For Niacin Flushers - High Cholesterol Message Board

Lenin · 05-24-2005, 06:40 AM

I flush BIG time from niacin but I find that I can get a boost in my HDL which I need in addition to the huge LDL drop I get from Lipitor.

I found something that helps avoid the unbearable flushing.

I have ALWAYS flushed badly at 375 mg. immediate action niacin (3/4 of a 500 mg. tablet.) I take niacin ONLY on a full stomach and can then tolerate 125 mg with no flush. (On an empty stomach ANY amount is unbearable.)
Since my flushes usually last about 10-15 minutes, I figured that that amount of time was what it took to absorb, peak and eliminate or deactivate most of it.

Thus, yesterday I had a decent peortion of spaghetti and meatballs and 15 minutes later I took 125 mg quarter pill, a half hour later I took another and a half hour after that another...NO FLUSH AT ALL and a 375 mg. total!
Thus I am in effect giving myself a SLIGHT extended release formulation but probably no more than 90 minutes...far faster than even Niaspan so it should be pretty safe.

It is a bit of a pain in the asp (like Cleopatra) to do this timing, especially if I am running around outside, but I'll see if I can work something around this!

So here's something to help those who want to take immediate release niacin but not TOO immediate!

Lenin · 05-26-2005, 07:11 AM

Guess what, it works.

I can take 125 mg. 10 minutes after a meal and another 125 mg. 20 minutes later and a third 20 minutes after that. Taking the 375 at once is impossibly flushy. I might try to squeeze the time frame tighter so that I don't have to be thinking niacin all day long.

I presume I'm getting MOST of the benefits of a single 375 mg. dose.

CobaltBlue · 05-27-2005, 06:12 AM

Lenin,

I am glad you are figuring out what is working--I can tell you what doesn't work for me

The last two nights, I took my 1000 mg early on and with 325 mg asprin. About 2 hrs later I am laying in bed and the flushing begins--no big deal. Then, what has happened only a few times now, this intense itching on my arms/legs, that drives me just about out of my mind. I scratch the living heck out of my skin because it so intense. The only time I get it this bad is when I know I am dehydrated from doing a lot of exercise that day and failing to rehydrate properly (including, but not always, wine consumption).

From what I read, the benefits are greater from single high doses than from split multiple lower level doses.

momcat1 · 05-29-2005, 06:48 PM

I haven't experienced any of those side effects from Niacin (both non-flush and regular). I did however, get intense chills and the itching, like creepy crawlies the first month I was on Policosanol. I started taking that at bedtime, and don't notice any side effects.

Since I haven't noticed anything from the Niacin I'm starting to wonder if it's doing anything for me. I'm taking 500 mg per day, and this is the third month I've been taking it.

One of these days I have to get the nerve up to go back to the doc's I guess and get my cholesterol retested, but I swear he wants nothing to do with me if I don't agree to statins, which I have not changed my mind about at all. Anyone know of another way to get the blood tested, without it costing a fortune?

Lenin · 05-30-2005, 07:43 AM

Cobalt,

Gosh, 2 hours later...I think the longest I have ever had to wait for a flush was 30 minutes. Usually 15 is more the ticket.
I may be getting more of a "quick hit" with my triple dosing than you are with a single dose because all the flushing is well and truly done 90 minutes after the first dose (and about 20 minutes after the last.)
Are you sure you aren't taking something of a "time-release" niacin...whether advertised as such or not. I'm assuming that the flush occurs at the blood peak of nictotinic acid.

momcat,
What is it that makes your current doctor cheaper than another you might go to? Is it an insurance thing?