Vitamin B6

I didn't take it for morning sickness, but had a very bad experience with B6. I was accidentially taking too much dosage wise (was told by a fertility doctor I was seeing to take two tablets a day along with my regular multivitamin) and within a weeks time woke up unable to walk and in terrible physical pain. I had symptoms similar to Guillain Barre syndrome (sp?). I wound up in an ER but no doctor would say conclusively it was the B6 claiming it is a soluable vitamin and therefore couldn't have been an overdose.

However, at the suggestion of a non-medically trained sales person at a vitamin shop of all places, I stopped taking the supplementsafter they told me about how dangerous it could be, especially for people with a clotting disorder called Factor IV Leiden, and within a week's time I recovered but did develop a serious blood clot. The sales person knew about this rare side affect of B6 and told me to stop taking them immediately and probably saved my life.

I still have some problems with the muscles in my legs, but have regained full mobility. The doctors still refuse to attribute my condition to B6. All I can say is, based on my own experience, stay away from the stuff. It can be deadly. I'm convinced of it.

When I had morning sickness, I was told by my OB to drink ginger tea, ginger ale, or to just steep ginger root in water and drink it. And she was right, it helped. No side effects either.

B6 also known as pyridoxine is safe in pregnancy because it is a water soluable vitamin. That means whatever your body can't use at the time, it will get rid of in your urine via the kidneys. If it seems to help your nausea, take it. If it doesn't help, please let your midwife know that you have decided to quit taking it. Although it is rare, some people experience balance and numbness or tingling in their arms or legs when they take high doses of B6 for a long time (usually doses higher than 200mg/day for months). Symptoms like these disappear once B6 is discontinued. Please continue taking your prenatal vitamins regardless and if they are bothering your stomach or causing constipation, please let her know so she can suggest another way to get folic acid and other vital nutrients to you and your baby. Congrats on your pregnancy and best wishes! Nurse Midwife Mom

it is law to put that on all medicine or vitamins, they recommend you talk to your doctor first. It is a disclaimer in case you decided to sue.

They probably put the same thing on Vit C labels....

As long as your doc is ok with it.. it should be fine.

At this point, I think you are safe... I would do further research before continuing to take it, however. Maybe talk to a pharmacist?

One web page I saw gave this amount as safe...

http://www.babycenter.com/0_vitamin-b6-in-your-pregnancy-...

"Excessive amounts of vitamin B6 can cause numbness and nerve damage. The tolerable upper intake level for the vitamin – the maximum amount considered safe by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine – is 100 mg for women (including pregnant and nursing women) 19 years and older, and 80 mg for women 18 years and younger."

It looks like the 100 mg is ok, but I don't know that I would want to be taking that much, since you are also getting some in your diet.

My ob recommended it when I was pregnant. It is likely ok, but it didn't do a darn thing for my morning sickness.

Very common recommendation. Yep, it does work. If only taking 1 pill per day there is no chance of overintake and as others have mentioned, it is water soluable so you would just pee out the excess of what your body needs. Keep listening to your midwife- she sounds like a good one. As always, YMMV:) and congrats on your pregnancy.

N.,
Not entirely sure about that. But I do know it is best to take a B complex rather than just one part. B complex should be safe.

Before I got pregnant, I heard that taking vitamin B6 would lengthen my luteal phase during my cycles because it was borderline short and could cause me not to get pregnant. So I started taking 50mg, one a day. My cycles lengthened by a day or two but I don't know if it was the B6 or just my body getting back to normal from being on The Pill for 10 years. I then got pregnant after 3 months of trying but miscarried and the doctor said not to take any supplements like that. I also then heard it could cause miscarriage. I just stopped taking it altogether and then I got pregnant again the next time we tried. I am currently 30 weeks now and I definitely did not take any supplements or extra vitamins during my pregnancy except for the prenatal of course + DHA. I read up a lot on it and the views were controversial depending who you talked to. However, I did not have nausea too bad and I have heard of doctors suggesting this for nausea. If your doctor says it's ok, then you should be fine. I'm not saying either that the B6 caused my MC, just you never know.

My daughter's midwife recommended Vit B6 and she had no difficulty with it. I suggest that it's OK to take it in recommended amounts otherwise it wouldn't be so widely suggested.

There are numerous web sites suggesting Vit B6 for nausea during pregnancy. here is one: http://www.babycenter.com/0_vitamin-b6-in-your-pregnancy-...

JL that is an awful story! I'm glad you're ok... I would think it is not too dangerous in small amounts...but maybe just stay away from it the rest of the pregnancy?