9 replies to this topic

[PeaceAndProsperity]

There are a lot of talk about niacin's anti-ageing, anti-depression, fat loss, yada yada, and since I have supplemented with it for very long on and off, as has a 70 year old family member of mine, I will share my experiences.

OBVIOUSLY, note: niacin here refers to nicotinic acid ONLY.
Why nicotinic acid? Because it is the most safe of all the niacin versions to take in high quantities and for long periods of time.


(1) Niacin and weight loss.
After over 2 months of daily supplementation with 500mg(first month)-1g(next month) every single day, no effect on weight was observed in a 70 year old, overweight man.

(2) Niacin and depression.
Approx. two weeks of daily supplementation with 500mg+ (up to multiple grams) produced only occassional, very short-lived (10-30min) mild euphoria. Niacin certainly was not an anti-depressant, and I have a severe case of "depression".

(3) Niacin and exercise ability.
Niacin CAN slightly increase exercise performance but only sometimes. The problem is that although it only has a very mild effect on raising blood sugar (approx. 10%), this can sometimes cause dizziness-like symptoms, which makes exercising significantly harder.

(4) Niacin and anabolism (etc) due to growth hormone increase.
Again, no muscle-enhancing or fat-burning, or better recovery, was experienced in the 70 year old who continuously supplemented with it.
It is said that niacin should be administered slightly before an exercise to increase growth hormone secretion and I have done this many times but it has never produced any noticeable effect in myself.

(5) Niacin and anxiety.
Personally, niacin is very great for anxiety--this is why I've kept buying it after I originally tried it. It produces a great calm which lasts for 30 minutes to an hour, without noticeable sedation.

(6) Niacin and better blood flow.
The 70 year old family member who has supplemented it for a long time and still continues with it has reported that it may have increased blood flow to the feet, but I myself have experienced that sometimes it can cause symptoms like cold hands/fingers, which seems to run contrary to increasing blood flow; though this problem of cold hands and fingers appears to be rare.

(7) Niacin and erections.
It appears that niacin has a random but noticeable effect on libido, especially after frequent supplementation with myself. I am one of the anti-sex people so trust me on this, and it is a side-effect I dislike, though thankfully it is rare.

(8) Niacin for beauty (white skin, wrinkles, etc.)
From the 70 year old's own experience when trying it transdermally (yes, nicotinic acid does absorb through the skin), niacin does have a noticeable effect on wrinkles and whitening of the skin. It appears niacin is used in some beauty products for this very reason. The purpose of transdermal application in the 70 year old was purely for an antibiotic effect on a skin infection.

(9) Niacin and immune system.
Yes, both myself and the 70 year old have experienced that niacin does have a significant effect on combating infections, experientially much better than that of vitamin C and other things, and the effect is often experienced within the day.
Sadly, it appears that niacin is not good for all immune system compromises, such as skin infections as observed in the 70 year old.

(10) Niacin and constricted blood vessel type headaches.
Niacin can be used in for example caffeine withdrawal where it will, when it takes action, disolve the headache, but this anti-headache effect is short-lived and the real problem with caffeine withdrawal is the tiredness and depressive mood, not the headache itself, thus niacin is not useful for caffeine withdrawal (but sleep is).

(11) Niacin and energy.
Neither myself, nor the 70 year old, nor others I know who've supplemented with it, have experienced more energy with it. If there is an effect on energy, it's very minor.

(12) Niacin and niacin flush.
From my own experience as well as the 70 year old's experience, daily supplementation for two weeks, less or more, will reduce the chance of getting more niacin flushes. For example, the 70 year old who continuously is supplementing it at 1g no longer experiences the niacin flush.

 

If there are any questions, submit them and I will answer them.

 

As for the obvious "but this is anecdotal evidence!" nonsense: yes it is, but you are perfectly rational in trusting your own experiences contrary to test results, or trusting the experiences of other people contrary to test results. In fact, you do this all the time. You consume caffeine based upon other people's experiences, and so on. What is irrational is distrusting your own experiences.

And if you want to read pubmed articles, you are free to do that. I shouldn't have to link them.

[Junk Master]

IMO it's a tremendously underrated supp.

 

My problem is once I notice little of the positive effects at less than one gram and keep forgetting to take it over time thus necessitating going through the uncomfortable flush period again and again.

 

Dirty cheap.

 

Do have some concerns about high dose use and liver function long term.

 

I've also never had any luck timing the GH release or found it useful in any way to help/improve body recomposition or athletic performance.

[PeaceAndProsperity]

IMO it's a tremendously underrated supp.

 

My problem is once I notice little of the positive effects at less than one gram and keep forgetting to take it over time thus necessitating going through the uncomfortable flush period again and again.

 

Dirty cheap.

 

Do have some concerns about high dose use and liver function long term.

 

I've also never had any luck timing the GH release or found it useful in any way to help/improve body recomposition or athletic performance.

Liver problems is only implicated in at least niacinamide (the non-flush version/timed-release version). This is why I said that nicotinic acid is the safest for long term usage.

Plain old nicotinic acid has a very high tolerance and you need to take a LOT to get toxicity side-effects, I believe as much as vitamin C.

 

I read that niacin may reduce choline so I tried supplementing with it prior to bed with niacin and upon waking up I did feel slightly better emotionally but I am almost sure that this was choline in of itself, thus I doubt the niacin-induced choline deficiency.

[PeaceAndProsperity]

I forgot to add an interesting discovery:

(13) Niacin and gray hair/hair growth

After the multi-month supplementation with nicotinic acid, half the scalp hair of the mentioned aged male changed from white-gray to dark (normal color) but only half of the scalp and the effect was very subtle. It also seemed that hair was growing very slightly faster.

[Gerrans]

I think niacin has an ambiguous effect on warming the skin, because it does so by taking warmth from the core, and so the effects are not likely to be long lived and could be followed by chillier extremities.

 

I think topical niacin products are good for the skin, but I do not believe they are transdermal. I think they work on the very outer layers of the skin and that is about it. But niacin can help the whole skin from internal ingestion.

[Synaptik]

Hi there.

 

I've decided to post my anecdotal experiences about Niacin (NA) after being away from the boards for awhile. I feel enough time has elapsed that I can comment objectively about Niacin's effects (for me anyway). Perhaps fence sitters can benefit from my anecdotes. Here goes.

 

I've been taking 1000 grams/niacin for almost 4 weeks. I didn't titrate upwards like most people; started with 500 mg twice daily from the outset (the first flush was KILLER). Anyhow, the benefits have been numerous and I'll list them in point form:

 

- It's been an allergy buster. Every year, I get moderate to bad seasonal allergies (grass) and this year in particular, they've persisted well into the beginning of summer (instead of the usual 2 week or so in spring). I had been taking Reactin daily to reduce the symptoms, with moderate success. Although these OTC antihistamines generally work, they often leave me feeling a little 'off'. Since I started taking the Nicotinic Acid, the allergies have STOPPED COLD - completely dead. Works better than OTC antihistamines for me.

 

- Great on headaches. I don't have chronic migraines, but I'll get semi-frequent compression headaches in all seasons. Since taking NA, nothing. Actually I did have one pounding headache but that was after I took one whole B-Vitamin I'm using in conjunction with NA. After that dreadful experience, I know take 1/2 B-Vit complex in the morning before my 1000 mg NA consumption.

 

- Great for anxiety! Since my mid-teens, I've had this low-grade, chronic almost dysthymia-type symptoms which can flare up to moderate degrees occasionally. This mainly manifests itself in self-conscious ruminations about 'perceived' faults with self. This is weird because I don't feel this way when I think logically about myself. It's like I'm trapped in this weird self-enforced negative feedback loop that causes me to become anxious or depressed - not be myself. 

 

Enter Niacin. When taking it, it's almost completely stopped these ruminating thoughts from taking place. It's almost like it keeps my brain always focused on the present; like it's 'harder' to consciously think about past memories. It's also definitely taken the edge off my temper' it's been a great mood stabilizer. Now that I'm constantly thinking about the present, I'm not getting self-conscious about perceived faults because I'm not thinking about them. I can definitely see NA benefit to some with OCD type tendencies and people with unwanted ruminating thoughts. I feel much more 'normalized' than I can remember feeling.

 

Some other observations:

 

- Ravenous craving for sugar/carbs in Week 1, since normalized

- Great, clean euphoria in Week 1 (effective reorganization of neurotransmitters in brain?) - since normalized

- More energy during the day (occasional 'groggy' days have not happened)

- Less acne (40 yrs. old but still get it)

 

I'm sort of an antioxidant junkie (several teaspoons of tumeric, ginkgo drops, gotu kola etc.) daily, and I feel niacin is conducive to my anti-aging regimen. This was an important consideration for me. I hope it's purported anti-aging effects are indeed true.

 

To conclude, count me as a HUGE niacin (NA) believer. Not everyone will be fortunate enough to be decisive responder to NA, but for myself it's been quite good.

[pamojja]

Liver problems is only implicated in at least niacinamide (the non-flush version/timed-release version). This is why I said that nicotinic acid is the safest for long term usage.

Plain old nicotinic acid has a very high tolerance and you need to take a LOT to get toxicity side-effects, I believe as much as vitamin C.

 

Guys, I take Niacin mainly for its lipid altering properties at 3 grams a day for more then 7 years, and don't get so many side-benefits. At times when I reduced the dose neither.

 

In the beginning it did raise liver-enzymes. However, had a non-alcoholic fatty liver at that time and this cleared up with a couple of other liver supporting supplements.

 

My bowel-tolerance of vitamin C is at about 50 grams during one day. That's an very individual limit where vitamin C causes watery stool. I don't see any reason to take much above 3-4 grams a day with niacin, and absolutely don't agree that niacin would have the same low toxicity as vitamin C.

 

 

I didn't titrate upwards like most people; started with 500 mg twice daily from the outset (the first flush was KILLER).

 

I started with 150 mg and titrated upwards in small 50mg increments, and the flush was each time very strong again. At the start would always recommend to titrate slowly.

[Synaptik]

 

Liver problems is only implicated in at least niacinamide (the non-flush version/timed-release version). This is why I said that nicotinic acid is the safest for long term usage.

Plain old nicotinic acid has a very high tolerance and you need to take a LOT to get toxicity side-effects, I believe as much as vitamin C.

 

Guys, I take Niacin mainly for its lipid altering properties at 3 grams a day for more then 7 years, and don't get so many side-benefits. At times when I reduced the dose neither.

 

In the beginning it did raise liver-enzymes. However, had a non-alcoholic fatty liver at that time and this cleared up with a couple of other liver supporting supplements.

 

My bowel-tolerance of vitamin C is at about 50 grams during one day. That's an very individual limit where vitamin C causes watery stool. I don't see any reason to take much above 3-4 grams a day with niacin, and absolutely don't agree that niacin would have the same low toxicity as vitamin C.

 

 

I didn't titrate upwards like most people; started with 500 mg twice daily from the outset (the first flush was KILLER).

 

I started with 150 mg and titrated upwards in small 50mg increments, and the flush was each time very strong again. At the start would always recommend to titrate slowly.

 

I'm actually glad I took 500mg right away because I got the uncomfortable part of the flush out right away. My next 500mg, the uncomfortableness was halved and then halved again on the next dose... Most times I don't even feel the tingling sensation at 500mg anymore...

 

A couple more addendum observations about my NA experience:

 

- I have a diminished desire to ingest cannabis. Although not a heavy user, I would consistently ingest small amounts daily to change my headspace. I believe this was to get away from the negative ruminating thoughts loop, in which cannabis provided relief. Now, I don't have cravings anymore. Perhaps NA, for a substrate of people anyway, has a mechanism to shut down a part of the brain responsible for thoughts or voices in the head?? Is this what Abram Hoffer discovered while treating schizophrenics? 

 

- I've found Niacin DEFINITELY helps normalize my mood after using cannabis the day after. No groggy hangover and less irratibility which usually occurs after cannabis use the day prior. Magnesium citrate helps for this as well.

[BasicBiO]

I use 500-1000mg before bed every night. Really seems to ease me into sleep better. I have used it for deep depression and the key thing I found was that that particular effect only lasts 2-4 hours...then you need to re-dose.

 

It is interesting to take before weight training. Sometimes seems to boost reps, other times it makes me too laid back to lift aggressively. Very often it helps with vasodialation and makes for a good pump.

[mbdrinker]

When i tried it for the first time i was 30-35. I had flush and fainting sensations and no energy boost. Now at 45 things have changed. At 1/4 of standard russian tablet i get enormous energy boost with cardio frequency boost of 2-3 times. I have to work physically to calm down. I work several hours unpacking boxes and tossing to and fro without tiredness. I feel warmth in feet too. I would say it gives more energy than selegiline without dopaminergic psycho side effects. Amazing staff for me. Seems to synergize well with cocacola and hamburgers. You just have to work to prevent heart jumping out