Niaspan + Stomach Upset - High Cholesterol Message Board

donsabi · 02-06-2004, 12:37 PM

I have taken Niaspan 500mg for years with only some minor flushing. I take it at night so I am usually not bothered. The last few weeks though I have been getting stomach upset and minor rashes after taking the nightly Niaspan. I can’t sleep with the stomach upset and I did try eating lightly with the dosage and I do take aspirin prior to the dosage. BTW, I have also tried Advil without any real success. The Niaspan has increased my HDL and I don’t want to quit it.
Comments appreciated. Thanks.

ARIZONA73 · 02-06-2004, 06:02 PM

Are you sure it's the Niaspan that's upsetting your stomach and not the aspirin? I would think that if you took both of them shortly before going to bed that it would increase the likelihood of stomach upset. Since you have become accustomed to taking Niaspan for the last several years, do you really feel that you still need the aspirin too? Drinking more water may help, or even taking the Niaspan earlier in the evening. Perhaps even taking an antacid tablet before retiring may provide relief by neutralizing some of the acidity. You are really not taking that high of a dose, and I don't know if the rash is from the Niaspan or not. But if these problems persist, then by all means talk to your doctor about it.

zip2play · 02-07-2004, 06:28 AM

Donsabi,
Stomach upset seems to be the #2 or #3 complaint with Niaspan:

Quote:

In addition to flushing, other potential side effects of NIASPAN® include rash and stomach upset....(from the KOS ad for Niaspan)

Taking it with ANY analgesic (which ALL irritate the stomach) seems to be increasing the chances of gastric pain.

Perhaps taking the Niaspan alone with your dinner meal might be easier on the stomach (though I know all cholesterol meds work best at bedtime)...maybe at least with a heavy snack (snack first-then meds.)

Don't ignore the symptom, a peptic ulcer is no fun. (Just for grins, next MD visit have him run a test for H.pylori)

bigal123 · 02-15-2004, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donsabi

I have taken Niaspan 500mg for years with only some minor flushing. I take it at night so I am usually not bothered. The last few weeks though I have been getting stomach upset and minor rashes after taking the nightly Niaspan. I can?t sleep with the stomach upset and I did try eating lightly with the dosage and I do take aspirin prior to the dosage. BTW, I have also tried Advil without any real success. The Niaspan has increased my HDL and I don?t want to quit it.
Comments appreciated. Thanks.

I would say try inositol hexanicinate 100 % and it is a lot cheaper from Twin Labs and others. I looked into the Niaspan and found it is very high priced. Just type what I said into search engine and it will give you a whole load of companies that are now starting to sell the Inositol. That is researched far more than what you are taking. We are taking this with the niacin as a mixed 20 percent ratio. After the bottle is done we are switching to the 100 %Inositol. There is no upset stomach or flushes with the Inositol at all.
Big Al

sunbird_owner · 02-17-2004, 03:30 PM

I always take Niacin right after the evening meal. It cuts flushing as well as any upsetting of the stomach.