Question about different versions of Niacin
 

There are three types of Niacin supplements - Regular niacin, slow release and Inositol Hexanicotinate. The second is linked to liver toxicity and failure. So that one's out. The first is the regular plain old niacin that most people have been taking for a long time but it has side effects of flushing and itching that can be very uncomfortable to the point that almost half of all people told to take it stop taking it because of these sides. The third one is called 'flush free'. And that's the kind I got. I took a 500mg capsule last night the way the NP told me to, that is, taking an 81mg aspirin 30 minutes prior to the Niacin. No flushing or any other sides were noted. However, when I attempt to research the efficacy of the no-flush type of niacin I find little info. Plenty of debate it seems but little info regarding how effective it is at the cholesterol lowering stuff.

Does anyone have or can anyone point me to any reputable information about this form of Niacin?

The flush niacin comes in immediate release and slow release. Not everyone gets liver damage from the slow release type. Immediate release is also removed from the body faster, than slow release.

A baby aspirin 81mg is not typically enough to block a niacin flush. Typically a 325 is used (and not enteric coated).

Not everyone responds to non-flush niacin with lowering of cholesterol. You'll have to be tested to see
if you do.

This is what my doctor told me to do when my test results came back the other day. I don't know why she said to use the 81mgs...could it be because it helps boost the blood level of niacin? I didn't know about the coated aspirin. I *can* say I had no adverse reactions to the niacin tablet I took last night. So I'm grateful for that. I'll stay at the 500mg dose for at least a week and then up it to the full 1000mg's she wants me to be taking. Figure it's better to take it slowly than end up not taking it because of sides.

There is a problem/interaction between aspirin and niacin supplements. Best way I can explain it is the aspirin increases the blood levels of niacin and keeps it in your system longer which can be a bad thing for your kidneys if I understood the info correctly. There may be something in between there that causes the kidney trouble but I can't remember what it was right off hand.

Thanks MrsD! As always, you provide invaluable info. :)

ETA: She told me to take the aspirin 30 minutes before the Niacin.

as far as I know...
 

The aspirin is only to prevent the flush.

I'll have to look up any other effects.

Not all people flush with niacin. It has to do with histamine levels.
Histadelia
Histapenia :
http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C376825.html

Using enteric coated aspirin delays onset...up to 2 hrs.
To block a flush you need faster action, than that.

Here is a good link:
http://www.uspharmacist.com/index.as...age=8_1157.htm
it states that aspirin + niacin is not clear as to any interaction

I will say.... the flushing I got was agony.... including inside the ears and "other places" where the sun
doesn't shine!
AND this flushing is very much like the burning I get in my feet sometimes! Not pleasant!

Here's what I got from drugs.com at the drug interaction checker:

Salicylates may cause an elevation in serum levels of nicotinic acid. The mechanism is not completely understood. However, salicylates also significantly decrease the serum levels of nicotinuric acid--a metabolite--and some experts hypothesize that salicylic acid causes a concentration-dependent decrease in the total clearance of nicotinic acid. Such a decrease would result in the saturation of the nicotinuric acid conjugation pathway. Data are available for aspirin only. No special precautions appear to be necessary.

ETA: I seem to be having difficulties in completing posts. LOL! The flushing I wanted to avoid at *all* costs. I have itching to begin with. I take Zyrtec for that. The flushing is what my feet often feel like, one of the worse symptoms I experience. No way do I even want to tempt an increase in symptoms of any kind...anywhere.

Most
 

of those interactions involve therapeutic doses of aspirin (such as used in RA treatments). The amount you
use for flush prevention is not high enough to be an issue.

The worst thing you would need to watch would be GI bleeding.
That can occur with 325mg uncoated aspirin.

I take 1,000 mg. of pure crystaline niacin twice a day
 

prescribed by my cardiologist, Erminia M. Guarneri at Scripps Institute of Complementary Medicine here in San Diego. The protocol is to take 250 mg. with meals for 10 days, then 500 for 10 days, etc. I still get a bit of tingle and flush, but it's not unpleasant. If I miss even one dose, the flush comes back to some degree for a day or two.

A good article is at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...wp=body_middle .

OK. Well then, what about Niacinamide? Isn't that the same thing as Niacin, except that it doesn't make you flush, burn and itch?

Cathie

That was very interesting David thank you so much. Sue

My Cardiologist put me on Niacin and one aspirin daily about a year ago. My cholesterol and tri's were way up. I spoke to my pharmacist and he told me that over the counter Niacin works as well as prescription.

I took 500mg of Flush Free Niacin Inositol Hexanicotinate twice a day and in 8 months my bad numbers dropped dramatically. I ran out and didn't take it for several months and the numbers went right back up. I have now been taking it everyday, one pill with breakfast and one with dinner.

I have no side effects of flushing and I am menopausal and will have my blood work done again next month.

I have been on Avonex for 8 months and blood work has been fine. Avonex is supposed to be hard on the liver and so is Niacin but I am not having any problems.

I order the Niacin online from Puritan's and it is very cheap.