Barbara is a 44-year-old physician’s assistant who came to
me with concerns over increasing anxiety, restlessness and sleep
disturbance. Her intense schedule at her medical practice
certainly contributed to irregular hours and disrupted patterns
of sleep as she worked in a very busy obstetrical practice. Her
on-call schedule varied week to week and she was juggling this
schedule with her home routine with a husband and two teenage
children.

Barbara was using Ambien several nights weekly to sleep and used
Xanax during the day as frequently. She was often teary and felt
overly reactive to minor inconveniences and was explosive at
times. Her increasing use of Xanax concerned her as she felt it
offered only minimal help and she knew it was interfering with
her mental focus, which she needed for her important work.

Barbara’s story is a complex one and I do not mean to
minimize the work she did with dietary changes, the addition of a
good supplement program, and starting an exercise regimen. All
these things helped a great deal, but her reliance on Ambien and
Xanax went unchanged.

I had heard some interesting reports from my practice partners
about the use of Niacinamide for anxiety and proposed to Barbara
that we add Vital Nutrients Niacinamide 750mg 2 times daily to
her current regimen. Last week, she came to the office for a
follow up visit just 6 weeks after starting the Niacinamide.

I immediately knew there was a significant change in her. Even as
I approached the waiting room, her smile and bright face
encouraged me. She barely made it into my office before she
rambled on about her success with Niacinamide. Not only was she
sleeping well, but also her daily demeanor was calmer, and she
felt clear headed and focused. She also had completely weaned
herself off Ambien and Xanax and had been prescription free for
over a month. She emphatically stated that she had not felt so
well in “many years”. Niacinamide is an under
appreciated nutrient. This form of vitamin B3 is literally
required in hundreds of enzymatic reactions in the body and is
thought to be an endogenous ligand for the benzodiazepine-GABA
receptor complex.