I Overdosed on Niacin Yesterday

[mr__ed]

I've been in the habit of taking niacin supplements off and on over the years. Well, yesterday I downed a 500 mg tablet. I've had niacin flushes before, but this one was the mother of all flushes. Turned me red from head to foot, along with terrible itching. I had serious thoughts of driving to the local ER, but finally settled on contacting a poison control individual at the hospital, who assured me that the symptoms would abate over a few hours. Thankfully, that was the case. I know that large doses of niacin can cause liver damage, but I was also assured that I'd be OK since this was only a one-time dose. In the future, I'll take much smaller amounts, spread out over the day with meals. 😉

[mr__ed]

Chock Full O Nuts, I recall reading about Niaspan some time ago. IIRC, it's a time-release product, which may be harmful to the liver over time.

[Chock_Full_o__N]

My doctor put me on prescription Niaspan/niacinamide for high triglycerides about 10 years ago. Normally, you take it at night before bedtime, so the flushing isn't as disturbing. The flushing was pretty bad but I didn't know how bad until I took the dose I had missed the night before at 7am the next morning. Everything was fine until I sat down in the teachers' lounge to eat lunch 6 hours later. All of a sudden I flushed red from head to toe. My lips and eyes swelled and I thought I was going to bust out of my clothes, like the Hulk. Scared the principal out of her wits. Although I assured her that this was simply a medication issue, looking back I wonder if it wasn't really an allergic reaction. At any rate, I never took it again!

[Captain_Happy]

So did mine

[mr__ed]

bob_nestor wrote:

jesseannie wrote:
Current research has shown Niacin in any dosage has not shown to be beneficial for lowering cholesterol or protecting your heart. My cardiologist told me to stop taking it.

Niacin used to be the go-to treatment doctors prescribed for lowering cholesterol and it may or may not have some benefits. I'm always suspicious about "current research" especially when it comes to things involving health and medicine. In my own research I've concluded that most of this "current research" really just follows the money. As one of my doctors once told me, my test results today would have all been considered normal for a man of my age 20 years ago; they're not considered normal now and I'm a good candidate for drug therapy because they have the drugs to drive the test results.

One should also do their research on the prescription drugs they are taking paying close attention to the known/published side effects. I was surprised to find that most of the new complains and symptoms I was telling my doctor about for years were all known side effects of one drug he had me on. I was able to find a homeopathic solution to the original problem and eventually got off the prescribed drug and now my other symptoms are dissipating as well.

Amen. You and I think similarly. Further research on my part also brought out that high cholesterol is normal for some people and messing with it by trying to bring it down may actually be harmful. BTW, I wasn't taking niacin for cholesterol lowering, but for other reasons I deemed beneficial. I think one reason I took the 500 mg dose was that I was using a flush free version of the same dosage. Further investigation of that type of "niacin" revealed it wasn't really niacin. Furthermore, some flushing is desirable when using the real stuff because it's doing what it's supposed to do, dilating the blood vessels. My mistake was not starting with a lower dose and gradually working up. Lesson learned!

[bob_nestor]

jesseannie wrote:
Current research has shown Niacin in any dosage has not shown to be beneficial for lowering cholesterol or protecting your heart. My cardiologist told me to stop taking it.

Niacin used to be the go-to treatment doctors prescribed for lowering cholesterol and it may or may not have some benefits. I'm always suspicious about "current research" especially when it comes to things involving health and medicine. In my own research I've concluded that most of this "current research" really just follows the money. As one of my doctors once told me, my test results today would have all been considered normal for a man of my age 20 years ago; they're not considered normal now and I'm a good candidate for drug therapy because they have the drugs to drive the test results.

One should also do their research on the prescription drugs they are taking paying close attention to the known/published side effects. I was surprised to find that most of the new complains and symptoms I was telling my doctor about for years were all known side effects of one drug he had me on. I was able to find a homeopathic solution to the original problem and eventually got off the prescribed drug and now my other symptoms are dissipating as well.

[We_Cant_Wait]

My wife went OFF statin drugs and now her cholesterol is lower, and her HDL higher using Non Flushing Niacin, Fish Oil, and Cinnamon and Old Fashioned Oatmeal for breakfast.

[bob213]

jesseannie wrote:
Current research has shown Niacin in any dosage has not shown to be beneficial for lowering cholesterol or protecting your heart. My cardiologist told me to stop taking it.

Your doctor is correct. Niacin does not "lower" cholesterol. It has been proven to raise HDL. For some of us, that can be more important than lowering overall cholesterol numbers. If you already have HDL numbers in an acceptable range you would see little benefit from taking niacin and only add to the risk for your liver from any statin drug you might be on.

[mr__ed]

posted in error.

[mr__ed]

EV2 wrote:
I am prescribed 2000 mg daily. The key is to purchase only coated/sustained release and best practice is to take at bed time. Although I am sensitive to the effects that you a experienced and had experienced the flushing/itching in the past, the above recommendation totally eliminated the problem immediately.

There's information I've read about certain dangers taking sustained release niacin. Might be harmful to the liver, IIRC. I'm in the habit of doing a lot of research on any medications or supplements that I take. I urge you to do likewise. Once, I was prescribed a statin drug, but refused to take it. I'd rather have somewhat elevated cholesterol than the serious side effects statins can cause. 😉

[2oldman]

Sounds like the 'poor man's' way to improve cholesterol. Makes me think of Kevin Trudeau.

[EV2]

I am prescribed 2000 mg daily. The key is to purchase only coated/sustained release and best practice is to take at bed time. Although I am sensitive to the effects that you a experienced and had experienced the flushing/itching in the past, the above recommendation totally eliminated the problem immediately.

[jesseannie]

Current research has shown Niacin in any dosage has not shown to be beneficial for lowering cholesterol or protecting your heart. My cardiologist told me to stop taking it.

[mr__ed]

Although I didn't mention it, I was already taking 500 mg of a "no Flush niacin", which caused absolutely no flushing at all. What prompted me to investigate further was paying closer attention to the ingredients. It wasn't niacin at all, but something with a long name and the word "inositol" in it. Further research showed it wasn't as effective as real niacin, or nicotinic acid. So, I already had the number 500 in my mind. Still, taking that large dosage was a dumb thing to do, without first starting out slowly and gradually building up.

[bob213]

I was put on an 8000mg/day(that's not a misprint!) dosage of niacin by the University of San Francisco Medical Center. Niacin helps to increase HDL cholesterol. You have to build to it slowly to be able to take those quantities and have regular liver tests to check for damage. It did raise my HDL but not in sufficient quantity to justify taking that much niacin. I now take slo-niacin 750mg twice per day. I'm not suggesting anyone take anything without consulting their doctor first, I'm just saying that an accidental large dose of niacin will probably do nothing more than give you the biggest flush and itching you've ever had. Water intake helps to flush it thru your system. When you have a coronary bypass at age 26 you become a guinea pig for the doctors...I've tried it ALL!