B6 toxicity

[magster123]

I developed severe pins and needles, pain and burning in my right arm and right leg and foot about 4 weeks after topping my B6 supplement total to about 200+ mg daily, from all the various holistic practitoners giving me supplements. I have been in miserable pain for 9 weeks now. I have had to take Tramadol and diazepam throughout the day just to get by.
I had to go to a neurologist- normal neuro exam, normal brain and spine MRI. I'm left with this parathesia and sciatica pain, and no one believes in B6 neurotoxicity, or has ever heard of it. I pushed my doctor to give me a requisition for a B6 level blood test. I'll get the results back in about a week. Thank goodness, some folks in this forum believe that what I'm going through is not just in my head. I don't know how to reverse the damage, if it can be reversed. Can magnesium help?

[magster123]

Thank you for your kind response a while back. Could you tell me more about the digestive enzymes idea? Why does that help heal B6 toxicity? Did a doctor tell you about that, or is there any literature online about that? It has been5 months now that I have had the right hand and foot paresthesia. I am taking magnesium and sublingual B12. No changes in my symptoms. Have you noticed the digestive enzymes helping? If so, how much/how often do you take them? I am running out of ideas to try to heal. Thank you very much.

[Meganamy]

Sorry to hear all that, but welcome to the group. I think one thing we have all struggled with is having many doctors who are not familiar with B6 toxicity and think we are exaggerating or even inventing our pain.

I have been taking magnesium for the 4 years that I've suffered from B6 toxicity. It does not help at all, but it does not hurt. I take it because I suffer from constipation as a side effect of the Lyrica that I take to dampen the B6 toxicity pain.

I convinced an endocrinologist to test my B6 levels and my rest was 46, which they said was normal. I can't remember the units but I've had other people on the forum (http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Nutrition/B6-Toxicity/show/2642?personal_page_id=884412) tell me that that is still a high number. It was a blood test. There's no commonly accepted test for measuring B6. A friend who is a nurse told me that the B6 would be in my nerves or fat cells and so measuring my blood was not a good measure, anyway.

The only things which have helped me are:
1) Time
2) Avoiding foods high in B6 (flax, soy, potatoes, bananas)
3) Digestive Enzymes with food that's high in B6 (Nature's Plus, I get them from VitaCost.com)