Vitamin B3 Nicotinic Acid (NADH) for Chronic or Long Term Lyme Disease
Vitamin B3, or Nicotinic Acid (NADH), is being recommended by some doctors for people suffering from chronic or long term Lyme Disease. My doctor recommended that I go on it, in addition to the other supplements I’m using.
What is Vitamin B3? The short answer is that it is Nicotinic Acid. It’s often called Niacin or Niacinamide. There are other names as well: 3-Pyridine Carboxamide, 3-Pyridinecarboxylic Acid, Acide Nicotinique, Acide Pyridine-Carboxylique-3, Amide de l’Acide Nicotinique, Anti-Blacktongue Factor, Antipellagra Factor, B Complex Vitamin, Complexe de Vitamines B, Facteur Anti-Pellagre, Niacin-Niacinamide, Niacin/Niacinamide, Niacina y Niacinamida, Niacinamide, Niacine, Niacine et Niacinamide, Nicamid, Nicosedine, Nicotinamide, Nicotinic Acid, Nicotinic Acid Amide, Nicotylamidum, Pellagra Preventing Factor, Vitamin B3, Vitamin PP, Vitamina B3, Vitamine B3, Vitamine PP.
It’s important, however, to realize that they are not all the same. Niacin, also known as NADH, is not identical to Niacinamide, although Niacin metabolizes to Niacinamide in the human body. The preferred supplement for most people is Niacinamide, because NADH causes flushing, which can be quite severe.
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If you go on the NADH form of Vitamin B3, especially if it’s a higher dose, you will almost certainly experience very strong flushing. This includes the appearance of very sunburnt skin and a very strong prickling sensation, almost like a very bad sunburn. It can be quite painful at first.
The good news, if you’re on it, is that this sensation often decreases substantially after you’ve been on it for a while.
Why Go on Vitamin B3?
Knowing how uncomfortable it will probably be, why add to the misery we already go through with long term Lyme Disease? Why go on Vitamin B3 or Niacin (NADH)?
The answer is one most of us with chronic Lyme Disease are looking for. Fatigue. Fatigue and pain are the two major problems most of us face every day. We might be able to find a way to deal with the pain, but (at least in my experience) the debilitating fatigue is much worse than the pain.
I find that if I can stay active, getting plenty of exercise, doing lots of activities, and anything to keep me busy is the best antidote I can find for the pain, along with 1800MG per day of Gabapentin (any higher and I can barely talk – lol!). But the problem is having the energy to stay active.
The awful fatigue of long term Lyme Disease is the worst part of the horror of this disease, at least in my case. I have always been high performance, capable of doing a lot in a day, and it just kills me to be unable to get anywhere close to as much done as I used to.
If you’re like me, you’ve probably been through all the remarks from other people like, “We’re all getting older.” They just don’t understand!
But evidence has been found that combining NADH with CoEnzymeQ10 (Ubiquinol) helps in boosting energy levels in people with fatigue symptoms, such as those of us with Lyme disease. As I understand it, this combination helps use good nutrition to its full potential in helping the body’s immune system overcome this devastating illness.
My doctor was quite clear – he did not want me to get the more commonly used form of Vitamin B3 – Niacinimide – which does not cause the unpleasant flushing. I don’t have it at my fingertips – if you do, please share it in the comments – but my doctor told me that the process that causes the flushing as the niacin is metabolizes helps deal with some of the pain and fatigue producing activity going on in our bodies while we fight off this infection.
My recommendation is that you talk to your own Lyme Literate Medical Practitioner about Vitamin B3. Perhaps it is something they might find a way to use with at least some success as part of your own therapy.
Please let us know in the comment section if you have been using it and what your experience has been. Is there anything else you’ve been using with it?
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