You can purchase niacin, including flush-free formulas, without a prescription. Niacin -- vitamin B3 -- can help treat conditions such as high cholesterol. But self-medicating with niacin can prove both ineffective and dangerous. Persons with diabetes should not take niacin without doctor supervision as it may dramatically affect your blood glucose levels.
Skin Flushes
Niacin, prescribed for 50 years, produces a common side effect called skin flushes -- your face and chest turn red, and your skin may tingle, itch or burn. If you take more than 100 mg of niacin a day, you may experience these episodes. You may prevent or alleviate skin flushes if you gradually increase your dose of niacin, take an aspirin 30 minutes before a scheduled dose or take a flush-free formula of niacin. Flush-free formulas of niacin available in drugstores are chemically different than flush-free -- sometimes called time-release -- formulas of niacin available by prescription. Over-the-counter flush-free niacin may not work to improve cholesterol levels.
Niacin and Diabetes
Niacin affects persons with Type 1 diabetes differently than persons with Type 2. If you have Type 1 diabetes, taking niacin may delay your need for taking insulin, extending the time between diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes and your dependence on insulin. If you have Type 2 diabetes, however, taking niacin may cause hyperglycemia, a condition that involves very high blood glucose levels. If you take niacin and take insulin, check your blood sugar levels frequently. You may need to change the timing and frequency of your insulin doses.
Benefits
If you have diabetes, you face twice the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke than someone without the disease, according to the American Diabetes Association. Niacin may help improve your cholesterol levels, reducing your risk. Niacin, unlike some cholesterol medications, can improve the levels of all three types of lipids in your bloodstream. It helps lower triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein -- LDL or "bad" cholesterol -- and helps elevate high-density lipoprotein -- HDL or "good" cholesterol. Niacin may also reduce hardening of the arteries, a condition that can elevate your blood pressure.
Considerations
Niacin poses serious health risks, even for persons who do not have diabetes. Taking large doses -- more than 100 mg daily -- can cause stomach ulcers and liver damage. If you take time-release niacin, your risk for liver damage increases. Niacin may also increase your risk for strokes, according to a National Institutes of Health study. Persons in the study who took 2,000 mg of time-release niacin daily suffered more than twice as many strokes as persons who did not take niacin. The NIH ended the study 18 months early, in May 2011. Consult a doctor about the benefits and risks of taking niacin.
