Niacin

Here you can share your experiences with substances that are ingested, inhaled, or otherwise consumed for the purpose of relieving RLS, other than prescription medications. For example, herbal remedies, nutritional supplements, diet, kratom, and marijuana (for now) should be discussed here. Tell others of successes, failures, side effects, and any known research on these substances. [Posts on these subjects created prior to 2009 are in the Physical Treatments forum.]

Important: Posts and information in this section are based on personal experiences and recommendations; they should not be considered a substitute for the advice of a healthcare provider.
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larrydougan
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Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:48 am

Niacin

Post by larrydougan »

I'm a 65 yr old male living in Pompano Beach Florida. I've had RLS symptoms for about 45 yrs or more with brief periods of remission, 3 or 4 days max. I recently started taking Niacin, vitamin B2 as I recall, to lower cholesterol. After about a week or two of taking niacin I have had no, or very little, RLS symptoms for about 2 or 3 months now. I have never been symptomless for this long. Not sure if there is a cause and effect here, but others might want to give it a try. I bought this product at the Vitamin Shoppe. It's a sustained release 250mg capsule of niacin. I'm not sure if can help any others, but I'm just happy to be free of symptoms for this short time. Larry

ViewsAskew
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Re: Niacin

Post by ViewsAskew »

Isn't it nice when a vitamin deficiency is easily resolved and also helps reduce RLS/WED symptoms? Hope it works for a long time.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

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Polar Bear
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Re: Niacin

Post by Polar Bear »

A happy release from symptoms, long may it continue.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
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mesmerize
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Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:26 am

Re: Niacin

Post by mesmerize »

larrydougan wrote:I'm a 65 yr old male living in Pompano Beach Florida. I've had RLS symptoms for about 45 yrs or more with brief periods of remission, 3 or 4 days max. I recently started taking Niacin, vitamin B2 as I recall, to lower cholesterol. After about a week or two of taking niacin I have had no, or very little, RLS symptoms for about 2 or 3 months now. I have never been symptomless for this long. Not sure if there is a cause and effect here, but others might want to give it a try. I bought this product at the Vitamin Shoppe. It's a sustained release 250mg capsule of niacin. I'm not sure if can help any others, but I'm just happy to be free of symptoms for this short time. Larry


Hi Larry,
I just went out and bought Slo Niacin 250 mg because of your post. I'm so happy that this worked for you. Is it still working? No more restless leg syndrome at night? Hope so.

ViewsAskew
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Re: Niacin

Post by ViewsAskew »

According to the experts, vitamins only help when you have a deficiency. If it doesn't work for you, it's likely you aren't deficient.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

mesmerize
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Re: Niacin

Post by mesmerize »

Well, are amino acids in this category as well?

ViewsAskew
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Re: Niacin

Post by ViewsAskew »

mesmerize wrote:Well, are amino acids in this category as well?


To my knowledge, they've never been tested by researchers, so no one knows. Several of the vitamins have.

I've been on this forum for about 7 years, I think. In that time, there's never been anything non-drug that consistently helps people except movement. There are a few things that seem to help many, such as a shower/bath/hot tub. Of course, some prefer cold and others hot, but it tends to help many.

Many things in this section likely a bit of a long-shot. I'm not saying not to try them - I've tried several - rather to protect your psyche. We all want this madness to stop so much and when we hear something, we tend to get very hopeful and excited and believe it will help us. Then it doesn't. I've seen so many posts with people disappointed that something didn't work; I've been terribly disappointed myself on occasion, even when I've tried not to let myself get so hopeful.

The researchers don't know what causes it, they don't know how it works, there are multiple genes involved (so very unlikely there will ever be one solution, but rather multiple ones), etc. Most importantly to the non-pharm section, is that WED is a lot like pain. We can think it away, for example, or distract it. We can take or do something, have the symptoms stop, and attribute its stopping to what we took, even though it wasn't what caused it to. Many times someone has written that they "found a cure" only to be back a short while later saying that it stopped working. Worse, many people post something works after doing it just one or a few days, then forget to come back and say it no longer works. That leaves any readers thinking it's great, when it never was.

Try the amino acids. If they work, don't say anything for at least a few weeks. If they still work after 3-4 weeks, post that you're cautiously optimistic and then post back later. And keep posting about it after that.

At any point in time, something that someone posts here could be the best thing to happen to us - something that really does work! We won't know if we don't try. The important thing is to try with a mindset that protects us from an emotional upheaval instead of being a bit disappointed.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Chipmunk
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Re: Niacin

Post by Chipmunk »

Cosign all of Ann's post.

I think I get most upset when RX meds don't work because I expect that they will. Stuff like amino acids and soap in the bed is easier to handle because I try them with the thought that I have nothing to lose.

Having said that, I've been taking SomaLife amino acids for over a year now and, while they haven't cured me (I still take Lamictal at bedtime), they have enabled me to get the best sleep I have had in 7 years. I ran out last month and I was back to sleeping horribly until my order got there a week later (although it definitely wasn't awful awful like it was before I had any meds, just worse than it has been in the past year).

Strangely enough, they also made my hair grow in thicker and stronger - I have to get my eyebrows waxed each month for the first time in my life and my hair has never had so much volume! Just adds more support to the theory that these random things work because they solve some deficiency in our bodies, which means that they won't help anyone who doesn't have that deficiency.

Even so, I wouldn't hesitate to try a supplement to see if it helped, as long as it was safe with my other meds. I personally wouldn't care if I had to eat liver and onions every night for dinner if I knew that it would help me get restful sleep!
Tracy

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the WED/RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

Chipmunk
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Re: Niacin

Post by Chipmunk »

If anyone is going to try niacin, I would recommend a "slow-release" formula as niacin can cause hot flashes if it kicks in all at once.
Tracy

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the WED/RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

badnights
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Re: Niacin

Post by badnights »

Ann, that was so well said, and chipmunk too.

A thought for us about larrydougan - was it niacin or was it lowered BP that caused the improvement in WED symptoms?
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight
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I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.

ViewsAskew
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Re: Niacin

Post by ViewsAskew »

Great reminder, Beth. I tend to forget that it's so difficult to assume that something we did caused something else. First, we may have changed more than one thing, and second, what was changed may be completely different than what we thought!
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

debbluebird
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Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 3:27 pm

Re: Niacin

Post by debbluebird »

I take Niacin to help reduce cholesterol. Have never noticed that it helped with my WED, since there were times when I didn't take Niacin. DEB

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