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 |
| 3 | high cholesterol | I had the extreme rash, whole body red and terrible itching. I also took advil 1/2hr prior to taking Niaspan, once i got use to it doctor increased to 1000mg, had bad reaction hot, rash itching now I take a 180mg allegra prior to Niaspan & that is working okay. | When I had my blood work done after just taking 500mg Niaspan and had no change. Doctor said I have to increase to 2 500mg for a month & then 1500mg, hope it works, & I am trying to eat healthier. | F | 49 | 3 months | 5/24/2007 | 3 | Heart disease and high cholesterol | Third week on slow release nicotinic acid first week 350mg 2nd wk 500mg now on 750mg. next week 1000mg and in 2 weeks 2000mg. have tolerated this drug quite well UP TO NOW!! felt very mild flushing.. no worse that the menopause. Have just kept a fan on low all night. Felt a bit light headed on two occasions. | I am just glad to be off the statins, 10 years useage reduced me from a very active person to being like a very elderly lady..severe muscle aches exhaustion rash cramps. So i just pray that I can tolerate this new drug as my levels without treatment are 13.5 (about 560 US) total cholestrol | F | 56 | 3 weeks | 5/18/2007 | 1 | low HDL | Still experiencing constant nausea, dizziness, headaches and some flushing. | Increased the HDL from 37 to 53. Stopped taking this medication 4 weeks ago and severe side effects still persist. Never had any reaction so unpleasant before.Was happy and healthy and very fit prior to taking this drug. Now continually miserable. | M | 65 | 55 days | 5/15/2007 | 4 | High Cholesterol | The red itchy rash. some stomach irration in the beginning. After reading the results from others. I take a 80mg aspirin 30 minutes before and 4 oz of skim milk upon taking the med. Also I am on Lipitor 10mg. | I just know if you have a high fat or liquor 4 hours before taking you are going to have a bad night. It isn't worth the itch. It sure keeps me on the straight path in the evenings. | F | 52 | 3 months | 5/12/2007 | 3 | Low HDL | Currently taking 2000mg of Niaspan and have experienced periodic flushing and itching, but nothing dabilitating. | Raised my HDL only marginally from 24 to 26 after 6 mos on 1000mg. My chief complaint is the cost of this medication $45 after insurance for one month's supply. I am seeing my doctor in two weeks, and if HDL is not up considerably, I will ask her for alternatives. | M | 49 | 8 months | 5/11/2007 | 5 | low hdl | None | I have been taking 500mg of Niaspan for about 6 weeks. My hdl went from 37 to 57. Ldl went from 106 to 94. Triglycerides at 80. Cholesterol level now 167. I have been on a fairly low fat diet recently which caused my cholesterol level to drop from 235 to 172. Unfortunately, HDL went to 37. I take a 325mg aspirin about 30 min before taking 500mg of niaspan. I take a low fat snack with the niaspan. I have never had any side affects from niaspan. Doctor says 500 adequate to control hdl. | M | 72 | 46 days | 5/7/2007 | 2 | HDL low | red,itchy,painful rash both arms 1and half hours after taking 500 mg Niaspan. Also had taken 325 mg ASA tablet.(had been off ASA for 2 wks because of abdominal bleeding * had just resumed it) | Last HDL indicated drug hasnt helped yet | F | 65 | 3 months | 5/5/2007 | 5 | low hdl, high ldl, high ldl-P # | flushing and indigestion for first two months | I just received my blood tests after 4 months at 1000mg Niaspan. My hdl went from 37 to 63. Ldl from 170 to 142. TriG steady at 70. My high particle count down by 500! I am very happy with this result. I experienced flushing for about 2 weeks when I started therapy and again when I increased to 1000mg. I take a regular size aspirin 30 minutes before Niaspan and this seems to control flushing. I also experienced indigestion for about 6 weeks, but now take a very small snack with Niaspan and my stomach is fine. The side effects at about the two month mark were insignificant (I started with 500mg and went to 1000mg at 30 days). I hope this experience encourages others to give Niaspan a fair trial. I had horrible insomnia from Zocor and stomach pain from Zetia (discontinued both.) I'm so glad that Niaspan seems to work so well for me and that I can tolerate the side effects. I also experienced some (welcome) weight loss that I attribute to Niaspan as I made no other changes i | F | 51 | 5 months | 5/4/2007 | 2 | High TriG | Very VERY bad diarrhea. I have been taking this drug (500mg) with baby aspirin for about 2 weeks with no clear side effects. About 4 days ago I woke up with a very VERY bad diarrhea (I thought I would pass all of my intestines), followed by fever and extreme fatigue. It's been like this ever since (fever comes and goes). | My TriG are 240. So wondering whether it's even worth at this point to kill myself with side effects... | M | 37 | 12 days | 4/30/2007 | 3 | Low HDL, High LDL, High LP(a) | after 4 months of 500mg niaspan at bedtime, preceded by 81mg aspirin, woke 5 hours later to extremely intense sensation of heat beginning in head and continuing to radiate into neck, chest, arms, abdomen, then legs. This was followed by deep redness of skin with deep purple patches, then all-over sensation of pin pricks and itching. Anxiety and racing heart and fear followed. Only previous side effects were racing heart, especially when still and quiet at bedtime, and dizzyness upon rising during the night to use the bathroom. | (Must clarify satisfaction rating: somewhat satisfied with VAP results, NOT side effects.) Took 4tsp benedryl as soon as realized this was NOT a hot flash. Removed clothing to lie on cold bathroom ceramic tile floor, too jittery/weak to get into cold shower. Husband and I immediately considering how long to give benedryl time to take effect before heading to ER. Pin pricks subsiding slightly within 5 - 10 minutes. Knew all of what I was experiencing were typical/possible side effects from cardiologist and this website, but that gave me no comfort. Unable to return to bed until 3 hours later (remained on bathroom tile floor.) Began having chills. Continued to have pin pricking, skin crawling, itching skin, for which I continued taking benedryl the next day. No symptoms on subsequent days. STOPPED Niaspan after reaction. Cardiologist scolded me because I drank 4oz red wine 9 hours before taking Niaspan after she ok'd that amount of wine not less than 3 hours before taking Nia | F | 49 | 4 months | 4/27/2007 | 4 | Low HDL | After 2 weeks on 500mg I got the sunburn effect bad. | Now I take a 325 ecotrin 20 minutes before taking the niaspan. I works great. Very very mild warming effect if any. The ecotrin is coated and disolves in your small intestine rather than your stomach. Now I am up to 1000mg and still no bad effects. The only negative thing is that the 1000mg pills are huge. | M | 49 | 3 months | 4/26/2007 | 3 | low hdl | flushing, itching,burning up, and increased glucose since i am a diabetic to begin with. | still trying to decide if it is worth it. have to get blood work t5aken in 4 weeks, we'll see. had to give up all caffeine and eat non fat snack with pills are taken. this helped as well as taking 81 mg asa 1 hour prior . | M | 49 | 7 weeks | 4/25/2007 | 3 | low hdl | flushing, itching,burning up, and increased glucose since i am a diabetic to begin with. | still trying to decide if it is worth it. have to get blood work t5aken in 4 weeks, we'll see. had to give up all caffeine and eat non fat snack with pills are taken. this helped as well as taking 81 mg asa 1 hour prior . | M | 49 | 7 weeks | 4/25/2007 | 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 | 1 | Lower triglycerides | After two uneventful weeks,woke up in the night beet red from head to toe. I felt like I was being burned alive. Heart was beating out of my chest. Got up to take some Benadryl, very nearly passed out. Had a very itchy rash the next day. | Read a chapter in a book about cholesterol that dealt with the use of niacin. Author states that the rash indicates an inability to tolerate niacin. I am shocked by the number of people who post that they continue taking Niaspan after dreadful side effects. This can't be good for your health. | F | 51 | 16 days | 4/20/2007 | 1 | Low HDL | Flushing, feeling like a pincushion, insominia, light headed, heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. Also experienced panic attacks (probably just my reaction to side effects) a couple times. | I took this for 6 weeks. The first few days were uneventful then one night the side effected kicked in. I put up with it then told my doctor that I couldn't stand the side-effect and was told that this is the only thing that would help and to deal with it and the side effects would lessen. They haven't! Time to find another doctor and after doing research beginning to wonder if there is a $$$ interest based on the # of prescription written. | M | 41 | 6 weeks | 4/19/2007 | 1 | Doctor recommended | Unbelievable flushing and itching! I thought I was on fire! Like the worst sunburn I have ever had! I took the 81mg asprin and ate something with it and did everything like the directions said and tried everything others had tried. I quit! I cannot stand the side effects. If you can stand the side effects, go for it, but I couldn’t recommend this drug for anyone! | DO NOT USE THIS DRUG unless you are willing to put up with the side effects!!! | M | 47 | 2 weeks | 4/19/2007 | 5 | Cholesterol | Flushing is common but you can build up a resistance. Take with Asprin to minimize the flushing. Periodically I stop taking this med and when I start back up I need to take a lower dose for a few days to rebuild my resistance. | If you experience severe reactions - flushing, rash, etc... Benadryl will aleviate those symptoms so keep some on hand. | M | 48 | 2 years | 4/13/2007 | 1 | to lower cholestrol | Poison oak like rash on leg shin, under arms, and top of lower forearms. Red raised bumps become lesions and will erupt if scratched. Started after 1 week on Niaspan. Stopped Niaspan then, but Rash still continues four and a half months later!!!! | Has anyone solved this rash problem???? I stopped Niaspan in late november and I STILL have the rash when I'm not taking Predisone pills. It is April 13, 2007 now! | M | 47 | 5 days | 4/13/2007 | 1 | cholesterol | followed instructions- took an aspirin 1/2 hr., some food and took 1000 mg niaspan. an hour later i was red, hot, itchy, all with a touch of panic. googled on product and realized i wasn't alone. have not decided but might try 250 or 500 mg and see what happens. if there is a reaction--i am off this drug. | M | 71 | 1 days | 4/6/2007 |