No-flush niacin, available in stores that sell vitamins and other natural supplements, may help relieve symptoms of arthritis and Type 1 diabetes. But no-flush niacin -- a form of vitamin B -- may not help prevent heart disease, as labels on some bottles of no-flush niacin suggest. All types of niacin pose serious health risks, so ask your doctor before self-medicating with no-flush niacin.
Skin Flushes
No-flush niacin contains niacinamide, a type of niacin less likely than regular niacin to cause skin flushes -- itching, burning, tingling and redness in your face and chest. No-flush niacin typically comes in strengths of 250 mg to 500 mg. A doctor may prescribe niacin in doses of 500 mg to 3,000 mg daily. If you experience skin flushes, a doctor may suggest you take timed-release niacin, which delivers niacin to your bloodstream in small doses over the course of a day.
Niacin vs. No-Flush Niacin
Niacin, prescribed since the 1950s, proves successful in reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides, two artery-clogging lipids, as well as elevating high-density lipoprotein, the "good" cholesterol that pulls LDL cholesterol and triglycerides out of your bloodstream. If you purchase over-the-counter no-flush niacin to treat cholesterol, it will not likely work. Niacinamide provides most of the same risks -- but different benefits than niacin.
Benefits
Niacinamide in no-flush niacin may help people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes delay their need for taking insulin. It can also relieve symptoms of osteoarthritis, possibly reducing the need for pain medication. Other, less studied, uses for no-flush niacin include relieving anxiety and depression; treating motion sickness, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and alcohol dependence; and improving orgasm, acne and memory loss associated with aging. Because no-flush niacin carries health risks and because some of its possible benefits remain unproven, it makes sense to consult your doctor before taking niacin supplements.
Risks
If you take more than 100 mg of no-flush niacin, you put yourself at risk for stomach ulcers, gout and liver damage. You should not take no-flush niacin if you suffer from kidney disease, liver disease, gallbladder disease or low blood pressure. Individuals with Type 2 diabetes should not take niacin without doctor supervision as it can cause dramatic increases in blood sugar levels. In a government study, those who took 2,000 mg of niacin daily suffered twice as many strokes as study participants who did not take niacin. The National Institutes of Health ended the study 18 months early, in May 2011.
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