Mental Health High dose Niacin for mental illness

[Tillyy]

Has anybody read the book by Dr. Abram Hoffer called Niacin: The real story? this man claims all mental illness can usually be cured by high dose niacin, as well as magnesium for alcoholism. his reports and studies seem promising. Has anyone else done any research on this?

 

[flyhighk]

It looks too good to be true, but I haven't looked at the research.

Moving to Mental Health

 

[herbavore]

Anybody that claims all mental illness can be cured by any one thing, when we cannot even agree yet about what mental illness really is, would seem to me to either be delusional or out to sell something.Niacin is actually good for lots of things from Lupus to heart disease to mood. But that is a long stretch to "curing all mental illness".

Have you read the book? What did you think? Sometimes the publishers are the ones responsible for ridiculous titles like that so maybe he himself did not make that claim.

 

[bdomihizayka]

I can attest to the powers of Niacin.... I HAVE read the book and it's been the best thing I've ever put in my body. My mood is improved, energy is great, concentration and memory is improved.....

That and Ultra Low Dose Naltrexone are my two saviors. ULDN is taken in dosages of 1mg at bedtime.... the way it works is that it suppresses your endorphins overnight, and once it wears off, which is in a few hours since it;s such a low dose, you are overcompensated with endorphins and feel cheery, uppy, etc..... great for depression, anxiety, and even lowering opiate tolerance.

 

[Prescottdave]

According to Abram Hoffer, megavitamin therapy and other nutritional interventions are potentially effective treatments for serious mental illnesses. Dr Hoffer theorized that mental illness mainly schizophrenia could be cured by large doses of niacin. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association reported methodological flaws in Hoffer's work on niacin as a schizophrenia treatment and referred to follow-up studies that did not confirm any benefits of the treatment. The idea that mental illnesses were due to vitamin deficiencies resulted from studies that showed a correlation to these deficiencies in the mentally ill. Later researched proved it had nothing to do with a specific effect from SMI's on the body but rather a lack of life skills and healthy eating habits that resulted in these deficiencies.The term "orthomolecular medicine" was labeled a misnomer as early as 1973. For the most part the American Medical and Psychiatric Association views niacin treatment for mental illnesses as "pure quackery". Given these facts having a healthy diet and taking a few multivitamins might be helpful but they are surly not meant to be permanent cures for illnesses that have more to do with dopamine levels in the brain.

 

[Mike Deadmonton]

Just recently started using niacin to help with depression. Seems more effective then Wellbutrin or SRI I tried. I am using 500 mg tablets, cut in half to avoid a strong"flush" reaction.