Vitamin B6 & Akathisia

[netsavy006]

On Wikipedia under the akathisia article it states:

One study showed that vitamin B₆ is effective for the treatment of neuroleptic-induced akathisia.^[9]

And the reference links here:

http://article.psychiatrist.com/dao_1-login.asp?ID=10001099&RSID=16632831465057

I didn't fully read the link but what stuck out at me was the line:

were randomly divided to receive vitamin B₆ 600 mg/day b.i.d.

I know b.i.d means 2x/day which would make the daily total 1200mg of Vitamin B6.

Isn't that a bit high? Isn't there a limit on how high you can safely go with vitamins? Could a lower dose help? What would be a safe limit?

[Cetkat]

Is there such a thing as too much vitamin B6?

There are no documented health problems associated with consuming vitamin B6 from food sources. There have been problems associated with excess supplementation of vitamin B6. Large doses, above 1,000 mg/day, have been shown to cause sensory neuropathy. Symptoms of this include difficulty walking and pain and numbness of the extremities. There have even been some reported cases of this with doses under 500 mg/day. Even though this is a water-soluble vitamin, limits had to be set on how much can be safely consumed.

The Tolerable Upper Limit (UL) for vitamin B6 was set for the general population:

Age Males and Females

1 to 3 years 30 mg/day

4 to 8 years 40 mg/day

9 to 13 years 60 mg

14 to 18 years 80 mg

19+ years 100 mg

* http://www.medicinenet.com/vitamins_and_calcium_supplements/page9.htm