RE: Niacin supplementation

[Guest guest]

> Anyone care to comment on the benefits of this to help reduce

cholesterol?

> Idea, I'm suspecting, is to eliminate Lipitor and substitute with

750mg of

> slow-release niacin. Am aware of some side effects (like itchy

skin, sensation of

> heat). But am wondering what the difference is between a

supplementation

> solution, versus a medically blessed and reimburseable one.

They're both processed

> by the liver, so am thinking there is no additional burden on the

body in

> that way. The package label suggests there is a conflict with a

> cholesterol-lowering agent like I take, with the supplement, and

they advise getting advice

> from professionals. My doctor laughs at vitamins ( " If you think

they work, take

> them. " ), so I don't bother asking.

>

This is one vitamin that your doctor probably won't laugh at. It is

prescribed by doctors (name brand - Niaspan) to reduce cholesterol.

It is a vitamin that also happens to be a proven and effective drug.

And it can be prescribed at the same time as a statin.

Glenn

[Guest guest]

I stopped using lipitor and started using Niacin to lower my cholesterol and it worked beautifully. Too bad your doctor is not better informed because there are many studies that show its efficacy. You have to gradually increase your dose up to 2000mg. I take two 500mg tabs twice a day, best with food. You may get the flushing and prickly sensation at first, but it does go away. I now also do take low dose lipitor because when my HDL's and LDL's were analyzed, I have the least protective HDL's, and the most pathological LDL's ( bad genes) and the lipitor should help with this. Good luck.

Larry

Niacin supplementation

Anyone care to comment on the benefits of this to help reduce cholesterol? Idea, I'm suspecting, is to eliminate Lipitor and substitute with 750mg of slow-release niacin. Am aware of some side effects (like itchy skin, sensation of heat). But am wondering what the difference is between a supplementation solution, versus a medically blessed and reimburseable one. They're both processed by the liver, so am thinking there is no additional burden on the body in that way. The package label suggests there is a conflict with a cholesterol-lowering agent like I take, with the supplement, and they advise getting advice from professionals. My doctor laughs at vitamins ("If you think they work, take them."), so I don't bother asking.Anyone with experience out there? If you received this email from someone who forwarded it to you and would like to join this group, send a blank email to lipodystrophy-subscribe and you will get an email with intructions to follow. You can chose to receive single emails or a daily digest (collection of emails). You can post pictures, images, attach files and search by keyword old postings in the group.For those of you who are members already and want to switch from single emails to digest or viceversa, visit www.yahoogroups.com, click on lipodystrophy, then on "edit my membership" and go down to your selection. The list administrator does not process any requests, so this is a do-it-yourself easy process ! :)Thanks for joining. You will learn and share a lot in this group!Forward this email to anyone who may benefit from this information! Thanks!In Health, VergelInterim List Administratory benefit from this information! Thanks!In Health, VergelInterim List Administrator

[Guest guest]

>Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2004 19:47:57 -0000

>

>Subject: Re: Niacin supplementation

>

>

>> Anyone care to comment on the benefits of this to help reduce

>cholesterol?

>> Idea, I'm suspecting, is to eliminate Lipitor and substitute with

>750mg of

>> slow-release niacin. Am aware of some side effects (like itchy

>skin, sensation of

>> heat). But am wondering what the difference is between a

>supplementation

>> solution, versus a medically blessed and reimburseable one.

>They're both processed

>> by the liver, so am thinking there is no additional burden on the

>body in

>> that way. The package label suggests there is a conflict with a

>> cholesterol-lowering agent like I take, with the supplement, and

>they advise getting advice

>> from professionals. My doctor laughs at vitamins ( " If you think

>they work, take

>> them. " ), so I don't bother asking.

> >

>

>This is one vitamin that your doctor probably won't laugh at. It is

>prescribed by doctors (name brand - Niaspan) to reduce cholesterol.

>It is a vitamin that also happens to be a proven and effective drug.

>And it can be prescribed at the same time as a statin.

>

>Glenn

It's my understanding, that high dose Niacin (750-1500mg) daily,

helps reduce triglycerides, not cholesterol.

The statins, especially Lipotor, lower cholesterol, but not

trigylcerides. Someone correct me if I'm mistaken?

I'm taking 1000mg of Niaspan and it's helping, in addition to 20 mg of Lipotor.

The 'flushing/burning-itching skin' is minimized by taking a 'baby

aspirin/83mg' with the Niaspan, but it still happens to me, so I take

it when I know I am going to sleep, and usually (95% of the time)

sleep through the 'niacin flush' (that was my doc's recommendation

and a good one. that 'flush' can be nasty).

~

[Guest guest]

At 11:40 AM 6/3/2004 -0700, you wrote:

>snip..

>It's my understanding, that high dose Niacin (750-1500mg) daily,

>helps reduce triglycerides, not cholesterol.

This is incorrect. The dosages used may also be higher. Some suggest that a

no-flush version, inositol hexanicotinate (IHN) may work as well although

one Italian study suggested it may cause other problems ( Mooney has

more info on that). I know I read the original paper in Italian but I still

don't know which lipid may be elevated with IHN.

Pubmed is really easy to use. Go to:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi

I just entered in niacin, ldl as search parameters...first abstract below

was the first hit!

M.

**

Guyton JR. Extended-release niacin for modifying the lipoprotein profile.

Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2004 Jun;5(6):1385-1398.

Duke University Medical Center, Department of Medicine, Durham, North

Carolina, USA. john.guyton@...

Niacin (nicotinic acid) favourably modifies all aspects of the lipoprotein

profile; it raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels,

lowers triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and

lipoprotein(a) levels and reduces atherogenic small, dense LDL particles.

One large monotherapy trial and multiple trials of niacin in combination

with other lipid-modifying drugs show remarkable consistency in the ability

of niacin to improve angiographic and clinical outcomes. In practice,

however, the use of regular, immediate-release niacin (niacin IR) has been

limited by the side effect of flushing. Sustained-release (SR)

formulations, developed in order to reduce flushing, were found to cause

serious hepatotoxicity at varying frequencies. Extended-release niacin

(niacin ER; Niaspan(®), Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) is a prescription

formulation of niacin, administered once-daily at bedtime. Niacin ER is as

effective in modifying lipoprotein levels as an equal daily dose of niacin

IR and it causes less flushing. In addition, niacin ER administered

once-daily is not associated with the increased hepatotoxicity reported

with SR formulations. Niacin ER has been studied extensively in combination

therapy with statins, including lovastatin in a recently introduced

combination tablet. Myopathy has not been a substantial problem in

statin/niacin ER combination therapy. Finally, a study of niacin ER given

to diabetic patients showed only mild trends towards increased glycosylated

haemoglobin concentrations and a need for additional antidiabetic

medication. Thus, niacin ER represents an effective and safe option in the

management of low levels of HDL-C and other lipoprotein abnormalities in a

variety of settings.

PMID: 15163282 [PubMed - in process]