NIASPAN Reviews (NIACIN)Average Rating: 2.7 (694 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare NIASPAN with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by length of time drug was taken longest to shortest. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 |
More on NIASPAN: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR NIASPAN | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | low hdl | middle of the night, about 5 hours after taking niaspan for a month and a half, skin started swelling, global itching and pins pricking every inch of me. Extreme exhaustion. Out of breath. Haven't taken niaspan for 4 days, yet still the same terrible symptoms. Nothing else new in my life, just Niaspan. | F | 50 | 40 days 500 mb 1X day | 9/3/2011 | 1 | to increase good something? | unexpected and unbearable Hot Flashes and general discomfort | I tried! Took in morning then tried at night. Man what an experience. Tried to take and had read the flashes would decrease. Wrong. Then I read where a lady said stopping was worst then taking. Boy was she right. I fell out of a tree when I was young and landed flat on my back knocking the air out of me. My tips of my lungs hurt for days. Pain was terrible and I forgot about this until I stopped Niaspan and that same pain started and lasted for about ten days in my lungs. Feel OK now. Didn't know if I was ever going to have my strength back. | M | 73 | 40 days 500mg 1X day | 8/25/2010 | 1 | cholesterol | I take it at night with aspirin because I was warned about the possibility of flushing. However, I'm stopping it altogether because I wake up sometimes burning like I am on fire from head to toe and all points in between. Then I have rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath and frequently have swollen hands. Never did this happen before this medication. In addition, I am taking a low dose of Micardis for BP and my BP was fine. Since taking Niaspan, my BP is lower than with the Micardis and I have less energy than ever before. | F | 56 | 40 days | 9/21/2007 | 3 | HIGH HDL, LOW LDL | none, so far; waiting for blood tests to see if / how well it's working | have been careful to take 325mg aspirin half hour before, NO food, caffiene or alcohol 3 hours before; this part hasn't been difficult; my diet regularly includes spicy to VERY spicy foods; so far no problems | F | 64 | 35 days 500 1X day | 9/26/2010 | 1 | lipoprotein(a) - 59 | Update: ITCHING!! Insomia, tachycardia, palpitations, minor swelling, petechiea. However, after a dose decrease because of these side effects previously listed, I am getting severe flushing and burning of the skin to the point I am having to take 2 ASAs and benedryl, still can't sleep, and still itching but not as bad. | The itching has came out of no where after being on this for a month. Benedryl and Calamine Lotion didn't help. Take aspirin 30 minutes before to help prevent the flushing - also take with food. Could be they increased my dose to fast. But I am itching my skin off to the point of little hemorrages. | F | 32 | 35 days | 9/6/2004 | 1 | High triglycerides | Some flushing, but mainly ITCHING, ITCHING, oh my gosh the itching! | I am so glad I found this site. I thought I was going nuts! I've been on the medication for about a mth. I started off with 500mg and then was told to increase to 1000mg. Last week I startd to itch on my arms, legs, hands and feet. Then progressed to my head. It has been driving me crazy. I also suffer from depression and epilepsy. I'm sure this has nothing to do with it, but last week, my family and I had Chinese food and I had hot mustard..that night, I had one of the worst cases of my depression in a very long time. It is usually controlled, probably just a coincidence since no one else has mentioned it. In any event, I'm going off this med, I am also taking Lopid, so hopefully that will help. I want my cholesterol down, but I can't take this! I have always taken the aspirin with the niaspan and usually eat something, it doesn't help | F | 43 | 32 days | 4/23/2007 | 5 | Cholesterol | Take aspirin half an hour before and rarely some tingling. | I take 2000 mg a day. Reduced Total 27%, Trig 40%, LDL 32% and increased HDL 17%. | M | 46 | 30 days | 2/15/2006 | 5 | Cholesterol | I take two aspirin a half an hour before and I don't see any side effects. | Before Niaspan: Component Value Flag Low High Unit CHOLESTEROL 281 H <239 mg/dL TRIGLYCERIDE 289 H <199 mg/dL HDL 36 L >40 mg/dL LDL CALCULATED 187 H <129 mg/dL After taking Niaspan for 30 days: Component Value Flag Low High Unit CHOLESTEROL 204 <239 mg/dL TRIGLYCERIDE 173 <199 mg/dL HDL 42 >40 mg/dL LDL CALCULATED 127 <129 mg/dL | M | 46 | 30 days | 2/15/2006 | 5 | High Cholesterol | None | After reading all the comments I was terrified to take Niaspan. I was finally convinced by family to start. I had not one side effect. I take a baby asprin 1/2 hour before I take the niaspan and then have an activia yogurt with the niaspan. I was actually surprised I didn't have any side effects. Let's see how it helps my levels next doc checkup | F | 33 | 30 days | 11/6/2009 | 5 | Raise Good Cholesterol | Mild flushing on occasion. 500mg nightly with snack. This is the second time I've taken this (first was 3 years ago). I think raising one's good cholesterol is worthwhile and a good reason to take this. Statins do not raise good cholesterol. | M | 62 | 30 days | 8/27/2009 | 4 | high trigs and LDL, low HDL | When I tried this drug six months ago, the flushing, itching, heart palpitations, insomnia, and stomach distress were intolerable after one week, even with taking an aspirin an hour before. Now, thanks to the folks who posted here in December, 2009, who stated that taking 500 mg of Vitamin C helped, I am able to take the drug with NO side effects. Thanks. | I don't know whether this drug make my numbers ay better, but it's nice to know that at least I have a chance at it. All five statins I took over the course of three years caused side effects too numerous to list. | M | 62 | 30 days 500 mg 1X day | 2/20/2010 | 3 | High Cholesterol | I was advised to eat a little applesauce with this pill and make sure to take it before bed to avoid the "flushing". One night I took it too early....about 2 hours before bed. I started doing things around the house and my skin turned bright red all over and the burning was SO intense I almost called 911. I quickly ate a little more applesauce and took a cool shower. Went right to bed afterwards. You definitely need to eat some applesauce or slices of apple with it and then go to bed. I think moving around after the dose can bring on the flushing. I havent had any more issues but am curious as to how much it's actually helping. Will find out soon. | F | 50 | 30 days 500mg 1X day | 7/12/2010 | 3 | Lipoprotein(a) - 59 | ITCHING!! Insomia, tachycardia, palpitations, minor swelling, petechiea | The itching has came out of no where after being on this for a month. Take aspirin 30 minutes before to help prevent the flushing. Could be they increased my dose to fast. But I am itching my skin off to the point of little hemorrages. | F | 32 | 30 days | 9/3/2004 | 3 | High Cholestrol | After taking Niaspan for about 3 weeks I started having pain, weakness and soreness in my legs especially my knees. Has anyone else had this problem? If you have, please e-mail me at [email protected] | M | 68 | 30 days | 6/6/2005 | 2 | low HDL | after a month of no side effects, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. to severe burning in my arms, legs and neck - felt as if I was burning from the inside out... I also felt as if I were being jabbed by thousands of pins and needles | my doctor suggested I take ibuprofen before niaspan (500), and had no side effects for the first month | F | 42 | 30 days | 7/13/2007 | 2 | Decrease LDL, Raise HDL | Flushing that everyone else describes, and as stated "flushing" is much too mild a word. Intense burning on scalp that wakes me up about 1-2 hours after taking 500 mg pill at bedtime. The burning lasts for 10-30 minutes. This happens about 1/2 of the time. | Will try with milk or aspirin as suggested elsewhere. However, I am considering getting off this medication because the side effects are fairly severe. | M | 48 | 30 days | 9/4/2007 | 2 | to help good readings | Face burning, arms/back uncomfortable tingling and now feeling hot when my wife said it is cool in the house,Face and body turning red. :( | Was taking at night, woke up with face on fire. Nothing helped, cold compresses only time. Told Doctor switched to noon taking medicine 4 hours after Colestid. Still had symptoms. Taking 81 mg asprin seems to help but 20 minutes after taking at noon I can feel symptoms coming back but not as severe. Getting into pool seems to agrivate symptoms, not help. Waiting for symptoms to decrease. Why does a Doctor increase doseage. Believe me, this is as high as I am going o take. Haven't had blood work yet aftyer quiting first time. What happens if you discontinue drug after being on it after a while? I'm game to try. Chicken with all the surgeries. | M | 73 | 30 days 500mg 1X day | 7/17/2010 | 1 | low hdl | burning,tingling,shaky inside,fatigued | F | 57 | 30 days 500 1X day | 7/27/2010 | 1 | Insanely high triglicerides | Experienced the 'flushing' right away, although it feels more like needles trying to poke through my face: VERY uncomfortable to say the least, and yes, I take a 325mg aspirin app 30 minutes beforehand. I have always said I could fall asleep any where, any time, but since starting Niaspan, no matter how tired I am, I have a lot of trouble falling asleep, and I take an anti anxiety medication to help me sleep. But the worst side effect is that it is triggering NASTY flare ups of my UC. My UC HAD been in remission for years, but since I started the Niaspan it's back with a vengance. | With all the comments I have read here, in combination with my own nasty side effect experiences, I am stopping the use of this medication RIGHT NOW, and will contact my cardiologist in the morning to see if she's got any better ideas. Thank you ask a patient.com for this forum. It has been a huge help!!! | M | 55 | 30 days 500mg 1X day | 1/11/2011 | 1 | high cholesterol | My Dr. is misinformed about using Niacin. I had been using an over-the-counter niacin, Slo-Niacin and getting good results by taking brief doseages and building up to 1500mg a day with excellent results. He insisted that it didn't work [wrong] as well as Niaspan, a hefty price-tag prescription, and suggested 1,000mg a day. Terrible stuff. He didn't even know how to take it. Nobody should take 1,000mg at a single dose, and even at divided doses, it didn't do any better, and somewhat worse than the otc niacin. I threw the stuff away and returned to the otc version which worked better anyway and had fewer side-effects. | This is a pharmaceutical company rip-off. There are many brands of otc niacin that work better and are safer to take. Most doctors I've talked to know about zip when it comes to doseage and build-up when a patient is introduced to it. Wouldn't take Niaspan if it was free. It's harsh on the liver when taken in large doses, and for some people, even 500mg is too much, esp. if you're taking other drugs, i.e. statins. | M | 54 | 30 days | 7/1/2006 |