Niacinamide anyone? Updates on Lithium and Guaifenisin

[Rojzen]

Was just researching the use of Niacinamide for an array of health problems, such as osteoarthritis and a variety of anxiety disorders, when I happened on an abstract referencing many years of study of the use of Niacinamide (oral and topical) for the treatment of inflammatory skin disorders, such as rosacea. See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...indexed=google

Since many experts continue to believe that meibomian gland disease (MGD) is an inflammatory disorder akin to seborrheic dermatitis and rosacea, or that it is a manifestation of such a disorder, I have to think that Niacinamide deserves a good try for MGD.

Ever the human self-experimentation subject, I shall therefore now embark on an unsupervised and poorly documented (:^) trial of the vitamin, to see what happens to my endstage MGD. Niacinamide is water-soluble (very safe) and recommended in megadoses as high as 6000 mg/day. No ill effects have ever been reported, except for liver toxicity in one patient who was taking 9000 mg/day. I will start at 2,000 mg/day, and work upward towards 4500 mg/day.

I will report in a month, or sooner, if anything good or bad should happen before then.

In meantime, for anyone interested in how I've done on Lithium and Guaifenisin (see earlier Rojzen posts): Nutritional Lithium (5 mg elemental/day) has continued to be WONDROUS for my mood and mental clarity, but not consistent for my fibromyalgic pain; and Guiafenisin does not seem to have done anything, yet, for my fibromyalgic pain. (I started the Guiaifenisin long after starting Lithium.) Neither has done anything particular, so far as I can tell, for my DES, but I am having great results from the topical Rx FreshKote, which has weaned me completely off of Restasis, after nearly 4 years on the latter.

[stella]

why is FreshKote a perscription only eye drop ?
and is it available in UK or Europe?

[Rojzen]

FreshKote's Rx status; availability issues

I suspect that FreshKote is Rx, only, because of its patented lipid component. Other products include lipids, like Refresh Endura's castor oil, and Soothe's phospholipid, but possibly FreshKote's proprietary formula has something to do with its Rx status. Not sure why that would be, though. All its components, including its lipid, are what I would consider "generally regarded as safe," a concept used in food safety regulation, but still, FreshKote remains Rx, only. I know that Rebecca will have the answer to this question, in any case, and I believe Dr. Holly himself may soon be participating here at DEZ. . .Then, perhaps he will explain all. ..

Don't know whether FreshKote is available outside the U.S. Apologies that I don't know the best way to search that issue, either. . .

Even in the U.S., FreshKote is not that easy for a pharmacy to get, but most will succeed. I have had both CVS and Walmart get the product for me. . .

Thus far, FreshKote has proven to be superior, in my particular case of MGD, to the non-Rx Dr. Holly products, like Dwelle, which are similar in composition. . .

[stella]

Thanks Rojzen

[calli66]

Rozjen--a question about FreshKote. Does the drop have the sticky-residue-factor like Dwelle? I am trying to substitute Dwelle for my usual Genteal Gel, and it works, but my lashes and lids GLUE themselves together.

Thanks,

Calli

[Rojzen]

yes, but worth the stickiness

Yes, Calli, the FreshKote produces that glue-like residue that sometimes makes opening the eyes a chore, but since the product's benefits are major, for me, I just do extra lid scrubs, throughout the day, whenever the residue accumulates. When I'm out and about, I have a bit of difficulty, because scrub pads, like the Ocusoft ones, are too soapy to use without running water for rinsing, and so there are times I run around with lots of FreshKote caking up on the lashes.

Interestingly, the only real problem this poses is the accumulation of flakes inside my moisture chamber glasses. The flakes are hard to dislodge from the frame, alas. . .On the other hand, the FreshKote helps me so much that I now occasionally go out without the moisture chambers on. . .

I suspect there isn't any way around this situation, in any case, since our ocular surfaces seem to need the heavily concentrated polymers in the Dwelle and FreshKote, but these inevitably must precipitate out, as our eyes dry and cleanse. . .

[kitty]

Warning about Niacinamide

Niacinamide has valium-like effects. 500mg gives me a nice calm and 1000mg knocks me out. At the doses you are going to take, I strongly suggest doing so at bedtime and definitely not when you plan to be driving, operating machinery or doing anything else that might be remotely dangerous, and don't drink alcohol or take any other drug that has depressant properties while taking the Niacinamide. Just because it is a vitamin does not mean that it is without side effects. I also suggest you speak with your doctor about this mega dosing before you start it.

[Rojzen]

indeed; and yet we are all different

Thank you, Kitty. . .I have indeed noted those warnings about the sedating effect of Niacinamide, but I'm wired so strangely that even on my starting dose of 3,000 mg./day, I'm experiencing no such effect, and continue, in fact, to be a hyper and sleepless individual, on the whole (:^)).

My docs, moreover, are OK with my experiment, as Niacinamide has been shown to be effective for several conditions I have that are not responding much to medication (such as hypertension), and we are eager to see whether something other than an Rx will help. I am blessed with one doc, in particular, who is on top of nutritional supplements, and very open to them. She, in fact, got me to reconsider my megadosing on soy/isoflavone supplements (based on concerns about excessive plant estrogen intake), and to substitute a non-hormone Rx to handle some global problems I have.

Anyway, I know I seem brash, in the experiments I announce here, but I actually come from a grounding that is very suspicious of adding anything un-natural to the diet. The apparent brashness comes from my realizing that our nutritional intake, these days, is seriously defective and unhealthful, on the whole, and that what might have seemed like megadosing and exoticism some decades ago may, in fact, be more akin to replacing grossly missing essential nutrients, today. My interest in Lithium, for example, fits this description. We no longer get much trace lithium from our soil, in most locations. . .but WOW, when I add a little to my diet, my brain gets crisp, clear, and relaxed, and many chronic body aches disappear. This feels natural to me. . .

Anyway, the Holy Grail supplement for our DES continues to elude me, so far. . .but who knows? Maybe Niacinamide megadosing will be that, for some of us who do not get drowsy on it.

More on all this soon, I hope. . .

[NYer]

Regarding Niocinamide

I was prescribed "Nicomide" (which is niocinamide, zinc, copper, and folic acid) for rosacea (my face, specifically, not my eyes, although if it helped one, it should have helped the other). I stayed on it for two months - one pill twice a day. It did absolutely nothing. So I went off.
I didn't notice the "valium-like" effects, discussed above. But maybe I was relaxed and just not noticing those things, LOL.
Anyway, it didn't help my face or my eyes, I'm sorry to report.

[ChiBella]

Niocinamide..Anything else I can try?

Darn! Was going to try this also. I've had this strange dry eye/bleph whatever it is for over 5 months now. It all started after a reaction to bactrim. I'm desperate to find something that works. I have been to 4 doctors and each has a different diagnosis. One says it's blepharitis, one says it's an allergy, one says it's just dry eye, and another (dermotologist) thinks it's Rosacea. I have been on every eye drop known...including TobraDex, Lotemax, Zylet, Elestat, Panaday...and all the flavors of artificial tears with no improvement. The steroids did seem to at least get the red out but I overdid it so had to stop that all together (eye pressure was over 20) --and it didn't really improve things very much. I also tried stopping everything which REALLY made things worse.

I currently have punctal plugs (lower), using Restaises for over a month, just bought the tranquileyes (used it for 2 nights) and also ordered the Panoptx sunglasses. Currently I'm using Nutratear, Xibrom, Dwelle with some improvement, but not too much. I'm also using the Rosacea-Ltd III skin conditioner (applied on my eye lids and on the remaining lumps I have from the bactrim allergy). I have to say, this does seem to soothe my eyes but if you over do it, it has the reverse effect. I'm taking doxycycline (low dose now for one month). I notice my eyes are worse if I skip a day of the antibiotics and/or the Restasis so apparently they are doing something.

I asked my eye doctor to remove the punctals last week and he didn't want to do it. I am concerned that poor tear-quality tears may be trapped causing my current redness/pain. Only the bottom 1/4 section of my eyes are red while the top is perfectly white. I am going to go to yet another new doctor next week for another opinion. The new doctor works for The Stein Institute so I'm hoping he has more experience with dry eye and will actually "test" my tears to find out what is missing.

My theory is that the Restasis is actually repairing my tears ever so gradually, but the plugs are trapping the bad tears. My current doctor thinks I still need both and that gradually the tears will become the right consistency and balance out. He thinks the oily tears I now have are because the meiobians are trying to compensate for the lack of water in my tears.

This is the most frustrating, painful thing we are living with. Who knew that something as innoculous sounding as "dry eye" could disrupt one's life to this extent. I work in the computer industry and my job requires me to work 12-14 hours a day. Since this problem, I'm lucky if I can work 6 hours. I recently tried to visit friends in Palm Springs and had to cut my trip short because the dry weather was unbearable. Hopefully with the goggles and glasses I ordered this will improve.

Any other ideas from anyone...I'm all ears (but not eyes)!