Niacin (B-3) Caps

I don't do much reviews but this needs a good one. Excellent Seller, fast delivery.Niacin was the only medication which raised my HDL and lowered LDL after 10 years. My HDL was always low (<40) due to a gene disposition. A few important points (Amazon does not allow citing websites, so I can not refer you to any websites for more details). Below are my own investigative opinions, NOT a medical advice:1) DO NOT USE NIACIN BEFORE CONSULTING YOUR PHYSICIAN; IT CAN BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO YOUR LIVER. You must be supervised by a Medical Doctor with a MD degree.This is a serious matter! You must have regular liver test while on Niacin.2) Absolutely DO NOT take time-released, sustained or delayed release capsules/pills. They WILL damage your liver. These delayed capsules/pills will release Niacin slowly into your blood in 24 hours. The liver should not be exposed to continuous flow of Niacin within 24 hours; the liver needs to take a break from detoxification of Niacin. Buy Niacin (nicotinic acid) in crystalline pure form.3) Drink very few, if any, alcoholic beverages while on Niacin. Again, the liver needs continuous breaks from being overloaded with Niacin and alcohol. The liver is already in great stress by us eating junk food.4) The other two forms of Niacin, niacinamide (nicotinamide) and inositol hexanicotinate have different effects than Niacin. They will not have (if any) powerful effects on Lipid Profile as Niacin (nicotinic acid).5) Flush-Free Niacin is worthless. It contains other forms of Niacin which are very useless.6) Almost everyone will get regular flushing with Niacin in the beginning, but it will eventually fade away as your body gets used to it. But do not worry if it does not. Please do not freak out if you turned red with itch all over your face and body. This is not a life threatening allergenic reaction. It is simply a reaction caused by Histamine. Flushing symptoms occur following vasodilatation of small capillaries under the skin, a response that can be mediated via histamine/bradykinin or prostaglandins (not trying to impress anyone, just stating the fact)7) Flushing happens ONLY in the capillaries of the skin, NOT in lungs, heart or other organs. For example, your heart capillaries will not get dilated as your skins.8) DIABETICS should be careful while taking Niacin since Niacin appears to raise the glucose by 4-10 points.9) People with LOW BLOOD PRESSURE should be EXTREMELY careful since Niacin may lower the blood pressure even more. One person whom I know fainted in the shower when she took a hot shower during the hot flush-she broke two of her teeth. BE CAREFULL if you have a low blood pressure.10) DO NOT TAKE Niacin if you are on Antibiotics (Tetracycline), Anticoagulants (blood thinners), or Blood Pressure Medications (Alpha-blockers) UNLESS you are supervised by a trained physician.11) I most definitely encourage everyone to at least try Niacin BEFORE taking Statin drugs (such as Lipitor). Find a caring doctor who can educate you on the proper way of taking Niacin, rather than just a "pharmaceutical salesman". Do not settle with "my doctor prescribed me the medication and I just followed".12) If flushing really bothers you, take a 325 mg ASPIRIN 1-2 hours before taking Niacin. It will help you.UPDATE-04/09/2014:1) Please make sure to take B Complex supplements (at least 50 or 100 mg per day). Nician will compete with other B vitamins in the body (B1, B2, Folic Acid,B5,...). This action will tend to deplete other vital B Vitamins in the body. Just be aware that taking B Complex will make your urine very yellowish (bright yellow); this is just the color of the vitamin-no worries.2) I also take one Magnesium supplement per day. Magnesium works wonders for muscle and nerve tissues.3) Please do yourself a huge favor and have your doctor check your vitamin D level. Vitamin D deficiency has been declared a national pandemic. Google "Vitamin D deficiency" and you'll see its horrible results. Many people have been WRONGLY diagnosed with diabetics for years while the main culprit was low vitamin D. From muscle and bone pain to heart attacks and strokes have been strongly related to low vitamin D. If your value is less than 20, you can NOT supplement it with over the counter vitamin D3 pills. Your physician must give you a prescription for a 50,000 unit of vitamin D2 taken once a week for three weeks. You need to supply the liver with vitamin D2 first before your body can effectively utilize vitamin D3. If your doctor does not understand, find another who will.Let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to respond as time allows.Hope this helps.

I like keeping in Niacin to help keep my cholesterol down. I don't mind the full flush you get from non-buffered Niacin. When you take about 3 to 6 grams a day, that level of niacin will convert cholesterol to useful byproducts your body can use which keeps the cholesterol levels down through natural means. You learn this in Robert Kowalski's book "The 8 Week Cholesterol Cure".I like to take 1 to 1.5 grams every other day of the Niacin which gives me a good flush where my skin turns bright read and I get this lovely warm feeling all over while the Niacin is dilating the blood vessels better than aspirin can do. Aspirin is nothing more than salicylic acid anyway and it is a mystery compound to how it affects blood vessels when you read up on it. I prefer using Niacin to help assist keeping my blood vessels open.I've always loved Twinlab since the brand first came into the market a number of decades ago. I have had very little trouble with the product line even though there are a number of lines I can trust.I think the 500 mg caps are easy enough to swallow versus the 1 gram caps. My mother use to have trouble swallowing pills when she was alive and I use to buy her lower dosage caps when she had to take natural things while she was alive. So if you think you have trouble with pills, then get the 250 mg or 100 mg caps, but keep the high dosages in mind to gain the efficacy you want with Niacin when it comes to controlling cholesterol and keeping your arteries open.

HOLY CRAP! CONSIDER getting a lower dose to start off with. I took this and within prob 10 mins I turned as red as a friggin lobster...felt like a SEVERE sun burn on my skin, but I also felt like I was on FIRE from the inside out...Heart was racing....Very dizzy and nauseous...and my arms swole up slightly. A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE!Despite this, I am giving 5 stars bc I expected this effect(although not to this degree), and I'm sure this is a high quality product as it seems very potent. The burning/heart racing effect lasted about 20 to 25 mins. After that an itch came over me and slowly went away only to be replaced by a feeling of cactus needles sticking in my skin anywhere I touched it. All in all, this lasted about 2.5 hours.

There are different types of Niacin supplements and most research points to the non flush and time release supplements as being less effective at providing the benefits you would take it for. This is the correct type. It's worth the benefits as I need to get my Tryglicerides and HDL back to where they need to be again. I had been using the regular type like this, but tried the non flush type of supplement for the last year. My numbers went the wrong way. I think the non flushing type was a factor.

Start out with low doses (100mg) and work your way up so that you know how much you can tolerate. I experienced intense flushing and itching that lasted 2 hours with the 500mg, while not harmful it was very unpleasant. The 100mg was not a problem for me so I'm back to that and will gradually work my way up to higher doses. Best to take it after a meal and drink lots of water when you start feeling flushed. Note that hot beverages may increase the chance of flushing so you may want to avoid it. Overall, niacin is very effective in raising your HDL and lowering triglycerides.