Hi, Im happy to be part of this group and am looking for some feedback on things I have been reading since I have been here. Can anyone tell me if NIACIN (B3) has helped them? Also I saw someone say that caffeine raises their sugar. I was very surprised by this. How is caffeine a carb? The niacin information was on a link I found from here and the caffeine was in a discussion I read.
For me, caffeine acts different in different things. Diet soda will have zero effect on my bg. That being said, a cup of caffenated coffee will drop my bg like a ton of bricks. Also, the symptoms of my lows are more severe. I shake terribly and get awful headaches.
Interesting. . My son just left for Afghanistan last week and I wanted to add a fast to my prayers so I decided to fast pop ( thats what we call soda if you live in the Western NY area) and coffee. Well I got such terrible headaches even after a week,that I left the coffee fast and replaced it with a ice cream fast. That is HUGE for me. Even tough it’s sugar free, i still love it and eat it more often that I care to admit. This fast is for a hole year so I had to pick something that my body could live without. So I will be watching for caffeine effects on my bg. I started to take niacin supplements last Monday and not only has it changed my digestion (in a positive way) I have been dealing with a low every afternoon. I don’t know if I should change my basil rate or change my insulin to carb ratio. So far I think it will help me. Any feedback on niacin would be helpful. ThanksI
2 things…
Where in the world are you finding sugar free ice cream, and how do i get a hold of it!??!?!?
I also live in western NY and its SODA!!! hahaha
Hi Patty,
I been taking high dose niacin for several years now. I’ve been type 1 for over 50 years and had a heart attack in 1990. The last 2-3 years I’ve been on various intensive regimes to alleviate diabetic complications, most of which are vascular related. Along with an ultra low fat vegan diet, my docs at the University of Washington have me on niacin and statin where they have participated in studies showing good vascular benefits and even some reversal of atherosclerosis. My cardiac angiograms have shown some minor reversal and definitely no new lesions. One cardiologist at the U of W thinks that the niacin/statin treatment is the main reason I seem to be improving. Even my othomologist says my diabetic retinopathy is now non-existent.
I take the old cheap form of niacin which at first caused a severe uncomfortable flushing but after the first couple weeks I rarely feel any side effects. I do have a moderate spike in Bg from the niacin but I’m able to compensate with my meal bolus since I take the niacin with meals. For me I think it’s one of the most important vitamin/supplements I use. There is also some evidence that thiamine (b-1) might also be important to prevent diabetic complications. Look for an earlier discussion about thiamine here on Tu where there was a link to the Warwick University in the UK that found that a huge percentage of both type diabetics were deficient in thiamine because the common blood test for thiamine doesn’t measure accurately in diabetics. Here’s one link to that study: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/researchers_find_vitamin/
Caffeine does raise my Bg but I only drink a cup of coffee maybe once a week so it’s probably more related to a stress hormone release from the “high” I can get from that rare cup.
First Tops Wegmans even my tiny store in my tine city has it ,Perrys makes it. Its sweetened with Splenda.Moose tracks and vanilla are my favorite. If I get real daring I make a sunday with sf chocolate syrup and put Splenda sweetened canned fruit on it too. But not for the next year.
Second, If you are MY AGE its POP. You look like a young whipper snapper. Your generation tries to change everything hahahahahah!!!
My dad is 87 and he calls it pop, or sody pop. Tummy doesn’t like Splenda, etc. so I will eat regular ice cream. Which I usually don’t
Iam happy to hear the good results for you. I have read that mega doses are toxic but its not clear what a mega does is, how much do you take? I dont understand if it’s a water soluble vitamin then how can you store it in the liver? Thanks for the answer and I will go the site you suggested. I also take the cheap kind (Walmart) but mine says it’s a non flushing formula. The first two times I took it was at dinner and I had a hard time sleeping so I started taking with lunch and no more trouble. I did not have any flushing effect so far.
The reason I tried the sugar free is because I’m in weight watches,r and you are brain washed to check the point value of everything you eat. The vanilla is the lowest in points so that means I can have a larger serving than reg ice cream. Sometimes im more concerned about the points than the carbs and that’s not good.
I will just warn that I believe niacin (100 mg) pills affected my vision in a negative way. I read up on niacin and possible side effects from a dosage larger than the recommended 20 mg per day and found that this was a side effect and my vision tests confirmed it – my sight in one eye had changed (I had Lasik surgery a few years earlier and had 20/20 vision.) It is possible that my vision was going to change anyway, but that large a dose of niacin scared me off. Oh, and sorry, I don’t remember what effect it had on blood sugars. (Western PA, we say pop!)
Thanks Robin.Thats something to consider. So far , the POP’S have it! LOL
Niacin in doses over 200 mg can raise BG.
Caffeine can raise BG because it raises cortisol levels, which is a stress hormone.
Hi Patty,
Sorry I’m so slow in responding, I only get a chance to check Tu once or twice a week. I take 4000 mg of pure crystalline niacin plus 80 mg of Simvastatin. The study that was partly done at the U of Washington I think was funded by Abbott Laboratories who makes a Rx slow release niacin called Niaspan and as I remember, they used 3000 mg in that study. I had one doc tell me he thought that the slo-release or no flush niacins might not be as effective as the over the counter fast acting, just that funding money for large studies usually only comes from the drug companies so there isn’t money to study the cheap stuff.
My endo prescribed Niacin 500 mg non flushing twice a day because of cholesterol numbers. It worked like a charm. My numbers responded quickly and favorably. I don’t take anything that doesn’t go through my doc – I’m taking so much that I worry about combinations not being favorable. I don’t take anything that the numbers don’t ask for = I had a nonexistent B12 level so now I take B12. My endo is very thorough and I trust him. First thing he did was look at my numbers and recommend what to take over-the-counter. My gastro guy did the same (after getting on the phone with my endo - they coordinate).
coffee doesn’t hurt my numbers at all. I only have an occasional cup - I’m more a tea kinda girl.
hope it helps - good luck
This is all good information. I moved to a new area 2 yrs ago and had to change Dr’s. I’m not to happy with my new one. I feel that if I didn’t need her signature on my prescriptions, I would not bother ever going to a Dr… One thing she did right was,check my vitamin d level. I was very deficient. I cant help but wonder why she didn’t check my B’s.If you are so low on one wouldn’t you think to check them all? I will be asking about it at my next visit.
Just because Vit D was low, doesn’t mean that any other vitamins are. Vit D deficiency seems to quite widespread, so more doctors are checking this. But, it wouldn’t hurt to have other vitamin & mineral levels tested.
Ok, first off, sugar-free ice cream means that they did not “ADD” sugar, it does not mean that it is carb free. The Carb smart ice cream from Breyers is an example. It has 13g carbs, 16g fiber, 4 g sugars and 5g sugar alcohol in a 1/2 c serving. The Perrys you mention has 16 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 4 g sugar, and 4 g sugar alcohol for a 1/2c serving. If you see something that does not add up, you are right. These are not sugar-free, nor carb free and probably should not be considered “4 net carbs,” but I’m just sayin. If you really want carb-free ice cream, you can have it, just make it yourself. Use full heavy cream and an artificial sweetener.
Now as to the Niacin and Caffeine thing. I don’t believe that Caffeine will in the long-term raise your blood sugar, but a jolt of caffeine if you are not used to it will cause you to dump adrenaline and raise your blood sugar the same way that stress will. When I looked at the research, it was pretty clear that niacin has been found to raise the blood sugar of diabetics. I consider niacin, like steriods, a medication that should be used with care for diabetics.