Posted on 01/23/2007 3:01:37 PM PST by blam
Niacin expected to grow as heart treatment
CLEVELAND, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- A Cleveland doctor says use of niacin as a cholesterol drug is likely to increase following the failure of a drug that was found to increase heart problems.
Dr. Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the famed Cleveland Clinic and president of the American College of Cardiology, said niacin, a B vitamin that raises HDL, commonly known as good cholesterol, is likely to increase in prominence after trials of the Pfizer Inc. cholesterol drug torcetrapib failed, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Raising HDL levels in patients helps to reduce lower blood levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol.
"There's a great unfilled need for something that raises HDL," Nissen said. "Right now, in the wake of the failure of torcetrapib, niacin is really it. Nothing else available is that effective."
Niacin, in its therapeutic form of nicotinic acid, has been found to increase HDL levels by as much as 35 percent, as well as reduce levels of artery-clogging triglycerides by as much as 50 percent.
Are you just taking an over-the-counter supplement?
Niacin is also believed by some to have a positive effect on blood sugar regulation.
Me too, non-blush, OTC. I'm type 2 diabetic and I'm interested to see what this does for me. I was taking Omacor, an insanely expensive Omega-3 supplement, but it only raised my HDL by like 3 points.
http://www.doctoryourself.com/niacin.html
Thanks for posting (and all of your posts)...interesting. Hope you are both doing well.
Interesting, my son takes it.
Been taking it for years. Along with a statin my cholesterol numbers are great. Cheap, over the counter. Wal-Mart has it, among other retailers.
I'm taking 20mg of Lovastatin and 500mg Niacin(Niaspan-KOS) daily on a prescription from my doctor. He tried to increase my Lovastatin to 40mg daily but I started having urinary problems. That's when he put me on Niacin and reduced by Lovastatin back to 20mg daily. My cholestorel was 199 when he made these changes.
I go to the VA doc once a year just to keep current in the system. When he found out I was taking niacin he wrote a presciption for it. It's cheaper that way. They don't cover my Vytorin though.
My doctor told me to go get 500mg of Niacin and take it. So I went to the pharmacy and asked the pharmacist which one should I take as there was the slow release, fast acting, etc. I think he said the fast acting would be better but then you get the flushing. He said your doctor should check your blood for any liver damage after you have been on it awhile, just like they check when you are on cholesterol medication. I told him my doctor never even mentioned possible liver damage or having tests done, so I said forget it. I wasn't going to start on the stuff. That is the problem with so many doctors. It seems they get you taking things but then never monitor it.
Actually it can have NEGATIVE effects which is why diabetics should be cautious in its use. Take 500mg slo-niacin. Avoid the flush!
"That is the problem with so many doctors. It seems they get you taking things but then never monitor it."
Very few monitor their patients when they are on cholesterol drugs even though they should.
Niacin is powerful stuff. Careful out there.
I gave blood last friday for a full blood 'work-up' and will review the results with my doctor this friday. He takes pretty good care of me. I'm 63 and the only thing wrong with me is elevated cholesterol.
What is "flush"?
I remember the flush when taking it on an empty stomach.... pounding heart, tingly feeling all over, blood rushing to your face... and drinking water to make it stop.
Torcetrapib must have been in testing because it isn't listed in the formularies.
If you take aspirin daily, try taking it when you take your Niacin. For me, it cuts down on the flushing.
"I told him my doctor never even mentioned possible liver damage "
More info on the potential liver issues:
Abram Hoffer, M.D., says:
"About Megadose Niacin:
"The factoid niacin causes liver damage is analyzed thoroughly by
William Parsons Jr, who shows that niacin will often increase liver
function tests but that these increases do not arise from liver
pathology. (Parsons WB Jr: Cholesterol Control Without Diet: The Niacin
Solution. Lilac Press, Scotsdale, Arizona 1998. Reviewed in Journal of
Orthomolecular Medicine, Volume 14, 1999, 3rd quarter.)
My dad takes Niacin, the only thing he hates about is it makes his face red.
I tried to take Niacin, but the side effects made me crazy. Diet and excercise is a better way for me to help my heart these days.
BEWARE of a side-effect of Niacin that I experienced (and they never told me about).
It depletes your CoQ10 levels, which left me in muscle pain for days after moderate exercise, making even walking painful for this normally athletic guy.
The pill-pushing physician didn't tell me about it, but my sensible chiropractor did, upon which I discontinued, and solved a momentary cholesterol spike with healthy diet.
BUMP! Good post, blam.
Yup. Someone posted an article about Coenzyme Q10 the other day. I have it on the list of things to talk with my doctor about.
Nicotine and acid works here. No cardiovascular problems. Since I began taking it, I can see what the democrats are talking about. I guess that's a side effect.
:)
Bookmark
By positive I meant "good"....
By negative did you mean "bad" or "lowering"?
If you meant bad, I'd like to hear more as my research hasn't given me that impression.
I take 2 g daily. The flushing abates after a while. I buy 1000 x 500mg at the Costco for around $15.00
"It depletes your CoQ10 levels, which left me in muscle pain for days after moderate exercise, making even walking painful for this normally athletic guy."
A couple of years ago a study came out (I am sure by the pharmiciticuls) they determined that getting your LDL (bad cholesterol) level way below 100 was better for you. In fact they had a slogan "How low can you go". My husbands doctor changed him from 40 mg of Lipitor and put him on a combination of Zocor and Zetia. Then he switched him to Vytorin which is the combination of the two. It brought my husbands LDL down to around 50 and like you he couldn't even walk a short distance and he was so weak and tired. I heard about the CQ10 but unfortunatley my husband has to be on Coumadin for an artificial Aortic Valve. Anyway the CQ10 would change the coumadin levels so it would be dangerous for him to take.
I fought with his doctor to take him off the Vytorin and put him back on the 40mg of Lipitor, which he did. His LDL level is just under 100 now and he feels a lot better. Still the last check up his doctor tried to change his cholesterol medicine again
For several years I've taken 3 gm of niacin daily, along with zocor, and later, lipitor. My physician tells me that each drug works in a different end of the lipid panel, the statin bringing down the LDL, the niacin boosting the HDL.
I take the niacin 3x daily, 2 500 mg caps each time.
I had some flushing at first, but slowly upped the dosage until I was taking 3 gms daily. Doc says going higher with the niacin won't give me any increase in therapeutic effect.
Like I said, this has been a standard for me since 1995 when I had the heart attack. Since then, no problemo. It is nice that the niacin is cheap.
It is an effect that some experience when taking Niacin. It is caused by the dialation of blood vessels throughout the body. I'm given to understand that it's harmless, but it can be uncomfortable for a few minutes.
The most extreme niacin flush that I have had made me feel like I was going to spontaneously combust. I felt very, very warm and itchy. It also can make the skin very ruddy. It's over in a few minutes.
My prescribed dose is 2000 mg.
Cholesterol is under control as is blood sugar and limit for type 2 diabetes.
Also, I feel really good.
I don't feel any different but my doctor likes the result in my cholestorel level.
I take Lovastatin and niacin also. LOL. I had a panic attack with my first encounter with niacin too...I thought I was dying, I hadn't been forwarned of the 'flush.'
Looks like the currently sold Red Rice Yeast products may not even contain any lovastatin!
http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/cholesterol/a/Nrxcol_rry.htm
bump
i took one niacin pill and within 3 minutes i got extreme heart pain then i turned extremely red from head to toe and couldn’t stop shaking it lasted me about 2 or 3 hours, imagine your worst fever and worst sunburn combined.
i took 3 500mg pills earlier today, and it was horrible!!!i ended up takin a three hour shower, my skin felt like it was melting although i was shivvering because of the ice cold shower, i itched everywhere i would not suggest more then 1 or 2 500mg pills of (I.R) niacin for a first timer
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