Spicy food symptoms and conditions

I was prescribed Doxycycline Hyclate 100m for acne on January 20th 2009. Then, on February 6th, I took the medication at 11:00 only to wake up at 11:40pm with severe chest pains. I have never had anything wrong with me heath wise and the first thing that popped into my mind was the medicine. I went to the doctors the next day because the pain had become so severe and i could not eat or drink anything (even water) without feeling a sudden sharp pain. They did an x-ray and found nothing wrong. I was told it was probably anxiety and this medicine had nothing to do with the chest pains. I
went ahead and took it again last night only to still have chest pains so i decided to do research on this medicine and came to this where i found posts in which similar things were experienced upon taking the medication. I have just stopped taking the medication today and am hoping for the pains to go away.

I'm on my sixth week of Levoxyl 50 mcg. I've been feeling great, and even losing some fat. I've been able to work my 14-hour Mondays without any caffeine at all as well. My pancreas must have been stimulated to work more efficiently, because I don't wake up hungry, I don't get the sugar crash and shakiness before meals, and I can go longer between eating without feeling homicidal.

The only weird thing: my lips are extremely dry. They're cracked, chapped and swollen so much it looks like I had a lip job. Even a tiny bit of salt hurts to eat it, as well as wine and spicy food. IDGI.

I've been on Wellbutrin XL 300mg for 3 days and I've had a splitting headache for 3 days. The evening of the second day came the nausea and crying and disorientation. Maybe the crying is not a side effect as I was doing that before I started the meds. All I want to know is can I take something for the headaches while taking the Wellbutrin. Does anyone know of anything. I guess I should call my doctor.

No Need to Experience the Flushing of Niaspan !!!!
NOT an allergic reaction OR a "cardiac" reaction,.. it IS temporary & it is PROSTAGLANDIN !! Try this,...
Not a big deal. ~90% of ALL patients can tolerate Niaspan / ER-niacin
1-2 gms/day,.. IF,.. the prescriber knows a few tricks. Dr. Wm. Castelli, he uses plain ole crystalline niacin AND Niaspan. 40 years ago, ALL they had was IR-Immediate Release aka plain ole crystalline niacin,.. 3-4 gms a day MONO therapy. The patients FORGET THE ASPIRIN which prevents the flush. If you forget to take an aspirin AT LEAST 30 min before dosing,.. FLUSH! Taking with the dose is too late. SOLUTION 40 YEARS AGO?
Alka-Seltzer ; that`s a 325 mg of AQUEOUS aspirin, no need to take sooner,.. wash down the niacin with that. AFTER,.. you eat 3 TBS applesausce whil waiting for the ALKA-SELTZER tablet to dissolve. Use just enough water to swallow pill, so you get all of the 325 mg aspipirin in the ALKA-SELTZER. 90% of patients get through the 'rough' 1st 2-4 weeks & stick with it after. IT IS THE ONLY DRUG WITH AN FDA INDICATION TO HAVE BEEN PROVEN TO REVERSE CAD, REGRESSION.
Remember; hot drinks, alcohol, spicy food less than 2-3 hrs prior to Niaspan is a NO-NO !!
Take care,.. ...be well... Steve the Lipid Guy

The flushing is tolreable. The itching is intolerable. I'd rather have heart surgery than suffer with that infernal itching. My cardiologist believes the severe itching is unrelated to the Niaspan because the reaction has only occured twice since I started taking the medication 6 months ago. I disagree. It seems to me the itching is caused by the Niaspan, together with some other unknown factor. There may be something to the "spicy food" suggestion posted by others. Last night, I ate a bunch of hot peppers an hour or so before taking the Niaspan. I woke at 3 am, with a mild hot flash, followed by the dreaded itching. Pure torment! My chest, back and legs were bright red. A cold shower helped a little. On the first occasion, two months ago, Benedril help some, but relief did not begin for over an hour after taking it. (Take at least two tablets!) But last night, I didn't mess around with Benedril. Instead, I took two codine tablets I had left over from surgery. Relief! If you are suffering from this terrible side-effect, may God be with you!

I have had GERD for 3 years, and I took Nexium to treat it for the first 2 years... worked great, could eat whatever I wanted (I love spicy food!) with no side effects. My insurance stopped covering Nexium, so I began to take Aciphex as both my mother and grandmother have taken it for years (GERD runs in our family). In the last week, I have had a sensation like a huge lump in my throat, and the feeling that I could not take a deep enough breath. Since I have dealt with anxiety in the past, I thought it must be that... however, I noticed that I was burping much more than usual and when I wasn't burping, I felt like I needed to but couldn't. I have felt miserable, and thought something was really wrong with me. Tonight, I found this site and another of people complaining of the experience I am having. I am not taking Aciphex for the rest of the week and will see how I feel. I hope that the way I feel is due to the side effects of this medicine! I will pay out of pocket for Nexium, b/c the way I feel no is unacceptable. My mom and grandmother have never had these problems, however, medicine affects all people differently... I just don't think Aciphex and I go together.

After taking Niacin for several years, I have the itching problem and my legs started to weep. Has this happened to anyone else? Eating beef seems to maximize the itching. JT

OMG! Tonight is my second night on Niaspan. I took the aspirin beforehand etc.. I am experiencing severe itching. I'm about to cut off my fingernails, I'm itching so badly. As I type, one foot is rubbing the other - I ITCH EVERYWHERE AND CAN'T KEEP FROM SCRATCHING!!! And it won't stop! I tried taking 2 benadryl about a half hour ago, and thus far no relief. If it continues to worsen I'll call the "ask a nurse" line to see if I should go in to poison control or the hospital. This is crazy!

Iam taking 500 mg only - today I awoke with terrible red rash on upper left leg and lower right - - does NOT itch or burn - just there - has ANYONE had a rash while taking niaspan??? need answers!

I take 325mg before going to bed and I take 2000mg of Niaspan. I also each a small bowl of Total cereal. This combination seems to really help because I used to get terrible flushing and itching but haven't since adding the bowl of Total at night.

I take my Niaspan at bedtime, having taken an 81 mg. asprin tablet about a half hour prior. I stil will awaken sometimes about 4-5 hours later and, well, if you're googling niacin flush, you know the rest. Then, because I HAVE to scratch, even though it's not exactly an itch, my skin then feels raw. After about a half hour I will typically get up and walk to the kitchen on the cold tile floors in bare feet and drink something cold - just a few sips and get some damp paper towels to blot whatever burns the most. This seems to help some. At least, I usually then go to sleep, but maybe after a half hour to 45 minutes, the flush was about to remediate itself anyway. Who knows!

1500mg/day for 2 yrs now and it's been a lonnnnng road with this flushing and itching. The typical avoidance foods, hot showers, spicy foods..etc..all help to aoid the side effects. However, if you still get that flushing/itching effect, take some antihistamine medication. Benedryl works, although it will make you drowsy, but it's worth it ! It relieves the itching !

Why does this happen ? it's NOT niacitic poisoning like some on this site suggest. Niaspan causes vasodilation of your the blood vessels in your skin. This causes your mast cell to increase thus triggering a production of histamine in your skin receptors. This is what causes the unbearable itching to occur. It is completely harmless, however, it can be un-bearable at times when the flushing/itching become severe. So taking an ANTI-histamine works well. Time on the medication helps. Reducing the dosage may help as well, however, you will most likely see a drop in your HDL levels by 5-7% for every 500mg drop in dosage.

Hang in there, hopefully big Pharm will come up with a new drug to increase HDL.. I know they are working on it as we speak, but may take a few more years.

I take 1500 mg. Niaspan about 1 1/2 to 2 hours before going to bed. My Dr. advised me to take it with apple juice. My low fat snack and low dose aspirin is 30 minutes prior to taking niaspan/apple juice. As long as I follow this routine there is very little flushing. If I take niaspan sooner than 30 minites I have medium flushing for about 45 minutes.

At 2000mg I got such bad itching that I almost stopped taking it. I reduced my intake to 1500mg and al things considered, I won't be going back to 2000mg.

HAVE BEEN TAKING NIASPAN 500MG FOR ABOUT TWO AND ONE HALF WEEKS. TAKE IT BEFORE GOING TO BED THEN TWO HOURS LATER I AM AWAKEN BY BURNING OVER MY WHOLE BODY. THE LENGTH OF TIME VARIES. I ALSO TAKE TOPROL FOR RAPID HEART BUT BELIEVE THIS MEDICINE IS KEEPING MY HEART RATE UP, I WILL AWAKEN WITH MY HEART BEATING OUT OF MY CHEST. WOULD IT BE WISE TO DISCONTINUE USING NIASPAN? WENDELL PAYTON

I have been taking Ni aspa n for 9 months now. My Dr. started me at 500 mg. after I mo. increased to 1OOO mg. then after 2 more mos. 1500 mg.

I am alright when I take 500mg of Niaspan at bed time but if I increase it to 1000 or as my Dr wants 1500, I have a severe reaction. It does not happen right away but about 4 hours after I take it. The itching is unbearable. I was told that over the counter items like Benedril(sp) would help but it takes a long time if it does help. I do not get these reactions every night, sometimes once or twice a week. I was told to take an aspirin or Advil before taking the niaspan and that seems to lesson the attack. I will say when I took the 1000mg it doubled my HDL(good) cholesterol but I don't think the unbearable itching is worth it. I have been told by my Alergy Doctor that there is something to take to prevent the attacks but he could not remember what it was. He did say that it is not an alergic reaction but a cardiac reaction. I wish I could find the remedy because it has helped raise my HDL dramatically.

I've been taking Advair for three weeks. Some very strange things have been happening to my body, such as:weight gain, can't eat hot spicy food, no fruit, soda, or hot drinks. Tongue is so very sore and bright red. Leg cramps continue both during day and night. I thought I was going crazy until I read this website. Thanks to all who have shared their discomforts. Let me add that my husband has been on Advair for five years and has never had any side effects. I guess some can and some can't take this medication.

I had a migraine for 8 days, nothing would help. Saw my chiropractor, then saw my primary doc. She realized my bp had been climbing steadily over the past 2 years. I am 31, female, slightly over wieght with bp 135-150/90-100. I tried to use CO Q 10 supplements 300 mg once daily. I have to say I felt GREAT but my bp stayed the same and the headache was beter, mild but persistant. I gave in and started taking lisinopril 10mg. Head ache has been better, mild and hit and miss. Ok, that is the only thing I can say for it. I have such a God aweful back ache I just want to cry. My cough is keeping me up at night and is sometimes gagging, my asthma is way,way worse, and the thought of spicy food forget it. Had pizza at my brothers house. I took zantac then tried to eat 20 minutes or so later. I nearly threw up, and not because of usual upset feeling. Reflux was just horrible.It has only been three weeks but my bp is up to 160/100, maybe because I feel so bad and sleep deprived. I will call my doc tomorrow. Thanks to this page I know I am not just falling apart. By the way my mom started this same med 3 months ago. She is fine with it, except for the cough maybe. She is an asthmatic, smoker, with allergies. It is had to say when her cough gets worse, but she has complained that her asthma has really bothered her early this year. HHMMM.....