Niacin

[OldDave]

Niacin is probably the best Vitamin that there is. It scares the heck out of most, when they first start it.

You can take Niacinimide in place of Nicin and eliminate the flush stinging.

They do the same thing.

Years ago I took 1000mg Niacin twice a day. The trick is to start with low doses and increase over a period of a week or longer. Also, an asprin taken with the niacin is supposed to help with the flushing. Once you're on it a while, the flushing subsides. After a year or longer I stopped taking it because it wansn't helping the numbers much any more. But, looking back over about 8 years of lab results for my current VA claim, I noticed that the naicin also lowered my triglyceride level. I'm on Crestor now which does a good job on cholesterol but not the triglyceride. I'm thinking of getting back on niacin. Good Luck.

[Pete53]

Thanks OldDave:

Your comments were helpful. The Niacin has not helped much on the good cholesterol but I see major improvement in triglycerides and I did not put it together till your Post.

Pete

[tagandbag]

My good cholestrol, is fine. The bad cholestral was the one I could not control, I was taking 2000mg of fish oil and 2000 mg of flax seed oil for a year and it did not bring my bad down. My PCP says the oils don't work on bad cholestrol. So I agreed to start simvastin, even though I was reluctant to. Worry about the effects on liver and other side effect, so far so good.

T&B

[ltate90]

I WAS TAKING 500MG OF NIACIN AND IT GAVE ME REAL BAD HEADCHES. DR. WAS TRYING TO ELEVATE MY GOOD CHOLESTOROL LEVEL. ALL I DO IS EAT SALMON STEAKS (5 OZ GRILLED ) ABOUT TWICE A WEEK, I EAT TUNAFISH WITH OMEGA 3 IN IT LIKE TWICE A WEEK AND I EAT ANYTHING I SEE WITH NIACIN IN IT FROM ORANGE JUICE, CEREAL YOU NAME IT TO KEEP MINE UP. HOPEFULLY MINE WILL BE UP TO NORMAL WHEN MY NEXT BLOOD TEST IS DONE.

[john999]

I have been taking Zocor for about 5 years. No side effects at all and it lowered my cholesterol from about 270 to 160 total. You have to be careful with some of the supplements. Things like vitamin C it just gets excreted through urine but others like vitamin A could be a problem if you take too much. These things also interact with some other meds you may take. I don't think diet has much to do with very high cholesterol. Me and my brother ate the same diet when we were kids and in our teenage years his total cholesterol was almost 400 and mine was about 160. He went on meds for chlesterol before the statins were invented. You know the Finns eat meat and yogurt and have low levels of cholesterol. In the future they will discover that smoking, drinking alcohol and eating red meat is actually good for you, and vegatables are bad.

[sf_ranger]

I have been taking Zocor for about 5 years.

...Usually Niacin does make one feel like they are on fire....I try to refrain from taking specific vitamins and minerals but along with my many meds including Zocor, I take a vegetarian daily vitamin along with an Ordorless Organic Neuro-Logic capsule. Wife says too late to keep the smarts but it does help to keep your head on and heart and blood in better shape including making the thinking process improve....I find that the Omega 3 fish oil gelatin works good for an overall healthy body.

However, I understand that natural fish containing the Omega 3 oil is better but what about the Mercury content? Did ya hear about the movie star who has recently been diagnosed with a huge amount of Mercury in his system and Mercury does make one feel sluggish and tired along with being dangerous to the human system....

My parents and siblings were vegetarians until I reached 14 years old... I always ate tuna but no meat and that includes chicken. My family has no problem with too much Mercury and we are in OK health. Just gotta stay away from my friends fast cars and stay off my pogo stick.....