High vitamin B6 doses over a long period could cause irreversible nerve damage

Summary

An over-the-counter supplement has ruined Dr Mary Buchanan's mobility and sense of freedom.The 76-year-old spent four decades on her feet as an emergency physician.Now in retirement, she struggles to walk short distances, up stairs or hills, suffering pain in her legs with depleted muscle strength and fatigue."It's changed my life in the way that my mobility has certainly been affected," Dr Buchanan told 7.30."That's not the sort of future I really want for myself, that I might be dependent on people before I may have needed to be."The root cause of her debilitation has been traced to vitamin B6.Vitamin B6 is vital for cognitive function but very few Australians are deficient in it. (ABC News: Jerry Rickard)The vitamin is present in thousands of products in Australia as an additive — including medicines, multivitamin and mineral supplements, energy drinks and weight loss shakes — that is commonly available without a prescription and sold in supermarkets, health food shops, pharmacies, and online.B6 is vital to cognitive function and only those with confirmed deficiencies are required to take a supplement.In Dr Buchanan's case, she consumed it unknowingly.B6 was one of the ingredients in a magnesium supplement she started taking in 2021 called 'Muscleze', a BioCeuticals product by Blackmores.It was recommended to her by her pharmacist to help treat a genetic condition that gave her unbearable leg cramps and sleepless nights.Dr Mary Buchanan began taking a magnesium supplement which also contained vitamin B6 in 2021. (ABC News)After a few weeks, the daily doses appeared to be working.Relief came. The leg twitching eased and sleep followed.But then it went backwards, as if a mystery illness had taken over her body."Gradually over time, I sort of thought, 'Oh my gosh, I'm getting a bit weak, my legs seem to be getting weaker,'" Dr Buchanan said.It got so bad, she feared she had Multiple Sclerosis or Motor Neurone Disease."The weakness continued so much so that I was hav...