High vitamin B6

[Paralee]

I've been searching all over the net about having too much vitamin B6. I had a bad night last night (and yesterday) so I hope I haven't already asked this question here.

Does anyone know what that could mean? Its about 5 times higher than it should be. B12 was ok, thyroid ok, so far iron panel ok, might possibly have pseudogout. I hope I haven't posted this already, if I have, I am sorry.

I am very worried because it looks like my triglycerides are way high too. They're about a little over twice as high as usual. Calcium is ok and vit. D is ok. ALT and AST are still good but possibly kidneys are a little off.

Any help on this would be very appreciated.

I forgot to say that I think my genetics said something about b12 and b6. I'll look for them too, but I doubt if I'll understand them. Thanks again.

 

[TigerLilea]

Do you take B6 supplements?

 

[Paralee]

@TigerLilea, only a multi a couple of times a week. I've been searching some more and finding out more about it. It's a big problem for some. I read somewhere they've even got a forum set up for it on fb.

It might be in the MTHFR gene, maybe connected to a vitamin B12 problem, which I have, although maybe not in the MTHFR gene. I'm thinking it might be connected to pseudogout now, but that's a very uneducated guess for the moment.

Even though it is supposedly a water soluble vitamin it takes a long time, maybe over a year, to get your levels back down.

 

[luckyladybug]

If I take more than 1.75 mg of B6 I have very disturbed sleep-- disturbing, overly vivid dreams (not exactly nightmares, but somewhat frightening) and multiple awakenings. This starts to happen on the the first night after taking B6 and only gets worse.

However, B6 helps me go to sleep. It has been difficult to find just the right amount, where it helps me sleep but doesn't cause strange dreams and early wakefulness. I think it's around 1.5 - 1.7 mg. (1.25 is not enough; 1.8 is a little too much. Fortunately for me, the dream problem goes away as soon as I reduce the B6.)

I am compound heterozygous for the MTHFR gene variants and homozygous for MTRR and CBS.

I have been unable to learn much about this problem. B6 can "enhance" dreams for some people, but that effect doesn't usually happen until at least 50mg.

 

[Paralee]

@luckyladybug , you're right about the dreams. I realized yesterday that I had been taking a little B6 (probably got mixed up on understanding the genetics part) so that may be why it went up, but it sure didn't take much of it.

Dreams are so related to B6, tempting to take them anyway, lol. I went through a period of no dreams and it felt like part of me was missing.

 

[luckyladybug]

My sleep is very sensitive. I think I have some additional genetic variants of some kind. Zyrtec and Singulair cause insomnia and overly vivid, disturbing dreams as well. Too much D causes early awakening (no dream problems, though), and many years ago I took a few anti-depressants which caused sleep disturbances similar to what I have with B6. Other medications I took that were supposed to counter the insomnia (main one being trazodone) seemed to suppress dreams which I also didn't like.

My dream life had always been pretty active, and I agree with you, when I stopped dreaming (or no longer remembering them), I did feel like something was missing. I think my body just needs a very delicate balance. So now trying to figure out what level of B6 I need is bringing back bad memories of those times. However, I think I will figure it out soon. I have at least narrowed down the range. The main problem will be splitting the pill into the correct size.

 

[PennyIA]

Hmmm... I've been dreamless both while toxic on b6 and since getting my levels down and not taking them. Stinks, but not 100% sure they are tied together.

I tolerate P5P a hair better, but don't tolerate it well enough to take it regularly. I'm trying to figure out ways to support P5P utilization before starting to take it again.

 

[luckyladybug]

For me, the B6 is definitely tied to dreams. I have taken B6 as both pyridoxine and P5P with the same effect.
There are quite a few studies that link B6 and dreams.
Your body just may not respond to B6 in that way.

 

[PennyIA]

For me, the B6 is definitely tied to dreams. I have taken B6 as both pyridoxine and P5P with the same effect.
There are quite a few studies that link B6 and dreams.
Your body just may not respond to B6 in that way.

I'm not entirely sure my body can process B6 in either form as it stands now. But I do remember having dreams for decades prior to the B6 toxicity. Maybe one or two dreams that I can remember a year since... it's been 11 years now.

 

[Mary]

I am very worried because it looks like my triglycerides are way high too.

Do you eat much sugar? Several years ago my triglycerides were quite high. I learned high triglycerides can be caused by sugar. I thought I was doing good re sugar intake until I looked carefully at my diet and realized I was eating a lot of raisins - yeah, I know, very high in sugar. I cut them out and my triglycerides went down.

 

[Paralee]

@Mary , no more sugar than usual. My whole blood work was kinda out of whack. Creatinine down under low normal, several other things. Liver shows just fine, but I've read that the ALT and AST (?) aren't really good indicators, which I didn't know until recently.

The only thing I can think of about the kidneys is crystals from pseudogout, but it hasn't been officially diagnosed yet. If it is pseudogout, look out body! I'm a prime candidate for it, having had hyperparathyroidism and also a prime candidate for hemochromatosis.....and my iron and ferritin have been going up.

Back to B6, I thought I had found something on it in genetics, I'm still looking for it.

 

[Paralee]

@luckyladybug , I have a slew of MTHFR snps, what do you mean when you say you're compound heterozygous for two mother gene variants? Two copies of one variant or just two different variants that are heterozygous?

I've never been able to figure out what that means.... :-(

 

[Mary]

@Paralee - Sorry to hear all that - I don't know anything about those issues. I had the opposite problem with B6 - mine was very low and I do well taking 150 mg. a day (as well as extra B1, methylfolate, methylB12, pantothenic acid) I hope you get some answers!