It's feeling a little warm in here......

Image:drinksmachine

"So hot in herre....."
Nelly

So I had grand plans to put together some of the reading I've been doing and hit you with a well researched, insightful and entertaining cholesterol post today, but somehow it just didn't happen. Despite that I will endeavor to entertain.

Today I took some niacin, number 3 of B vitamins, reported to have the ability to lower LDL and increase HDL cholesterol. I tend to be an all or nothing kind of girl and looked at the little bottle, read the recommended dose and decided to double it, based on, well, nothing really. So 200mg of nicotinic acid went down the hatch and I didn't really think anything more of it.

Twenty minutes later I was catching up on some of my favorite blogs and I noticed a tingle in my forearms and felt a little warm. A few minutes later I was tearing off my jumper to find my arms and hands were bright pink, my face started to tingle and I rushed to the mirror to see it turn into what I can only explain as the color of a beet before my very eyes. Then it hit me, ahhh this is the niacin flush I'd read about.

A rather strange experience that lasted about an hour, my whole body went red and I had a weird prickly tingling sensation all over, as well as a slight itch. Apparently niacin also promotes the release of histamine which is what causes this itch.

All in all a pretty interesting day of The Great Cholesterol Challenge. I think I might drop the dose tomorrow and see what happens, report to follow.

Have you had any strange experiences taking supplements? Have you had the niacin flush and lived to tell the tale? See you in the comments.

Just a small reminder to read my disclaimer over there on the right. Always remember to consult your medical practitioner before trying anything new.