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 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 |
| 5 | cholesterol | slight occasional flushing | This does everything a statin does without the terrible statin side-effects. If not for niacin, I would not be taking any cholesterol medicine at all. The flushing is minor and very occasional. I know it will go away in a few minutes, so I ignore it. Taking statins made me feel like I was always sick. | F | 45 | 2 years | 11/4/2007 | 5 | low HDL High LDL | Flushing, Burning Skin, & Uncomfortable itch in morning. Symtoms went away after a month. once in a while in the morning Ican feel it slightly. | Taking 1500 mls with good results. Raised hdl from 32 to 44in six weeks.Doctor raised me to 2000 mls. No bad reactions but after 2 weeks felt severe acid chest burn,sick feeling most of the day.Just decreased back to 1500 mls to see what happens. Will have blood work soon.Also on lescol & zetia. Cant tolorate strong statins.Good luck to everyone. | M | 52 | 6 months | 11/4/2007 | 2 | high cholestrol and triglycerides | Occasional flushing for the first 7 weeks (<5 times), during which I woke up and had to sit up with fan on to cool off. This was with the 500mg tablet for 4 weeks and then two 500mg tablets until the prescription finished. The night I took my first 1000mg tablet I had a strange flushing sensation on my chest and neck but it went away without needing to wake all the way up and cool off. Within hours I was experiencing itching on my chest and neck. My chest was red like a sunburn or a rash and was extremely itchy. The next night I took one 500mg (had one left) because the doctor's office wasn't open. The next day I was able to reach the doctor and was told to stop taking the medication. | With the side effects being pretty standard, they shouldn't be using full prescriptions. I just paid for 30 pills and will not use 29 of them. | M | 49 | 8 weeks | 11/3/2007 | 3 | Low HDL | Whole body rash and severe itching | I was taking 1500mg of Niaspan along with 250mg of aspirin every night. I am also taking Zetia to lower my LDL. I had no or very mior reactions to this drug for nearly a year and then BAM I woke up with the rash over my torso and legs. I thought it was my laundry detergent, so I rewashed all my clothes in a new detergent. The rash went away and I attributed it to the new detergent, but then it came back. I saw my doctor a couple of weeks ago and he told me that most patients do not stay on the drug very long because of these side effects. He told me stop taking it. I still feel a little tingly, but that could be the Zetia. | M | 43 | 1 years | 10/13/2007 | 5 | High Trg | Only occasional flushing and itching even with high dosage. | Had better than expected results with this drug. Significantly lowered my Trg level (down to lower normal from abnormally high) and increased HDL. | M | 56 | 2 years | 10/10/2007 | 1 | To lower cholesterol | Immediately after taking the drug, I turned lobster red, was on fire (starting with my neck)and my heart was pounding wildly in my head. Put an ice bag on the top of my head to cool down. Almost went to the emergency room. | Stopped taking this drug. It can't be good for people like me when our bodies have this kind of reaction. | F | 66 | 3 days | 10/9/2007 | 3 | Triglicorites | So far the common flushing but not enough to worry me. As long as I was aware of them before I took the medicanions. My question is has any one else also has a dark urine with either orange or reddish sediment in it? | If it helps bring down my bad levels and brings up my good levels then I will continue. | M | 44 | 7 days | 10/6/2007 | 3 | high LDL, Low HDL, but in limits, | Body weak, intensive itching on arms, legs, back and most area of my body, even woke up after slept over. Dark urine after two month. I don't know what it means? Is it harmful to any of my organ of my body? | M | 63 | 2 months | 10/5/2007 | 2 | to lower my ldl and increase hdl | Started with very slightly flashing. After 3 months, I have been getting very sever rash which i have to take the medication for it. It is becoming very painful to take it | It did increase the hdl and lower my ldl but i have been getting very annoyed by take other medication to take care of the side effect | M | 29 | 120 days | 10/2/2007 | 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 | Large particals | MAJOR itching, minor flushing, next day headaches | tried taking last year & thought I was dying! Doc gave me the extended release formula this year w/hard orders to stick with it - take aspirin 30 min before and eat applesauce w/it really does help. don't know how I'll handle increasing to 3000mg/day. the website somebody else gave in Aug for 30 day FREE supply is expired. | M | 50 | 2 weeks | 9/7/2007 | 2 | high choles/trig | I am on BP med also & my BP dropped drastically with each dose- sometimes to 80/50. I was on 500 mg. My BP would be normal the next morning but I was totally exhausted while taking this medication- I am attributing that side effect to the fluctuation in BP. I also had mild flushing that disappeared after 1 hr or so. I tried this medication 3 different times for approximately 1 wk each time. | I cannot take statins so I was hoping for great results on this medication. Now I am afraid to take it because of the drastic side effects. | F | 49 | 21 days | 9/7/2007 | 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 | 1 | high cholesterol | Total body flush, stinging feeling, itching, low blood pressure, insomnia and diarrhea. Taking low fat snack and 81 mg. aspirin didn't help. | I'm stopping it. There has to be a better way. I'm trying a vegetarian diet and more exercise. | F | 55 | 30 days | 9/1/2007 | 3 | low hdl | Have only taken the drug (500mg) for approximately a month. I notice some flushing in the cheeks in the morning but so far have not experienced any of the side effects listed. | M | 57 | 5 days | 8/28/2007 | 1 | To lower cholesterol | I took 500 mg daily for 2 weeks as suggested by my doctor, then was supposed to increase to 1000 mg. However, flushing and itching was intolerable, so dropped back to 500 mg along with 81 mg coated aspirin and yogurt. Flushing continued intermittently but was tolerable. I did develop mild "eczema" on the back of one hand for which two dermatologists prescribed steroid creams and moisturizing lotion. Blood numbers did improve after 6 months on Niaspan. However, shortly after that blood test, I developed more severe "eczema" that did not respond to steroid creams (even the strongest) and then developed itchy lesions on my legs, arms, and recently torso. Thinking that these lesions might be related to one of the three drugs I was taking, I stopped taking Niaspan for a month or so, with little improvement in the lesions but at least no new ones formed. My conclusion was that Niaspan probably was not the cause, so just recently resumed taking it. Now new lesions | I will try other methods to reduce cholesterol -- Niaspan is certainly not worth the discomfort (and possible liver disease??) | M | 66 | 6 months | 8/23/2007 | 4 | High Triglyceride levels | Severe burning sensation on back of neck especially, body became red all over, like a rash on chest, arms and face. Felt like a severe sub=nburn I could do nothing about. Itching all over body as if I have rolled in a bed of insulation. | It works for the purpose intended but the side effects you have to get used too for sure, It only affects me part of the time, be careful on trying this as a new med it could give you a panic feeling because of itchinjg and burning. | M | 30 | 4 months | 8/22/2007 | 1 | I awoke with an itch that began to burn then spread until i was itching all over. flushing when on this drug is tolerable but the paiful itch is abnormal and i would rate this drug as dangerous. i will never use it again. | M | 57 | 6 months | 8/16/2007 | 5 | High Cholesterol | Occational very mild flushing... like maybe once a month. I'm usually back to sleep in minutes by removing clothing and covers to cool down. Coolness helps a lot. I take 3000 mg Niaspan at bedtime. | Niaspan is fantastic! In 17 months on 3000 mg Niaspan taken at bedtime, I reduced my Total-C from 328 to 195, LDL from 222 to 135, TG's from 304 to 153, and increaded my HDL from 46 to 52. That's a 50% reduction on average. Statins never provided those results in my 16 years of dealing with high cholesterol. And I hated the side effects of statins. I'm currently taking 3000 mg a day. Start out slow so your body gets use to them. like 500 mg for 4 weeks, then 1000 mg for 4 weeks, etc. I started out on 1000 mg a day and bumped it up to 2000 mg 4 weeks later, and 3000 mg 4 weeks after that. I tollerate Niaspan just fine with little flushing. Ideally, you want to be taking 2000 mg a day at bedtime. Some folks don't like the flushing... and others like myself do not have a problem with flushing what so ever. You never know until you try. | M | 48 | 20 months | 8/14/2007 | 5 | Decrease LDL, Raise HDL | Itching within 1 hour after taking med. Aspirin seems to help. | Gradually increased from 500mg to 1 g then 1.5g & finally 2 g dosage for last 6 years. Lowered cholesterol from 188 to 166. Lowered LDL from 113 to 69. Increased HDL from 51 to 86. Reduced Triglycerides from 101 to 56. Also taking 10mg Zocor. | M | 62 | 7 years | 8/13/2007 |