cholesterol and niacin

hyperCat

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I'm looking to supplement my statin with additional support supps to help lower my ldl level, and niacin seems to be the best option here.

However, there seems to be some conflicting information out there regarding which form of niacin is beneficial for lipid profiles. Some websites say the non-flush form (inositol hexanicotinate) doesn't do jack for cholesterol, while others say it may be better than the flushing form. Can anyone shed some light on this? Since I know that straight niacin does work for this, I just started taking it, but it does make me itchy :196: If I knew that the non-flush worked just as well, I'd prefer to switch over to that.

Any info appreciated...
 
Grambo

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I talked with a doctor who has ALL his patients with cholesterol problems on niacin. I wanna say 500mg a day spread out. He is cool about it and doesn't prescribe them the expensive one. He said flushing is the only one that is shown to help cholesterol levels. You should get used to it eventually. Maybe take it with food working up slowly.

 
raginfcktard

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always use regular niacin...no flush and "timed release" niacin do not impact lipids and can damage the liver on top of not working.

add in soy lecithin and CoQ10
 

JayV

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Hypercat,
You only want niacin in the form of nicotinic acid. Slo-niacin and Enduracin are both good otc niacin products.
Start at ~250mgX2 daily. You can go as high as about 2 grams a day of extended release over time. Two things to remember- The max dosages are different for ir niacin and er niacin so be careful if you change and secondly, you need to have your liver checked on occasion especially after you first begin taking it.
Jay
 
Skigazzi

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Its my understanding that the conventional niacin is superior in all regards.

Start with 100mg for a few days, then go to 200, then go to 500, then to 1g, the flushing will fade as you titrate up slowly.
 

cjones29

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here's the goods and bads.. Niacin is great for cholesterol but in the right form.. it is correct that the no flush doesn't do anything.. Time released on the other hand does... the prescription one is actually slo-niacin.. which is a time released.. get regualr niacin from GNC (500MG) but take it at bed to not experience the flush.. just do your best at falling asleep.. IMO I would use gape seed extract... it has a lot of study on it for LDL number and it helps BP in the process... and i always give props to CO-Q 10.. that stuff's great.. hope i helped
 

hyperCat

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Hey guys - thanks for the feedback here. I'll go with the straight niacin, and scale up the dose to 1.5g over the coming week or two.

One other question - does taking it with food diminish its effectiveness?

Thanks again!

BTW - I'm already dosing coQ10, so I've got that one covered...
 

bj22

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Is the NOW Sustained release sold here the Nicotinic Acid form? Is there a better option available?
 

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