Hi, folks! I hope you are all doing well. I haven't posted in a long time because my B6 toxicity symptoms have gradually lessened. I have been able to incorporate more and more foods back into my diet to the point where B6 toxicity plays only a small role in my life (I should note that I've essentially been vegetarian since my symptoms started, since meat is so high in B6. That might be a bigger struggle for some people than others).
My recent meals have included chili and a medium-sized baked potato, avocado and tomato sandwiches, and even a few french fries here and there. I could not have eaten those things 670 days ago.
The last time I had noticeable B6 toxicity symptoms was over the holidays (baked ham) and about two months ago, when I ate a a lot of candies that contained walnuts. The recurrence in December was pretty bad, but the more recent one was over within a few hours.
For the most part, I feel like my life is back to normal. There's still some lingering nerve damage, but not enough to cause concern. I feel good.
Before I sign off (probably for another few months, at least), I want to share a few habits that have helped me in my own recovery:
(1) Drink water with every meal. Drinking water is always important, but it's most important when you are digesting food. If you drink water when you eat, then the B6 has a higher chance of passing from your body; otherwise your body absorbs the B6 like any other nutrient. I always drink a full glass of water with my meals, and if I eat something unusually high in B6 (like potato or avocado), then I continue to drink for another 30 minutes after eating.
(2) If I start to feel burning, twinging, or spasms in my muscles after eating B6, then I exercise those muscles immediately! I don't know why this seems to help for me, but it does. Recently, when my arms started to twinge after eating those walnut candies, I hit the weights. The symptoms went away almost immediately.
That's it. Those are the only things I've found that help -- besides time and patience, of course.
Good luck on your recovery!
Showing posts with label b6 toxicity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label b6 toxicity. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Preventing Vitamin Deficiencies: Taking B6 out of your diet takes out a lot of other things too
One of the struggles of dealing with B6 toxicity is
avoiding vitamin deficiencies. Unfortunately, when you take B6 out of your diet, you inadvertently take out a lot of other things too. Over the past few weeks, I've had to
closely monitor my diet and make adjustments in
order to cover all the bases.
The biggest trouble-spots for me have been calcium, magnesium, potassium, and niacin. Thankfully, I've found good solutions for most of these. For calcium, I drink soy milk. For potassium, I eat dried apricots. And for niacin, I eat peanut butter (1-4 tablespoons a day).
Yes, these things aren't exactly low in B6, but I make sure to spread them out over the day so my body has time to flush it out.
The best way to prevent a vitamin deficiency is to monitor your nutrient intake. You can do this with several free online tools -- just do a search for diet trackers. You will have to log everything you eat, which is time-consuming, but if you have B6 toxicity, it's worth it. A few times now, I have developed the beginnings of vitamin deficiencies, and if I hadn't been expecting such a possibility, the symptoms might have progressed much further than they did. Since I started tracking my diet, I've felt much more secure and less anxious overall. Knowing I'm not vitamin deficient is one less thing to worry about.
The biggest trouble-spots for me have been calcium, magnesium, potassium, and niacin. Thankfully, I've found good solutions for most of these. For calcium, I drink soy milk. For potassium, I eat dried apricots. And for niacin, I eat peanut butter (1-4 tablespoons a day).
Yes, these things aren't exactly low in B6, but I make sure to spread them out over the day so my body has time to flush it out.
The best way to prevent a vitamin deficiency is to monitor your nutrient intake. You can do this with several free online tools -- just do a search for diet trackers. You will have to log everything you eat, which is time-consuming, but if you have B6 toxicity, it's worth it. A few times now, I have developed the beginnings of vitamin deficiencies, and if I hadn't been expecting such a possibility, the symptoms might have progressed much further than they did. Since I started tracking my diet, I've felt much more secure and less anxious overall. Knowing I'm not vitamin deficient is one less thing to worry about.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
B6 Toxicity: What Helps
It's surprising how hard it is to find information on B6 toxicity and what to do about it. The medical consensus seems to be to stop taking B6 supplements and hope you recover. In other words, you're up a creek without a paddle. Fun, huh?
In my search, however, I have found a few good sites and recommendations. (First and foremost is to stop taking B6!) Here is a list of things that have worked for me:
(1) Drinking water. B6 is water-soluble, which means you can flush it out of your system. According to this article from LiveStrong: "Typically, it takes the body between 15 and 25 days to eliminate unused pyridoxine [i.e. B6]. Drink eight, 8-oz. glasses of water per day as part of a healthy diet." I plan to keep this up until I'm fully recovered.
(2) Exercising. Unlike some sufferers of B6 toxicity, I can manage moderate exercise. My symptoms are not so bad (yet?) that I'm completely bedridden. I've found that staying active helps with my neuropathy (and mood, and sleep, etc.). In general, exercise is very important for overall health, not just B6 toxicity, and because of this, I try to stay active throughout the day.
I've also found that one burst of exercise doesn't do the trick, even if it's the "recommended" 30 minutes a day. While I do try to do a 30-minute workout every day (right now I'm trying to do two), I also try to keep the blood moving throughout the day. Personally, I prefer walking, but I've also done trampoline and light weightlifting.
Oh, and another reason exercise is good is because (I've heard) that B6 is stored in the muscles, and working up a good sweat is one way of excreting it. If I find a reliable source for this, I'll link it.
(3) Getting good sleep. This was very difficult (i.e. impossible) on the first night due to severe anxiety (probably a combination of natural anxiety and B6 toxicity). I felt much better after the second night, when I was able to get a good night's sleep. There's no real trick to this, I've found; either you're anxious, or you're not.
(4) Avoiding foods high in B6. This is one of the recommendations from the same LiveStrong article mentioned above. I'm not sure this has helped me too much yet, but other people have reported that avoiding foods high in B6 has worked for them. (Presumably, eating B6 triggers toxicity symptoms). You can find lists of foods that are high and low in B6 online. Some of it is conflicting, so I won't post any recommendations here until I get it all figured out for myself.
That's it for now. I will post new tips as I come across them.
In my search, however, I have found a few good sites and recommendations. (First and foremost is to stop taking B6!) Here is a list of things that have worked for me:
(1) Drinking water. B6 is water-soluble, which means you can flush it out of your system. According to this article from LiveStrong: "Typically, it takes the body between 15 and 25 days to eliminate unused pyridoxine [i.e. B6]. Drink eight, 8-oz. glasses of water per day as part of a healthy diet." I plan to keep this up until I'm fully recovered.
(2) Exercising. Unlike some sufferers of B6 toxicity, I can manage moderate exercise. My symptoms are not so bad (yet?) that I'm completely bedridden. I've found that staying active helps with my neuropathy (and mood, and sleep, etc.). In general, exercise is very important for overall health, not just B6 toxicity, and because of this, I try to stay active throughout the day.
I've also found that one burst of exercise doesn't do the trick, even if it's the "recommended" 30 minutes a day. While I do try to do a 30-minute workout every day (right now I'm trying to do two), I also try to keep the blood moving throughout the day. Personally, I prefer walking, but I've also done trampoline and light weightlifting.
Oh, and another reason exercise is good is because (I've heard) that B6 is stored in the muscles, and working up a good sweat is one way of excreting it. If I find a reliable source for this, I'll link it.
(3) Getting good sleep. This was very difficult (i.e. impossible) on the first night due to severe anxiety (probably a combination of natural anxiety and B6 toxicity). I felt much better after the second night, when I was able to get a good night's sleep. There's no real trick to this, I've found; either you're anxious, or you're not.
(4) Avoiding foods high in B6. This is one of the recommendations from the same LiveStrong article mentioned above. I'm not sure this has helped me too much yet, but other people have reported that avoiding foods high in B6 has worked for them. (Presumably, eating B6 triggers toxicity symptoms). You can find lists of foods that are high and low in B6 online. Some of it is conflicting, so I won't post any recommendations here until I get it all figured out for myself.
That's it for now. I will post new tips as I come across them.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Warning - Don't Take B6!
If you are thinking about taking a Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) supplement, READ THIS!
I began taking B6 to treat a medical condition in October of 2015. The pills were purchased over the counter at a local health-food store, and there was no warning on the bottle about the adverse effects of B6. The directions simply advised one to take one pill every day, with each pill containing 50mg of B6.
Unfortunately, 50mg is a dangerously high amount of B6. While some people can tolerate it, many people cannot. I am one of the latter group. After about 11 days, I began to experience burning and tingling in my limbs (i.e. neuropathy) and heightened anxiety. After searching the internet, I discovered many other people like myself. Some had taken less B6 (as little as 2mg a day), while others had taken more. In every case, the consequences were months or years of pain and illness.
So if you are considering taking a B6 supplement, keep this in mind: YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR HEALTH AT RISK. Unless you know what you're doing, DON'T DO IT.
I began taking B6 to treat a medical condition in October of 2015. The pills were purchased over the counter at a local health-food store, and there was no warning on the bottle about the adverse effects of B6. The directions simply advised one to take one pill every day, with each pill containing 50mg of B6.
Unfortunately, 50mg is a dangerously high amount of B6. While some people can tolerate it, many people cannot. I am one of the latter group. After about 11 days, I began to experience burning and tingling in my limbs (i.e. neuropathy) and heightened anxiety. After searching the internet, I discovered many other people like myself. Some had taken less B6 (as little as 2mg a day), while others had taken more. In every case, the consequences were months or years of pain and illness.
So if you are considering taking a B6 supplement, keep this in mind: YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR HEALTH AT RISK. Unless you know what you're doing, DON'T DO IT.
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