Please stay away from vitamin b6
 

I am so tired of seeing a new person everyday on the b6 boards who has been poisoned by their doctors with the advice of supplementation of b6. It is a toxic vitamin. Some can take it and don't get nervous system
Abnormalities, but many many do! Even small amounts of b6 can be toxic. It is not normal to have elevated b6 levels when supplementing. It means you are toxic. This stupid vitamin keeps ruining lives on a daily basis and I don't understand why the word has not gotten out about it. Some become toxic within days, weeks, months of taking it. It will cause PN in many people, a severe PN. People, please check your supplements. This is one not to mess with unless proven to have a severe deficiency. Eat an avocado.

I had a P.A. recommend that I take B6 to treat my PN numbness. I bought some B6 on iherb.com, but after consulting "Dr. Google" I became hesitant to use any of it. :shrug:

Everyone is different. B6, has to be activated in the body as Pyroidoxine itself is not biologically active in the tissues. This conversion is dependent on B2 (riboflavin) and other biological factors, which can vary from person to person.

Deficiency as well as long term toxicity of high dose supplements both give clinical neurological signs so diagnosis is difficult. Even the testing may be faulty, so that furthers poor diagnostic accuracy.

Here is a good monograph about B6:
Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin B6 — Health Professional Fact Sheet

I think others here could benefit from some data, links that show the dosing in studies that becomes problematic. Anecdotal comments from patients, is not that helpful in the long run, IMO.

I have read almost every study that there is on B6 and doctors who are knowledgeable about b6 toxicity will agree that those ancient studies are incorrect. B6 can be highly toxic in some individuals and all individuals have a threshold. B6 is becoming a coming cause of neuropathy, especially in young healthy individuals who are unknowingly supplementing themselves with a substance that can ultimately ruin their lives. The bottles on the shelves of 100mg and 50mg are not safe and some doctors still prompt their use for reasons which have been proven as incorrect. A simple blood test will rule out a deficiency in b6. It is a supplement with a high risk and considering the majority of developed countries do not see serious b6 deficiency without patients with a history of bypass or anorexia, it should not be supplemented. I see many people everyday whose lives have been destroyed by this vitamin.

also, the long term supplementation that you talk about is also incorrect. There are some who only took it for a week or two and now have neuropathy all over their body. Everything you are referencing is from studies that date multiple decades ago. Take a look at the b6 boards and all the people suffering from its toxicity and you will see that none of what you are saying is correct.

You are free to provide the links to the newest studies to illustrate your points. You are free to express your own opinions, but if you desire to really help people understand them, providing more real information would be very helpful here.

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in what capacity do you see many people everyday whose lives have been destroyed by vitamin b6? i have peripheral neuropathy for almost 15 years now, live in a very large metropolitan area, attend in person several peripheral neuropathy support groups, have talked to many people over the years and have never met anyone in person whose life has been destroyed by vitamin b6. i have read about a couple of cases over those years of people taking too much b6 and it being the cause of their peripheral neuropathy, but very few.

Here is a post from Consumerlab... that some supplement makers may put "more" vitamin in a product..

I have been having neurological symptoms, and a blood test showed I have toxic levels of vitamin B-6. My multivitamin contains 75 mg of B-6, but this is below the upper limit of 100 mg per day. Could my vitamin contain more than it lists? Answered by

This link explains the steps to do to provide an accurate result. Notice the hemolysis as a condition to reject the sample.
Hemolysis occurs when a butterfly needle is used also.
What it means is that the cells in the blood burst and flood the serum with the B6...giving a false elevation. (this commonly also leads to false potassium elevations also).
Vitamin B6 , Plasma (926)

I am still looking for the actual lab procedures... calibration of the machines,etc...but I am having trouble finding it. When I do I will add to this post.

This link explains how high B6 levels in testing occur in people not taking high B6 supplements.
This seems to be related to the MTHFR mutation:

The Cause of Vitamin B6 Toxicity is Not What You Think
MTHFR genetic errors are being found today in up to 30% or more of people tested.

The b6 boards. There are thousands of people with it. It also isn't a coincidence that someone at my own work had the same thing happen. The fact of the matter is that many doctors do not test for it and so the person is labeled idiopathic. How many people have you met with idiopathic neuropathy?? I'm guessing quite a few. Even a person I know who I won't name, her neuro accidentally ordered the b6 test. Had she not ordered it by accident, She would have been labeled idiopathic and continued taking the very supplement that was killing her nerves. She didn't though and she actually got significantly better. Many doctors don't test for it or don't realize that labs return to normal in a matter of weeks, so even if they do order it, if the person isn't taking it anymore, the labs will come back normal. It is a definite problem flying under the radar.

That site isn't exactly credible and the problem with that opinion is that there are many who do become toxic on p5p, so taking p5p is not the answer. I do agree that b6 toxicity causes some type of deficiency but it's not in p5p. Most studies show adequate levels of p5p in the blood even in toxicity. It also doesn't make sense that so many also become toxic on the supposedly safe form of p5p.