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B6 (pyridoxal phosphate) levels very high in bloodwork

I have been tested twice recently for B6 level.  My first test two months ago indicated a 156 level with normal range being 20-96.  My second test indicated at 283 level.  My physician has no idea what this means and if there is a problem.  I am concerned that there is a toxic level of B6 and I should be doing something about it.  I'm not talking anything except multi-vitamin.  I've been concerned about my health for some time as I'm quite fatigued, anxious at work, balance issues (the term lightheaded would be the closest) eyes are sensitive to light, have trouble focusing on people when they talk, and have a few other issues like trouble concentrating, sense of smell has been gone for years and my sense of taste has been affected for quite some time as well.  My skin is quite raw on the knuckles and I think I have psoriasis as well as my nails are pitted and raised.  Not sure what is related but I definitely feel that there is something physicially wrong with me and this high B6 level has been the first thing to come up as being something worth pursuing.  Any help would be appreciated.  
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Avatar universal
I just had the exact same thing happen to me.  My level was quite high.  The normal range was 5-30.  Mine was 100.  All I was taking was a multivitamin.  I hadn't even taken a vitamin for 24 hrs. when the test was run and  it was fasting.I have numbness, tingling, twitching, weakness, balance problems.  I have had extensive work-ups for MS... all negative.  No can find a cause for my symptoms.  I see the neuro next week and will talk with him about it.  I hope you stopped the multivitamin.....B6  is water soluable so it should not build uppp in the system.  I personally feel it's a metabolic problem causing us to retain it?????  Let me know if you learn anything new.
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Avatar universal
Thanks Patsy...anything you find out about this would be much appreciated.  I know that deficiency is an issue but 'm definitely concerned about excess/toxic levels being an issue as well as there is definitely something causing this.  I know that there is something off with me right now and this is the first thing that's come up that may be a clue.  Hope the neurologist is able to give you some info that helps you.  Cheers
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2 Comments
I know this is quite old but did you ever figure out what was causing the high b6?
I saw your 2020 comment, did you find what’s caused your b6 levels to be elevated?
Avatar universal
This is the first thing that has come up with me too.  I googled toxic b 6 levels and it said it causes numbness, tingling, trouble walking, balance problems.  I have all of this.  It also said it can take 2 to 3 YEARS to resolve. Everything else is normal and I am a wreck as well.  I stopped my multivitamin a few weeks ago but don't feel at all different.  I think the elevated B6 level is some type of metabolic problem where our bodies can't excrete it.  I see the neuro on Tuesday.  I'll update you with what he says.
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Avatar universal
Good luck with the appt.  I'm seeing an 'internalist' doctor (waiting for appt) and will see what he/she has to say and get back to you as well.  Talk to you soon.
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Avatar universal
I saw the neuro.  He didn't know why the level was elevated.  He said B6 levels are associated with neuropathy.  He just said let's see if it improves....
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Avatar universal
interesting...that's helpful (lol)..or not.  I find it very frustrating to see what elevated B6 can do, yet no physician I've spoken with can provide any details. I'll keep searching and should I get any answers I'll let you know.  Very bizarre indeed.  Take care and keep in touch.
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2 Comments
i have been diagnosed with the same thing. i was taking bvitamins but i have severe colon problmes toand malabsorbtion problems. i have reflex sympathetic dystrophy thy said but my neuro symptoms came on rapidly when i was aking b vitamins and i coldnt even walk . i have had no luck period with doctors having any idea what may be causing this,i do feel it is a metabolic problem as well and i am at the end of my rope very depressed and suggestions?????
I know this is quite old but did you ever figure out what was causing the high b6?
Avatar universal
Yes, please let me know if you find out anything.  If I find anything I'll start a new post so we don't have to look back so far.  Thanks
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1 Comments
Hi I know this is quite awhile but I am having same issues.  What ever happened?
Avatar universal
My son's B6 is elevated and no one can tell him what this means.  He was taking B6 supplements.  Anyone have any info on this?
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Avatar universal
I also had my b6 level come back at 75 and it was 60 in January.  I have some of the same symtoms numbnesss in arm and foot and muscle twitches everywhere and hard to focus as well as headaches.  Some balance issues seems lately or just my feet don't feel as strong as they used too.  I have had 7 mris 2 brain 2 cervical 2 thorasic and 1 lumbar also Evoked potential test and 5 emgs.  No signs of ms or als or anything like that I have been worked over completely.  Also I have started a tremor in my hands but not a resting tremor.  Neuro is of no help and will probably end up at the Mayo clinic.  I just got off all my supplements 2 days ago and am going back to the doctor next week to have it tested again.  I also had a metabolic specialist look at may amino acids and said there was no evidence of metabolic syndrome.  Anyway I would love to keep in touch and see if we can help eachother out with our doctors responses or test etc.  I am a 38 year old female and my symptoms started about  1 year ago.  thanks so much

Leigh
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1 Comments
Same - I started having issues at 38 in 2020.  I have had the works!  B6 is high but everthing else showed me as normal.  How are you now?
Avatar universal
Keep us posted. No one checked my amino acid levels.
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Avatar universal
check out what other products (foods, drinks) you may be consuming that have B6 in them. Some of the sports drinks have the Bs in them. The food supplement industry is not tightly regulated and some manufacturers are better at controling their products then others thus it might be that you are taking supplements that contain more B6 then the label indicates. It may take a while for the damage to heal just as it does in cases of deficiencies. Check out the Linus Pauling website for information on vitamins. He was a Nobel Prize winning Chemist that really studied the vitamins.
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1 Comments
Some magnesium supplements have B6 in them.  

I haven't confirmed this, but someone in another forum thread mentioned that Tylenol has B6 in it.
Avatar universal
About 3 years ago, I started having some toes go numb; then last summer I began to limp and had small red dots on the bottom of my feet especiall my left foot. I had several blood tests, went to a number of specialists and then finally to a neurosurgeon. She confirmed neuropathy but could not tell the reason. My doctor called Hopins where after a thorough testing - blood and electrical - I was told that I had b6 induced neuropathy. He said it was commonly known that excessive b6 causes neuropathy! Not in my area. "Stop taking the supplements," he said. I was taking Centtum which has 150% of the daily value. My blood reading was 66 in which 5-23 is normal. I suffered through the toxicity which lasted about 2 to 3 months and am down to about 11 now. I still have the glove and stocking feelings, still have some balance problems, along with insomnia ( Tylenal PM helps), plus many other symptoms. I read where the sheath around the nerves which the pyrodoxine (b6) has destroyed grow back 1 millimeter per day( that's 1 foot per year). I find comfort in reading scripture and have an understanding wife. I would be glad to help anyone else.
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1 Comments
Same here! Just centrum and b complex. Total of 7 mg of B6. So small! I stopped the vitamins, but I’m discouraged reading so many of these comments that say the symptoms do not stop!
Avatar universal
Thanks for the info.  Mine was 100 and never rechecked.  I stopped taking my multivitamin  last May.  I still have symptoms.
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Avatar universal
What have you done about diet?  Do you have to watch red meat and foods high in B6?  I am in the process of detoxing right now, and it has not been an easy road.  Many weird symptoms.
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1 Comments
Egg yolk and pistachios have really high B6 content.
Avatar universal
What did your doctor say about exercise?  Is it better to walk as much as possible or is it better to sit around?
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Avatar universal
I quit my multivitamin until just recently.  I don't eat read meat.  My level was never rechecked.  I still wonder if it was a lab error.
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My wife stopped her supplements with B6 and took the B6 test fasting.  The level was in the normal range.  She took the test again, but from a different lab (Quest in CA instead of Mayo in MN) - it was crazy high.  No logical reason.  We will pay to have LabCorp do another fasting test.  It's a fairly expensive test - not often done.  I'm wondering if it's easy to screw up if the sample is not transported properly...
Avatar universal
I think your blood level could have been right.  The level in the blood comes down real fast, but the problem is the B6 that is in your tissues that does the damage.  For some people there is a metabolism problem or maybe the liver is not working right, or because of other medications.  The liver needs to add a phosphate molecule to the B6 for proper use.  If this does not happen, the pure B6 is floating around and is toxic, thus the tissue damage.
Does that mean that you went back on your vitamin?
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2 Comments
I wonder if lipoic acid or other liver support helps clear the B6?  But if it's in the muscle tissues, it first needs to get moved into the bloodstream.
Or maybe it isn't that the B6 is slow to be broken down, it's that the nerve damage persists.  
Avatar universal
Interesting what you said about the b6 is stored in the tissues. I have stopped all vitamins as of three months past but still have symptoms. They have changed tho. Before, it was all numbness, tingling, burning pain. Now it is more achy pain and some feelings of weakness. I wonder if my nerves are healing and what I can do to encourage the healing. My levels were 136 and i was only taking a prenatal vitamin and a packet of E-C every day. (I am breastfeeding a baby).  
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Avatar universal
I just saw this post today.  Thanks for the info.  Nobody ever bothered to recheck the level.  I recently started back on my multi but I bought an inexpensive one from Wal-Mart instead of the expensive one I was on.
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Avatar universal
Wow, I am so glad to read all this (but of course very sorry for all of you with problems with this). I had B6 toxicity about 5 years ago. I was taking a B-50 every day for about a year. It started with a few numb toes, then numb fingertips, then odd acne, then numb face and nose (scary), and when I noticed I couldn't really feel inside my stomach anymore, I flat out panicked. I went to a neuro and had a full workup, and like most of you, they found nothing at all. In his mind, that was good news, but I really thought I was dying. Oh, and I also had tiny red spots on my arms (called petechiae). When I quit the B-50, within a week I started noticing food was tasting REALLY good, and I was salivating more. It was SO noticeable that I realized somehow stopping that vitamin had a huge effect, not matter what the neuro or anyone else said. I had little pins and needles and very odd sensations off and on, and in weird places, for a few months. Parts of me  would feel cold, my backside would go numb while sitting (bizarre), arms would feel tingly - but it never moved around like MS is supposed to, and that had been ruled out anyway. I found that eating red meat and garbanzo beans made numbness get worse (my test area was the side of my face right outside my eyes). Being sick make it worse temporarily. Serious exercise made it much better for the next day. In fact, THAT was the single clue that convinced the neuro I was right about the cause.

Prior to stopping the B50, the estrogen patch and switching from Tums to Viactiv (for calcium) made it (numbness)  worse, and if I exercised hard, things got better.  In retrospect, all those clues made sense. Exercise leaches B6 out of the muscle tissue (where it is stored), so it can get flushed. Estrogen affect B6 in ways I don't fully understand. Tums made it harder to absorb the B6 in the vitamin pills, but Viactiv did not.

Fast forward to 5 years later. Have hope! I feel normal now, though I have to admit it really honestly took a couple of years. I found that keeping a diary was really useful, because after a few months, you notice improvement VERY slowly, and you need to be able to look back 3 months to notice it - otherwise you get depressed. None of you sound nearly as bad  as I was, and hats off to you for figuring out the problem before I did. :-)

I still have times when my toes get a little numb, and when that happens I know something is out of wack. I went on a diet, and tried to take their daily vitamin, and within a few days noticed numbness coming back. Oh, I also can't take Lipitor (a Statin) since it also makes the numbness come back.

I wish I'd had my B6 levels checked before I stopped the B50, but I didn't. The half life is pretty short, so if you stop whatever is bringing them up, they should come down quickly. But the damage takes a long time to improve.

Someone suggested that I take Pyridoxal phosphate, which is supposedly the more natural form of B6. I tried that and found it completely useless, so I can't recommend it. It was also suggested by a not so reliable source that B6 and B12 need to be balanced somehow, so I've been taking B12. I can't honestly say if it helps or not, but I think it might.

I'm sure I've forgotten a lot. If you have specific questions, maybe I can help. This is such a weird thing, with no real medical support, it's frustrating. Hang in there!

Nina
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Avatar universal
Hi. It's none of my business, but I read that you started back on a multivitamin. If you still have symptoms from B6, you might want to just stay off the multi for a while, or take 1/2 per day. 5 years later I still can't take a regular multi (with 100% of everything), without problems. For the first year after quitting B6, I couldn't take ANY multivitamin at all.

I still don't understand how one can become so sensitized to the stuff. Bizarre.
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Avatar universal
I noticed your comment about insomnia. I did have a phase where it was like my adrenaline was pumping ALL the time. I'd wake up in the middle of the night with my heart racing, and it was not a dream or anything like that. I'd go to sleep with it racing, and wake up that way. As you can imagine, it was dern near impossible to sleep. I was also cold, like a cold sweat. I havent' seen THAT documented anywhere as associated with B6 toxicity, but it is yet another symptom that completely disappeared when I stopped the B50.
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Avatar universal
Here's some links for anyone interested.  It's the best info I've found online for B6 tox.

http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/evm_b6.pdf  (see Dalton study summary, pg 87)
http://www.acu-cell.com/bx2.html
http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/vitb6tox.pdf
http://www.digitalnaturopath.com/treat/T46065.html
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Avatar universal
Thank you for the valuable information on b6 toxicity. It is so reasuring to hear that others such as yourself have experienced what many health-care professionals are unaware of. My "electric shocks" along my back and shoulders have been replaced by a constant throbbing. The "vibrations" around my eyes, nose, and jaw are not as bad as before. A couple of weeks ago, I bit down on a nut and felt a pain in one or some of my teeth. The dentist said the nerves had been crunched, but the pain should go away after a couple of weeks. I hope so. I have wondered about the value of exercise. When I exercise, I get pain in the knee and pelvic area which I treat with advil or Tylenol, or else I can not sleep due to the nagging pain. As you said, the symptoms fade slowly. It has been almost 10 months since I was diagnosed, but I had experienced numbness years before. I too was taking a multivitamin. Much of what you shared has been encouraging, and I thank you for that. Thank you for the web sites also. Principal.
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