It is Niaspan. My husband took it for 2 weeks, and had really bad side effects, so he's off it now.

The name of the drug is indeed Niastan. It is a cholesterol drug used for those with low HDL levels. Not much feedback on side effects as of yet.

Niaspan was prescribed for both my husband and I. It is the drug of choice if your LDL (whether elevated or not) is of the small, dense type. I fussed over the price so my doctor told me I was welcome to take niacin instead. The price difference is one cent v. one dollar per day (after insurance). I asked my cardiologist if this was okay and she said sure, there might be more side effects with niacin. My husband and I were told to take an asperin 20 minutes before taking the niacin to reduce the symptoms. The first day was awful, the second day not quite so bad and now I have few if any symptoms. My ears get a bit hot and red but I can handle that. Let me reiterate for the OP, it isn't the LDL Number it is the size. I also have this strangely shaped choesterol that has a screw like protrusion that sticks into the walls of my arteries. As I understand it, taking niacin or niaspan is not going to correct this situation, it will merely slow down the occlusion of the arteries. It is a genetic defect. I bought the niacin from behind the counter at Costco. It was very reasonable. Please note that you cannot substitute over the counter extended release niacin. It does not work!!!

My husband's now on Lovaza, which is high-potency fish oil (prescription). He's tolerating this very well; he'll see in January when he has his bloodwork whether his HDL went up.

oops, sorry. I misread the original posting. I saw LDL where you wrote HDL. I am sure that my cardiologist is hoping that my HDL will go up as well as changing the size and density of my LDL. I didn't know there was a prescription strength fish oil. I will be very interested in reading your post in January giving us an update on your husband's cholesterol.

I hope it does work for him.

The drawback to the Lovaza is that it's very expensive. His copay for a month's supply is $73.67. Without insurance it would cost $198.69 a month.

It's a 1-gram capsule; you have to take 4 a day.

He takes 2 in the morning, and 2 at lunchtime.