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Hi Folks: My Md put me on niaspan today because of low hdl numbers. I remember reading that Niacin is not good if you have gout. I was wondering if any of you guys had to deal with this drug. I have done some reserch and its 50-50 one the site I have read, so I am bringing it to the the people that know. Thanks Dan
Yes, niaspan (nicotinic acid) is listed as under “caution” for gout, especially if you are also taking statins.
Niacin is a potent urine acidifier. Thus those with high uric acid run the danger of precipiitating urate kidney stones.
I would LIKE to take niacin because I run low HDL's but every time I try even 500 mg. per day, I flush so badly that I feel like a witch in an auto da fe. (Booze raises HDL nicely…hip, hip, hooray!)
Just curious how much do you think 500mg, 1000mg etc raises SUA? For example if a person was consistently at 5.0 would it increase them above 6.4?
I really have no idea, cjeezy. I DO know that a 500 mg. dose of niacin (in any form) is not sufficient to do much of anything for HDL. One needs about 2,000 mg./day forr lipid control.
A dose of 2,000 mg. would leave me a cold corpse…no exaggeration.
I understand that 500mg is not alot but the doctor said 500mg for 30 days then 1000mg for 30 days, ect. I was told it allows you to build up a tolerance for flushing. It does not matter either way. My gout is finally under control (no attacts in months knock on wood)He will have to try something else to increase my hdl because I will not take the chance. Thanks Guys
Dan,
I wish I had a $1000 bill for every time I tried to build tolerance for niacin. I even tried starting with 25 mg. While it SOUNDS good in theory it absolutely did NOT work in practice. My upper limits for tolerating niacin is 250 mg. slow release taken WITH food.
Dan,
Good Luck trying. I know some people CAN tolerate high doses and some people can even tolerate flushing. (I think “flushing” is a rotten word to describe the pins in the face, purple chest, swollen lips and eyelids of angioedema that I get from this crap.)
LDL's in the 20's or lower are dreadfully dangerous…so it is worth some degree of discomfort to raise them.
But be heartened, daily drinking is a PROVEN and a confortable way to raise HDL's quit a lot. So if you fail at the Niaspan, there's always the Martini or a nice bottle of Bordeaux.
Teetotalling I get HDL's in the upper 20's…with booze I get in the 40's.
LDL’s in the 20’s or lower are dreadfully dangerous?so it is worth some degree of discomfort to raise them.
But be heartened, daily drinking is a PROVEN and a confortable way to raise HDL’s quit a lot. So if you fail at the Niaspan, there’s always the Martini or a nice bottle of Bordeaux.
Teetotalling I get HDL’s in the upper 20’s?with booze I get in the 40’s.
Zip,
I agree on the alcohol thing. How long do you think alcohol “temporarily” boosts HDL? 24-48hrs? Since you too have low HDL, do you feel HDL/LDL ratio’s are accurate? I know that the medical field is split on ratios vs absolute numbers. I remember my family doc saying quote “there is absolutely no proof that low HDL numbers ALONE lead to heart disease. The primary goal is always to lower LDL.” He then looked at ratios and particle size.
The number I find most telling is the TC/HDL ratio.
Fortunately Lipitor seeems to raise my HDL to something like 40 so not terrible and my toal cholesterol is now usually in the 120's with LDL's in the 60's or 70's.
So I am not unhappy and can stop drinking for long periods without troubling HDL's like before.
(I have a particularly irksomely high Lipoprotein A which along with my very low LDL before Lipitor that caused me to develop coronary artery disease. I am pretty sure it is better now than it was in 1992 when I started getting symptoms)
Those sound like some really good numbers you got there! My doc is still contemplating on whether or not I should give niacin a try too. My TC is between 120- 140, however HDL typically fluctuates between 30-36. The interesting thing is that regardless of how my HDL and LDL fluctuate, the TC/HDL ratio is always right at 4. For example (when drinking), I had 141 TC with an HDL of 35 and an LDL of 92 (4.02 TC/HDL ratio). On the flip side, when I was NOT drinking my LDL around 68, TC 121, and HDL was a miserable 29 (4.17 TC/HDL ratio). NOTE: Both of the mentioned tests were taken less than a week apart
Still not sure whether I should give niacin a try. My doc seems to be leaning on I do NOT for the time being. Any thoughts? Also, is Lipoprotein A referred to by a different name on the lipid panel? I know my doc tested for all kinds of things, but I did not see this particluar figure.
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