Why Does My Core Body Temperature Plummet After a Niacin Flush?

Posted By Marilyn (West Hollywood, Ca) on 04/19/2016

I was just reading a post about niacin flush and it reminded me to ask on this site. When I have taken niacin in the past, sometimes it creates a hot flush for a few minutes which is not a problem. The problem is that it seems my core body temperature plummets afterwards for several hours. I am so cold, I have to stand in a hot shower. Any ideas why this happens and should I take another supplement at the same time as the niacin to prevent the chill effect? Thank you very much!
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Replied by Namaw (Bama) on 04/19/2016

I've been using niacin for about 2 months now for cholesterol. I don't mind the flush, but even a low dose triggers my ibs-d.

Also, like someone else said, I get so cold for hours after. I usually take it at bedtime and then when I first get up. I use a bulk brand that's 547 mg/1/4 tsp, so I'd guess I'm up to 1000 mg per dose. I'm going to have to back off quite a bit, but you'd think after 2 months at this dose the side effects would have resolved. Don't mind the flush at all, but I really don't like the cold or the diarrhea.

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Replied by Andrejka (Mt) on 11/12/2017

Me too. I take niacin for possibly pyroluria/anxiety. During and after the flush my body temp goes down to 93. My body temp normally is 96. Then the flush and colder ambient temps seems to make me colder...I can't think or function and am really cold. Running hot water over my feet helps yet this fails to do positive reinforcement to continue supplementing with regular niacin.
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Replied by Paul (Jessup) on 02/06/2018

I've used Niacin for 40 years in high doses. Only works about once a week because of the tolerance I've built up to it. Temperature drop I figure is because of the vascular dilation of all the capillaries on your surface. Lot of body heat is dropped there so the core goes down. It's a funny thing. I've had it so low that the Red Cross refused to take my blood. I told the girl to try again. She put the thermometer back in my mouth and I just rubbed my tongue across the tip and built up friction. It worked. Some of the electronic thermometers won't even register. They just think something wrong with the machine. Some place I saw that the cut-off rate for hypothermia was 95 and they were supposed to administer emergency procedures. They've never done that. Maybe next time I'll just sag over onto the floor and have them go into panic mode.

I gave a 1Gm capsule to a friend of mine. I told him its effect and told him to only take half of it. He took the whole thing. He'd never taken it before. He totally freaked out on the temperature drop thing. He was getting ready to call 911. His wife put him in a hot tub of water and that worked. That wouldn't work with me. Temperature differences between my body surface and water causes me to itch. There's some info on the web about it causing HGH release. Body see's it as an injury because of the comfort. Any kind of injury releases HGH. Break a leg, then test for IGF-1. You'll see. Actually if you dropped a gram into someone's drink that had never taken it before they'd probably think they were having a stroke or a heart attack sans the pain.

I'm also immune to bee stings now. They still hurt, but I never swell. The hornets piss me off since they don't die. Bee Stings and histamine release. Then the HGH release. Not the Bee Venom that cures the arthritis, but the resulting cascade of chemicals being released in the body.

Niacin is one of the few things that you can be sure is actually working. You'll feel it. A lot of the rest and just so much snake oil. That's why they say you have to take them for 2 months to see the effects. After 2 months you'll either be convinced you wasted your money or you'll convince yourself from some placebo effect that they do work. I know...I've spent $$$$$$ over the last 50 years trying.

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Replied by Epeach (Ga) on 02/08/2018

Hi Paul,

I was wondering if you would share what kind of Niacin you use? I am using the flush free 500 mg inositol hexanicotinate Niacin because that was available at my local store. I recently suffered a pretty bad back injury and was using it for nerve repair and to help me rest. I hear conflicting information about the flush free and was hoping you could enlighten me? Thank you for your time:)

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