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Why does niacinamide make me so drowsy? (After making me alert)

Creachur

Guest
Messages
51
Niacinamide makes me drowsy so I take it usually at bedtime or during the night.

(1) After taking 250mg niacinamide it actually makes me more alert for an hour and prevents sleep during this time. Sometimes I might take it with 800mcg of methylfolate and 500mcg of methylcobalamin B12.

(2) After the alertness I go to sleep. A couple of hours later, at normal waking up time for me, it is unusually hard to wake up from sleep and I feel sedated when I get up.

(3) After waking, vitamin B-1 (100mg) and vitamin B-2 (100mg) taken together seem ease to the drowsiness although maybe the drowsiness was wearing off on its own - it's hard to tell.

Is this strong sedation something to do with methylation? What are B-1 and B-2 doing that reverses the drowsiness?

Can anyone kindly advise. Please keep any information simple because I have tried to understand methylation from some of the discussions here but it never seems to make clear sense to me.

Thank you.


PS: I happen to take methylfolate (2,000mcg) and methylfolate (3,500mcg) throughout the day and they usually help a lot to make be focus better.
 

CCC

Senior Member
Messages
457
I'd like to know the answer to this too.

Is it something to do with taking B3 to soak up extra methyls if you accidentally wind yourself up too much with mb12 and mB9?
 

Creachur

Guest
Messages
51
The strange thing is how the niacinamide starts off making me alert and then after a few hours makes me incredibly sleepy.

I have a vague memory someone may once have mentioned niacinamide in connection with tryptophan but I don't know how accurate this is.
 

JES

Senior Member
Messages
1,320
Niacinamide affects GABA receptors (not sure if plain niacin does). It basically acted like a mild benzo when I took it, especially at larger dosages. In theory a tolerance should eventually develop, as with benzos, where gradually the effect on GABA diminshes.
 
Messages
516
The last poster is correct it has a benzo effect. However 250mg is not high.

It can also affect (lower) lipolysis and increase reliance on carbs and so will mess with your blood and liver glucose levels. The research is confusing on this but that's normally the effect on the short term.

For this reason I never take it right before bed and instead closer to supper with carbs, and then sip on juice until I sleep (personally I started switching it out for a topical solution, because maybe it will affect the liver less that way (wishful thinking)). With CFS/ME you have to assume some contraindication because of the glucose problems, but 250mg is not that much. If you're eating low-carb you should avoid niacinamide.

The methylation thing is impossible to say unless you get homocysteine tested.
 

Alvin2

The good news is patients don't die the bad news..
Messages
2,995
Interesting response, i found other then the niacin flush (using niacin not niacinamide) it had no effect on me at all
 

Basilico

Florida
Messages
948
Are you by any chance taking any other kind of supplement, vitamin, medicine, or anything else in the evening or even during the day?
 

Creachur

Guest
Messages
51
The last poster is correct it has a benzo effect. However 250mg is not high.

It can also affect (lower) lipolysis and increase reliance on carbs and so will mess with your blood and liver glucose levels. The research is confusing on this but that's normally the effect on the short term.

For this reason I never take it right before bed and instead closer to supper with carbs, and then sip on juice until I sleep (personally I started switching it out for a topical solution, because maybe it will affect the liver less that way (wishful thinking)). With CFS/ME you have to assume some contraindication because of the glucose problems, but 250mg is not that much. If you're eating low-carb you should avoid niacinamide.

The methylation thing is impossible to say unless you get homocysteine tested.

Thanks for the interesting reply. The somnolence effect I get from niacinamide is so strong and isn't accompanied by the relaxed anti-anxiety feeling you get from benzos. The somnolence is a little like (but still not very close to) the drowsiness from old style antihistamines. I was hoping the initial stimulation I got might indicate what processes are going on like the build up of a toxin somewhere.

I am interested in the homocysteine test you mention. Can I get it from my GP?
 
Messages
1,478
Interestingly, I was taking 500mg of Niacinamide (during the day) but had to drop this down by half when I switched to subdermal b12 oil. I got quite a bad histmaine response (itchy raised red rash raised heart rate etc) even though I had been taking it for ages with sublingual b12. Since dropping it to a lot lower dose the rash is gone. It was definitely Niacinamide not niacin. I don't know the reason why unfortunately and no one on the forum at the time had an explanation.
 

Alvin2

The good news is patients don't die the bad news..
Messages
2,995
I am interested in the homocysteine test you mention. Can I get it from my GP?
There was a study that found CFS patients had high homocysteine in the cerebrospinal fluid, and they were able to lower it with B12 and folic acid. I tried it and found it reduced my headaches back to where they were 3 years ago (not eliminated) and got rid of the fluid draining from my brain sensation and reduced my PEM from 14 days to 12 days. I switched to methylfolate because several studies suggest high folic acid is not a good idea and noticed the same beneficial and no negative effects.
However they found blood levels were not elevated and i doubt getting a spinal tap is worth the pain or risk.

I don't know the reason why unfortunately and no one on the forum at the time had an explanation.
The flush is caused by creation of PGD2, i forget what it exactly does because i read about it years ago, but i can tell you PGD2 had no effect on the the ME/CFS.
 
Messages
516
Thanks for the interesting reply. The somnolence effect I get from niacinamide is so strong and isn't accompanied by the relaxed anti-anxiety feeling you get from benzos. The somnolence is a little like (but still not very close to) the drowsiness from old style antihistamines. I was hoping the initial stimulation I got might indicate what processes are going on like the build up of a toxin somewhere.

I am interested in the homocysteine test you mention. Can I get it from my GP?

The homocysteine test is a cardiovascular disease marker, if you convince your GP/system you can (I eventually did but it took awhile, always a fun ride). There are some nontraditional tests you can order now too. I would defer to other people here who get it more often to find out what is the easiest/cheapest way nowadays (I don't worry about the liver methylation for myself anymore)...

The tiredness effect is well known, I get it too, and you're right it's not exactly a benzo, it's "benzo-like" and not nearly as nice (but has other benefits). The lipolysis-lowering effect is probably involved, and adding carbs may not necessarily compensate enough, due to disease. But if you do respond to B1 like you said, you can maybe exploit that.
 

CCC

Senior Member
Messages
457
We ended up having to try some niacinamide about 1am this morning to get a certain overwired family member to go to bed. It worked.
 

belize44

Senior Member
Messages
1,662
I just took my first1,000 mg Niacinamide capsule today, and promptly fell asleep. I still feel sedated and groggy and wonder if I hadn't better take it at bedtime instead? I am also worried about the effects of being on the keto diet since I don't consume a lot of carbs like before.
 

JES

Senior Member
Messages
1,320
I just took my first1,000 mg Niacinamide capsule today, and promptly fell asleep. I still feel sedated and groggy and wonder if I hadn't better take it at bedtime instead? I am also worried about the effects of being on the keto diet since I don't consume a lot of carbs like before.

Most likely due to the benzo-like effect and increase of GABA, which Niacinamide promotes. If you want to avoid it, I suggest using plain Niacin (but beware that comes with a flush effect).
 

belize44

Senior Member
Messages
1,662
Most likely due to the benzo-like effect and increase of GABA, which Niacinamide promotes. If you want to avoid it, I suggest using plain Niacin (but beware that comes with a flush effect).
Ah, decisions, decisions...Keep my regular hot flashes or add some new ones with plain Niacin?:meh::)
 

Jwarrior77

Senior Member
Messages
119
The last poster is correct it has a benzo effect. However 250mg is not high.

It can also affect (lower) lipolysis and increase reliance on carbs and so will mess with your blood and liver glucose levels. The research is confusing on this but that's normally the effect on the short term.

For this reason I never take it right before bed and instead closer to supper with carbs, and then sip on juice until I sleep (personally I started switching it out for a topical solution, because maybe it will affect the liver less that way (wishful thinking)). With CFS/ME you have to assume some contraindication because of the glucose problems, but 250mg is not that much. If you're eating low-carb you should avoid niacinamide.

The methylation thing is impossible to say unless you get homocysteine tested.

I'm not really understanding this. Does niacinamide raise blood sugar? Why would a low carb diet effect taking niacinamide?
 

Learner1

Senior Member
Messages
6,305
Location
Pacific Northwest
Niacinamide eventually may turn into NAD+ if you're lucky. NAD is needed to make a lot of different reactions happen. It might be more useful to just take NAD, or the step before it, which has less work to convert to NAD, NMN.

Niacin or any form of it including those above can reverse methylation, so it can undo what the folate, B12, B6, B2, magnesium, etc are doing.


From the Peace Health hospital system website, which is reputable:

"Supplementation with large amounts of niacin (also called nicotinic acid) can increase blood glucose levels in diabetics, which might interfere with the blood-sugar-lowering effects of repaglinide. The form of vitamin B3 known as niacinamide does not have this effect."
 

Jwarrior77

Senior Member
Messages
119
So I just took half a niacinamide 500 mg and it knocked me straight out. I'm trying to stay awake now but it feels like Im overdosing on a drug. I checked my blood sugar and it also increased which doesn't make sense to me as I've been following carnivore and my blood sugar is usually in the 90s after eating. That's why I asked question about the blood sugar issue and why it's contraindicated. This is all very strange to me. I hope to God this passes.