I dont mean to pry but I'm curious about the B6 toxicity. I'm assuming you must have been using supplements in order to hit toxic levels but since it is a water soluable vitamin and you were doing long distance running, you could have taken much more than the recommeneded daily allowance without any ill effects. Most oral B6 supplements are in the range or 50-250 mg which is 25-125 times the RDA (athletes and body-builders could still require those amounts). How much were you taking and for how long? Were you injecting? Ive alwas been under the impression that it would be nearly impossible to hit toxic levels of the water-soluable vitamins.
B6 is special in that even though it is water soluble, it is stored extensively in muscles and tissues. To get B6 toxicity, you must do one of two things.
1. Take such a large amount at once (over 1g) that just the amount in your bloodstream fries your nerves.
2. Take a medium amount chronically for so long that your 'muscle storage' gets full , coupled with getting dehyrated so that you are not excreting the water soluble vitamin properly. In studied on chronic toxicity on some women at a pregnancy ward in a hospital, the average amount was 100mg taken over an average of 2.5 years. Those who had taken the same amount over 1.5 years were fine. Many people in the support groups claim to have this condition using much less over a much shorter amount of time.
The amount that I took was anywhere from 100-250mg on a paticular day, over a span of 10 years, gradually increasing until the year I became sick. The level in my blood was 180 on a scale of 2-21 and I hadnt even taken vitamins in one week. Heres what I had been taking.
-GNC ,multivitamins (50mg)
-Extra b complex (50mg)
-multiple 5 hour energy drinks (50mg each)
-protein shakes
-fortified foods
I also gradually dehydrated myself more and more over time by going on crazy camping trips around the world and running longer and longer distances and overtraining. I probably also damaged my liver with designer drugs.
Thanks very much for the information! I didnt realize that B6 was stored in muscles and tissue and i didnt consider all of the sources. I'd better check my own intake. I've been taking a B100 plus a multivitamin for years but i consume a lot of protein shakes and bars as well.
