Niaspan

[mho357]

Anyone out there with experience or knowledge of Niaspan?

Thanks,

Mark

[Galaga]

I tried it, but couldn't handle it. I already had mild hot flashes and Niaspan caused me intense hot flashes no matter what I did. I take a coated aspirin once a day now and have modified my eating habits, and no longer need cholesterol medication - yogurt has been especially helpful.

[TomB]

I've been taking niacin for several years, and if I didn't have to I'd sure wouldn't. Make sure to follow the instructions very closely. Failure to do so can have real bad consequences. I messed up one time and ended up in the ER, had trouble breathing.
Talk to your doc and see if you can take "Slo-Niacin" instead. It is much more gentle and for me, is acually cheaper than niaspan. Since I changed to Slo-Niacin I haven't had hardly any hot flashes and when I do, they are much less sever.
Good luck,
Tom

[mho357]

I've been lucky so far - I have not experienced any of the side effects.

My biggest gripe has been having to eat a snack with it right before bed. My doctor told me yesterday that I could try having it with dinner since I haven't had any problems.

Mark

[TomB]

Sounds good to me, except remember that it's fat that causes niacin to react. Maybe think about using Niaspan in the morning and Slo-Niacin at night if you are on twice a day.
That's what I'm doing until my bottle of niaspan is empty.
Oh, FYI, if and when I get a reaction, it kind of goes like this: my head gets hot and turns kind of red from the rash; then it moves down through my chest, then stomach and finally all the ways to my toes. Takes about 30 to 60 minutes before normal temperature and color returns. It's a hot, prickly feeling and isn't very nice.
The time I screwed up royal was taking a 1000mg pill right after a fat filled dinner. Things got real bad for many hours.
I hate taking the darn things but there's even a worse one in my daily pill routine. Atenolol can be really, really bad.
Good luck and try some veggies with the niacin.

[Tebby]

I have been taking Niaspan for about six months now... I don't know what my LDL HDL numbers are but they are slightly high for a diabetic, apparently. They are apparently not high for a normal person. The doc is not getting the lowering on my levels she wanted and she moved me from 1000 mg per day to 2000 mg per day.

Every time I have adjusted or missed a pill, I have had flushing from severe pain and redness to mild tingling... I then get itching on the inner ankles and the inner calf and thigh. This usually only lasts a few days and then when I have adjusted it goes away.

But, my sugar levels were fine on 1000 mg per day, and now on 2000 mg per day they are rising... I don't like this.

What do I do?