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Can high levels of Niacin cause mania?

Last night I tried 500 mg of niacin at 6 pm (out of curiosity about what my daughter was taking).  I went to an exercise class and had a remarkable "flush". My daughter who is a very clever bipolar Engineering student had started using the niacin 2 weeks prior as an aid to help her sleep.  At the time she had been off pharmaceutical meds for a year and a half.  She had been having a lot of anxiety about this term in University (3rd /4th year) and had heard this might help.  
When I tried to sleep last night I found that my mind was racing (I am not bipolar) and that I was sleeping very lightly if at all until 3 am.  Normally, I fall asleep within a minute and I sleep very soundly.  I wondered if my unusual reaction to the niacin had been experienced by anyone else.  I could not find anyone else who had had a mania symptoms with niacin.  However, it was clearly what I was having.  My daughter was hospitalized with mania on Wed. (2 days ago) and I am starting to wonder if her situation was aggravated by the 500 mg of niacin she has been taking over the last 2 weeks or helped.  She is now on Olanzapine (50 mg) at bedtime until she gets a consult with an outpatient urgent care.
DOES NIACIN CAUSE MANIA?
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Avatar universal
Yes niacin causes mania I took two 500mg tablets and since then felt my mental health deteriorating, it is only going to be temporary but do not take niacin it’s not needed, stay natural and eat healthy
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1 Comments
Sorry you had this experience.  For those reading, make sure you speak to your doctor if they have recommended niacin for an alternative.  We wish you the best and again, thanks so much for sharing.
Avatar universal
Hi,

Please read this link http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/walshMP.htm

I guess Niacin works for over-methylated person and will cause problem to under-methylated person.

Regards
KVS
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574118 tn?1305135284
in PRINCIPLE vitamins are not taken at night this is what i heard in years. Your daughter was either under a great stress due to her study which can lead to mania of course (i suppose it's hypomania rather) or for less sleep over many nights. Less sleep can cause mania.

Usually docs say not to take any vitamins/supplements, minerals even without their consent. About the B vitamins niacin which is a water soluble one (most of the group are as well), the daily need is only 14 mg and max of 35mg. so 500 is very high. if you write in Google B vitamins then in the wikipedia you find that the symptoms include aggression, dermatitis, and insomnia,

I tried something called neurobion tablets for 3 days only which boosted my energy tremendously and made me hyper so i cut it right away. It contained B1, B6, B12 but not niacin.

When classical BP pts are under heavy stress, sleep less etc... any trigger even vitamins can drive them manic. From time to time one has to release the stress. It's like a condenser in engineering it charges and need a discharge. This is why one takes a vacation say, a daily discharge is sex for instance (excuse me) it releases the stress, also long walking with your dog, no jokes here, etc... music.

Don't take vitamins at night.  

As to niacin causing mania, YES it can. In an experiment about people taking niacin:  5,186 people reported to have side effects when taking Niacin. Among them, 4 people (0.08%) have Mania. which is negligeable, although in another experiment On Sep, 14, 2012: 9 people reported to have side effects when taking Niacin And Niacinamide, Indocyanine Green. Among them, 2 people (22.22%) have Mania.  niacin belongs to what is called antidepressant vitamins
http://www.antidepressant.com/antidepressant-vitamins.html

As a rule any antidepressant, whether vitamins, St John wort, etc...doesn't suit bipolars. in Bipoarity one has to take care as he walks and watch out where your legs go, very tricky indeed and not easy at all. By the time one grows older he starts recognising the pitfalls etc...
good luck

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am bi polor  its been a week tha i started taking niacin 1000mg, a day and i dont see any improvements, my main concern is that i am constantly thinking, cinse you use high dose of niacin do you constently think or the high does stops that symptom
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Avatar universal
I have manic bi polar and i take 6000mg of flush free niacin a day along with 3000mg of vitamin c and i have completely cut out all of my mania. i am on no mood altering medication at the moment except for something at night for sleep. i would highly recommend this regimend for anyone with this affliction.
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Avatar universal
I have been very concerned with this exact same question, and have been doing some online research into this:  sorry that I found this so late.
I have been on 750 mg of valproate since 2009, nothing else, and have been focussing on alternative/nutriceutical means of dealing with continued depression.
I always thought that the 'standard' 500 mg niacinamide tab was a high dose, wondered why a smaller tab wasn't available.
I can say without question now that everything else remaining the same, taking this dose seemed to always precipitate ~ 12-24 hrs of hypomania.
For bipolar people who are always sensitive to anything that seems like mania, this is can be very worrisome.
Yes, I feel very energized, hyper-aware, cognition seems (to me) to be sharp:  it is not an unpleasant state to be in.
But it almost always seems to be accompanied by the 'racing' of thoughts, almost as if they cannot be controlled, that tells me that there is a real danger here.
After this happened ~ 1/2 dozen times, I decided to stop taking such a large dose:  I split the tab in half, and don't take more than 250 mg every 2-3 days.
I believe that niacinamide works in alleviating depression, but also that this can lead to hypomania and maybe worse if your mood-stabilizer is not working well.
I would not advise any diagnosed bipolar person to take 500 mg of niacinamide as any single does.
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Avatar universal
My son has been "addicted" to high doses of niacin for years. Dependent on the dose, he gets
Irritable, angry, aggressive , manic and finally psychotic if taking enough of it.

B6 makes him relaxed then manic in a eery relaxed way.

B vitamins affect me by making me very irritable.

Dnavg1
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Avatar universal
Let me only advise you that taking anything internally could have the potential of hurting you.  If you have a question about it, rather than taking it to "see if it might affect...." you would be more wise to call a pharmacist with your question.
I also recommend that you tell your daughter's health care providers about her taking the Niacin.  They definitely need to know this!
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Avatar universal
i think this could be a real possibility.  I get this sort of reaction to vitamins.  i am not bipolar either.
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539549 tn?1315981662
I am bipolar and have taken niacin for years....I took 500mg of niacin the reagular kind not the no flush kind It did cause me to have a niacin flush (which is typical)...it has never caused me trouble with mainia only made me flush wich eased anxiety and caused me to be tired afterwards...It might affect others diffently though. Nician is a B vitamin and B vitmins can cause you to more energetic you shouldn't take them in excess esp if you have bipolar....I have taken other B vitamins in the past that have made me feel slightly manic or hypomanic so I would only take them on days when I felt increibly tired and needed to be alert for school in the mornings.
Helpful - 0
585414 tn?1288941302
That is within clinical potential. No vitamin should be taken at above an FDA approved dose. I am authorized by my neurologist to take manganese for tardive dyskinesia and I take the W.H.O. approved dose as he had stated. But once I accidentally took twice as much and it caused a variety of symptoms including psychosis which were all a sign of manganese toxicity. Its the same with any vitamin or mineral. Remember although B vitamins are of course needed by the body and a healthy supplement there has been no clinical proof that they treat schizophrenia or depression or any other mental illness. I know because I take a vitamin b/c supplement daily (with the normal amounts) and it never provide any symptom mitigation. I do know that after I started the vitamin c I got less colds but that's about it. There can be many symptoms of taking a dose above that reccomended by the FDA of any vitamin or mineral and that can be dangerous especially if they are not fat soluble which of course Vitamin B (of which niacin is one type) is not.
Helpful - 0
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