NIASPAN Reviews (NIACIN)Average Rating: 2.7 (694 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare NIASPAN with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
|
Results are sorted by Date added. 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 | cholesterol | I tried statins with no luck. Not only did they not reduce lipid levels, I was so weak I could barely walk. So I started with Lovaza for triglycerides. My LDL went UP. My doctor added Niaspan for cholesterol and I was miserable. No flushing but I had such extreme thirst I thougt my throat was on fire! It is worse at night to the point where I was afraid of choking. I am familiar with anaphalaxis because I have an allergy to tree nuts, this is not the same thing. I developed a cough and the only thing that would help is huge amounts of water. I am nauseated. I ache all over. My doctor told me Niaspan didn't do that, just flushing. I had to stop the Lovaza to prepare for minor surgery (bleeding risk) so I stopped the Niaspan too. Within 48 hours I was a new person! I will not take another cholesterol drug. Quality of life is more important to me than attempting to reduce the possibility of something that may never happen anyway. And I am annoyed that my doctor can't seem to understand th | F | 59 | 3 months 500 2X day | 6/26/2010 | 1 | LDL195 Hdl 60 | Took 500 for 1 month. Just a few cramps in the calves Then 1000 for 8 days with aspirin at night. Last night no sleep this am fever and very very sore muscles headache and I even question why I should have to take anything at 74 yrs old and in very good health. Cannot take statins either. No thanks never again. Life is too short to feel that lousy. | F | 74 | 8 days 1000 mg 1X day | 6/23/2010 | 3 | Keep Colestrol at Good Levels | Last night I thought I was burning up. After almost 3 months this was the worst I ever felt. One more time & I STOP taking Niaspan. The whole night was bad, maybe got 2 hrs. sleep. | M | 68 | 3 months 1X day | 6/21/2010 | 1 | To lower cholesterol | Imediately after taking the first dose I had a bad headache and dizziness. 4 hours later I turned bright red all over my body and had hives . My throat closed up. called rescue and was taken to ER. Severe reaction to Niaspan. Told not to take it again. Three days later, I'm still experiencing rapid heart beats, headaches and dizziness. I'm unsteady walking. Just feel real strange. Was absolutely fine before taking Niaspan 500 | I would never take this drug again. The side effects are awful.I will see my doctor tomorrow. Would like to know how long it takes to get this drug out of your body. | F | 68 | 1 days 500mgER 1X day | 6/20/2010 | 1 | high triglisarides | Very bad rash, hives,simular to bad sunburn. Muscle aches, joint pain, weakness, dizzy to the point of passing out,nauseous. | I tried taking asprin before the meds, but symptoms would happen a few times a week. took the med for 5 months. Actual final blood test showed readings increased along with liver enzymes elevated. The last ATTACK made my heart rate go over 80 bpm. This happened while I was asleep, and when i got up to check my heart rate, I became dizzy and nauseous, to the point of passing out. I would not recommend anyone taking this drug. I will never attempt anymore of these wonder drugs. | M | 67 | 150 days 500 MG 1X day | 6/8/2010 | 2 | High cholesterol, | Muscle pain in neck & shoulders and calves in legs. | The flushing can be controlled with taking an aspirin or a motrin a half hour before taking the niaspan. | F | 69 | 5 years 1500 mg 1X day | 6/3/2010 Patient History | 5 | carotic blockage | flushing severe only 1 time mild flush often | Along with 5 mg of crestor, I took 500 mg of niaspan for a few months but when the arbiter 6-halts results came out I titrated up rapidly by taking 500 at night and 500 upon getting up, then 1000 at night and 1000 in the am then 1500 at night and 1000 in the am with only one episode of strong flushing. This took about a month. My total cholesterol went from 230 to 112. My hdl from 40 to 56, triglicerides from 180 to 110. ldl from 150 to 32. I heard later that I was lucky as I don't flush easily and that the reason for taking it all at night is to give your liver some rest time. The previous slo- niacin acted for almost 24 hours and the liver didn't have time to recuperate which led a significant number of people into liver damage. Now I take all 2500mg at night. Because hdl has a half-life of 5 days and ldl a half life of 2.5 days, when i occasionally party and drink up to a bottle of wine, I skip the niaspan that night, but try to not do so 2 days in a row. Also I don't take my ibuprofen (arthritis) while the niaspan is most active, there might be a tylenol/alcohol type problem. | M | 78 | 1 years 2500 1X day | 5/31/2010 | 4 | High triglycerides and cholesterol | Oh my gosh! Why don't our doctors or pharmacists warn us! I woke up last night feeling like I was on fire! I was bright red and slightly swollen in the face. I had my husband call 911. I was scared out of my mind, sitting in the tub with ice cold water trying to get the burning to stop! The EMT's asked me if I was taking anything new and I told them niaspan and he proceeds to tell me its commonly referred to as a niacin flush. It sure as heck was not a "hot flash" that I was warned about. If someone had told me at least I would have known what it was instead of thinking something was horribly wrong. | I will still keep taking it as it's for my health. | F | 33 | 2 weeks 1X day | 5/31/2010 | 1 | low good cholesterol | I had been gradually increasing the tablet strength over the previous 2 weeks. Started taking the 750mg tablet and after the second day, having taking the tablet about 11.00pm, I woke up at 1.30am with burning legs face and back and I was feeling very very uncomfortable. I went to the bathroom, and noticed that I was like a lobster, red all over, akin to bad sunburn. My face was also puffed up slightly. I felt really unwell and suffered loose bowels. At one point I thought I was going to pass out. It wore off after about 40 mins. I have stopped taking the tablets and waiting to see my doctor | I wouldnt want to take this tablet again. The side effects are very severe. This is NOT slight flushing as mentioned by the doctor, pharmacist and drug information leaflet | M | 51 | 2 days 750 1X day | 5/19/2010 | 4 | High Cholesterol | After 4 years of taking Niaspan, last night I woke up at 3 AM feeling like my body was on fire! It felt as if I had gone to the beach for 8 eight hours and not put any sunscreen, I couldn't stand the bed sheets. My skin was red and I was literally red glowing!! I went to the doctor today and before letting me finish with my story, started laughing and said: "say no more, you're taking Niaspan, just take an aspiring 30 mins. before your Niaspan", hopefully this should do it ... keep you posted! | M | 38 | 4 years 1X day | 5/18/2010 | 3 | high cholesterol, VERY low (3) good | not even 15 minutes after taking it i was covered in what i thought was hives. It looked and felt like a really bad sunburn ALL over my body. I guess this is the "hot flash" my doctor was warning me about. This is not at all what I expected. About 30 minutes after the side effects started, they began to taper off. Not so much itching, but severe burning of my skin. My side effects arent enough (yet) to stop taking the medication, after all, Im taking it to prolong my life! | F | 21 | 3 days 500 1X day | 5/15/2010 | 2 | high triglyceride levels | I woke up at 1:00 ( 3 or 4 hours after taking NIASPAN ) with my face prickling and burning (not what I would call itching). I was a bit woozy and had intestinal discomfort. The face and neck burning became intense and I went to the bathroom for air and water and had diahhrea. I became really dizzy and passed out (hitting my head on the counter). My wife couldnt lift me but I was up in about 30 sec or so and had some more diahhrea. My wife called the EMTs and I went o lie down again. After about 30 minutes, all the sypmtoms were gone (except for a gash in my head !). The EMT came measured my blood pressure (102/70). I was feeling fine by then so I didnt go to the ER. | I had a minor heart attack 5 months ago and was put on the 'usual' cocktail of lipitor, plavix, coreg and diovan and 1 aspirin at night. My total cholesterol was way down under 100 but the triglycerides were still a bit high so the doctor suggested NIASPAN 1 hour after the aspirin. He did tell me watch out for itchiness and bit of diziness but I didnt expect such a sudden onset. I am seeing the doctor this morning. | M | 52 | 2 weeks 500 1X day | 5/13/2010 | 2 | high triglyeride levels | My doctor told me to take at night to avoid flushing that some experienced. I began waking up in the middle of the night. My arms and legs were very itchy. I scratched and scratched. I finally found a cream in the medicine cabinet for itching. I rubbed it on and then my arms and legs burned and were hot. Probably because I had already scratched and broken the skin. After 2 nights of this I realized it was the Niaspan. I was up most of the night - no sleep except for a few hours. My insomnia was caused by the constant itching. I stopped Niaspan and am fine now. | If you experience intense itchiness, it may be the Niaspan. Try plain, old over-the-counter niacin (B3) from the vitamin aisle of your pharmacy. It didn't cause any side effects. | F | 61 | 8 days 500 1X day | 5/11/2010 | 2 | hyperlipidemia | I have tried other medications to reduce cholesteral which have resulted in swelling of the throat and hives. I tried niaspan and was awoken on the second night by prickly stabbing pains in my skin. In the morning my face was swollen and I began to break out in hives on my hands. Not for me. This medication may help someone else, but it is definitely not for me. | F | 47 | 2 days 500mg 1X day | 5/9/2010 | 3 | cholesterol a little high | At first it was just the flushing, but gradually and in the past few months and more in the last weeks I have experienced the excruciating joint and muscle pain and stiffness (neck, shoulder, back arms wrists, hands stiff calves, legs etc...) to what I experienced on LIPITOR, also anxiety, chest pressure, vaginal burning, head achey, and fatigue. During the past few months I tried to use Replens and experienced horrible vaginal burning. I know I am post-menopausal, but I believe Niaspan has robbed me of my sex life which I have always enjoyed. Intercourse is impossible. | My hdl and ldl #s have improved greatly, however I am afraid to continue. I exercise at a gym twice a week and walk every day for exercise. I am disappointed that none of my doctors even brought up Niaspan as a possible source of my problems. Thank you for this opportunity to learn from others. I hope this might help other women connect vaginal problems they may be experiencing with this drug. Why do we have to be detectives? I came to the conclusion myself about the vaginal problem one night when I forgot to take the Niaspan and I did not burn from Replens. I think I may have reached a toxic level with Niaspan. I am not sure if that can be tested. | F | 67 | 5 years 2X day | 5/5/2010 | 5 | High cholesterol | Tingly "itchies" all over; sometimes very painful for about 1-2 hours right after I wake up. (I take the Niaspan before I go to sleep.) I have linked this to chocolate. If I have too much, e.g. good dark chocolate or brownies or just about any other chocolate, I get it. So, if I decide to indulge, I skip the Niaspan - not often, but sometimes I just have to. | Great for lowering my cholesterol. | M | 62 | 5 years 1500 mg 1X day | 5/4/2010 | 3 | High Cholesterol | Burning (Flushing), chest pain, abdominal bloating and pain, mood swings. | I take Niaspan at night with an aspirin half an hour before. Had chest pain so severe that my doctor advised getting a Stress Test done. Got the stress test, healthy heart, but still have intermittant chest pain, mood swings, irritable, listless feeling, abdominal swelling, lower bowel discomfort too. Also occasionally get the night time BURNING. Flushing is putting it way too mildly. Burning! It only lasts about half an hour, but boy-oh-boy what a way to wake up out of a sound sleep. Feels like you have a very severe sunburn on your whole body. (I wish someone had told me about this, very upsetting not knowing in the middle of the night what's happening to your body). I am definitely more prone to being red too. Have not had new tests done to determine LDL, Tri's and HDL levels, but if they are not improved I am off this drug. Could not tolerate any of the other Statin drugs (horrible side-effects most of which the damned pharmaceutical companies don't even list on their package inserts) so this is kind of the last stop for my cholesterol management. | M | 49 | 2.5 months 500 1X day | 4/27/2010 | 4 | I have elevated cholesterol & trig | Mild flushing | Almost everyone has flushing, but what long term effects do other patients notice? I think that drying of my skin, possible muscle atrophy, sleep disruption and fat distribution around the abdomen are possible side effects that I have seen after taking Niaspan for 8 years. But these may be normal age related changes.... | M | 64 | 8 years 2000 MG 1X day | 4/25/2010 | 1 | to lower cholesterol levels | extreme whole body flushing, burning, pinprick sensation, chills, twitching of all muscles, headache, sudden high blood pressure (190/80) lasted 1 hour | I am unable to take statins to lower cholesterol so MD suggested niaspan. Before taking this med I read all of the patient comments and was cautious making sure to take with yogurt, vitamin C and aspirin. Took this med for 2 months without any problems. Sudden occurence of side effects. Took one whole aspirin, and milk while having side effect. I am an RN and based on my professional experience would not advise anyone to continue taking this drug after such a reaction. Called my MD who advised continuing to take drug. I will not - will continue to manage the cholesterol level with diet and exercise. | F | 74 | 2 months 500 mg 1X day | 4/25/2010 | 5 | high triglycerides & hdl bad type | One bad flushing episode. I took 100mg niacin supplements along with the 500mg Niaspan to raise my levels up very slowly before going on the 750mg and again before raising to 1,000. Very minimal flushing with this method. My blood pressure is low from it which is good, however, I do have to be careful that it doesn't get too low. | This drug is wonderful. My biggest fear is that I will get a side effect that will not allow me to continue on it. I had a VAP test that showed 15 items with some high risk factors for heart disease. I have also seen recent research on pubmed that shows that it will make veins/blood vessels more flexable. | F | 69 | 4 months 1,000 1X day | 4/17/2010 |