Is niacin really a cure for psychotic disorders?

[JustGotOut]

Just read this link that seems promising.

http://www.doctoryourself.com/review_hoffer_B3.html

Probably the important parts are here:

1) As a rule, the more ill you are, the more niacin you can hold without flushing. In other words, if you need it, you physiologically soak up a lot of niacin. Where does it all go? Well, a good bit of it goes into making nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD. NAD is just about the most important coenzyme in your body.  It is made from niacin, as its name implies.

2) Niacin is also works in your body as an antihistamine. Many persons showing psychotic behavior suffer from cerebral allergies. They need more niacin in order to cope with eating inappropriate foods. They also need to stop eating those inappropriate foods, chief among which are the ones they may crave the most: junk food and sugar.

3) There is a chemical found in quantity in the bodies of schizophrenic persons. It is an indole called adrenochrome. Adrenochrome (which is oxidized adrenalin) has an almost LSD-like effect on the body. That might well explain their behavior. Niacin serves to reduce the body’s production of this toxic material. 

 

I've heard many stories of people who took it when they couldn't sleep in a psychotic state and would sleep 18 quality hours. I'm not really in a need to take it because i'm on a very lose dose of antipsychotic as is. Obviously though I would rather take niacin then the 4 meds I currently take but I currently have no symptoms other than getting tired during the end of the day besides that no symptoms. So what do you all think?

[Closure]

You do know this is almost certainly a whole lot of quackery.

[Blahblah]

53 minutes ago, JustGotOut said:

Just read this link that seems promising.

http://www.doctoryourself.com/review_hoffer_B3.html

Probably the important parts are here:

1) As a rule, the more ill you are, the more niacin you can hold without flushing. In other words, if you need it, you physiologically soak up a lot of niacin. Where does it all go? Well, a good bit of it goes into making nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD. NAD is just about the most important coenzyme in your body.  It is made from niacin, as its name implies.

 

2) Niacin is also works in your body as an antihistamine. Many persons showing psychotic behavior suffer from cerebral allergies. They need more niacin in order to cope with eating inappropriate foods. They also need to stop eating those inappropriate foods, chief among which are the ones they may crave the most: junk food and sugar.

 

3) There is a chemical found in quantity in the bodies of schizophrenic persons. It is an indole called adrenochrome. Adrenochrome (which is oxidized adrenalin) has an almost LSD-like effect on the body. That might well explain their behavior. Niacin serves to reduce the body’s production of this toxic material. 

 

I've heard many stories of people who took it when they couldn't sleep in a psychotic state and would sleep 18 quality hours. I'm not really in a need to take it because i'm on a very lose dose of antipsychotic as is. Obviously though I would rather take niacin then the 4 meds I currently take but I currently have no symptoms other than getting tired during the end of the day besides that no symptoms. So what do you all think?

I had a Naturopath woman suggest that Niacin was a good supplement for mood disorders like depression/anxiety and chronic fatigue. She emphasized buying the kind that makes you flush. It made my skin a bit "prickly" feeling. Feels like the blood is all rushing/circulating to your face after you take it.

It's not a cure by any means, but it did make me feel kind of good when I tried it - a brief increased sense of wellbeing.... it gave me a bit of an endorphin rush, like the after effects of an intense workout.

[notloki]

We have been using Niacin for heart disease for a long time. Someone should of noticed by now, but they did not because this is junk science.

[JustGotOut]

Looks like I found the goods here.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25855923

Key part:

"We present a short description of our case report which showed rapid improvement in schizophrenic psychotic symptoms subsequent to administration of niacin as an augmentation therapy. "

#ThereIsHope

[Closure]

Um just from reading the abstract, it says that they think that some subset of people with schizophrenia whose symptoms benefit from niacin supplementation, not that all or even most people with schizophrenia do. So I wouldn't be getting my hopes up. Feeding schizophrenics in general niacin in hopes of treating their psychosis would be like feeding people with MDD in general methylfolate in hopes of treating their depression; just like there is a subset of people with MDD who benefit from methylfolate but most people with MDD do not, there most likely is a subset of people with schizophrenia who would benefit from niacin but most people with schizophrenia would not.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Closure

[JustGotOut]

1 hour ago, Closure said:

Um just from reading the abstract, it says that they think that some subset of people with schizophrenia whose symptoms benefit from niacin supplementation, not that all or even most people with schizophrenia do. So I wouldn't be getting my hopes up. Feeding schizophrenics in general niacin in hopes of treating their psychosis would be like feeding people with MDD in general methylfolate in hopes of treating their depression; just like there is a subset of people with MDD who benefit from methylfolate but most people with MDD do not, there most likely is a subset of people with schizophrenia who would benefit from niacin but most people with schizophrenia would not.

Even if its just some of schizophrenics, its definitely worth looking into especially if you are treatment resistant and nothing else is working. Even a one percent chance at recovery is better than nothing.

[DopamineSick]

No.

[Blahblah]

11 hours ago, Closure said:

Um just from reading the abstract, it says that they think that some subset of people with schizophrenia whose symptoms benefit from niacin supplementation, not that all or even most people with schizophrenia do. So I wouldn't be getting my hopes up. Feeding schizophrenics in general niacin in hopes of treating their psychosis would be like feeding people with MDD in general methylfolate in hopes of treating their depression; just like there is a subset of people with MDD who benefit from methylfolate but most people with MDD do not, there most likely is a subset of people with schizophrenia who would benefit from niacin but most people with schizophrenia would not.

Do you guys think that it would be a danger for the OP to try Niacin while staying on the regular meds dosage? I would not recommend going off of any meds, but I don't know, maybe OP, you could check with your pdoc and discuss trying Niacin as a supplement, if it is in fact safe with your other meds?

[melissaw72]

1 hour ago, Blahblah said:

Do you guys think that it would be a danger for the OP to try Niacin while staying on the regular meds dosage? I would not recommend going off of any meds, but I don't know, maybe OP, you could check with your pdoc and discuss trying Niacin as a supplement, if it is in fact safe with your other meds?

I've tried niacin in addition to meds, but personally saw no difference.  I was taking the niacin for about 6 months, then wanted to know if it was helping or not, so I stopped taking it and felt no different.