Niacin (nicotinic acid)

[HealthMan]

Is it safe to take nicotinic acid 500mg twice a day? I am not talking about the non flush stuff. I started 500mg daily to try to increase my HDL but heard that higher dosages might be necessary. Anyone here taking nicotinic acid and any elevated liver enzimes or HCT?

 

[Vince]

I've been told to take niacin only once a day, too often can hurt the liver.

 

[Mr. T]

I purchased some Niacin after reading this review by a physician. However, I took a different product that was only 100mg (after reading other reviews).

I took it two separate times with food then quit due to diarrhea (I have IBD). The flush came on after about 20-30 minutes and lasted about 15 minutes - it was kind of cool.

 

[Davet]

I was running high dose niacin to help with the an old LDL issue.
But I had a couple of problems manifest from doing this...one it pushed up my blood sugar levels and the second was a bit more complex to detect. I have always loved the sun, worked out in it in the Uk for most of my life with no probs. Then all of a sudden i was finding whenever I had been out catching rays when I went to get my head down in the evening to get some well earned sleep i was wide awake and hyper. As you could imagine this was not a good place to be. So I ended up avoiding the sun wherever I could.
This flummoxed me for a good period of time and after lots of tweaking i got round to dropping the niacin and hey presto back to my old self again.
So I dont know what process was going on inside my bod but now its not a problem.
So be careful.

 

[HealthMan]

Thanks guys. I have been taking 500mg in the morning for a couple of weeks now. I get the flush and not sure why it fees good.
I have read about the once a day only because of possibly being hard on the liver and also read about potentially increasing blood sugar. I guess I will keep it taking only once a day and get a CMP done in a couple of months.
Davet how much nicin you were taking? And what was the impact on your blood glucose levels? Did it help with your LDL?
Vince do you take niacin? If yea what dosage and have you noticed benefits?

 

[Vince]

Vince do you take niacin? If yea what dosage and have you noticed benefits?

I use 1,500 mg of Endur-Acin before bed.

 

[Vince Carter]

I had bought some of the flush kind of Niacin and it was horrible, horrible experience...threw the entire bottle out. my heart was racing, I was hot, tingly...it was awful.

 

[Vince]

I had bought some of the flush kind of Niacin and it was horrible, horrible experience...threw the entire bottle out. my heart was racing, I was hot, tingly...it was awful.

I know a lot of people have told me they cannot tolerate the flushing of niacin.

 

[captain]

Use the wax matrix niacin to control flushing and liver toxicity.

 

[Vince]

Use the wax matrix niacin to control flushing and liver toxicity.

Endur-Acin and wax matrix niacin are one in the same.​

 

[HealthMan]

Not sure why but i enjoy the flush. However it is getting weaker with time. I have read that to enjoy all benefits from Niacin is has to be the flush type.

 

[Davet]

Thanks guys. I have been taking 500mg in the morning for a couple of weeks now. I get the flush and not sure why it fees good.
I have read about the once a day only because of possibly being hard on the liver and also read about potentially increasing blood sugar. I guess I will keep it taking only once a day and get a CMP done in a couple of months.
Davet how much nicin you were taking? And what was the impact on your blood glucose levels? Did it help with your LDL?
Vince do you take niacin? If yea what dosage and have you noticed benefits?

I was running doses of 500mg 3 days times a day as recommended by my dietitian....i was on this dose for over 12mths...never made any difference to my LDL though
Pushed my daily blood blood sugar reading up over over 5.5-6 mmol/L even though my diet was dialed in tight.....that said my HBAC1 was always in reference range.
I was always read to believe its the nicontinamide version of Niacin that stresses the liver and to avoid this one.....the non flush one.
Since then I have had my LDL fractions done and all is good even with an unfavorable ratio.
They keep learning more and more about the Cholesterol issue and whereas they used to panic and head straight for a Statin script views are starting to change now.

Dt

 

[dnfuss]

I was running doses of 500mg 3 days times a day as recommended by my dietitian....i was on this dose for over 12mths...never made any difference to my LDL though
Pushed my daily blood blood sugar reading up over over 5.5-6 mmol/L even though my diet was dialed in tight.....that said my HBAC1 was always in reference range.
I was always read to believe its the nicontinamide version of Niacin that stresses the liver and to avoid this one.....the non flush one.
Since then I have had my LDL fractions done and all is good even with an unfavorable ratio.
They keep learning more and more about the Cholesterol issue and whereas they used to panic and head straight for a Statin script views are starting to change now.

Dt

I have been on nicotinic acid but no longer am. FWIW, here's my 2¢ (and that's all it is, you should consult your doctor before going on any drug, including niacin):

1. IF you're going to be on it, use ONLY the regular kind and take it only once a day, no time-release, slo-release, etc. I know the prescription form is slo-release; the drug companies developed that formulation in order to have a patentable drug. The supposed benefits of all the non-immediate formulations were to a) always have a steady stream of the drug in the bloodstream, which we now know is potentially very dangerous, and b) ameliorate the flushing and related sides. The non-immediate formulations can be toxic to the liver, possibly even induce liver failure in the case of the time-released. Even the regular formulation is hard on your liver (note that in a majority of patients it raises blood sugar levels -- that's a reaction to it by the liver, which is involved in blood sugar regulation). If you've decided to use this drug, use only the regular formulation (you can get it very cheaply at CVS, etc.) and start very low, maybe begin at 100 mg./day, and titrate dosage up very slowly, at least one week on each dosage level, preferably longer. And as far as the flushing, you just have to enjoy it, or at least be able to tolerate it. If you absolutely can't stand it, you shouldn't take nicotinic acid. The flush never goes away completely if you're on a therapeutic dosage, at least it didn't for me (I was on 3,000 mg./day for a couple of years).

2. But I think the bigger issue comes down to why use it at all? It does have an effect on certain lipid levels. It raised my HDL moderately, lowered my LDL ever-so-slightly, and lowered my triglycerides dramatically. But those are surrogate markers, not clinical endpoints. (And BTW, it also raised my blood sugar significantly). My review of the literature regarding this drug leads me to much the same conclusion about it as I have come to regarding statins. I.e., the weight of evidence is that the ability of this drug to prevent all-cause mortality (certainly in primary prevention) to statistical significance has not been consistently demonstrated. And all-cause mortality, to me, is the sine qua non, all other endpoints are either confusing at best or misleading at worst (e.g., instance of coronary events) or simply surrogates (i.e., lab values). Turned around, the question is "Since no drug is without side effects, is it clear that taking this drug will prolong my life compared to not taking it?" As with statins, I've come to the view that the answer is "no," so why take it? I'm sure others, perhaps many, will disagree.