Colestipol products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Colestipol — across manufacturers, strengths, and dosage forms, grouped by form with each product’s manufacturer and how the FDA approved it. The same medicine may be made and packaged by different companies, so a single drug can have many directory entries. (It’s also why a refill can look different — a new shape, color, or box — even though it contains the same medication.)
| Strength | Route | Manufacturer / Labeler | Category ⓘ | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Oral suspension | ||||
| 5 g | Oral | Amneal Pharmaceuticals of New York LLC × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 5 g/5 g | Oral | Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. | NDA AUTHORIZED GENERIC | View NDC → |
| 5 g/5 g | Oral | Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC | NDA | View NDC → |
| 💊Tablet | ||||
| 1 g | Oral | American Health Packaging | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 1 g | Oral | Amneal Pharmaceuticals of New York LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 1 g | Oral | ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 1 g | Oral | Edenbridge Pharmaceuticals LLC. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 1 g | Oral | Ingenus Pharmaceuticals, LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 1 g | Oral | Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. | NDA AUTHORIZED GENERIC | View NDC → |
| 1 g | Oral | NorthStar Rx LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 1 g | Oral | Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC | NDA | View NDC → |
| 1 g | Oral | Zydus Lifesciences Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 1 g | Oral | Zydus Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
Showing 14 of 14 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 14 Colestipol NDCs →
Colestipol side effects reported to the FDA (FAERS)
After a medicine reaches the market, patients, doctors and drugmakers can send the FDA reports of problems they think may be linked to it. Here’s what’s been reported for Colestipol — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
The effects most often named in FDA reports that mention Colestipol are diarrhoea, nausea, fatigue; about 57% of the reports were classed as serious. These are voluntary reports, so they show what people report, not how often it happens.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). These are voluntary reports — they don’t prove the drug caused the effect, and counts reflect how often something was reported, not how often it actually happens. Reports also often name the very problem the medicine is taken for — a common reason to file one is that the drug didn’t help — so for a pain reliever you may see “pain” high on the list; that points to why the report was filed, not to the drug causing the symptom. This counts every report that lists Colestipol in any role, so the total runs higher than the FDA’s official dashboard, which counts only cases where the drug is the suspect. For the authoritative figures, see the FDA FAERS Public Dashboard. Always talk to your pharmacist or doctor.
Colestipol FDA approval history
How Colestipol went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Colestipol was first approved by the FDA in 1977 (Brand: COLESTID · Pfizer); the first generic version was approved in 2006. It remains available in U.S. pharmacies today.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
Colestipol recall history
A recall is when a specific batch of a medicine is pulled from the market — usually a manufacturing issue, not a problem with the drug itself. Class I is most serious, Class III least.
The FDA’s enforcement reports list no Colestipol recalls since July 2021.
✅No Colestipol recalls on record since July 2021Source: FDA enforcement (recall) reports, via openFDA; our copy was last updated Sep 24, 2026.
RxNorm Concept Web — From Ingredient to Every Form and Strength
This page starts with one ingredient concept (IN). The branches below show its dose-form concepts (SCDF), then the available clinical drug and strength concepts (SCD). Combination products remain separate concepts with their own pages.
RxCUI 2685 2 dose forms · 2 strengths
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Dose form (SCDF) Granules for Oral Suspension RxCUI 2100170In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) hydrochloride 5000 MGRxCUI 1048450 -
Dose form (SCDF) Oral Tablet RxCUI 374415In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) hydrochloride 1000 MGRxCUI 1048445
Look up RxCUI 2685 in the RxCUI Atlas →
RxNorm is the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s normalized drug vocabulary. Its concept hierarchy can include forms that are not currently marketed; the status on each branch compares that concept with current FDA listings. RxCUIs identify vocabulary concepts, not individual packages or manufacturers.
Colestipol supply and shortage status
Whether Colestipol is in short supply in the U.S. right now, plus any shortage history the FDA has on record. A shortage usually reflects a manufacturing or demand issue — not a safety problem with the drug.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Drug Shortages database.
💵 What Colestipol costs pharmacies (NADAC benchmark)
The national average invoice price pharmacies pay for the drug itself, from CMS's NADAC survey (data as of Sep 30, 2026). This is a supply-cost benchmark — not a retail price and not what you'd pay at the counter.
| Form | Strength | Pharmacy acquisition benchmark | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tablet, Film Coated · Oral | 1 g | $0.658 per tablet | NDC details & price history |
| Tablet · Oral | 1 g | $2.15 per tablet | NDC details & price history |
| Suspension · Oral | 5 g | $2.72 each | NDC details & price history |
Source: CMS National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC), a survey of retail pharmacy invoice prices. Benchmarks shown are the range across package sizes of a representative product for each form and strength — other manufacturers' products may differ.
Colestipol brand names
Colestipol is sold under 3 brand names in the FDA directory — Colestid, Colestid Flavored Granules, Colestid Granules. A brand and its generic contain the same active ingredient; the brand name belongs to one company's product.
Who makes Colestipol: manufacturers and labelers
10 companies list Colestipol products with the FDA. By number of product records, the largest are Amneal Pharmaceuticals of New York LLC, Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC. Labelers include manufacturers and repackagers; the product in your bottle depends on which one your pharmacy stocks.
Colestipol drug class (RxNorm)
Colestipol belongs to the Bile Acid Sequestrant class.
Classified by RxNorm RxClass — the U.S. National Library of Medicine's standardized drug-classification service (Established Pharmacologic Class from the FDA, the ATC drug family from the WHO, and mechanism of action). Reference only, not medical advice.
Sources for this Colestipol page
Core label, product, RxNorm, safety, and utilization data on this page come from the sources identified below. AI-written, editorial, and licensed sections are labeled separately.
How this page is built
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records and does not author the underlying clinical facts. The plain-language sections are written with AI from the FDA-approved label text and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Greenstone LLC is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates. This is general education, not medical advice: always talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own medicines. How we build and review drug pages →