My B6 was really high because of a B complex I was taking. My neuro had me get off the supplement for 3 months then back on; there was no effect on my symptoms either way. I would just say that if you're taking other supplements, look at them to see if they contain B6. Mine did, so I cut back on those vitamins and minerals. Also I was drinking Vitaminwater every day without realizing that it had B6. Not much, but I played it safe by also cutting back on that; and continued taking the B complex which helps my hair loss.

My B6 was also elevated. I think it contributed to the severity of my SFN.
I did not take it everyday and hadn't even taken it for a while before being tested. I will never know how high it really got, but I stay far away from any supplement with B6.

David,
Keep in mind that it takes much longer than 3 months for nerves to heal.
From what I understand, some people have trouble absorbing this properly.

My B6 was also quite high when initially tested, about 3x the normal range. I was only taking a generic multi-vitamin at the time. My neurologist also claimed it could have been a contributing factor to my sfn.

So I immediately stopped the vitamin, made an effort to avoid foods high in B6 and drank lots of water. When retested 3 months later, I was back within range, at the high end of normal. But unfortunately, the lower B6 level did not provide any symptom relief.

It appears many people diagnosed with neuropathy present with high B6 levels of unknown origin. I think it's a mystery for many patients.

This question comes up all the time. I think for most people it is a red herring.

If blood tests are done in labs that don't do this test often, then the calibration of the machines may be off. Also there are many machines and they they differ when reporting and use different ranges.

Blood cells can lyse ( burst) when handled and this would release the contents of the cells into the serum specimen. This is well known with potassium readings and many of those are factitiously high (artificially high) also.

The B6 in supplements and food are not all pyridoxal in form, and pyridoxine(non active form) may not be converted well in some people (failure in pyridoxal kinase enzyme), and may build up in the body and show up higher in testing.

The actual numbers of patients damaged by high B6 took over 100mg a day for a LONG time to develop the toxic B6 syndrome. Many used 500mg a day for years, to treat PMS, carpal tunnel and other things by doctors.

I have yet to see any study showing elevated serum levels which gives the actual amounts of B6 those patients developed symptoms from.

From what I gather, it occurs at 4 times the upper limit when it is considered toxicity. I'll try to find the research. I don't think its very clear yet anyway. Its amazing what deficiencies, elevations, and metabolism of vitamins and minerals can do to people. Also how they work in conjunction with each other and how delicate the process is.

That is not correct. I took b6 100mg for less than a week and developed nerve issues and took it on another occasion for a brief few weeks before I had nerve damage everywhere. The old reports and studies of people not getting nerve damage without long term supplementation and large amounts is incorrect. Spreading information such as that could harm someone. There are people who took b6 for less than 2 weeks @100mg and even less and ended up with permanent nerve damage.

I'm not sure if the comment was aimed at me (likely for the posted after me), but just for the record I'm well aware that it takes much longer than 3 months for nerves to hear, if at all. If only it took 3 months!

Though in all seriousness I've heard that if nerve damage is due to such things (e.g., vitamin toxicity or deficiency), once the cause of the problem is removed, one often sees much more immediate improvement, certainly much more so than say in a situation like mine where it's likely immune mediated.

Hi David, I was answering Protector. Sorry about that.

I don't think b6 is a safe supplement for some people.
My nerve damage is immune mediated as well, but I believe the deficiencies I have from what ever process is going on is hurting me.
I also think the b6 was an irritating factor so have been staying away from it especially these past few months.