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 triglycerides | initially no side effects as long as I take Asprin 30 Min prior to 500 mg Niaspan. | Over the past 2 wks my fasting glucose has increased on the average 40-50 pts. Has anyone else experienced a rise in fasting glucose? | F | 38 | 60 days | 3/25/2006 | 2 | Low HDL | Despite having adhered to the prescribing guidance, i.e., low fat snack and aspirin 30 minutes before dose, I've had multiple episodes (4 in 80d) of the very "bad sunburn" and intense itching described by others. Episodes typically start 4-5 hours after a 1000mg dose, these effects are very uncomfortable and make sleep impossible for hours. | Labs done at the 60 day point indicated HDL had improved slightly, to 36 from 29. Given the relatively benign descriptions of "flushing" and "itching" in the prescribing literature and the educational (sales) material provided by drug sales reps, my physicians have been surprised at descriptions of the intensity of the burning/itching. At physician suggestion, additional aspirin (2X325mg) taken after onset of side effects resulted in minor reduction in burning and itching and seems to shorten duration of the episode. Antipruritics, topical cold packs, and cool showers have been ineffective in reducing or eliminating these effects. | M | 58 | 80 days | 3/18/2006 | 3 | Low HDL, high LDL,high triglyceride | Moderate to extreme itching on arms, legs and ankles in particular. Scratching makes things worse, so I am constantly trying to rub the itchy area instead of scratching. Don't know how long I can stand the itching...can't sleep well as a result. I'd almost willing to train to run a marathon if it would keep me off this medication and stop the itching! | Doctor was adament that this medicine is the best for cholesterol control in my case, LDL = 152, HDL = 39, total cholesterol = 222. Niaspan literature doesn't mention itchiness side effects as strongly as it appears reported here. | M | 37 | 7 days | 3/14/2006 | 1 | Lower triglycerides | flushing, burning of the face, chest and arms, palpatations bad enought to send me to a cardiologist. Most of the side effects have stopped upon discontinuing use | M | 54 | 3 months | 3/12/2006 | 4 | cholesterol 286, high LDL, low HDL | Only had flushing after first dose of 500 mg. Intense itching and stinging sensation have diminished after about 6 months. I still wake up 2 or 3 times a week, but only suffer with extreme itching and tingling sensation perhaps twice a month. I have noticed a mild numbness in my toes. However, all my blood tests (every 8 weeks) indicate a complete turn-around in the numbers. My doctor says my cholesterol levels are those of a teenager. I only experienced a slight shortness of breath and mild tachycardia during the first month of use. | F | 63 | 10 months | 3/4/2006 | 2 | To raise my HDL | Aftet taking the drug for the fourth daily dose and experiencing an inability to sleep for the first three nights, I awoke to an intensely unconfortable burning sensation as if my head had been rubbed with a jalapeno, make that a habanero. It is too early to tell if the medicine is working. If this keeps up I will not be continuing it. I will just do the best I can with other methods. | M | 59 | 4 days | 3/4/2006 | 3 | high cholesterol, high LDL | sweating at night around neck area, some flushing during the day | experienced elevated blook pressure after 6 mos | M | 63 | 6 days | 2/24/2006 | 3 | high cholesterol, high LDL | sweating at night around neck area, some flushing during the day | lowed TGL, no effect on others; experienced elevated blook pressure after 6 mos, stopped dosage. | M | 63 | 6 months | 2/24/2006 | 4 | High TGL | Severe flushing the first night about 30 minutes after taking 500mg. I still have mild flushing once or twice a week. | Consult with doctor if you have GERD or acid reflux as this medication seems to increase the symptoms. | M | 50 | 6 weeks | 2/22/2006 | 1 | low hdl-high ldl-high tri | Severe flushing-lasts 1 1/2 hrs.very,very uncomfortable. Tried taking benadryl prior to pill--also advil 1/2 hr before pill---no help. Advice please. I really want to find a way to continue this med , I need encouragement-does it get better?? Thanks | F | 72 | 4 days | 2/17/2006 | 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 | 3 | My HDL is too low | I am on fire! It's a good burn...until the itching kicks in. I also feel anxiety during the day because I am not 100% comfortable. Kind of like when your sock bunches up in your boot and you can fix it. I am also on 20mgs of Crestor. | I have been using 500mg for 3 months and it seems to be working but not fast enough, so my Dr. increased it to 1g/ day. Lets keep my fingers crossed. | M | 34 | 45 days | 2/15/2006 | 3 | High cholesterol | Occasional intense flushing and itching. I have total body aches and pains. Not sure if the pain is a side effect. | Started out with 500mg & now increased to 1500mg. See doctor in 2 months for recheck. | F | 53 | 1 years | 2/15/2006 | 1 | low HDL | took as directed, ibuprofin 30 minutes before taking Niaspan, ate a low fat snack and went directly to bed. Woke up after 7 hours sleep, drank a glass of water and within 10 minutes of being awake I started turning beet red, skin was raised, tight, bumpy and looked like I had the worst sunburn you could have. This was all over my body and face. Then the tingly feeling started. Then within a few minutes it felt like I was on fire, from the inside. So painful that I was in tears. My tongue started swelling, as did my face and arms, my heart was racing and I was scared to death. I took benadryl to counteract but it only stopped the swelling. The major side effects lasted over 2 hours. It was the most awful experience I have ever had with a drug. | I will not be taking this again. I will try raising my HDL other ways. Fish, olive oil, red wine.. there are much less painful ways to do it than this torturous way :( | F | 33 | 1 days | 2/12/2006 | 3 | High Triglycerides | None after 1 week. During the first week though I experienced the full range of side-effects. Flushing, which went away by taking some advil before the Niacin. One night I woke with a racing heart, flushing, then after getting up and walking around felt nausiated and finaly fainted. That kind of scared me. That was the only episode and all side effects went away after about a week. After 2 weeks I stopped taking the Advil and didn't experience any adverse effects after that, including flushing. | After 90 days I didn't show any signs of significant improvement so I stopped taking it. I was on 500mg, maybe a higher dose would have helped. Being an over the counter product, affordable, and no real side effects (at least AFTER the first week), this may be a good treatment for some people. Just not me. After this I tried Tricor, and after 8 days begged the Dr. to try a higher dose of Niacin as I couldn't deal with the side-effects with Tricor. Ended up with Lipitor and so far so good, but will have to wait another 60 days before I know what my numbers are. | M | 30 | 90 days | 2/9/2006 | 4 | low HDL | Have used it for ~ 5 years (1000mg) with little adverse affects other than occasional (1/month) itching/burning/rash-like reaction (lasting 1/2-1hr) reported by many others. Trying to figure out why sometimes get rash and most other times do not -- up to 8-10 hrs after taking the drug. I think it is due to eating spicy (capasin is causative ingredient I believe) food for dinner the night before. My guess is that both it and Niaspan tend to become synergetic in vasal dilation, but I have not seen anybody else report this relationship. This has become a bit more of a problem since I stopped taking 81 mg aspirin with it (I now take Plavix rather than aspirin). | M | 61 | 5 years | 1/23/2006 | 3 | low hdl | flushed and burning sensation on occassion. mostly on upper body (chest and face). also major itching and rash on ankles. last flushing sensation was scary and miserable. felt like i was on fire. | raised hdl from 39 to 41 in 2 months. spoke to doctor and am now taking fish oil with no symptoms so far. | M | 60 | 2 months | 1/22/2006 | 3 | high tgl | diarrhea, sick feeling, itching around ankles, worst is constant tingling in leg, ticklish feeling that gets worse every day. Wakes me up at night, hard to sleep. | Don't know if I'm able to stay on it with this tingling feeling. Makes me very irritable and anxious when it doesn't stop. | F | 42 | 2 months | 1/7/2006 | 5 | low HDL | I had a side effect 1 time in 40 days and that was when I ate cookies after taking my niaspan. I did just feel very hot and tingling | So far no complaints in one month my HDL improved from 23 to 32. Dr increased dosage to 1000mg | F | 42 | 5 weeks | 12/23/2005 |