Actually, I have gotten several people to take niacin for the improved sleep alone. But if it didn't do anything for you, it must not be YOUR magic vitamin :) So glad it helped your DD3.
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I agree. I wonder how well it would work with the typical SAD. The doctors who wrote the book emphasize a Whole Foods diet; not a processed one. |
I added niacin to my daily supplement list today. My goal is geared towards improving my cholesterol, lowering my BP, and possibly improving my skin. The 250mg initial does gave my my first flush ever. I didn't turn red, but I felt a pretty good buzz there for about 30 minutes. My head and scalp in particular had a nice warm glow. To be honest, it was not a bad experience. It was weird, but almost pleasant.
For cholesterol, higher doses are the norm. I may try to work up to 1g per day should I not have any significant issues with niacin. If I do, I'll follow Rob's lead and dial it back to a level that works. So far so good. |
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Welcome, Ken! Sometimes I get the "itchy flush" but it's rarely very bad -- more tingly. And now: a faint tingling that lasts only seconds. Rarely. My skin does feel wonderful afterwards, too. I think the flush in niacin freaks many people out. They get a reflexive "this must be bad!" mental reaction, and don't want to explore it any further. Look at all the preparations that promise people won't flush! Which are, ironically, the types which cause liver complications. The doctors in the book emphasize that the B complex, B3, and Vitamin C should be taken three times a day because these are water-soluble vitamins and the body does not store them. Perhaps this is why the no-flush preparations are not as good: they are not working in the body naturally. I am in my third week of the therapeutic dosing, and my calm mood is amazing. I've just come off of literally years of incredible stress, which might be why I am responding so well to 3g a day. |
I am doing the B complex and C supplements at the same time, as you are doing. Last night I took a 2nd round and barely noticed any flushing. I had no flushing with my first round today. I think I may be adjusting to this very rapidly.
Of note: I took a long, brisk walk yesterday and felt wonderful afterwards. That was not unusual a while back, but lately I had not been getting that endorphin thing from simply walking. I guess it wasn't really working out hard enough for it. It was nice to feel nice after that walk. Last night I slept amazingly well. My Garmin fitness tracker measures movement and estimates the time of "deep sleep" during the night. If I get less than 3 hours of deep sleep I normally feel it the next day. I feel well rested when I get 4 to 5 hours of "deep sleep". I rarely get more than that. But last night my Garmin says I got more than 6 hours of deep sleep. It will be interesting to see if this related to the Niacin. If so, I should see a trend of longer sleep develop. Again - the current plan is to work up to 1g of niacin daily and then hold steady for a while. I read up on it and this seems like it might be beneficial for me. I was metabolically ill for decades. I like the 'cleansing' ideas behind fasting for that reason. Niacin therapy may have similar cleansing benefits and might even work well with fasting. It may be hard to measure, but I feel good. So I will keep working on my N=1 ... ME. |
Interesting thread. I have seen other people use the term "N = 1." What does it mean?
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The "N"umber of people in the experiment = 1, and that one is you.
(lurks away...) ;) |
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Thud is correct. You see it so often because everyone who sticks with the various methods reaches the point where they need to fuss with details for their individual needs. They might bloom under a certain supplement, or need to avoid certain foods. N=1 is our way of saying "This may not apply to YOU" |
And on the flip side of that, an N=1 experiment is my means of testing to see if something that appears to work for someone else has the same positive effects on me. Diet, health, fitness and nutrition is a complex and personal thing. We each have our own health issues. We have different diets and lifestyles. We have different genes, histories, and environments. Treatments interact. We are all guilty of saying I did X and Y happened. We think we have something figured only to find that the results are not repeatable. Study data is often based on large populations which can mask individual results. Plus there is also a lot of misinformation and bogus 'quick fix" schemes out there. That makes for a lot of skepticism. I think this is a major reason why the medical establishment has downplayed the roll that diet and nutrition plays in making us sick and making us well. If it can't be proven, repeated, and grown in a test tube - then even potentially effective methods are scoffed at. I have made many diet tweaks over the past 3 years. Some things seem to work and some appear to have no effect. The only real way to find out of something is beneficial for you is to try it yourself.
I'd caution to use good judgment and don't try anything foolish. If I see something - some new idea that may address an issue that I appear to have, I read up on it. If it seams reasonable and safe, I may give it a try. Another N=1. |
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Thanks everyone for the explanation. Similar to when we say "one size does NOT fit all." Khrussva, I always do my own research when something is recommended. I have a lot of medical issues and have to be careful what i take or how I eat. I have shunned many recommendations based on what I learned in research. I am a heart patient, and my DR put me on Niacin years ago. I think I heard something bad about it so I stopped it on my own. He never commented, and might not have realized I stopped it. After reading this thread, I might start taking it again and see if I experience any of the changes mentioned here. I could use better sleep and blood sugar control. I remember the flush, and I kinda liked it! :lol: |
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Well put, and a really important point. I never cease recommending Death by Food Pyramid. This is a well-reasoned and -researched book which explains how our ancestors developed geographically distinct enzyme patterns to digest their local foods. Just as a human's melanin skin content would vary with the environment; darkening to protect humans from too much sunlight, and lightening to promote the production of vitamin D, so people have variation in the enzymes their bodies can produce for digestion. The book explained why my months-long experiment with vegetarianism went so badly wrong (gained weight, got weak and sick.) Because I don't have the enzymes to get much protein out of plant sources. It explains why I get along so well with fish and dairy. My aunt researched our gene pool, and on the paternal side we have lots of Northern European characteristics. They were too far north for extensive agriculture, so instead they fished and kept herd animals. I've always been told I "take after" that side of the family. This also explains how a subset of our current population eats the Standard American Diet without suffering too much in the way of health consequences; they are more adapted to this highly unnatural eating method than the rest of us are. For everyone on this board or seeking out information on low carb; the SAD is a disaster no amount of calorie cutting or exercise can fix. Still, while being fat and sick on the SAD is something we all have in common, we also have our different flavors of how we should approach our own diets. I'm very sensitive to Omega 3 fats but get along with low carb fruit eaten with a meal. For someone else, this approach won't yield nearly the benefits I'm getting from it. I started this thread to share the incredible improvement in my very serious, stress-related, health crisis. It took me years to figure out what was going on: turns out, I'm one of those folks who had to diagnose themselves with the Internet! So I don't have any qualms about treating myself, either. Turns out I have a rare genetic condition that can't be fixed, only managed; so I'm managing it to the best of my ability. Modern medicine can't do a thing for me. |
For what it may be worth, I ran across this:
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Read the personal accounts: quite a few report trouble that has lasted for years, through many different drug-treatment attempts, but are now resolving with niacin. Some people's significant success with modern anti-depressants have completely overshadowed the subset of patients who struggle with inconsistent results and severe side effects. There was a recent study which claimed Antidepressants No Better Than Placebo? Quote:
This is from WebMD, aka "Better Living through Chemistry," so admitting this means they get to skip over the people for whom these drugs are not success stories. In my case, I was prescribed gabapentin, known as Neurotonin, for severe lingering nerve pain after an attack of shingles. For about two weeks it also lifted my anxiety; then it stopped working on my mood. And the schedule my doctor gave me to taper off it would have lasted 18 months. (I managed in four, thanks to chelated magnesium.) Emboldened, I found this: Quote:
Wow. Just wow. Read the whole thing: she's had a lifelong struggle with all kinds of issues; and she's never had results like this. Quote:
From 2007 - 2011, the blog was about her struggle. In mid-2012, she wrote the above post. There were only four more, highly positive, posts after that. And the blog stopped. To me, that means that the struggle, at last, had ended. |
Mind you, I didn't take niacin for depression; or even anxiety. I took it for the brain healing. Relief from anxiety was a bonus.
Maintaining a full time job and caring for my chronically ill husband, plus running a small business/blog enterprise, all while getting progressively sicker, took a serious toll on my brain. I actually started using strategies designed for people with traumatic brain injuries because my symptoms were similar. Reading about how many mental illnesses were helped by niacin got me very niacin-curious. Better sleep, better blood sugar control, better metabolism, better mood handling; if my problems were in my brain, niacin is taking care of all of them. |
I can't wait to start taking Niacin to see if anything changes. When I was taking it, my cardiologist prescribed it and it was probably for triglycerides or cholesterol, or maybe just blood thinning, I don't know. But I didn't notice anything getting worse when I stopped taking it, like mood, sleep or blood sugar. It could have happened, but I didn't connect it with the Niacin.
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