Topic: Niacin and my recent blood work

[patentlymn]

Not medical advice. Maybe I am harming myself.

OK, the only major change I made was adding "sustained release Niacin" not the fake stuff.
Aka nicotinic acid aka Vit B3. I also added 600 mg NAC if that matters. Over a couple weeks I took 1 500 MG sustained release niacin per day, then 2, then 3. all at the same time.  This for a few months now. I take atorvastatin but have been so no change.

MyChart results 2022 to 2023
Cholesterol  240 151
HDL 50 72
LDL 134 57
VLDL 74 11
Triglycerides 267 129
LDL/HDL 2.3  0.8
Glucose 96 77
Creatine 1.15 0.75 (low)
BUN/creatine 21 15
CO2 30(hi) 22
Billirubin 0.9 0.3
BUM 24 11
eGRF 69 98
sodium 138 143 (nearing hi)
chloride 92 (low) 101
calcium 9.6 9.1
protein 6.7 6.1
globulin 2.3 2.0
albumin 4.4 4.3
A/G 1.9 2.2
HGBAiC OP 5.2 5.3
EST AVG GLU OP 103 105

[paulh]

That's fasting of course?

[patentlymn]

Yes. Fasting. The change seems dramatic. I am now wondering about possible liver damage to monitor after some stuff on the internet. I only tried this as an experiment for the triglycerides.

I take a 20? pill of potassium every day to fight low potassium in the past.

[patentlymn]

I learned more about this
1. Sustained release (SR)  Niacin may cause liver damage compared to Immediate Release (IR) and Extended Release (ER).
2. ER may just be SR?
3. Some expert "DrLipid" concludes that even though Niacin improves some markers, it does not appear to improve mortality. Based on papers and research.

[paulh]

Check if it's osmotic- my doc put that on my metformin script once and I got sick as a dog. Changed back to ER and OK except for the sh*ts.