Questions on Slo-Niacin - High Cholesterol Message Board

hotdam · 07-27-2007, 07:01 AM

I have been taking the Slo-Niacin for 2 months now, increased to 2000mg a day, I have heard allot about niaspan, exactly what is the difference? Also I have been sweating like crazy at night since I take 2 pills in the morning and 2 before bed is this a side effect?

kpbatson · 08-12-2007, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotdam

I have been taking the Slo-Niacin for 2 months now, increased to 2000mg a day, I have heard allot about niaspan, exactly what is the difference? Also I have been sweating like crazy at night since I take 2 pills in the morning and 2 before bed is this a side effect?

Slo-Niacin is what's termed "sustained-release" and Niaspan is "extended release". Sounds the same, right? But it isn't.

Slo-Niacin has less flushing than Niaspan but carries a greater risk for liver toxicity. This is due to the timing of the release that is designed to reduce the flushing.

I am not sure if I am explaining this completely correct but I think, there are basically "2 buckets" in the liver where niacin (nicotinic acid) ends up undergoing metabolism. One is called the "oxidative" bucket and the other is "conjugative". Nicotinic acid favors the oxidative bucket first. When that bucket overflows, it spills over into the conjugative bucket. When the conjugative bucket spills over you get the niacin flush. So far, there is nothing known to be bad about the flushing itself except that it makes you feel rotten (and can be painful for some).

Timed release or sustained release forms are designed to be released in a way so it stays within the the bucket(s) and doesn't "spill over". It is the prolonged amount of time that it stays within that bucket that can/may cause liver toxicity but you will get little to no flushing.

I hope that helps!

Lutheran122 · 08-12-2007, 08:29 PM

I read somewhere that if you take an aspirin with the niacin you wont get any flushing..

Guy1_USA · 08-12-2007, 10:32 PM

It only helps with the flushing... it does not eliminate it. This works differently for everyone.

Lenin · 08-13-2007, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotdam

I have been taking the Slo-Niacin for 2 months now, increased to 2000mg a day, I have heard allot about niaspan, exactly what is the difference? Also I have been sweating like crazy at night since I take 2 pills in the morning and 2 before bed is this a side effect?

Personally I think the only differences between SLO-NIACIN and NIASPAN are semantics and price. They are perfectly equivalent except one is by Rx and the other is over the counter.

Slow-acting, extended release, sustained release, time release, long acting, and XL all mean the same in my book...distinctions without difference. Abbott Pharma has never made a convincing argument why NIASPAN's timed release is any different from the others...just that it is a way to take NIACIN with slower absorption and thus less chance of flushing.

I think SLO-NIACIN (by Upsher Smith) is equivalent in every way to NIASPAN and is a lot cheaper. It gave me very good HDL results until I switched to something far cheaper still. I take 500 mg./day.

For those with no concerns about money, NIASPAN remains an excellent product.