I Overdosed on Niacin Yesterday

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.

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!

So did mine

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!

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.

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.

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.

posted in error.

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. ;)

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