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Vitamin B6 Toxicity

bny06

By bny06
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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bny06 Apprentice
bny06
Posted

So I am new to all of this - 7 weeks or so gluten free after losing a ton of weight lots of GI issues etc.. When I went gluten free I started manifesting some wierd neuro sypmtoms and my dr thinks it was related to B6 toxicity now.. anyone else had this? There isn't a lot online that I can find.

My neuro symptoms started when I went gluten free the same week my intestines started to heal (aka going from up to 20 bowel movements a day down to less than 5 or so). I also stopped breastfeeding (I was about 7 months post partum- after landing in the hospital for malnutrition figured my baby wasn't getting a lot of benefit anymore and I surely wasn't either) and switched to a gluten free multivitamin and took an additional B complex.

You excrete vitamin B6 in breastmilk, and I had mentioned to my husband I thought it was strange I was urinating so much when I wasn't really drinking that many fluids (you of course also excrete B6 through your urine). Anyhow I had "dead legs and arms"/numbness tingling and weakness of hands.

I had my B12 level come back in the 1000's and we started scratching our heads.. I have been on a B6 supplement (100mg) for 4 years (I have a blood clotting disorder MTHFR where you are supposed to supplement) the only option over the counter was 100mg.. so add that to the 100mg of B6 in my new multivitamin I was taking, along with a B complex (i think only 3mg of B6) and all my B6 drinks along with no longer excreting it in breastmilk= neurotoxic B6 (that's what my Gi dr is saying anyhow)

We had my levels checked about 2 weeks after I had stopped my B6 and they were still double the upper limit of normal.. apparently this can take 6 months or more to resolve, if ever!

Anyhow kind of crazy! B12 seems to be very safe, but when it comes to B6 I guess that's another story!

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sandsurfgirl Collaborator
sandsurfgirl
Posted

I had those same symptoms recently and it ended up being my hormones. My aldosterone and rennin were very low. I was actually hospitalized for 10 days because I was peeing out so much fluid and not able to take enough in.

Have them test your hormones too. They should also test you for diabetes incipitus, the water diabetes. It's a lack of anti diuretic hormone. Keep an eye on your blood pressure. Maybe get a blood pressure monitor from a pharmacy or Costco. I got sicker and sicker over the course of a month until I was collapsing.

I hope you get better soon. Please insist on those hormone tests. They need to consider adrenal insufficiency too, low cortisol and other hormones.

The neuro symptoms can be due to severe dehydration. Please keep us updated and please don't let them blow off the frequent urinating. It can be very serious. Not to scare you but I just dealt with this recently and I had to go to the ER 5 times before they admitted me. I switched docs because mine wasn't taking it seriously and my new doc sent me to the ER with a note to put me in the hospital the 5th time.

bny06 Apprentice
bny06
Posted
  • Author

thanks so much for your reply!! When that was happening (the frequent urination) I defintely had Addisons disease etc on my mind.. but wasn't really lightheaded when standindg toooo much at that time - though that did follow.. the urinating frequently stopped about a week ago (about three weeks after stopping B6) now I don't have to urinate often. I did have to go to the ER once during all of this mess since I was so dehydrated/lightheaded and my heart rate woudln't go below 130 even while just sleeping/laying there!! Ended up getting admitted into the hospital for dehydration/malnutrition a week later from my dr's office. I wonder if I could have had an issue then but it has resolved itself... or if it was all malnutrition related.

But it's still a good idea to get those things checked I think.. I'll add that to the new blood work I'm scheduled to get - I think I'd like to add Lyme in there too..

It's crazy I know I didn't realize how sick I was - i was too busy going on with kids, work life etc.. then one day realized something was VERY much wrong.. I'm lucky to have gluten issues diagnosed fairly quickly, however if these neuro symptoms and other wierd things would start improving my sanity would soon follow i'm sure :) Thanks again!

sandsurfgirl Collaborator
sandsurfgirl
Posted

The kids do make you just keep going. I went to Disneyland during all that stuff before I was hospitalized! I had this awful episode while I was there where I got dizzy, weak, shaking, etc. I drank a big Gatorade and then stayed for hours running around with friends even though I felt so bad.

I'm glad you know about Addison's and all of that and you are on top of it. Mine is Cushings which is the opposite of Addison's, but I do have the low aldosterone and rennin. Sometimes with Cushings you get weird things like that.

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