Question about B6

[Sparkly]

Doesn't seem like much is going on today, but this has been rolling around in my brain, so I thought I'd make a thread.


From the Newbie Blog:
"B6 can help to lengthen your LP. However, B6 can cause nerve damage in too high of a dose, please check with your Doctor before starting this, and have them tell you what dose to take."


So backstory: I'm still breastfeeding and just finished my 2nd cycle PP. My first LP was 8 days. We were planning to TTA Dec/Jan due dates for professional and personal reasons, so we had hoped to conceive prior to this month. I decided to take B6 in hopes of lengthening my LP last cycle. 100mg/day - I think that was the amount discussed in TCOYF, and what I had on hand from attempting to use it for morning sickness during my first pregnancy - that did not work, btw /anecdote. Anyway, so cycle 2, LP was 10 days, I'd call that a win. Whether it was the B6 or just a more "normal" cycle, who knows.

My question: The part about nerve damage. I believe I read the main concern is too high a dose over an extended period of time. Does anyone have any knowledge and/or links to studies about what constitutes 1) too high a dose and/or 2) an extended period of time. I do not plan to continue with the individual B6 supplement at this time because as we're TTA, it seems unnecessary. I do however, take a B complex vitamin in addition to my PNV, which has a small amount (2mg I believe) additional B6. I would love to see my LP lengthen a bit more over time, but I certainly don't want to overdo it or cause any damage.

I plan to discuss with my OB/Gyn on Thursday at my annual, but just thought I would throw this out to the board, because I know many of you are a wealth of knowledge & experience, and maybe someone else out there has the same questions as well.

[Sparkly]

Thanks for the response, pippacricket. I'm well below that, but I tend to want to air on the side of caution with medicine/vitamin/supplements. I guess that's not a bad thing.

My PNV has 5.4mg and the B complex has 2mg. The 100mg supplement says that it's 5000% DV, which is why it possibly concerned me to take for a long period of time, if you will. On the other hand, I figured they wouldn't (shouldn't?) sell it OTC if harmful, and it was recommended by both my OB and pharmacist when I was suffering M/S during my pregnancy (the old B6/Unisom thing, which did absolutely nothing for me, unfortunately).


ETA: that I do know people B6/Unisom has worked for, I just wasn't one of them.

[anonymouseliza]

I think you're still under the recommended amount, but do be careful about b-vitamin imbalance. I take Folgard plus my regular daily multi-vitamin and calcium supplements, primarily for the additional folic acid (I have MTHFR).

[theborg7of9]

I still wouldn't take it. I would just give it time and wean if necessary. I was worried about my LP too when I was ttc my second. I got my period at 10 months post pardum:
Cycle one: 6 day LP
Cycle two: 8 day LP
Cycle three: 7 day LP
Cycle four: bfp

So I'm saying it's possible to conceive even if your previous cycle had a short LP. Good luck.

[EatsRitz]

I don't know much about B6, but I agree with PP on seeing how your LP does on its own as you drop feedings (if you're planning on weaning). I'm still BFing once per day and I'm on my 5th PP cycle. My first LP was only 4 days, then 5 days, then it jumped to 11 days, 12 days, and now I'm at 13 dpo just by dropping feedings over the past few months.

If you're not weaning, I hope you can find an answer for the right amount of B6 and that it helps in a couple of months when you're TTC again.

[getzystark]

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16320662

Abstract:

"Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) causes neuropathy at intakes of 1000 mg per day or more, which is about 800 times the daily intake from foods. There have also been occasional reports of toxicity at intakes of 100-300 mg per day. The US authorities set the no-observed-adverse-effect-level at 200 mg per day and the safe upper limit at 100 mg per day. A report of neurotoxicity in 2 patients who had taken 24 mg and 40 mg of vitamin B6 per day respectively, may be coincidence rather than a true toxic effect of such relatively low doses. However, physicians need to remain alert to high intakes of vitamin B6 as a cause of unexplained neuropathy."

[Sparkly]

Feb 28, 2015 18:31:24 GMT -5 theborg7of9 said:

I still wouldn't take it. I would just give it time and wean if necessary. I was worried about my LP too when I was ttc my second. I got my period at 10 months post pardum:
Cycle one: 6 day LP
Cycle two: 8 day LP
Cycle three: 7 day LP
Cycle four: bfp

So I'm saying it's possible to conceive even if your previous cycle had a short LP. Good luck.

Thanks for the insight. I plan on letting her self-wean (which I don't see happening anytime soon). I have taken the B complex in the past for other reasons and won't be taking the extra B6 for the next few cycles until we start trying again, if at all. Hopefully my LP will lengthen on its own by then, although I am not dissatisfied with 10 days on my 2nd cycle PP.

[Sparkly]

Feb 28, 2015 18:55:36 GMT -5 EatsRitz said:

I don't know much about B6, but I agree with PP on seeing how your LP does on its own as you drop feedings (if you're planning on weaning). I'm still BFing once per day and I'm on my 5th PP cycle. My first LP was only 4 days, then 5 days, then it jumped to 11 days, 12 days, and now I'm at 13 dpo just by dropping feedings over the past few months.

If you're not weaning, I hope you can find an answer for the right amount of B6 and that it helps in a couple of months when you're TTC again.

thanks for your response. I don't plan on weaning at this time, but I still hope to see it lengthen naturally over time. We still nurse 5-8+ times most days and I also still pump because she won't drink other milks.

[anonymouseliza]

Not encouraging you away from bf'ing at all, just wondering if you'd tried coconut milk. That was our go-to between 11 months and 15 months as we began weaning and I began wrapping up pumping at 13 mos. She drank it fine in place breastmilk but refused it once we stopped breastmilk completely.

[Sparkly]

Feb 28, 2015 19:53:50 GMT -5 anonymouseliza said:

Not encouraging you away from bf'ing at all, just wondering if you'd tried coconut milk. That was our go-to between 11 months and 15 months as we began weaning and I began wrapping up pumping at 13 mos. She drank it fine in place breastmilk but refused it once we stopped breastmilk completely.

I actually have! No interest. Today I gave her some Fairlife chocolate milk and it was literally the first time she drank any quantifiable amount of any milk (besides mine) without spitting it out. She obviously will not be subsisting off that, so we're still experimenting with some other options and combos, but ATM I'm okay with how things are... I only have to pump once a day at work and I've got a freezer stash so I can skip if I need or want (I just usually don't for my own comfort).

[anonymouseliza]

She was good with So Delicious vanilla, hated Thai Kitchen (unless I added vanilla) and wouldn't touch almond milk (never offered soy). It was funny that she would drink it in a bottle but absolutely refused it from cups. Completely. She still won't drink it. Water and watered-down juice is 90% of what she drinks. And water didn't come along until after a year. She just wouldn't drink it.

Kids and their opinions on things, man.

[Sparkly]

Feb 28, 2015 20:04:37 GMT -5 anonymouseliza said:

She was good with So Delicious vanilla, hated Thai Kitchen (unless I added vanilla) and wouldn't touch almond milk (never offered soy). It was funny that she would drink it in a bottle but absolutely refused it from cups. Completely. She still won't drink it. Water and watered-down juice is 90% of what she drinks. And water didn't come along until after a year. She just wouldn't drink it.

Kids and their opinions on things, man.

H likes water. She will drink from a straw cup throughout the day and screams at dinner when she is thirsty and wants a drink. It's fun. I can't just give her her cup because she'll just play with it instead of eating... Doing wait for screaming then offer water. Again, fun.

We've tried WCM, coconut, hemp, and almond. I'm going to try goat's milk as well probably not soy because reasons. She does the "best" with a combo of WCM and hemp. And by best I mean 1-2 sips with a meal.

[jennby]

I'm such a travel agent. I thought you meant b6 as in JetBlue lol

[WVaRN]

Feb 28, 2015 19:44:08 GMT -5 Sparkly said:

Feb 28, 2015 18:55:36 GMT -5 EatsRitz said:

I don't know much about B6, but I agree with PP on seeing how your LP does on its own as you drop feedings (if you're planning on weaning). I'm still BFing once per day and I'm on my 5th PP cycle. My first LP was only 4 days, then 5 days, then it jumped to 11 days, 12 days, and now I'm at 13 dpo just by dropping feedings over the past few months.

If you're not weaning, I hope you can find an answer for the right amount of B6 and that it helps in a couple of months when you're TTC again.

thanks for your response. I don't plan on weaning at this time, but I still hope to see it lengthen naturally over time. We still nurse 5-8+ times most days and I also still pump because she won't drink other milks.

DS didn't self wean until about 2 years old. If my memory is correct I quit pumping at work when he was around 18 months old because I had a shit ton of milk in the freezer.  He dropped down to only nursing at night and then stopped completely around 2.  I really think he may have nursed for longer but I had a bad car wreck around that time and I had to be hospitalized and had surgery on my hand, so he didn't get to nurse for a few nights due to anesthesia and pain meds. And then he sorta just stopped. Anyway I'm rambling, no help with B6 and LP. Mine started out as only 7 days when I first started charting but it has got longer since then. 

[bee]

I don't have any advice in regards of B6 and BFing, but I was taking it for a cycle. I stopped around CD20 because I started having a tingly face and my fingers were extra sensitive to hot water while doing dishes. Maybe it had something to do with the B6, maybe it didn't. It went away after I stopped taking it though. I usually ovulate between CD22-26 and that cycle I didn't O until CD40.

That's just my experience though and I know everyone has different stories.