Natural high levels of B12 and B6

Hi, Frank (@zav). It never ends, does it? I've left a number of messages for my neuro doc (this last with his MA) to tell him I've got new labs for him to look at. This is the fellow who has me on the EB-N5 with its power-pak pyridoxal phosphate, and that the labs show I've now got enough B-6 I could share with my friends and neighbors. Then this morning, the company that makes the EB-N5 wrote to say they'll be sending my second 90-day supply (aka $149) in 48 hours unless I tell them otherwise. So, come on, neuro doc, call me! –Ray (@ray666)

I took nerve renew pills and have one bottle left and decided to stop. Nothing changed, and my B12 levels were off the chart.

Hi Frank, I have a history of idiopathic neuropathy of both feet which has been increasing over the last few years. I recently had a 258 on my B6 lab. And, I had been taking a Vit-B complex. My doctor said to stop all B6 vitamin intake and I was referred to to Neurologist. Guess by overdosing in B6 vitamins you can cause peripheral neuropathy. Hopefully some of the nerves will recover. We will do repeat lab tests in 3 months. Good luck to you. Claudia

You might want to read through this website. This explain b6 toxicity. You may experience increased symptoms after a bit after stopping b6 but that doesnt mean you are not healing. https://understandingb6toxicity.com/

Greetings all ,
I am new to the neuropathy thing, my feet started tingling in February, I had all the test and was diagnosed with idiopathic neuropathy, my left leg was mild my right mild to moderate . I had the b6 blood test from last week from QUESTS see below

Vitamin B6, Plasma - Quest
View trends
Normal range: 2.1 - 21.7 ng/mL
Mine 26.5

I see it is high but no idea how high it actually is in comparison, but beyond the normal range
My doctor said stop taking b complex but I don’t take any. I do take turmeric it doesn’t say b6 on the label but I read it is high-in b6. I am trying to lower my b6 and hope that helps.

Hello, mkevin64 (@mkeven64)

I'm not a doctor. I'm a fellow with idiopathic sensory-motor peripheral neuropathy. I became enmeshed in the B6 discussion some months ago. I'm not sure I have total clarity yet. But you might want to backtrack through the posts in the thread and read what they have to say. I found one of mine, dated Sept. 14. You might want to read it (down below), then skip around, reading some of the earlier and subsequent posts.

Ray (@ray666)

Here's the post I left:

Ray Kemble | @ray666 | Sep 14 9:05am
In reply to @bb0753 "There has been some updated information since this was last updated in 2014 that indicates b6..." + (show)

Good morning. Maybe someone following these posts about B6 can help me sort something out. I understand vitamin B6 is available as pyridoxine hydrochloride in multivitamins, vitamin B-complex, and vitamin B6 supplements. My neurologist tells me that pyridoxine hydrochloride in the form of vitamin B6, if taken in excess, can lead to toxicity with its various PN-like symptoms. He assures me, however, that the form of vitamin B6 that I’m taking in EB-N5, which is pyridoxal 5’-phosphate, is essentially different; pyridoxal 5’-phosphate comes with its own dosage guardrails, but not the same toxicity concerns that accompany pyridoxine hydrochloride. Have you met this “two forms of supplemental B6” issue in anything you’ve read or been told? I have found brief mention of it in only a few places. I’d love to get some clarity. –Ray (@ray666)

Hi @mkevin64, I would like to add my welcome to Connect along with @ray666 and others. I always look at supplements I take to see if they contain B6. Sports and energy drinks are the worse for high levels of B6 but I think it's pretty unlikely to reach high levels through intake of foods containing B6. Here are a couple of references that might be helpful:
--- The Nutrition Source - Vitamin B6: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-b6/
--- Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for vitamin B6: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10189633/

I also take turmeric but it doesn't show B6 on the ingredients. I have read that turmeric contains some B6 but not sure the kind of turmeric they are talking about - the supplement capsules or the turmeric powder or the turmeric root that you can grind up and mix with recipes. It does present an interesting question.

I also have idiopathic small fiber peripheral neuropathy and have had it over 30 years now. I posted my neuropathy journey in another discussion here - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/310341/. There are also many other neuropathy discussions you might find helpful in the Neuropathy Support Group here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/neuropathy/.

It sounds like you don't have any pain with your neuropathy and that is a good thing. Is the tingling the same in both feet?

Thanks for the information and the welcome, mostly my right foot is a little worse than my left. But oddly sometimes my left either gets worse or is almost normal. Very odd

I agree with John that it is unlikely to get b6 toxic just from a normal diet but I read many people talk about many food restrictions and eating "very healthy" such as mainly meat. bananas, pistachios, fresh salmon. A restrictive diet with a lot of those items has too much b6. RDA B6 is just 1.3-1.5 mg depending on your age/sex. One banana along with salmon is right at RDA amount. Most foods have b6.

Thanks for the feedback and all the research sources. The turmeric i take does not list b6 but it says turmeric extract 700 mg. So I looked up turmeric. I also eat way too many pistachio nuts and the nutrition facts do not list b6 or any of the aliases. I looked that up and pistachio nuts are very high in b6. Mu current goal is to reduce my b6 intake and see if that helps. I worry about any diet or protocol that can make my b6 higher. But certainly will research it further. Thanks again all for all the feedback and guidance.