Wednesday, March 9, 2011

A Mom's Niacin Ephiphany

So many lessons over the weekend.  Too many to count and I'm sure I'll remember others as time goes on.  I'm slow like that.

One that really sticks out is about Niacin.  Yes I know that Niacin is not a proper noun.  You can read my explanation about that here.

Yes, I have been giving it to J for quite some time.  We worked up to 1500mg a day (NON-FLUSHING)because she's the one who needs it.  Riiiiiiiiggggghhhhttt.  I wasn't taking it because I was trying to save money or at least that's how I rationalized it.  Big mistake. Huge.

A couple of weeks ago I just happened to watch a commercial on N i a span.  In the fine print on the commercial it said Niacin.  Hmmm....  So of course I googled it.  This revealed it's a prescription version of Niacin for high cholesterol.  I have off the charts cholesterol numbers.  Scary numbers.  So I decided that I would start taking it to reduce the cholesterol.  Uh huh.  I doled mine out with J's every morning about two weeks ago.  I just called the pharmacy to see how much it would be for a prescription of N i a span.  A month's worth for the lowest dosage (500mg) would be around $90.  My numbers are so high they said I would probably need 1500mg a day and it would be triple that amount. We get our Niacin from S a m's and 200 capsules runs about $15.00 for 500mg.

Sidenote: There has been a major upheaval in something that's going on in my personal life that has nothing to do with J. (My roommates were privy to this info but it's nothing I want to discuss on my blog.)  I have been dealing with the situation in anger and pissyness rather than the sadness that would be more appropriate. 

Fast forward to last Tuesday.  I cried about the situation.  (The ugly cry cause I don't do pretty crying. I fight it because I always have the Cry Hangover with swollen eyes and stuffy nose.) No anger or bitterness involved.  Just appropriate grief.

Wednesday I cried briefly some more.  Then I was really able to handle the situation appropriately. 

Now fast forward again to last Friday night, sitting around the table and surrounded by greatness.  We were discussing Niacin.  Ding! Ding! Ding!  Light bulb moment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Niacin = all my appropriate feelings.  HELLOOOOO!!!!!!  That's why it's helped J so much.  Insert duh moment.  Peeling the layers of the onion.  Yep.  It works.  Cholesterol lowering is just an added bonus.  I have found that I am much better at handling many other things during this Niacin period.  The person (not J)that is very adept at pushing my buttons is finding it is no longer working.  Wowza.  Another plus for J on the days that she does like to push.  I can be a more regulated mother for her when she finds it necessary to poke me.

Christine wrote more about it here.  She's written about it many other places on her blog too.  She also wrote in the first post about helping cholesterol.  I conveniently missed that part the first time around.  Imagine that!

This household will NEVER run out of Niacin again.

9 comments:

Kelly said...

Hey Lisa. I looked Niacin up and didn't find anywhere that it couldn't be taken with Abil ify or Foca lin. To your knowledge would it be okay to use niacin with these two drugs? Jackson is doing great but he still has inappropriate anger issue and I thought this might help. Thanks for sharing.

Sarah said...

alright, I'm sold. I was going to wait until I was ready to start S on it but I am reading this at lunch in a large grocery store and I am going to go over and buy a bottle today for ME. Did you start yourself on 1500mg or did you start lower and work your way up?

Last Mom said...

Thanks, Lisa! Gonna head to Sam's! I'm going to see if I can get Hubby to take it, too! (major anxiety issues)

Tara - SanitySrchr said...

Lisa, let me know the answer to Kelly's question too. It's the same two meds that Bam Bam is on.

Heather said...

Kelly - My son is on Abilify, which helped him immensely, and then we added the Niacin (he's at 1000 mg now). The Niacin helped smooth out the rough edges which were left after the Abilify. It was just the little tweak he needed to really shine.

Luv4thePaws said...

Hi Lisa!

Thank you so much for your comment! I am so grateful you posted this. I never even thought about Niacin. Definitely checking into it!!!!

Kari :)

Lindsay Mama to Nine said...

Whoot! I was in the same boat, giving it to my daughter...and then thought...hmmm, maybe I should give er a go...that was 4 months ago!!! Niacin has made a HUGE difference for my oldest, as well as my 7 yr old...Ok...O.K. and most of all I can FEEL the difference in me when I take it.
Thanks for the Post!!!

Mommy's Journeys said...

Like you, I had been giving Niacin only to my daughters but added it for myself about 2 weeks ago as well. I too can tell a difference in me. I'm at 2000 mg right now. My youngest daughter is at 3000mg and this seems to be perfect for her along with the Omega 3s (thanks to your post) and both my kiddo's teacher and OT commented on how she seems so much more balanced this week! yeah!

beemommy said...

It was so awesome to finally meet you IRL in Orlando. I'm going to suggest my son's treatment team seriously look into Niacin, can't hurt so I don't see how they'd have an argument against it. btw this is isocannotmakethissh*tup formerly known as withlovefromsumy (hey, if Prince can do it, so can I)