Case report, 1987
Can taking too much vitamin B6 cause nerve damage?
High-dose B6 caused nerve symptoms in about 60% of women studied, but the symptoms went away when they stopped taking it. The length of time taking B6 seemed to matter more than the dose.
What they did
Doctors reviewed cases of 172 women who had high levels of B6 in their blood. They looked at what symptoms the women had, what doses they took, how long they took it, and what happened when they stopped taking it.
What they found
About 60% had symptoms like tingling, numbness, weakness, and bone pain, mostly in their arms and legs. When women stopped taking B6, the symptoms disappeared. When 4 women restarted B6, the symptoms came back. Women with symptoms had taken B6 for 2.9 years on average, compared to 1.6 years in women without symptoms. All women recovered completely within 6 months of stopping B6.
What it means for you
Taking high-dose B6 for many years can cause nerve damage, but it is completely reversible. This matters for women taking B6 supplements for PMS symptoms. The main limits are that this looked at cases after the fact, not as a controlled experiment, and the doses these women took were lower than previously described.
172
women with high B6 levels
60%
had neurological symptoms
6 months
time to complete recovery
About the study
- Original title
- Characteristics of pyridoxine overdose neuropathy syndrome
- Authors
- Dalton K, Dalton MJ
- Journal
- Acta neurologica Scandinavica
- Year
- 1987
- Study design
- Case report
- Participants
- 172
- What was tested
- High-dose vitamin B6 supplements
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0404.1987.tb03536.x
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