by Craig Gross

Created on: March 30, 2009

If you are one of the tens of millions of people around the world taking Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, Restoril, or any other anti-anxiety drugs in a class called benzodiazepines, you might want to consider a healthier, natural alternative known as niacinamide.

Benzodiazepenes have been linked to some very serious side effects, ranging from mild cognitive dysfunction to extreme addiction to death. In the 1990's, statistics show that there were more benzo-related deaths than deaths from heroin, morphine, and cocaine combined.

Studies show that benzos can become highly addictive within just 4 weeks, and once addicted, it is quite difficult and can even be dangerous to end use of the medication even when weaned off slowly over several years. Also, in long-term usage, they can actually increase the psychiatric and anxiety-related problems they were meant to help.

So how about a healthy alternative? Not only one that can work as well or better than benzos without the dangerous side effects and with a similar mechanism of action, but one that has also shown in clinical studies to significantly decrease withdrawal effects from benzos.

So what is this new miracle drug? It's not a drug. It's a vitamin.

Athough there are dozens of different names for Vitamin B3, there are actually only three different forms - niacin, inositol hexaniacinate, and niacinamide. The second two forms are just niacin molecules attached to other substances to change their molecular structure and therefore change their therapeutic benefits.

Niacinamide, or amide of niacin, is a molecule of niacin attached to another substance called an amide. In this form, you will not get the flushing effect(redness, itching, and heat) associated with high doses of regular niacin. You will usually see this labeled as a "flush-free source of vitamin B3", but make sure it's niacinamide and not inositol hexaniacinate, as the inositol form is also flush free. Among many other benefits, niacinamide has been found in both scientific studies and numerous user reports to have the same or stronger anti-anxiety effects than benzodiazepines without the dangerous side effects or highly addictive properties of benzos or the uncomfortable flushing effect of regular niacin.

Most doctors who are aware of niacinamide's anti-anxiety effects will probably start you off at 500mg 3 times daily and slowly increase the dosage until the desired effect is achieved. Some people require as much as 6000mg daily to achieve optimal results.

Although rarely associated with any side effects, you should always consult a healthcare professional before trying niacinamide in any high dosage, especially if you have liver problems.

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