Can Niacin raise your blood glucose? - High Cholesterol Message Board

KATCSR · 08-14-2008, 08:45 AM

I have been doing some research and see this pop up occasionally.. I am also talking about Niacin that you buy at the store.. TIA

willk48 · 08-18-2008, 11:04 AM

I take Niaspan and have noticed my fasting glucose levels have gone up from the 90's to 104-108 as measured at a lab. Since this puts me in the "pre-diabetic" range I sometimes wonder if I'm doing more harm than good (especially since I've seen only negligible HDL rise).
But..my LDL levels are about 10% lower than Zocor alone and I've read that Niacin has other cardio benefits.
I rarely get the flushing anymore though I feel kind of shakey sometimes (the symptoms are simular to what I read about for Hypoglycemia but when I test with a glucose meter my levels are normal).

cook82 · 08-18-2008, 05:31 PM

Hello,

I noticed exactly the same thing when I was on Niaspan. My glucose went up around 112 which was slightly out of normal range. This upset me quite a bit as I have heard stories of people who didn't watch the glucose numbers that closely and wound up with numbers close to 200 before it was caught!
I went off it after 2 blood tests with that high glucose number. My last glucose reading was 82 so it was definitely the drug.

I switched to simvastatin. I was originally put on niaspan because I was afraid of statins. I have not had any side effects from the statin that I can identify and it controls my LDL much better.

Marie

rcrjoe · 08-25-2008, 06:15 AM

I just tried Niaspan on top of my Crestor and Zetia to see if I could get my HDL numbers up some. Well I tried the 500 mg for about two weeks and I had to stop. My fasting sugar numbers went up about 30 points. Also, the Prandin I am on did not work as well. I felt horrible on this medication. I had to stop the Niaspan. I will have to find something else to raise my HDL.

Thanks,