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Niastan
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Posted by cheerful1 (My Page) on Tue, Jul 15, 08 at 10:08
| My husband was just prescribed Niastan to help raise his HDL, which is only at 28.
Has anyone tried this? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Niastan
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| It is Niaspan. My husband took it for 2 weeks, and had really bad side effects, so he's off it now. |
RE: Niastan
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| The name of the drug is indeed Niastan. It is a cholesterol drug used for those with low HDL levels. Not much feedback on side effects as of yet. |
RE: Niastan
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| Niaspan was prescribed for both my husband and I. It is the drug of choice if your LDL (whether elevated or not) is of the small, dense type. I fussed over the price so my doctor told me I was welcome to take niacin instead. The price difference is one cent v. one dollar per day (after insurance). I asked my cardiologist if this was okay and she said sure, there might be more side effects with niacin. My husband and I were told to take an asperin 20 minutes before taking the niacin to reduce the symptoms. The first day was awful, the second day not quite so bad and now I have few if any symptoms. My ears get a bit hot and red but I can handle that. Let me reiterate for the OP, it isn't the LDL Number it is the size. I also have this strangely shaped choesterol that has a screw like protrusion that sticks into the walls of my arteries. As I understand it, taking niacin or niaspan is not going to correct this situation, it will merely slow down the occlusion of the arteries. It is a genetic defect. I bought the niacin from behind the counter at Costco. It was very reasonable. Please note that you cannot substitute over the counter extended release niacin. It does not work!!! |
RE: Niastan
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| My husband's now on Lovaza, which is high-potency fish oil (prescription). He's tolerating this very well; he'll see in January when he has his bloodwork whether his HDL went up. |
RE: Niastan
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| oops, sorry. I misread the original posting. I saw LDL where you wrote HDL. I am sure that my cardiologist is hoping that my HDL will go up as well as changing the size and density of my LDL. I didn't know there was a prescription strength fish oil. I will be very interested in reading your post in January giving us an update on your husband's cholesterol. |
RE: Niastan
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| I hope it does work for him. The drawback to the Lovaza is that it's very expensive. His copay for a month's supply is $73.67. Without insurance it would cost $198.69 a month. It's a 1-gram capsule; you have to take 4 a day. He takes 2 in the morning, and 2 at lunchtime. |
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