Thanks JRD. In case you haven't already read, you might find it interesting that, at the start of his trials, Jivetalk was taking 100mg Niacin twice per day and then would take 300mg before an O. However, when he stopped taking his daily doses and only took Niacin before O, he seemed to get much better results. Last we heard he was taking just 100-200mg before O with symptoms reduced to 10-20% intensity. So perhaps you might find you get better results by stopping your regular doses.
A related update from my experiences: I tried taking one Niacinamide capsule (550 mg) each day for about a week, and then at the end of the week had an O in the evening, having taken an additional 550 mg about an hour before the O. So that last day I took 550 mg in the morning, and another 550 mg in the evening. Also, the evening 550 mg was taken relatively soon after eating, so it wasn't on a fully empty stomach.
The next day, I didn't experience the 85% improvement effect that I had previously achieved with Niacinamide-- it seemed like a pretty 'normal' POIS episode, or at most around 20-30% improvement. So something wasn't working as well.
I stopped taking the 550 mg each day, and then at the end of the following week, had another O, having taken 1100 mg a couple hours before the O, on an empty stomach -- and then the next day, I had the 85% improvement effect again.
Now, there are a number of different factors that I can think of in comparing the not-effective episode with the effective episode:
1) The effective one was from taking the Niacinamide on an empty stomach, while the non-effective one involved a non-empty stomach.
2) The effective one involved taking 1100 mg shortly before O in the evening, while for the non-effective one I had taken 550 in the morning, and then 550 in the evening shortly before O.
3) For the effective one, I hadn't been taking Niaciniamide each day for a week beforehand, while for the non-effective one I had been taking Niacinamide each day for a week before hand.
I should also note that
neither of the episodes involved any flushing.
So, which of the factors 1), 2), and 3) might have made a difference? (Or another unknown factor.) It could be the empty stomach factor, or it could be the 1100 vs 550 dosage, but in light of Jivetalk's experience, I might be inclined to say that the non-effective episode might have been from taking Niacinamide every day.
So, to test this theory out, I will plan
not to take it everyday, and I can try two different tests: I can try taking 1100 mg, but on a non-empty stomach; and, I can try taking 550 mg, but on an empty stomach. I'll report back on how that goes. But in general, it would be interesting if we could demonstrate that taking it every day reduces its effectiveness.